SINGAPORE, Sept 11 — It is all still a little unreal for Rebecca Lim. With Best Actress awards under her belt, alongside a string of high-profile endorsement deals and the firmly cemented status of A-list celebrity, she plays down her long-awaited success with an understated — as if she is afraid to jinx it — “Life is actually pretty good right now”.

She joked about having a “free supply of vitamins and skincare products” and that she cannot complain about having a “free car to drive around”, but the actress seemed genuinely touched by the attention she has been getting. “I feel very warm when people look at me and say, ‘You are doing well’ or ‘You are in a good place right now’. I never thought my acting career would turn out this way,” said Lim, who turns 29 this month.

It is poignant because this year marks a decade in the industry for her, but it has only been in the past three years that her career has taken off. Thinking back on her early days, Lim said her priority was to finish school and get good grades for her double degree. “Acting was just a part-time thing because it wasn’t working out as well. I remember, very clearly, buses going by, even buses I would ride home on, with my colleagues’ faces on them — and I’d be like, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to have my face on (magazine) covers or a fashion spread or endorsements.’ But now all these things are happening, and it’s very surreal.”

And she hopes it stays that way, “because I really don’t want to reach a stage where I get angry that it’s not happening or upset that it’s not given to me,” she said. She has seen people start to think they are too good for certain things, but she isn’t naming any names, of course.

“I always feel it’s not like I’m the tallest or I’m the prettiest or my acting is the best ... This journey is not just (about) my hard work — there are a lot of people who believe in me or spoke up for me or gave me opportunities or second chances when they didn’t have to,” she said.

‘You’ve changed, they said’

‘Of course, the higher she climbed, the more exposed she became. And brickbats came along this year in the form of a faked wardrobe malfunction picture that was circulated online. But Lim admitted she was not as affected as she thought she would be. “I think a lot of people were surprised that I was quite chill about it. (But) I’ve been told by veterans that these things would eventually happen,” she said.

Then, a few months ago, it came to her ears that some people were saying she had changed. “When I heard it, honestly, I did sit back and think, ‘Did I really change for the worse?’ Sometimes you are too into it and you cannot see (clearly),” said Lim. “I called my close friends and I asked my parents: ‘I heard people are saying that I’m a little bit difficult to deal with. Is it true?’ And I really expected and wanted honest replies. They said that if I really had (changed), they would tell me. That was a consolation, but also a reminder to be grounded and to do my work well … before things get out of hand. I don’t want to reach the stage where, if people tell me that I’ve changed, I would block them out or think it’s not true. I think that’s a very dangerous position to be in.”

She did, however, find the remarks “slightly hurtful”, though mainly because she makes an effort to treat everyone nicely. “It’s just basic respect for people. When I started out, it wasn’t super smooth sailing. There were people who treated me badly. But it’s not that I’m harbouring any hard feelings or want to take revenge now. I wouldn’t bother to clear things up with whoever said these things about me because I feel like it really is a waste of time. I’d rather show them through my actions.”

We can’t imagine this good girl having any enemies. “I do,” she said with a laugh. “I mean, I wouldn’t call them enemies, but maybe we just don’t get along that well. I would say I’m really pretty fine with 99 per cent (of her fellow actors) and they are really, actually very nice to me, especially the veterans — I always feel so fortunate to have their blessings.”

So, the slings and arrows of outrageous colleagues just water off a duck’s back. Lim said she’s the type who moves on easily and doesn’t need life to be a constant party. “I like to keep working and it is fine if I don’t really have much of an exciting social life,” she said.

“I’m going to say something that’s going to make me sound like a very unprofessional actor, but every time I go on set, I do my best. When I come home, I think about the day, but I still lead my own life. I still want to hang out with my friends, play with my dog and have dinner at the coffee shop. I’m not a 100 per cent, super-professional, method actor, if there’s even such a thing.

“I think a lot of people think that I’m a massive thinker, that I think a lot. But I actually don’t,” she affirmed, adding that she zones out quite often but is fortunate to have an “intellectual” look when it happens. “I’m really just spacing out. It’s good,” she laughed.

New beginnings

But what of the current state of her love life? Well, it’s “not very happening (but) I’m taking time to be totally comfortable in a new relationship. Just because the last one was a nightmare,” she said. “Previously, I was in a relationship for the sake of it, or for security, or for I don’t know what reason. So, I mean, I am happy with things right now, but whether or not it could progress to a relationship, only time will tell.”

Wait, did she just say she was in a new relationship? “I wouldn’t call it a relationship, but it’s just, like, a very good friendship,” she hastened to say. “I think it’s good because all my past relationships have always been infatuation at first sight, so now I’m learning to take things slow, start out by really understanding the person, becoming friends first, and then lovers. And I think I deserve something good.”

So is it Ian Fang, about whom rumours have been circulating? “Ummm (there are) just a few choices,” she demurred even as she said: “We are really just very good friends ... I think (the rumours are there) because it’s just a very shocking friendship to a lot of people. I don’t want to ruin the friendship with anything external as of now. But never say never, I guess!”

While we wait for news on that front, we will not be seeing any less of her on screen. Keeping up with the unrelenting pace of her many television projects this year, which include “You Can Be An Angel Too,” “Second Chance” and “The Journey: Our Homeland,” as well as “Sealed with a Kiss,” currently airing on MediaCorp TV Channel 8, she is currently working on her next show, “Cold Case Investigation,” in which she will be teaming up with Chen Hanwei to play a police officer. And, after bagging her first Best Actress Star Award this year, she hopes to expand her portfolio.

“I really want to do a lot more — not just acting. I eventually hope to write my own script,” she said, sharing that she is in plans to direct a short film for SK-II, for which she is an ambassador. “It’s also a way for me not to be bounded by stereotypes, I guess. And it’s also my secret ambition to be a director.”

Going forward, she wants to overcome her fear of making mistakes. “(And) I want to learn to differentiate constructive criticism from the things people who just want to put you down (might say). I really have a lot of regrets. But from each regret, I learnt a lot. In some weird, sadistic way, I’m glad these things happen.”

With a note of reflection in her voice, she said: “I really am treasuring this ascent, you know.” Laughing, she added: “I think it could be better, of course, and I’m going to be greedy with that!”

Well, why shouldn’t she be? Good things really do come to those who wait. — TODAY