Actress Jesseca Liu says firing real gun in training was terrifying’

Singapore – When Alex Baldwin made headlines for accidentally  shooting dead a cinematographer and injuring a director while on a filming location on Oct 21, it  put the issue of gun use in entertainment media squarely in the harshest of spotlights once again.

“Really terrifying” was how  Malaysian actress Jesseca Liu described  her own experience firing a gun. It was barely a day later  after the fatal film set shooting in New Mexico, that Liu, 42, confessed her feelings at a press conference for her upcoming drama series.

In the series, The Takedown, Liu plays Yan Qiaoyi who leads a team of officers at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). It is  her first time playing a law enforcement officer. As part of the prep, the bureau set up a gun training session for the cast.

“I used to think that firing a gun was no big deal, and I see it in shows all the time. But after firing a real gun, you will know how seriously anti-narcotics officers treat guns and you’ll respect their profession more,” she said.

Her account of her own experience of gun training illustrates what didn’t happen on the Baldwin film set. “Even if the gun is not loaded they have to practice the habit of pointing it to the ground to avoid a misfire, she said, according to AsiaOne.

“We also learnt how to empty the bullets inside and where to place our fingers. When firing the gun, we shot dozens of bullets in various poses and at varying distances.

“The instructor even asked me to take off the earmuffs and hear how a shot really sounds like. The kickback of the gun was also big. At that moment, I understood the might of a gun. It was really terrifying!”

She recalled the experience of being at the shooting range when it was drizzling and despite the rain, she could still smell the gunpowder and described it as a “memorable experience”.

The Takedown, which also stars Hong Ling and Desmond Tan, will premiere on Channel 8 on Nov 2 at 8.30pm. You can also catch it for free on meWATCH from Nov 2. 

Jesseca Liu is based in Singapore and was named one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. A prominent full-time Mediacorp artiste from 2004 to 2010, she is now contracted to  MediaCorp and managed by HIM International Music./TISG