Nathan Hartono prefers to take things as they come: 'Trust the process'

Nathan Hartono prefers to take things as they come rather than have a five-year plan.

The 35-year-old homegrown singer-actor spoke to AsiaOne recently at a press conference for local mockumentary The Sandbox, which he stars in.

While he described himself as "not the most ambitious person" when it comes to having grand visions of fame or stardom, he admitted that he "also cannot keep still".

"This is vaguely contradictory," he said. "I just need to be doing something all the time. I need to be doing something creative... and because of that, I have found myself just saying yes to as many things as possible."

Rather than following a five-year plan, Nathan said he prefers to take things as they come and "trust the process" to take him where he needs to go, adding that he's in a "very content place" right now.

He announced in January through a series of Instagram Stories that he had married theatre actress Liz Sergeant Tan, 32.

When asked how newlywed life has been, he described it as "relatively unchanged" because the couple had already been living together for three years before tying the knot, so married life felt largely the same.

"I guess the main big change for us was that we are now a very public couple when before we were just us, a bit more private," he said.

"That's really the only element that's changed, and even that's not really that big a deal. We more or less keep to ourselves, so it doesn't change much."

Nathan, who made his debut as a singer after winning the Teenage Icon singing competition in 2005, was propelled to regional fame when he finished first runner-up on the inaugural season of Chinese reality singing competition Sing! China (formerly known as Voice of China) in 2016.

While experiencing "real fame" may be a dream for actors and singers, it also taught Nathan a valuable lesson about the things he does and does not want in life.

He said: "I fully recognise it could have all been in my head, but for that year, it felt like I couldn't really go anywhere without being recognised."

Describing the sudden attention as a shock to his system, he added: "My body rejected it completely, but it also gave me clarity about the things I do and do not want from this life."

He has since been involved in various projects such as performing the National Day Parade (NDP) theme song Everything I Am in 2020, the recently concluded Legally Blonde — The Musical, community choir Sing Song Social Club and his new movie The Sandbox.

The Sandbox is a mockumentary that follows a struggling stunt training school on the verge of closure when rumours surface that a major Marvel superhero production is scouting for talent in Singapore. The school suddenly finds itself filled with aspiring stunt performers and superhero wannabes hoping for their next big break.

Nathan plays Dennis D. Wong, an ambitious and know-it-all acting student whose extensive knowledge of acting is matched only by his desire to show off his intellectual prowess.

The Sandbox, now showing in Singapore cinemas, also stars the school's real-life founder, actor and action director Peps Goh, as well as Fauzi Azzhar, Benjamin Kheng, Oon Shu An, Estelle Fly, Jon Cancio, Xuan Ong and Aaron Mossadeg.

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esther.lam@asiaone.com 

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