Romeo Tan had to lie on top of Denise Camillia Tan for 4 hours while filming new drama

Local actor Romeo Tan had to brave more than just fires and 20kg firefighting gear in his new drama In Safe Hands. He also had a difficult "intimate" scene to handle as a suave Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Rota Commander.

During the press conference for the Chinese drama on Wednesday (Feb 23), Romeo revealed that he had to lie on top of his co-star Denise Camillia Tan for four to five hours in a scene where their characters are trapped in a collapsed building. 

Denise plays a paramedic in the show, and the scene was filmed in SCDF's training ground which had a collapsed building setup. 

"It was my first time being in such close proximity with an actor, it made me rather awkward and shy," the 29-year-old actress quipped during the media event. 

Sharing more details during a phone interview with AsiaOne on the same day, Romeo, 36, said that the pair only knew on the day of filming that they had to lie on each other.

He said: "The crew managed to find a narrow corner that could fit the two of us. My character is injured and I was to be on top of Denise. There's also an emotional element in the scene because I was going to fall into a coma." 

Romeo added they had to maintain that position for four to five hours. 

"Initially, I was a bit embarrassed because I had to lie on top of Denise and I tried not to put my entire weight on her. I tried to hold myself in a plank position until we started rolling and also when the director ended a take.

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"But after two or three hours, I couldn't tahan already. Denise was also very understanding so she said, 'You're really tired, I understand, you can just lie on me.'" 

So, was it awkward being in that position for so long? 

"Definitely awkward," Romeo said without much hesitation. 

"[Usually] when we film intimate scenes, it only lasts a short while, but this one was four to five hours and that's very long. It's like when I looked at her, she was just a few inches away from me. But it was quite an interesting experience." 

Romeo added that both of them were "quite chill" about it.

"We were looking forward to this scene because it seemed quite fun. Although it turned out to be not-so-fun, I believe what the director managed to capture was quite emotional." 

In Safe Hands is a 10-episode drama series about a team of firefighters and paramedics in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). It also stars Tyler Ten, Fang Rong, Nick Teo, Zane Lim, Jarrell Huang and Desmond Ng. 

The series premieres on Channel 8 on March 7 at 7.30pm with a new episode every weekday. It will also be available on meWATCH. 

ALSO READ: Romeo Tan got more female attention after losing weight; realised 'how superficial people are'

claudiatan@asiaone.com