Fang Rong plays a young Joanne Peh in Last Madame prequel, was frequently told she looks like the actress
Even in her days as a child actress, Fang Rong was compared in looks to Joanne Peh, and even acted alongside her in a drama. Now she plays the teenage version of Peh’s Last Madame character in the new drama Sisters Of The Night.
Period drama Last Madame aired in 2019, but we haven’t seen the last of it. The show, starring Joanne Peh as the undercover-feminist owner of a brothel in 1930s Singapore, made headlines back then – it was the first M18 show to air on Toggle, now meWATCH, promising salacious thrills; and it picked up a bevy of awards.
Now, it has a second instalment: A prequel titled Sisters Of The Night, starring Fang Rong as a younger version of Peh’s character Fung Lan, and Gini Chang as a younger version of Ah Yoke, the loyal maid.
Viewers saw Fang Rong as a young Fung Lan – birth name Qing Ling – in flashback scenes in Last Madame, but this time, the character’s backstory is fully fleshed out.
And while Qing Ling runs away from her life of oppressive luxury and arranged marriage, Ah Yoke, named Nozomi, battles poverty and fights for survival in one of 1920s Singapore’s Japanese brothels. The two develop a bond of sisterhood forged through shared tragedy involving espionage, misogyny and gangsters.
The show also stars Terence Cao, Zhang Ze Tong, Cynthia Macquarrie and Lim Kay Tong, along with Japanese actor Yusuke Fukuchi and Korean actress Min Ji-oh.
Our burning question for 27-year-old Fang Rong was this: What did her parents say when she told them she’d be in an M18 show, playing a character who later goes on to run a brothel, with potentially risque scenes?
“I didn’t exactly break the news explicitly,” she said with a chuckle. “I just told my parents, ‘Oh, remember that show Last Madame that I did? I’m going to be doing a prequel to that.’
"For preparation, I watched Last Madame, and I watched some episodes with my mum, as well.’ So, mum got a bit of a heads up about how there’d be “some scenes that just might be a little bit awkward”.
Although producers told her that there was no need to copy Peh’s mannerisms in Last Madame, Fang Rong “felt it was important to embody her spirit and her zest for freedom, independence and girl power”, she told us.
And, “It’s truly an honour to be able to play ‘young Joanne Peh’. Fun fact: I acted with her when I was a kid, in a show where she acted as my teacher and I acted as a kid with intellectual disabilities. That show won me a nomination for the Young Talent award at the Star Awards that year. And so, it was a very nice full-circle moment to be able to portray her in Last Madame and also Sisters Of The Night.”
On that note, “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve actually received a lot of comments over the years from directors, cameramen and crew members. They say, ‘Hey, when you smile, you kind of look a bit like Joanne Peh’. I always thought that was one of the biggest compliments ever. It’s kind of nice that I got to play her character.”
In the course of her career as a child actress, she’s played younger versions of many actresses’ characters, including Rebecca Lim and Zoe Tay, she shared. Of course, Sisters Of The Night marks the first time it’s been more than a few flashback scenes.
It’s also the first time she’s working with Gini Chang and Zhang Ze Tong of Star Search 2019 fame – two actors she’s long wanted to collaborate with.
“When I watched Gini’s performance in the Star Search finals, I was mesmerised by her acting and knew that I really wanted to work with her,” Fang Rong said. “The chemistry between us was amazing on set as sisters of the night!”
And, “I was also super excited to work with Ze Tong as a love interest for the first time because whenever we bumped into each other, we’d say, ‘One day, we need to work together’. We finally got the chance. And, actually, on a random note, I dreamt of filming with Ze Tong a week before I found out he had been cast. I somewhat predicted it in a way, in my dreams, or manifested it in some sense!”
The most impactful part of the role, though, is that Qing Ling is “so ahead of her time”, Fang Rong said. “I think it’s important to have female characters who continue to show that it is possible to push the boundaries of society’s status quo or what we have been accustomed to accepting.”
She continued: "Sisters Of The Night and Last Madame are fronted by a female producer, directors and scriptwriters. I think it’s important to have the story and concept driven by females, especially for a show that (talks) about female exploitation, rape and difficult topics that pertain to the female gender. It’s important to navigate that space with strong female directors and producers who are able to tell the story in an authentic manner, and in a manner that gives women power.
“I think that’s exactly how Sisters Of The Night has been done, as with Last Madame, and I’m so proud, and I can’t wait for the world to see this, and to receive the message that in spite of being in a difficult situation, we are able to rise above and. against all odds, still thrive.”
Catch Sisters Of The Night starting Thursday (Jul 13) on meWATCH and on Mediacorp YouTube Drama Channel starting Jul 20.