SINGAPORE, May 30 — “I’m not a pretty boy,” said Andie Chen, who surmised that it’s “a good thing” because “all the good roles go to the not-so-good-looking people”. But let us first establish that Chen is being modest here: The winner of Star Search 2007 is way above average in looks and build. Although, compared to so-pretty-it-hurts colleagues Romeo Tan, Elvin Ng or Desmond Tan, he said, he doesn’t think he is idol material.

It is something that has taken him a while to come to terms with. “When you first step into the industry, people keep telling you that you’re an idol — people want to become you, so you’re supposed to be sexy and good-looking. Everyone — bosses, managers, fans — tells you that you have to be that in order to be popular or famous,” he said.

Harsh criticism soon eroded the “unfounded confidence” he had growing up. “I always believed that I looked good, until I read magazines teasing me about the way I look. Before that, I was like, ‘Woohoo, yeah, I’m the sexiest man alive’,” he said, with his usual self-deprecating humour.

“After that, I couldn’t stand watching myself on screen. Three years in, I thought, ‘Fine, if I’m not good-looking enough, then I have to be better than the others.’” This prompted him to improve on his acting, studying the craft via online courses and books. “Eventually, I kind of found my way, and later, producers started to see it,” he continued, adding how he now strategically looks for “roles that are not pretty-boy roles”.

“I try and let people know that I am interested in alternative roles, starting from villains.”

As a result, Chen’s “serious actor” reputation has earned him parts he considers realistic and relatable, such as the blue-collar husband he plays in the upcoming Mediacorp TV Channel 8 drama If Only I Could.

“As I grew as an actor, I realised that (not being pretty) is not a bad thing,” he said. “For example, who’s the lead in Frozen? Elsa is the pretty one, but Anna is the lead. If the story were about Elsa, nobody would watch it, because nobody feels that they’re Elsa. Everybody feels that they’re Anna.”

Standing out by blending in

An actor’s job, he said, is to be a “connector” between the audience and the film. “When you feel connected to me, I draw you into the story. So, the closer I am to my target audience, the more they are going to feel for me.” That’s when a performance gains power — in contrast to watching an actor like Takeshi Kaneshiro, who, Chen feels, is so pretty, his scenes look like “Biotherm commercials”.

“My imperfections become my tools,” he said. “I have sensitive skin. I used to cover it up with thick makeup. But now, I don’t. I show it. I use light make-up and if I have a blemish or whatever, I let it be. Because, first of all, it’s me being comfortable with who I am. Secondly, if my role is that of a normal person, then let him be normal. Let him be flawed.”

He continued: “I can’t say I’m completely all right with that, but I’m in the process of becoming fully comfortable. And I’m starting to see that it’s more important to be real than to be an idol, like a god.

“I used to try to make myself that. But I’m not,” he shrugged. “I was born into a very down-to-earth family. There used to be five of us living in one room. Then we moved into a HDB flat, and I studied in a neighbourhood secondary school. I’m a heartlander. And I cannot pretend that I was born into a house with ten Maseratis.”

Becoming a husband and father has perhaps also contributed to his growth. As the 31-year-old prepares to welcome his second child with wife Kate Pang next month, he confessed that he gives himself a lot of stress about providing his family with the lifestyle he desires for them.

His journey of self-discovery has led him to new acting philosophies. “I think most actors go into a film thinking, ‘How am I going to make myself pop in the role? Am I going to look very sexy in this role?’ I used to do that. Now, what I do is to try to understand the style of the show. I talk to the executive producer and try to understand what they are trying to craft. And then I see how my role fits into that.”

“The actor is just the paint”

But turning in a subtle performance might mean being overlooked for awards. Last month, Chen was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Star Awards for his role in The Journey: Tumultuous Times, but lost out to Zhang Zhen Huan. It was discouraging, he admitted.

At the same time, good acting happens when the ego takes a back seat. “I understand now that the director is the painter and the actor is just the paint. Your job is to make yourself as vibrant as possible, or the right colour for him to paint the painting he wants to paint,” Chen said. “To understand and mould yourself to what they want is more important than just thinking, ‘I am the king of the world’.”

While actors with good looks are more recognisable, he opined, their looks also restrict the variety of roles they land. Chen values roles such as the simple-minded heartlander he plays in the upcoming drama Hero, for which filming is under way. They give him the chance to explore characters that are interesting and nuanced.

“I always try to make my performance as real as possible, but I’ve always been kind of restricted by the environment, because maybe that’s not what the director wants… But for If Only I Could, they tried to set the whole thing up so that it can flow in a more natural way, which made me feel more comfortable. That allowed me to play it even smaller. I think the beauty of this show, especially for my role, is how small the performance is,” he shared.

Also starring Rui En, Elvin Ng and Paige Chua, the show, which asks the question of what might happen if one could go back 10 years in time and relive one’s life, is experimental in that it aims for more gritty realism than your average Channel 8 drama. “I think everybody was trying to do something different. I wouldn’t say we succeeded 100 per cent, but I think we made a big step towards creating something more sincere,” he said.

Sincerity, perhaps, is the one thing needful — and the thing we need more of, both in life and in art.

Catch If Only I Could starting May 31, weekdays at 9pm on Mediacorp TV Channel 8. — TODAY