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Jack Neo’s 'The Lion Men' star Eva Cheng may be his best discovery yet

Eva Cheng (centre) stars with Chen Tianwen (extreme left), Tosh Zhang (second from right) and Wang Wei Liang (extreme right) in The Lion Men, directed by Jack Neo (second from left). (Photo courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)
Eva Cheng (centre) stars with Chen Tianwen (extreme left), Tosh Zhang (second from right) and Wang Wei Liang (extreme right) in The Lion Men, directed by Jack Neo (second from left). (Photo courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)

What Singapore commercial film director Jack Neo initially designed as a move to break into the Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese markets turned out to be one of his greatest talent discoveries: casting Chinese actress Eva Cheng.

Even though Singapore may not have known her name before she became the leading pretty face of “The Lion Men”, the lithe, long-haired 19-year-old already has six Chinese television series and two feature films under her belt. Neo says that in addition to “The Lion Men”, he’d like to expand Cheng’s Singapore film repertoire.

“From the outset, I’ve always felt that Eva is a star,” Neo told Yahoo Singapore on the sidelines of a press conference for the second of the two-parter, which opens Thursday and features Cheng in a much bigger role than the first. “She’s got immense potential, and she’s in fact more skilled in acting than many of the others… I don’t have to give her too much direction or guidelines; she pulls it off very naturally.”

With “The Lion Men” series being her first overseas venture, the teen is quick to credit Neo for giving her the vote of confidence in her first starring role in a film — admitting that since then, directors have been “more than willing” to cast her in their upcoming movies, and in starring roles, too.

It started 'by sheer chance'

Eva Cheng speaks at a press conference for The Lion Men Part 2 in Singapore. (Photo courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)
Eva Cheng speaks at a press conference for The Lion Men Part 2 in Singapore. (Photo courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)


Hangzhou-born Cheng may be young but is she is serious about her craft, especially when one takes into consideration how she first broke into the industry: by sheer chance.

Back then, Cheng relates, an actress in a local Chinese feature film had to drop out due to exams and her film and TV performance studies teacher at Hangzhou Performing Arts School pushed her to audition for the part. She eventually did land it, and packed a bag for a three-day trip, thinking that she, a mere student, could not possibly be a big part of the project. She was shocked when she was informed that she would be gone for three months.

“My father was opposed to me spending so long away from home — after all, I had never spent any time away form home! But I told him I had made a promise to my teacher that I had to uphold,” she said. From there, there was no turning back — the director of the film liked her performance enough to recommend her for another feature film, which in turn landed her roles in multiple local television series.

During this time, she took a year off from her studies, and eventually decided to devote her future to acting. She signed with a talent agency owned by Taiwanese actor Nicky Wu. From there, she completed high school majoring in performing arts in Hangzhou, and is now in her first year of university, studying acting — and her career path is clearer than ever for her.

Co-star endorsement

Chinese actress Eva Cheng (centre) with her co-stars in Jack Neo's two-parter The Lion Men Wang Wei Liang (left) and Tosh Zhang (right). (Photo courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)
Chinese actress Eva Cheng (centre) with her co-stars in Jack Neo's two-parter The Lion Men Wang Wei Liang (left) and Tosh Zhang (right). (Photo courtesy of MM2 Entertainment)


Her newfound fame has not detracted Cheng from her focus on honing her craft.

For example, she feels there’s much to improve when she sees her effort in “The Lion Men” part two. “I don’t want to be a flower vase; I want to be a serious actor,” she said.

Ask her Singaporean co-stars Tosh Zhang and Wang Wei Liang and they’d disagree, though — Zhang, for one, said he is convinced by her skill, maturity and professionalism despite her age.

“She’s the kind of actress who barely forgets her lines or says them wrongly; she gets it done in two or three takes, tops,” he said. “She acts like a veteran even though she’s so young, and you see it on set.”

Wang shared that Cheng is one who thinks critically about her role and characterisation, often discussing role-play and pitching alternative scenes with Neo.

“She’ll go, ‘I think in this part Xiaoyu (her character) will behave in this way instead of that; what say you?’ and (Neo) will really take her ideas into serious consideration, often even taking them on,” Wang said in Mandarin.

Hear Cheng and Wang talk about their love scenes together in the film here:


One film straight to another

So what’s next for our young leading lady? Once promotion for “The Lion Men” concludes, it’s straight back to China to kickstart shooting for a new film.

“This role is extremely different to the ‘bubbly, cute, girly’ film roles I’ve had so far,” she said. Her new character is 25 years old, and an elder sister to characters and actors older than she is. The character also has to face challenging circumstances in life.

“I do pressure myself quite a lot, and I am indeed feeling the pressure for this role,” she admitted, adding that she was so moved when she read the film’s script for the first time that she cried. “But I’m really looking forward to getting started!”