Chuando Tan ready for showbiz at 55

For many actors, especially those new to the job, shooting a nude scene can be nerve-racking.

Not for Chuando Tan. The 55-year-old photographer, model and social media star tells The Straits Times that it was just another day at work.

"To be honest, at my age, and after years of working as a photographer and fashion model, I have worked with nudity. To me, it's just a job," he says in a telephone interview.

He is making his feature film acting debut in the Mandarinlanguage thriller Precious Is The Night, which opens in cinemas today. He plays a writer creating a story based on a real murder, while also portraying the playboy doctor character who appears in the story.

As the doctor, Tan has a sex scene in which his Internet-famous torso, including his buttocks, are shown. In 2017, his sculpted body and unlined face were mentioned in global publications after it was revealed that he was turning 50.

His 1.1 million Instagram followers have seen plenty of his upper half. Going full rear exposure in the M18-rated movie is all part of the game, says the founder of modelling agency Ave Management.

"I knew I had to be professional and not waste time. During production, time is crucial. I'm quite okay with it lah," he says.

That can-do attitude today stands in contrast to his mental state 30 years ago.

Tan began modelling as a teen and, by his 20s, was being groomed for his show business break. He released a Mandopop album in the early 1990s.

"I'm an introvert. A lot of people don't know that. So when I became a recording artiste, I knew I would draw a lot of public attention. But I gave it a go anyway," he says.

Because his album had secured a nomination, he was invited to a music awards show hosted by a Mediacorp radio station. Tan was seated with the likes of Mandopop stars Jacky Cheung and Faye Wong. Tan realised that if his album won, he would have to perform in front of these icons. So panicked was he by the idea that he had "fingers crossed, hoping to not win".

He did not have to sing in the end, but he was traumatised enough by the possibility to know he was not cut out for show business.

"I told the record company that I wanted to quit. After that, I escaped to New York, back to modelling," he says. The flight also ended discussions he had been having with broadcaster Mediacorp's artiste development team.

He is quite different today from the "rebellious boy" he used to be then, the bachelor says. He is now ready to plunge into acting.

The opportunity to do so came a few years ago when he was in China and got a call from representatives of Singapore-based Taiwanese writer-director Wayne Peng.

Peng, 57, an award-winning maker of commercials and director of the dance documentary Burning Dreams (2003), was looking to make his feature film debut. He wanted to cast Tan because he was looking for "someone of a certain age and also good-looking". And experience, or the lack of it, was not a factor.

A couple of meetings was all it took for both men to have full confidence in each other, Tan says.

The film was shot in several Singapore locations, with one bungalow in Katong becoming a key spot.

Tan, who has modelled in commercials and videos but not done much acting otherwise, was thrown into the deep end. Because of how the shoot was scheduled, he had to perform an intense emotional scene on his first day at work.

The crew had expected that the newbie would need several rehearsals to get the tears flowing, so they had not yet set up the filming equipment.

Tan cried on cue so easily, the crew set up the recording gear with haste just in case it was a fluke. It was not and Tan was able to cry several times over.
He says: "I'm the right age now and I'm prepared to go all in, into being an actor."