STEP UP

FROM TIKTOK TO THE BIG SCREEN, RISING STAR GLENN YONG SPEAKS HIS MIND ON THE JOYS OF ACTING AND USING HISVOICE FOR GOOD.

- JEFFREY YAN

The spark that turned into the flame in Glenn Yong’s acting career was ignited by Leonardo DiCaprio. “When I watched Catch Me If You Can, where he played a con man who impersonated, among other things, a pilot, banker, lawyer and policeman, it made me realise that as an actor, you can really try out so many lives. That’s not something you can do with an office job,” says Yong.

These days, the 25-year-old has plenty of imaginary lives to keep him busy. Yong made his debut as a lead actor this past September in Mediacorp’s Live Your Dreams and can be seen next in the latest installment of Jack Neo’s Ah Boys to Men movie franchise, Ah Girls Go Army, slated for release next year.

It wasn’t so long ago that Yong himself was an army recruit with time on his hands and social media at his disposal. “I was doing my National Service in 2018 and I started posting a lot of TikTok videos. That was when TikTok really took off and I was probably one of its earlier adopters. Some of those videos went viral, and that’s kind of when people started noticing me and asking me for shoots and shows,” he shares.