Evelyn Tan, who just acted in her first Mediacorp drama in 24 years, reveals which of her kids wants to join showbusiness
Evelyn was recommended for the role in Moments by her husband Darren, who worked with the executive producer on a previous show.
“My name came up and he thought maybe I would be suitable for the role and since the audience hasn’t seen me for a while, it might be a good time and opportunity (for me). Most importantly, it wasn’t going to be a big role, and that was what caught my attention: That it wasn’t going to take too much time away from my family,” explained Evelyn.
She continued: “In the past, when it came to acting, I always found it so difficult to cry on command. But I’m happy to say that even though I haven’t been honing my acting skills, I found that I was able to relate to the role I was in, maybe because of life experiences.
“And after becoming a mum, I’ve experienced a wider range of emotions. I let those emotions lead me, and (tears) came very naturally. Tears were flowing and people on set were telling me that they could really feel my emotions when I was in character.”
Despite being satisfied with her performance, Evelyn “can’t say for sure” if she’s returning to acting for good. Instead, she describes it as more of a “privilege”.
“I dare not ask for such roles anymore because we all know that showbiz is all about fresh faces, and roles for older artistes may be more limited. There’s this sense of attainment, but so what? Am I going to get all the opportunities I was seeking for in the past? Maybe not,” she explained.
“I’m being very practical here and I don’t think there’s anything wrong admitting that. In this arena, the opportunities are there for young artistes. It was a privilege for me to take part in this production, but I’m also trying to manage my own expectations. If there are opportunities that come along, then that’s good,” said Evelyn.
She also told us that her family was very supportive, especially her daughter, Kristen, who is also looking to pursue a career in showbusiness.
“My children were like ‘Really!’. I suppose they did not grow up watching me on TV ‘cause I was with them the whole time, so they were quite excited. It wasn’t just dad, now it’s mum as well,” she chuckled.
