Chen Hanwei and Ann Kok reunite in new drama Healing Heroes – and reminisce about Morning Express
Some of the other cast members of Healing Heroes, a new medical-themed series set in a hospital, were too young to know the 1995 drama.
Upcoming drama Healing Heroes, which is set in a hospital and follows the lives of several staff members, stars Chen Hanwei as a senior doctor and Ann Kok as a head nurse.
And at the media conference to promote the show, Chen and Kok discussed their chemistry, which extends off-screen.
“We’ve had chemistry since Morning Express. She played my student,” said Chen, referring to the 1995 drama in which he played teacher Mr Fang, one of his most iconic characters.
Kok revealed that while filming for Healing Heroes, Chen was so happy because “we got along so well” that “he put on some weight”, to which Chen retorted, “I always put on weight when I’m working on a drama, because when I’m not, I sleep in every day and miss meals.”
Chen also noted that it’s the first occasion since Morning Express that he and Kok have reunited in a drama with a significant number of shared scenes.
Kok mumbled in mock embarrassment, “Could you not bring that up?” Meanwhile, the younger cast members looked puzzled – they had been infants when the drama aired.
In Healing Heroes, the latest batch of Star Search alumni get a chance to shine: Zhang Zetong, Herman Keh, Gini Chang and Sheryl Ang play a quartet of rookie doctors just beginning their medical careers at the hospital. There are also appearances by Zhai Siming, Kiki Lim and more.
The actors revealed a behind-the-scenes secret: Because of Keh’s towering height of 1.91m, Chang and Ang had to elevate themselves for close-up scenes. Even Ang, who’s 1.75m, was asked to stand on a sandbag, she said. Chang, a petite 1.55m, quipped that she thought she should just purchase her own box to stand on, and take it along with her to all her scenes.
Also part of the Healing Heroes cast are Pierre Png, Paige Chua, Zhang Yao Dong and Shaun Chen, whose professional and personal lives become increasingly complicated.
Playing surgeons and experienced doctors, their scripts were full of medical jargon, they shared.
“When you play a doctor, lawyer or military personnel, you have a lot of instructions to learn,” Chua said. “Being a doctor isn’t easy – if you really want to deliver your lines well, you have to spend a lot of time doing research, so you sound like you know what you're talking about.”
Catch Healing Heroes on demand for free on meWATCH from Aug 8, or from Aug 9 on Channel 8 after the National Day Parade. Subsequent episodes will air on weekdays at 7.30pm.
