SINGAPORE - Just three months after his release from prison, actor Shane Pow is making a comeback on local television, much to his own surprise.

The 30-year-old, who was sentenced to five weeks' jail in July for his second drink-driving conviction, said the offer to star in the My Star Bride telemovie came as a surprise, especially as his contract with television station Mediacorp was terminated in April over the scandal.

"After the incident happened, I got a lot of nasty comments and DMs saying things like, 'Oh, that's it for your career already' and 'You can say goodbye to acting'.

"But there were also a lot of people who were nice to me," he said in an article on entertainment portal 8days.sg on Wednesday (Nov 23), adding that he was "super stressed" about the role.

The spin-off from the hit drama, which ended earlier this year, is set to start filming next week with the original cast, including leads Xu Bin and Chantalle Ng, reuniting.

Pow plays a Vietnamese computer whiz who moved to the United States and who will come between the couple played by Xu and Ng.

As such, about a quarter of his lines are in Vietnamese, which is one reason for his stress.

Ng set a high bar in the original drama, winning praise for her portrayal of Vietnamese bride Fangcao.

With only a short time to master the language, Pow has been taking a crash course in Vietnamese as well as practising with language app Duolingo.

He confessed he has "zero knowledge of Vietnamese words" other than "banh mi" and "pho", as well as how to say "hello" and "thank you".

"I am quite worried 'cos this is something we need to be very sensitive about, but I also feel like it will be a great opportunity as an actor and I want to take up this challenge," he said. "I hope to do a very good and convincing job that makes people feel like I tried my best."