Grace, a new HBO Asia original production, combines two of this region's favourite genres: horror and family drama, in the hope to capture the sentiments of Asian television spectators.
Russell Wong as Roy Chan, the patriarch of the Chan clan whose past wrongdoings come back to haunt his family.
"It's a family drama mixed with Asian horror. It's kind of like a Greek tragedy with an Asian twist," said Singapore-based actor George Young who plays Charles Lau.
Grace, which begins airing tonight, is a four-part mini series that bills itself as a character-driven psychological thriller by blending "a Western approach towards the horror conventions of Asia".
The series centres around the affluent Chan family, a hotel business mogul. Roy Chan, played by Chinese-American Hollywood actor Russell Wong, is married into the tycoon family of Angela Chan, played by Singaporean star Constance Song, with three daughters. A devoted father but a cheating husband, Chan's entanglement with a mistress Ya Yi, played by US-based Singaporean actress Pamelyn Chee, brings about horrific consequences for his family and darkness ensues.
"It's a morality tale. It opens up discussion about family. It's about your own choice you make in life. It's in a horror genre, but it's not just all about that," said Australian director Tony Tilse. "It's an emotional exploration of those bonds that tie us together and how the betrayal can have devastation consequences."
Following the success of 10-part series Serangoon Road last year, Grace, shot in English, is HBO Asia's third original production, but is the first that's entirely germinated and developed by the company with an entire Asian ensemble cast, which also has Taiwanese rising star Teresa Daley (Transformers: Age Of Extinction) and New Zealand based Yoson An (Ghost Bride) and veteran Singaporean actors Lim Kay Tong (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) and Lim Yu Beng (Anna And The King). With Wong's name attached to the project, the international element also comes into play as Wong's long standing Hollywood career includes The Joy Luck Club, New Jack City and The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor. Wong also starred in Serangoon Road.
He said he's happy to be back working on another Asian production with an international flavour.
"In the States, there's still a bit of stereotyping going on [with Asian actors being] fitted into the martial arts genre, and at my age, it's not working so well. Sometimes roles are very stereotypical; the gangster thing or the martial art thing. After a while it gets monotonous. This one works well for me, I mean I'd rather be fighting ghosts. I've worked with various projects with various budgets. To be honest, I feel more comfortable in Asian environments. Like when I work with Wayne Wang for example, I feel comfortable and safe. It's like there's an appreciation. As far as productions go, I think they're more or less the same depending on the budgets. With Grace being made in Asia and with Asian content in English, I think it can travel universally. I think it's a great opportunity for Asian stories to be told to the world," Wong added.
It's a slightly different story for Constance Song, who has appeared in countless Chinese dramas over the span of her career. Song actually auditioned for a minor role, but her performance was impressive enough to be recast as one of leading characters for Grace. Song said she has quit full-time acting for the past couple of years to concentrate on her own business, and she can be more selective with roles. When Grace came along she jumped on board without hesitation.
"Initially, there were some [language] difficulties. I had some help from a coach, and I went to an English friend who helped me with the lines," she said. "It's a different way of acting between Chinese and English language dramas. The main difference is in Chinese drama, we have to memorise pages and pages of dialogues. But for this one, maybe it's just two lines, but it tells everything! My memory is not that great, so this is quite good," Song added.
Pamelyn Chee, who also plays another lead role as Wong's character's mistress, works on both sides of the world. She also spots the differences.
"I think being emotional is overrated. Especially in Asian television where we tend to pull the dirty tricks of crying when we're upset, and to a lot of people that's the benchmark of good acting. You don't have to shed a single tear for your acting to be excellent. I don't feel like it's all about being emotional when it comes to acting. There are different levels and layers that a character has. It could be scary. It could be wild. There are other things to be explored," said Chee.
With the cast and crew keeping mum about the plot details, what we could glean from them is that the affair sets off a series of scary events with family conflicts, secrets and revenge, with the Chan family hotel serving as a spooky background.
"What is different about Grace is the perspectives of the supernatural without elaborating more. I don't think it has been done from this perspective at all. For me it's a story of love gone wrong. There are so many layers to Grace that you can see. You can see a family drama. You can see a love story. There's a little bit of everything for everyone without diluting the content," said Chee.
As ghost and horror movies have been firm favourites among Asian viewers for generations, it can be difficult to think if there are any other ways to portray abundant Asian mythological spookiness and psychology of fear without repeating signature stylised approaches of silent eeriness, comical spooked runs or the blood and gore-fest often seen in the region's treatment of the supernatural. Tilse said Grace stays as far away as possible from using CGI and typical scare tactics.
"It's about the kind of tension that spreads around you in the room. I think it's about the silences in a weird kind of way. It's about atmosphere. There won't be guts and gasps. There won't be blood, or heads being cut off, and we don't use cheap shots to get people scared. The scare has to come from your own imagination, and that process is quite challenging and fun to do because you're relying on building an atmosphere. There's a mystery to be solved. There's an ambiguity to it all the way through," said Tilse. "Stylistically, each episode has a slightly different feel and tonal texture. The style changes throughout the show. Having said that, it's a very sleek looking show."
"We build it up slowly. You have to take in all the clues, the hints and the timing of things as well as the sound, the lighting and the camera angles. It's the tempo that makes it scary," Wong added.
Besides experiencing the internal fear, appreciating Asian heritage and discussing family dynamics and ancestry, the cast of Grace also hopes that the viewers will learn lessons in forgiveness, karma, and: "Be careful whom you date!" said Wong, laughing.
Pamelyn Chee as Ya Yi, Roy Chan's mistress.
