Rose petals lined the aisle in the quaint chapel in CHIJMES, where Rui En’s ‘wedding’ was held to promote her new romantic drama You Are The One. Together with her screen sisters Nnadia Chan, Jacelyn Tay and their beaus, Rui En sashayed down the aisle in a frilly white wedding dress and 3-inch heels, hands clasped over the elbow of a dashing Terence Cao.
The immaculately coiffed hairdo, ultra feminine dress and high heels are every bit of dainty Hao Meide (her character in the drama) and none of tomboyish Rui En.
“I have not a single skirt or dress in my closet.” Rui En proclaimed unapologetically. Add to that, no heels too!
Claiming to be living in pants, shorts and slippers all the time with her clothes bought overseas and online, her favourite clothing brands include American labels Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap. Getting used to MeideÂ’s wardrobe of feminine pieces definitely needed some work.
“Y’know when you wear heels you have to gelek (sashay) a bit? After the Executive Producer saw one of my scenes, she told me I must learn how to walk gracefully. I generally don’t walk gracefully. Luckily I haven’t tripped over in my heels yet! I thought I would actually,” she confessed.
Incidentally, falling down appeared to be a common occurrence in Rui EnÂ’s childhood. So prone to falling down (she doesnÂ’t know why) was she that she now has a lot of scars on her knees.
The cherubic singer-actress further stressed that walking around in heels is so uncomfortable that in any of her shows where the spiked tortuous creation was in use, sheÂ’d be traipsing in slippers until itÂ’s time to film.
Growing up, the 23-year-old spent a lot of time with her male cousin doing ‘boy things’ like cycling, playing video games and watching wrestling matches. But the rough and tumble lifestyle had a short hiatus during the impressionable teenage years.
She said, “You hit the adolescence and suddenly, you become interested in boys, clothes, make-up, hair…For a period, I was quite girly. And then I realize after a couple of years that, nah, that is really not me. I was only doing it because everyone else was.”
Doing her own thang has worked well for her in the years since she started modeling at age 18, with her debut album released in 2002, and acting/hosting in shows like Chemistry, Achar, Gotcha, and My Mighty In-Laws. Rui En is now waiting patiently for music producer cum Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim to produce her next Mandarin album. In the meantime, get your dose of Rui En in You Are The One, starting Feb 14 at 9pm!
