‘It’s only 1 month of lessons’: Back from New York, Elvin Ng plays down expectations of acting improvements

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Elvin Ng may have taken an acting course in New York last year, but he has asked audiences not to expect too much of a difference.

In June 2022, Elvin told AsiaOne that he was attending a four-week course at the New York Film Academy.

Addressing concerns on whether he would stop acting upon his return, Elvin said that he hoped that he would come back to Singapore as “a better and more enriched version of [himself] as an actor and person”.

Despite this, the 42-year-old told Lianhe Zaobao recently that, though his audience may be looking forward to seeing a different version of himself after his lessons, he doesn’t “live to meet other people’s expectations”.

“It is a good thing that the audience has expectations of me. I also have expectations for myself,” he said. “However, I only took one month of lessons, and although I have new insights, it doesn’t mean that I have changed.”

Elvin’s last role was in the Channel 8 drama The Heartland Hero back in 2021. When it came to his absence, he explained to the Chinese daily that he had accepted a movie role last year, but it didn’t pan out.

Following that, he went to New York.

“After I returned from my course, there were no casting opportunities, and the company also wanted to recruit more newcomers,” he said. “It’s not just me, some artistes shoot more scenes, and some artistes shoot fewer.”

Elvin is finally returning to our screens in the upcoming Channel 8 drama My One and Only, where he acts alongside Ya Hui.

Ya Hui plays Shen Baoyou, a former director of a production company who joins the real estate company Home Sweet Home, headed by Money Min (Zoe Tay) alongside rookie Ma Zhong Yi (Zhai Siming). Elvin plays Wan Defu, who had feelings for Baoyou when they met years ago at the production company, but was rejected by Bayou so she could focus on her career.

She finally returns his feelings in the present day, but Defu is the one who is hesitant this time.

Despite the tumultuous relationship their characters share, Elvin insisted that it’s one characterised by “cuteness” too.

“Ya Hui and I had to act cute,” he said. “The characters’ ages are a little bit different to our own, but it’s not too different.”