Vernetta Lopez as a Peranakan aunty detective? She stars in a new murder mystery with Rebecca Lim, Pierre Png
In Aunty Lee’s Deadly Delights, an upcoming English-language drama based on the series by Odivia Yu, Lopez plays the owner of a Peranakan cafe and an amateur sleuth who, along with a cast of characters, exposes the community’s crimes and secrets.
Vernetta Lopez and Rebecca Lim are part of the cast of new drama Aunty Lee's Deadly Delights. (Photo: CNA/Joyee Koo)
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Vernetta Lopez thought she was auditioning for a supporting role, but when she turned up in front of the casting team, she was instead handed a script for a lead role.
“I was like, ‘I think you guys gave me the wrong script’,” recounted the longtime actress and former Gold 905 DJ.
It was no mistake, though. In the weeks prior, Lopez had mentioned to director Lee Thean Jeen that she was hoping to do a film project. “I said: ‘I want to act. I’ve been craving it. Please, anything.’ He said: ‘What about your radio schedule?’ I said, ‘I’ll work around it’.”
She was perfect for the role Lee had in mind: Aunty Rosie Lee, a formidable Peranakan woman who runs a Peranakan cafe. The story, based on the series of detective novels by Singaporean writer Ovidia Yu, follows Aunty Lee and her friends as they expose the crimes and secrets of the community, all over tea and Nyonya kueh. Other cast members include Rebecca Lim, Pierre Png, Alawdin Ali and Sheryl Ang. The show debuts on Jan 19.
Lopez herself is Peranakan on her mother’s side (and Eurasian on her father’s side), so she’s right at home in a kebaya. Although, “The outfits are a bit modern fusion – I wear pants. Sarongs are quite difficult to run around in. And, if I put on weight, I don’t have to worry too much,” she quipped.
At the same time, she felt “a lot of responsibility” in depicting Peranakan culture, she said.
“I’m Peranakan, but I have to make sure that I don’t make any Peranakans angry! I want to be able to give them what I feel is authentically Peranakan.”
She continued: “There’s been a whole wave of Peranakan love, right, which is great, but, it’s all in Mandarin. That’s not the Peranakan culture that I grew up with. I had to try to be authentic to what I remember. I thought of my grandmother, aunties and cousins. And, I asked my mum for advice on how to say certain words.”
Even though these words might technically be in Malay, “we have a unique way of saying it”. “There’s that pressure to be as authentic as possible, even though it’s in the realm of TV. You just want to get it non-cringy, lah,” said the 52-year-old, who studied Malay in school “but failed badly”.
On that note, “we have English as the base, but we also have a lot of Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and even Tagalog” in the show, Lopez said. “That, to me, is unique and, I think, quintessentially Singapore. We have all these languages and cultures – why not celebrate it? Who gives a rat’s hairy butt whether we say ‘lah’ or not? It’s us. It’s not grammatically wrong to say ‘lah’. Let’s just embrace what we are and enjoy it, lah.”
Which of her fellow cast members would she point a finger at first in a whodunnit?
“Pierre, because have you seen his face? Guilty, lah.” She stopped to reconsider: “Then again, the most innocent ones, like Rebecca – very sweet; many times when we talk about stuff she goes, ‘Oh, really?’ So innocent. She’s hiding it. She’s probably the naughtiest.”
In truth, everyone is having a ton of fun on set, Lopez said. “For one, the scripts are a lot of fun. You’ve got interesting cases. And then, you’ve got a cast that is just so much fun to work with. In between takes, we’re laughing and having heart-to-heart talks. It makes life so much easier. And the crew are so much fun, as well – they have themed days for how to dress to come into work. Neon pink one day, beach wear the next. It’s very cute.”
Catch Aunty Lee’s Deadly Delights starting Jan 19 on mewatch and Channel 5.
