Code of Law Cast Share On and Off Screen Insights
Post Date: 20 Jun 2018
The stars of Mediacorp Channel 5’s top-rated crime-drama series, Code of Law, visited Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Business on May 25th, to share their insights on the industry along with director, Mr Lee Thien-Jeen.
The session, hosted by 987fm DJ, Natasha Faizal, gave students from the Diploma in Communications & Media Management and the Diploma in Law & Management a chance to interact with the cast which consisted of Desmond Tan, Michelle Wong and Jitenram “Jiten” Kiran Bala, as they discussed stories from behind the scenes and experiences on and off set.
In this season of Code of Law, Thien-Jeen explained that a handful of the criminal cases explored were based on social issues as well as true stories.
“It was important for us to have somebody who could advise us on the process as well as the more interesting aspects of the law,” explained the director.
Desmond Tan, also known as the “Nice Singaporean Boy” who is a serial killer, explained that in order to fully immerse himself into his character, he had watched many documentaries and studied interviews about murderers, one of which was the infamous American serial killer Ted Bundy. According to Desmond, this was in efforts to be “more real than centric” in terms of portraying the essence of his character.
During the hour-long session, Desmond and fellow co-star, Michelle Wong spontaneously got on their feet and roleplayed a punching scene where Desmond threw a fake punch at Michelle, causing the whole lecture theatre to erupt into laughter.
“It takes technique to punch, but it also takes technique to be punched,” Michelle remarked.
Michelle had to tap on her experience in Muay Thai and get into shape before filming had started in order to fit her role as a Senior Staff Sergeant in the police force. Working closely alongside her was Jiten, who plays officer Inspector Sam.
Jiten shared an experience whereby he had shot a scene with Michelle Wong and later felt that he could have done better. He confided in Michelle and the actress realised that their thoughts on their performance were the same.
“I think that particular day that we had this conversation about our chemistry and like where we’re heading towards. From there, it sort of helped us even better,” explained Jiten.
Adding onto Jiten’s take on building rapport with the cast, Desmond reiterated the fact that the key factor is trust when it comes to working with your co-stars.
“You just have to believe [in] your co-stars because whatever you give, the person will be able to receive and whatever they receive, they’ll be able to give,” explained Desmond. “It’s only through receiving and giving that you’ll be able to create the chemistry that you see on screen.”
The Code of Law stars encouraged students to pursue what they are passionate in but of course, “with passion comes discipline” and certainty in the people you work with.
Director Thien-Jeen then wittily wrapped up the interesting session with this parting shot: “Do what you love, love what you do, and try to get paid for it”.
By: Kristelynn Lim Xiang Ting & Liyana Wahid
