PUBLISHED ONDecember 02, 2024 7:50 AMByYeo Shu HuiFor the past two years, TVB actress Hera Chan has led a colourful life, playing different characters every three months.
The 29-year-old actress was in Singapore in November for the TVBI Programme Parade 2025 to promote her new dramas and spoke to AsiaOne after meeting fans at Gain City Sungei Kadut.
'I have been working non-stop for the past two years and change a new identity every three months, I think it's quite interesting," she tells us, referring to the various roles she plays.
Hera also shared with us more about her experiences while filming upcoming drama Golden Forest, which also stars Hong Kong actor Roger Kwok.
In the series, she plays Lin Cheng, who marries Fang Yangtian (Roger), a conglomerateur who is 30 years her senior. Yangtian is involved in a car accident one day, and when he recovers, he announces that besides marrying Lin Cheng, he will also be setting up a trust for the family assets and it would be managed by the family's enemy.
Yangtian has three sons, seen as kind and filial to the public, but when their father declares his asset plans, a bitter war ensues as they find ways to overturn the trust.
Hera said: "Roger gave me a lot of acting tips during filming because he has a lot of [acting] experiences. During filming, I asked him many questions about how I can improve my acting and he gave me advice."
She also shared that the details of the script and their commitment to the roles helped her to get into character easily.
"Roger and my characters have a very strong kinship in the drama. Although they do not have any intimate scenes, such as hugs, holding hands or kiss scenes, they can feel their love for each other through little details in their daily life.
"We were so into our roles during the three months of filming that I felt that he was my husband during that period. I didn't have to convince myself during acting," she explained.
Hera also recounted a scene where she was so into her character that she and Roger improvised during filming.
She shared how the impact of the scene drove her to tears, which was not planned: "That scene was written without many details or dialogue in the script, but when I acted it out, I cried uncontrollably."
"I couldn't look at Roger [during filming] and he hugged me. This wasn't in the script. He kept hugging me and told me that 'It's okay', and it was then that I could look at him."
For their improvised scene, Roger gave Hera a nod of approval for her professionalism.
"After filming completed for this scene, Roger told me, 'I think an actor should have the capability to enhance the script, and I think you have it.' I thought to myself that it's actually not because of me, but because Roger had the ability to elicit that reaction from me [during acting]. If we haven't been through the things that [our characters] had been through the past few months, I wouldn't be able to do it. So I am very grateful to him," she said.
Hera attended the TVBI Programme Parade 2025 with TVB actors Owen Cheung and Benjamin Yuen on Nov 8, where they shared about upcoming dramas on the platform.
On the following day, they also met fans at Gain City, the supporting partner of the TVB Artistes Meet and Greet event in Singapore, where they played games and took photos with those who turned up.
Besides Golden Forest, Hera also spoke about her drama Call of Destiny, which is currently airing on TVB, adding that they filmed it about two years ago and it is memorable for her.
"I think this is the first drama where I really carried the responsibility of being the female lead… I think this is the first role that I was most conscientious about since joining the entertainment industry," she shared.
"My filming schedule during the three-month filming period was quite packed and I hardly had time to sleep, maybe three to four hours a day, or even had no sleep at all. At the time, I thought to myself, 'Is that the end for me? Am I going to collapse?'
Call of Destiny centres around criminal profiler Fang Rijin (Carlos Chan), who receives a call one day where the caller claims that they are from the future and predicted many murder cases that are about to happen.
Rijin seeks to stop the crimes together with detective Xing Kelan (Hera) and forensic assistant Zhang Dingqin (Nicholas Yuen), and learns about Kelan's fate in the process. To stop the murderer and change the future, it's a battle of wits and a race against time for them.
Despite the hectic schedule, Hera told us that because of her persistence and perseverance, she did not take any days off during the filming period and learnt to change her mindset.
She said: "It's not about making it hard for myself, but it's about how to overcome the challenging circumstances and change my mindset. I think that's what I learnt since filming that series. I realised that even if I don't have enough sleep, just as long as I keep telling myself that it will pass and to persevere, [my] mindset can actually change my way of thinking.
"If you keep telling yourself that you can't do it, then you really can't because you didn't give yourself a chance to push yourself to your limits. This drama taught me the importance of perseverance as an actor."
Hera will also be reprising her role as journalist-turned-news anchor Tang Zhiyao in the much-anticipated drama The Queen of News 2.
We also asked her about returning to the series, which she said: "I am actually very thankful to the fans for speaking up for Tang Zhiyao. In the first season, she only appeared in a few scenes. Because fans love the character, I had the chance to return for The Queen of News 2."
When the cast of the series promoted the drama in Shanghai this year, director Chung Shukai announced that Zhiyao would be returning as an antagonist, after being fired by news anchor Wen Huixin, played by Charmaine Sheh, in the first season.
While Hera shared that this is all she knows about her character for now and filming for the new season has not begun, she hopes that Zhiyao would be able to stay longer this time.
"In the second season, I think I would be a news anchor coming back to seek revenge. I hope that my character would really be able to get the vengeance she needs and not just fail quickly after taking action," she laughed.
Hera also shared with us that this is her first time in Singapore and one of the first things she noticed after arriving was the greenery, which she loves.
"On the way from the airport to the hotel, it's really beautiful, it's like a piece of art… I realised that there's a lot of trees in Singapore, and as someone who loves nature, especially the forests, I like looking at the trees," she gushed.
She also shared that she had heard a lot about the must-visit tourist spots and local food to try, but she didn't have the chance to do so this time because of her packed schedule and hopes to visit again.
Hera will be turning 30 next January and she is looking forward to it.
She shared: "I think it's a miraculous thing, in every stage of my life, I am actually growing up slowly and as I look back, I realise that I am very different now as compared to myself in the past. I used to be very timid and was afraid to talk to people. There were a lot of things that I didn't dare to do. But now, I have become braver.
"I hope that in my 30s, I can become even braver. Especially when we grow older, sometimes we may feel that we have managed to gain some things in life and because we are afraid of losing them, we become more cautious. I hope that I can be a little rebellious and still be a happy person.
"I also hope to be able to spread this happiness to others. From acting, I learnt that a lot of things depend on mindset. When something happens, it is up to us to decide whether it is something good or bad. I hope that everyone can realise that everything is up to our own decision, that there is nothing necessarily good or bad."
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