Ah Girls Go Army actress Xixi Lim thinks her character will give plus-sized women ‘more confidence’
The actress explained that her character, Yuan Yuan Yuan, “wasn’t written as a stereotypical fat girl”.
Actress Priscilla Lim – better known as Xixi Lim – has opened up about the negativity surrounding her character’s name in Jack Neo’s latest movie, Ah Girls Go Army.
In the film, which opens on Tuesday (Feb 1), Lim plays a National Service (NS) recruit named Yuan Yuan Yuan – “yuan” means round in Chinese. The film has been criticised for its perceived fat-shaming of the character, but Lim begs to differ.
She told 8days.sg that she doesn’t see an issue with her character’s name and “it all depends on how you look at it”.
“My character’s name was meant to be funny but some people think that it’s making fun of my body. When I saw that, I thought to myself: Even if my character wasn’t called Yuan Yuan Yuan, people would still make fun of or comment on my body. I don’t see an issue with the name itself and I do think that it’s one that you can remember easily,” she said.
Instead, after first reading the script, Lim thought that it would give plus-sized women “more confidence” because her character “wasn’t written as a stereotypical fat girl” and she never comes in last when it comes to physical activities as she has “great stamina”.
“It shows that plus-sized women can do more than you think we can,” Lim added.
Director Neo’s film is an extension of his Ah Boys To Men franchise only this time, it explores the possibility of women going for NS.
Lim shared that she decided to accept the role because she saw a “glimmer of hope” in that aspect.
“I hope that people know that plus-sized women can be physically active too,” she said.
The local actress says she does “feel extremely hurt” when she sees nasty comments online although nowadays she tries not to take it to heart as much.
“There will be some people who will always think on the negative side but if you give the movie a chance, you’ll come to realise that Yuan Yuan Yuan’s character isn’t what you think it is,” said Lim.