Eye Of The Tiger

What does a successful local actor do when after struggling for 16 years he has achieved regional fame? Lawrence Wong decided to pursue his next dream, his Grail

- Jonathan Ho

GOOGLE SEARCH “LAWRENCE WONG” and the Singaporean actor isn’t who appears on the first page. That honour goes to Singapore’s Finance Minister. Of course, it isn’t odd that the search engine is prioritising the political importance of a Minister over the soft power of an actor’s celebritydom. We are still navigating a pandemic and its economic repercussions after all. It must be noted however that Lawrence Wong is one of this country’s biggest cultural exports since Chin Han (issue 167). He has even gone on to become the 35th most influential actor in China. The latter came about after Wong became frustrated at the local TV station’s lack of recognition for his talent (perpetually casting him in bit roles), and took himself to China, where he snagged a role of a lifetime: as palace guard-turned-general in The Story of Yanxi Palace.

With millions of views on streaming platforms, one might imagine Wong to become self-contented, but no. Having struggled early on in his career has sharpened his resilience to setbacks as well as his resolve to succeed. And now Wong is finding success in another field altogether – a cosmetic start-up called “Grail”.

Did you always know you wanted to be an actor?

I wanted to be a vet. Initially, I wanted to be an architect because I have an uncle who is an architect, and I always looked up to him and yearned to be well respected by everyone, just like he is, But as I got older, I discovered a love for animals, and a desire to take care of them and make them well. I didn’t think about acting till much later.