What a difference a single show can make.
Since
Jeanette Aw‘s star turn
in the ‘The
Little Nyonya’ in November 2008, life has
never been the same for her and her career.
Her portrayal of both Huang Juxiang and
Yamamoto Yueniang in the local period
MediaCorp Channel 8 drama earned her a new legion of new fans
who identified with her strong but silent, long-suffering roles, as
well as the show’s uniquely Peranakan food and culture.
It earned her a Best Actress nomination in the
2009 Star Awards, a
category which Joanne Peh eventually clinched the
award for her performance in same drama.
Set in the 1930s, Jeanette played the role of Huang
Juxiang, a woman who runs away from home after she is forced to
marry a wealthy man.
Along the way, she falls in love with a young Japanese
photographer with whom she has a baby daughter,
Yueniang. Tragedy strikes when Juxiang and her husband are
killed during World War II, leaving behind their 8 year-old
daughter.
Jeanette then returns as Yueniang, a long-suffering
orphan growing up in her
grandparents’ Peranakan home and who finds
herself suffering the same fate as her mother, who
was cruelly discriminated against and tortured by
her relatives.
The Little Nyonya averaged 934,000 viewers during
its 34-episode run, and peaked at 1.67 million viewers on
the two-hour series finale — the highest viewership rating
ever since 1994. At one point, the show was so popular that every
twist and turn became office banter fodder. Chinese and
even Indian and Malay audiences were, one and all,
captivated.
The show has since been screened and picked up by various
broadcasters in Malaysia, Myanmar, France, U.S., China,
Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
“I am very lucky with ‘The Little Nyonya’ because
it helped open up opportunities for me. We received very good
feedback on the show and it has travelled to many places, taking me
to Cannes, China, Hong Kong and Thailand,” said Jeanette, who
recently celebrated her 31st birthday.
Thank to the show, Aw has become a household name and gone
on to clinch lead roles in Rhythm of Lives, Together and
New Beginnings and will soon begin filming a new drama
where she plays a woman with a multiple personality disorder. The
show also catapulted Aw into the top bracket of
MediaCorp’s A-Listers, and she’s also been rewarded with a
stream of endorsements from New Moon Abalone, Osim and
NETS.
Having been in the industry for over 10 years, Jeanette now
tells Yahoo! Singapore her next big dream — to make it
big abroad as well as her qualities she looks for in her dream
guy.
Away from the cameras, Jeanette said she loves to
travel. In fact, she recently packed her bags and went on
a solo trip on a rejuvenation retreat to India.
Why India? So she could relax in a place where nobody knew
who she was and she could indulge in a little
self-reflection.
“When I was there, it was totally different. People were very
simple and friendly, something you wouldn’t see in Singapore. It’s
probably because we are so caught up with work and with luxury
items, and such trips wake you up,” said Jeanette.
Being the youngest of three children and the “baby” of the
family, she revealed it took some convincing for her
parents to give her the green light for her trip.
“My parents were very worried for my safety after hearing
different stories about the place I was visiting. My mum even
offered to follow me,” she said.
Still single, Jeanette admits to having been “in and out of
relationships” and laughingly joked that as she matured and grew
older, the “ideal checklist” for a dream guy gets ever
shorter.
“I would like someone who is romantic and preferably
someone who doesn’t know who I am. He has to be humourous,
faithful and someone I can rely on for the rest of my
life.”
Jeanette also said she has no plans to act
until she’s in her 60s.
“I want to end my career and leave on a high note when it’s time
to move on,” she said.
And what would she do post-acting?
“I would like to be a child psychologist,” she said, before
revealing she studied psychology in university and hoped to
further her studies in future.
“Children are so fun to be with because they are so nice and
innocent,” added Jeanette, who aims to settle down and have
two kids of her own when the time comes.
Now that would be the perfect, fairy-tale ending
for Singapore’s much-loved “Little Nyonya”.