"Chantalle Ng grew up visiting television sets, following her mother, actress Lin Meijiao, during filming. One of her fondest memories was exploring t
“Chantalle Ng grew up visiting television sets, following her mother, actress Lin Meijiao, during filming. One of her fondest memories was exploring the set of The Little Nyonya (2008), where she watched her mother play a scheming matriarch. Now, 16 years later, Ng has fulfilled her childhood dream of starring in a similar production—only this time, she is playing the villain herself.
Ng takes on the role of Zhang Anna in Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story, a character whose manipulative nature initially made her uneasy. “I struggled a lot with Anna’s actions. She does things that I personally don’t respect,” she admitted. However, to fully embrace the role, she spent a month discussing the character with the scriptwriter and producer, working to understand Anna’s motivations.
The drama follows the wealthy Zhang family, whose lives are riddled with betrayals and conflicts. Anna, the daughter of Zhang Jinquan (Romeo Tan) and Kang Sili (Dawn Yeoh), was sent away as a baby but returns at age ten. Behind her striking beauty lies a calculating mind, as she clashes with Zhang Xinniang (Tasha Low), constantly scheming to push her out of the family.
To bring depth to her performance, Ng applied advice from veteran actor Xie Shaoguang, who once told her to find the good in every villain. “I didn’t want people to immediately label Anna as the bad guy. From her perspective, she’s just someone who had to make tough choices.”
At first, playing Anna was exhilarating. “It was refreshing, an entirely new experience. I wasn’t confined to the ‘good girl’ roles anymore,” she said. She even found some of Anna’s lines amusing, often reading them aloud for fun. But as the months passed, the intensity of the role began to weigh on her.
After nearly a year of embodying Anna’s dark persona, Ng started feeling emotionally drained. “Holding onto Anna’s mindset for so long became exhausting,” she shared. By the end of filming, she needed emotional support from executive producer Loh Woon Woon. “I had a meltdown during an interview. When asked what I’d say to Anna, I realised how unloved she felt. It hit me hard.”
Now that the drama is airing, Ng is both excited and apprehensive. “I hope viewers can separate me from the character. As a public figure, you want to be liked, but this time, I have to accept that people might dislike Anna—and that’s part of my growth as an actress.”
Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story is currently streaming on Netflix and will be available for free on Mewatch from 17 March. It premieres on Channel 8 on 19 March, airing weekdays at 9pm.”
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