Singaporean actor Xie Shaoguang, 62, makes showbiz comeback after 19-year hiatus

It’s been a long while since the local entertainment scene has had news this big. The peerless, the legendary, the venerated Xie Shaoguang has come out of seclusion. He’s ready to pick up where he left off.

It’s well known that in 2005, the 62-year-old Shaoguang, winner of five Best Actor and two Best Supporting Actor Star Awards, famously left it all behind at the peak of his career to take up Buddhist monkhood, run an animal sanctuary and cook at a vegetarian restaurant in Malaysia. In that time, he’s steered clear of social media, rejected all pleas to appear in the public eye and cultivated a profile lower than a dachshund’s belly.

So, why has he suddenly resurfaced, a glowing phoenix from the ashes of self-imposed obscurity?

First off, it should be noted that he doesn’t yet have any confirmed acting projects lined up, so we won’t be seeing him on screen all that soon. This is more of an “I’m on the market” announcement – single and ready to mingle with some good roles, so to speak.

The idea was sparked when “my ex-manager asked me to have sharing sessions with young actors” back in 2022. “It was fun. I have a method of how to connect with roles and I try to help others who haven’t found the key,” he said (the method involves never judging a character and never approaching it from a moral high horse).

“Acting has always been my passion. She said, ‘Since you’re passionate about this, why don’t you come back?’”

His ex-manager, who currently heads up Mediacorp’s The Celebrity Agency, pointed out that since he’d been turning down offers for such a long time, it would be useful to let people know that he’s now open to taking on acting roles.

“I’m waiting for the (right) role to find me and if I can contribute to the role and make it more dimensional, then it’s a very good cooperation,” he said.

What’s more, he added, “When I meet fans and supporters, they always say, ‘Why don’t you act? When will you act again?’ I say, ‘If there’s an opportunity, I will’,” Shaoguang told CNA Lifestyle. “Now, I want to say to them, ‘I wasn’t lying’.

“I hope my timing is right.”

That line strikes us as ironic – could there possibly be a bad time? In the nearly two decades he’s been gone, his fellow actors have constantly brought his name up in tones of reverence, citing his acting skills as aspirational. No one has forgotten him.

When he left all those years ago, “I was on a quest of spiritual rediscovery. I was burnt out,” he said. The intense work schedule, the demanding action scenes, “were starting to take a toll on my health”.

In The Legends Of Ji Gong, for instance – one of his most beloved roles – “I worked for four or five months straight, sleeping an average of three hours a day… Eventually, you find, ‘Oh dear, I recharge after, but why do I deplete so quickly?’”

Then there was the death of his father in 2006 due to pancreatic cancer. “You think of the bigger stuff, the more philosophical stuff.” He realised there were some issues he hadn’t come to terms with, like the loss of his grandparents.

“When I was acting and playing all these characters and dealing with the emotions, it was a good release. It helped me understand.” Still, the busyness of work kept him from being fully in touch with himself.

“It affected my private life. The audience would say, ‘Oh, you did a good job’, but I don’t think I did a very good job in my private life.” There wasn’t much time spent with loved ones. He started to find he was “not a very nice person because when you’re so invested in your job, you don’t really have warmth oozing out of you". 

“That’s when I found that a job is not everything.”

During his time away from the limelight, he set up an animal shelter for dogs, cats, retired racehorses and even the occasional cow, pig or deer. “When you take care of stray dogs, you look like a wanderer yourself,” he laughed.

But, “I’m always very glad they appear in my life.” He opened a vegetarian eatery to subsidise the animal sanctuary, working on everything from menu design to interiors and cooking in the kitchen daily. From 2013, he was a Buddhist monk for two and a half years; from that experience, his biggest takeaway was that “you need to feel loved in order to love. You have to have the ability to accept and give love”.

He also started volunteering with cancer patients, finding he had a knack for spending time with them and “just listening” – something he still does here in Singapore today.

His famous reclusiveness was because “since I was on a break from the industry, I didn’t want to hog the limelight. I mean, what could I have offered?”

He moved back to Singapore just before the COVID-19 pandemic. “I gave myself a period of time to set up the animal sanctuary. I set up the restaurant, everything was running smoothly. Then, I did a handover. Everything was done. I think I’ve done my job. I don't have the energy to keep on going like this,” he chuckled. “I think, now, it’s time for me to relax a bit.”

Getting back onto a film set doesn’t really sound like a life of leisure, but it’s what he loves. “I think it’s time – everything has fallen into place nicely. I have been passionate about acting all this time – I never left. It’s just that I wasn’t playing roles. I was playing roles in my mind, whenever I read a novel or watched a movie.”

He’s eager to work with any and every actor, from his former co-stars to younger actors just starting out. “Oh, give me anyone,” he exclaimed. “After all these years, I think everybody has grown. I will try to have new chemistry with them.”

One of the young actors he’s got his eye on is Richie Koh. “I find that Richie is very relaxed – he can slip into the character without making you think that he is acting. I find him very comfortable to watch.”

What many people don’t know is that Shaoguang himself started out landing only cameo roles back in 1989.

“I didn’t have the typical ‘idol’ look,” he chuckled. “I was just a character actor. They didn’t know how to place me. So, if I was a waiter, eventually they’d say, ‘Oh, he’s a very good waiter,’ and the next time, I would get a role with a speaking part. I started off playing perverts and villains that nobody wanted to play. Many actors thought it would be bad for their image. I proved myself and earned my next role. Eventually, I went on to play good guys, or very dramatic roles, and even a comedian like in Holland V.”

For that reason, he hasn’t thought about whether he needs to re-debut with a big bang or not. “I just want to give my best. If I earn another role, it all depends on luck and timing i guess.” When he reads the right script, he’ll know it’s the one. If it “explores human nature and human psychology, I think that’s a plus”.

If he receives a warm welcome back, “I’m very grateful because what makes an actor recognised is always the audience. Without the audience, you are nobody. And even if the audience recognises you, you’re still a nobody because you can only be somebody by playing a role.

"So, I’m always thankful and grateful for my viewers. They’re very supportive, very respectful, and they always give me my freedom, in a way. They always give me a quiet nudge (when) they say, ‘We like watching your shows, when are you coming back?’

"I hear them.”