Singaporean actress Pamelyn Chee has made a name for herself in Hollywood but, like many others in the film industry, her career has been put on hold by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is reported that more than 120,000 people in the entertainment industry are affected.
Chee began acting in America, starring in The Princess of Nebraska by The Joy Luck Club director Wayne Wang. Back home, she acted in Mediacorp productions like Point of Entry, The Little Nyonya and the HBO murder-mystery Serangoon Road. She also acted in Royston Tan’s 3688 and Kelvin Tong’s The Faith of Anna Waters.
In a story in 8days.sg on Friday (April 10), she shared that she returned to the US in 2015 and things went well after the HBO Asia mini-series Grace.
Her latest work includes Boogie, a movie directed by chef and Fresh Off The Boat author Eddie Huang. The actress said she was filming the pilot season for Boogie and a number of commercials before everything stopped due to the outbreak. Boogie is a sports movie with Asian-American family drama. Chee plays a tiger mum with a taste for luxury clothes.
Huang is a renowned chef. It is reported that he told Chee he would be able to cook a mean Hainanese Chicken Rice once he tasted an authentic version. She is, however, not convinced by the claim since she is a Singaporean.
Although there are other Singaporeans in Los Angeles, like Chin Han and Nat Ho, Chee does not keep in contact with them because she admitted she is a recluse.
Chee says that it is pretty safe where she lives, near Monterey Park, which is a 12-minute drive from Los Angeles.
Due to safe-distancing measures, Chee’s dogs are enjoying the lack of other people blocking them during their daily walks. However, grocery shopping takes a long time as supermarkets practise a one-in-one-out queuing policy.
In order to pass time, Chee does Bikram yoga in her bathroom with a heater and heat lamps. She is also practising on her Shakuhachi flute, which was introduced to her by co-star and flute-maker Perry Yung.
Besides that, she watches YouTube videos and cooks. During these times, she craves for what her grandmother used to make, such as steamed eggs, steamed salted fish pork, soy sauce pork and eggs — basically Asian comfort food.
Chee has also always loved photography but has not been able to do much of it because she has been busy with her film roles. To reflect the current situation, she wanted to shoot a series called Weapons of Mass Hysteria. A story about a terrorist and his 12 rolls of toilet paper — but she has not found 12 rolls of toilet paper, she joked. /TISG