Local rookie Seraph Sun not shy about sex scene

It might have been one of her first acting jobs, but that did not stop local rookie Seraph Sun from pouncing on a role that many actresses would shy away from.

The 26-year-old portrays a rebellious, domineering teenager in new English-language local movie Ms J Contemplates Her Choice, and shares a two-minute car sex scene with rising local actor Shane Pow.

In the flashback scene, Sun and Pow, who play a couple, start making out and shedding their clothes after they get into the back seat of a car.

While Pow is topless, Sun has a black tube top on.

The Jason Lai-directed thriller, which also stars local singer Kit Chan, US DJ Bobby Tonelli and veteran actress Xiang Yun, was filmed last January and opens here on July 2.

The plot revolves around a woman (Chan) who has to make the difficult decision to save the life of either a loan shark or a prostitute when a killer asks her to make a choice.

Sun, who acts as the younger version of Chan's character, told The New Paper (TNP): "It was definitely a challenge playing this role. Being Asians, we don't usually do such stuff, so I had to get out of my comfort zone for the character."

PASSIONATE

She described the passionate on-screen backseat romp with Pow as awkward, saying: "To be intimate with a guy whom I don't really know in front of a camera, that's not exactly a comfortable thing.

"There was a scene that required me to be in the planking position on top of him as I play the more aggressive one. I was very tired doing that, but I had to look very excited for the camera."

Pow, 24, told TNP in a separate interview about the scene last year: "There was a lot of kissing and caressing.

"It was awkward when she was on top of me and there were a lot of people around and we were just waiting for the lighting (to be done). We just lay there in silence. I couldn't exactly say, 'Hey, how's your day?'"

To get them familiar with each other before actual filming began, Lai made them get into a van the night before and told them to "kiss and get comfortable".

Sun, a sociology graduate from the National University of Singapore, said: "I didn't have time to think. We just got into the van and Shane was like, 'Okay, let's start.'

"I felt more nervous with him alone than in front of the cameras.

"Without the cameras, I felt, like, 'Huh, what were we doing?'"

Sun joined MediaCorp full-time in 2013 after she was discovered through the Channel 8 game show S.N.A.P.

The Star Awards 2015 Best Newcomer nominee can be seen on the long-running Channel 8's drama 118, as the younger sister of Clinton Li (Zhang Zhen Huan).,

She is also busy filming Channel 8 family drama Hand In Hand, alongside Bryan Wong and Aloysius Pang.

Even though her role in Ms J was challenging, Sun accepted it as she did not want to have any regrets.

She said: "I knew it was a role I had to try, especially when it was offered to me. If I had said no, I would never know what it's like."

She added: "If the scene adds to the depth of the film and the role that I am playing, I am not against doing such scenes in the future."

Sun said her then-boyfriend had objected to her taking up the role because of the sex scene. They have since broken up, but she said it was not due to Ms J.

Similarly, Pow had told TNP that choosing his job over his girlfriend at that time was one of the reasons his five-year relationship ended.

He said: "When I told her about the scene, she got angry. She asked me to put myself in her place and asked how I would feel if I were her.

"But I told her, work is work. I was still going to do it. Nothing can be changed."

Sun, who has been single since last September, also does not believe in rejecting a role for the sake of love.

The pragmatic starlet said matter-of-factly: "Even though my ex-boyfriend said no back then, I had to take it up as it was an opportunity. As for a relationship, it's not guaranteed that I will be with anyone forever."

She added: "If I had listened to him and didn't take it, I will feel like it's such a waste as we are no longer together."

This article was first published on June 17, 2015.
Get The New Paper for more stories.