‘Unlucky, but contented’: Actor Andie Chen waiting for breakout role after latest Star Awards loss

SINGAPORE – For Andie Chen, missing out on the Best Actor prize for the fourth time at the Star Awards in July “definitely stung”.

But two months after the awards ceremony that honours the best in local television, the Singaporean actor is now “okay” with the loss as “it doesn’t affect my quality of life”.

Chen, 40, told The Straits Times over the phone on Sept 16: “I felt disappointed for maybe three, four days, a week at most. But I was never devastated.”

His approach to acting is to do it at a level where he can respect himself, instead of doing it for “outward approval – either for the director, producer or audience”.

“Now, I ask myself if I have done the role and the story justice. Is the representation fair? Is (this) the deepest I can go?”

In his view, he has done right by his latest role as an honest but stubborn police inspector in the fantasy drama Fixing Fate. Also starring Xu Bin, Carrie Wong and Fang Rong, the series premieres on Channel 8 on Oct 2 and will air on weekdays at 9pm. It is available on mewatch from Sept 29.

Although Chen has played cops before, notably in the hit series C.L.I.F. (2011) and Disclosed (2013), the production team trusted him to interpret the Fixing Fate character in his own way and push it further than was originally planned.

He said: “He is not just a policeman who catches the criminal. He is quite a standalone character, and the show goes into his background, career and family. There is also a deep dive into mental health issues.”

He added: “The producers gave me a lot of space to venture, and I thought that made this character quite, dare I say, exciting to watch.”

When it comes to facing obstacles and challenges, Chen has plenty of first-hand experience. Despite winning the Star Search acting competition in 2007 and being in the industry for 18 years, he has failed to win a single Star Award.

He has been nominated for Best Actor four times and Best Supporting Actor six times. He has also been nominated for the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes prize five times.

Even his colleagues have come together to encourage him, with veteran local actors Chen Hanwei and Hong Huifang posting on social media after Star Awards 2025 that he lacked “a little bit of luck”.

Andie Chen admitted: “To an extent, yes, I am unlucky because I am still waiting for that breakout role. I hope someone will take a chance on me.”

However, he clarified that he stands by all his previous career decisions and is “happy and contented”.

“If that means I have to be unlucky for the rest of my life, I am okay with that... Whatever the future holds still feels very exciting.”

For now, he will continue shuttling between Singapore and Taipei, where he moved to in 2020 with his wife, Taiwanese actress Kate Pang, 42, and their son Aden, 11, and daughter Avery, nine. He is currently a freelancer in both cities.

Earlier media reports said he battled depression upon relocating that year, while taking care of both kids when Pang worked overseas.

He clarified that he had used the word loosely in his social media posts, and was not clinically diagnosed with depression.

He told ST: “You must understand it was a very stressful time. We were in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and a lot of my work was shot halfway and then cancelled or postponed. Financially, it was very rough.”

These days, Chen feels much better, although he did see a psychologist once earlier in 2025 and was prescribed anti-anxiety medication. He went for the session because Pang observed he would get grumpy over or be triggered by insignificant events.

But he assured that he is currently in a good place, both physically and mentally. Acknowledging that he has always been a “sickly boy”, he rekindled his love for sports in recent years.

He recently participated in a charity cycling trip for Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore as part of the Mediacorp production Pedal On For Love, which sees 11 celebrities including Chen Hanwei, Felicia Chin, Darren Lim and Tay Ping Hui coming together for an expedition starting from Kunming, China, to Singapore.

The 10-episode variety series will be available on demand for free from Oct 2 on mewatch. It will also air at 8pm on Channel 8 on Thursdays from Oct 2.

Andie Chen said of his involvement: “It was an amazing cause, but a terrifying ask. Before the show, my only cycling experience was riding in the park with my kids.

“But right now, for the first time in my life, I feel like I can push myself athletically, and it is very exciting.”