Jimmy Lin and son now a hot duo
PUBLISHED ONMay 02, 2014 11:50 PMByGwendolyn Ng
He was a Mandopop teen idol in the 1990s, dropped off the radar and is now back in the limelight because of his adorable four-year-old son. But Taiwanese singer-actor Jimmy Lin says he is not exploiting or living off his child.
"I have my own work too," says Lin, 39, who has been inundated with endorsement offers since starring with his son Kimi in the hit reality show, Where Are We Going, Dad?.
"I'll be releasing songs and I'm going to launch a book. I also have plans to hold a concert."
The Hunan TV China variety show, an adaptation of the South Korean MBC programme with the same title, follows the adventures of celebrity fathers and their children on trips. It is showing on now Mango (StarHub TV Channel 836).
Featuring Lin and Kimi - alongside Chinese music video director Wang Yuelun, 40; Chinese Olympic diving champion Tian Liang, 34; Chinese model Sean Zhang, 31; Chinese actor Guo Tao, 44, and their children - the show premiered in October last year and became a hit with audiences in China.
Earlier this year, a spin-off movie, also titled Where Are We Going, Dad?, that has the five celebrities and their kids exploring Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park, made 700 million yuan (S$140 million) at the box office in China. And Lin has seen his stock similarly rise.
An endorsement that the father and son duo have is for a China brand of children's milk, a deal that is reportedly worth 3.5 million yuan.
The doting father is quick to point out that he is highly selective when taking on endorsement deals for his son.
"I don't want it to be too commercialised," he says on the telephone from Taipei.
"I will look at the product's brand and the image of the company. For instance, we are endorsing a brand of milk. Milk is beneficial for kids."
Some parents may disagree with placing young children in front of rolling cameras and exposing them to public scrutiny. Lin, however, says he joined the reality show to give his son an experience.
"I want to give Kimi the chance to go to the places we usually wouldn't get to go to, like the desert or a village. It's really interesting," says Lin, who married Taiwanese model Kelly Chen, 28, in 2009. Kimi is their only child.
Recounting one of the more memorable moments during filming, Lin says: "Once, we had to draw lots to choose our accommodation in a village and Kimi was hoping we'd get a comfortable home. Unfortunately, we picked a house that wasn't too good. I told Kimi he could go stay with his friends in the better house. But in the end, I was very touched that he chose to stay with me."
Lin, who was considered one of Taiwan's four Little Heavenly Kings along with Nicky Wu, Alec Su and Takeshi Kaneshiro, delved into professional car racing in 1997 and subsequently stayed out of show business.
In 2006, he made a comeback with the album Jimmy F1ght, and starred in the Taiwanese idol drama My Lucky Star a year later.
Now a judge on China variety show Super Speaker, which tests the oratorical skills of contestants, he will fly to Singapore this month to film a telemovie for the Singapore Tourism Board. The telemovie is helmed by Hong Kong directors Mabel Cheung and Alex Law.
A second season of Where Are We Going, Dad? is in the works, although Lin says he has not received an offer to appear in it. Nevertheless, he says: "If there is an offer, I'm willing to go on the show again."
Now that the boyish-looking star's career is enjoying a revival, he says he is too busy to give Kimi a sibling.
Still, the boy has given his parents a tall order to follow.
Says Lin with a chuckle: "Kimi wants an older sister, so that she can look after him. But I told him that isn't possible."
Where Are We Going, Dad? airs on now Mango (StarHub TV Channel 836) on Friday at 10pm.
This article was published on May 1 in The Straits Times.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.