The beautiful cheongsams of Miss S - a new HBO Asia original series set in 1930s Shanghai about a socialite who runs a detective agency - were so appealing to the lead star, Chinese actress Ma Yili, that she took three sets home for herself.
The series, a Chinese adaptation of the Australian series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012 to 2015), has over 100 costumes just for Ma. The 30-parter premieres today exclusively on HBO Go.
"I love all the costumes. They are so beautiful. I was given the chance to pick some pieces for myself and I kept three cheongsams - a red sleeveless one, a green one with transparent lace in the back and a black lace one," Ma, 44, who plays the titular Miss S, said in a video call with the Singapore press.
"To be honest, I regret not keeping more pieces."
And while cheongsams are body-hugging outfits, the mother of two daughters said she is lucky to be blessed with a svelte figure to do them justice. She is 1.64m tall.
"I'm someone who metabolises pretty quickly and I happened to be at my slimmest during the filming of this series. I was only about 42kg then," added Ma, who has acted in drama series such as My Fair Princess III (2003).
The 1930s Shanghai setting of the show appealed to her too as she is a native of the city and gets to flaunt her Shanghainese in the show.
"I've always been quite taken with the 1930s. I have yet to see a Shanghai woman of that era portrayed in the image I have in my heart. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to play this role," she said.
In the series, Ma's character - Miss S, also known as Su Wenli - is a wealthy and single heiress who becomes a private detective. She is up against a police inspector, played by Vengo Gao, who is reluctant to let a civilian meddle in police work.
Ma said of her character: "She's great at wheedling and being sweet to people to get what she wants. She knows when to soften and apologise, she knows exactly what to do in different situations.
"I'm not as slick in social interactions and I'm not as fearless as her either."
In fact, Ma felt her character was almost too perfect to be true.
"In my mind, she's sort of an idealistic heroine. There were more combat scenes planned for me initially, but I told the production team I don't want her to be able to do so many things. Let the inspector (Gao) protect her a bit."
The strapping Gao (Eternal Love Of Dream, 2020) looks the part of a suave inspector but Ma, who divorced her husband Chinese actor Wen Zhang last year, said he was "shy and nervous" at first.
She said: "He warmed up quickly though. There was a scene where my character sprains her leg and he carries her and we flirt. We ad-libbed that scene and didn't even rehearse it, we just bounced lines off each other. That was when I felt he had truly settled into the role and our scenes went smoothly."
She loved the show, but her acting was deemed over-the-top by some viewers when the series aired in China earlier this year.
Ma was unfazed. "I meant for the performance to be over-the-top and a bit dramatic because to me, she's an almost fantastical, very idealised character. The drama is very stylised too and I matched my performance to that stylistic manner."
