In early February 2013, a young woman who had never acted was announced as the female lead of a Singapore feature. Jae Liew was a fashion sales assistant when she won the part in Michelle Chong’s 3 Peas In A Pod. She was chosen from more than 800 hopefuls who auditioned for the role.
The casting call was held over two days at Marina Bay Sands, according to a press release dated 5 February 2013. The panel of judges included Chong herself, who was directing her second feature after Already Famous.
The audition nobody knew about
Speaking at the time of the announcement, Liew said she was still absorbing the news. She had gone to the audition without telling anyone, because she wanted to test whether she had any potential in acting. If she failed, nobody would ever need to know.
Liew had graduated in communications from Murdoch University in Australia the year before. She said she had no expectations going in, and she was surprised to find she was not nervous. She was more concerned about not making mistakes than about the occasion itself.
Every candidate was given a short script to read in both Mandarin and English. They were also asked to cry on cue. Liew called that last task the hardest. She said she imagined herself in the character’s position, and the tears came.
Chong said Liew did not stand out when she first walked in, because many other candidates were also striking. That changed once she began to read. Chong praised her natural delivery, which she called outstanding for someone with no acting experience. She also pointed to Liew’s bubbly personality, which stayed with her through the auditions. The release added that Liew’s fluent English and Mandarin counted in her favour.
Telling friends and family
Liew said her parents were delighted. Her father gave her an approving look, and her mother hugged her three times. Her friends, who had been kept in the dark, reacted with shock and some mock outrage at the secret. They also asked her to pass on their greetings to her two co-stars.
The film around her
Her two male co-stars were already known to audiences in the region. They were Taiwanese singer-actor Calvin Chen of the boyband Fahrenheit, and Alexander Lee Eusebio, a former member of the K-pop group U-Kiss. Liew said she was a fan of their music.
The film, budgeted at S$1.7 million, follows three university friends from Singapore, Taiwan and Korea. Just before graduating, they take a road trip through Australia that changes their lives. Liew played Penny, from Singapore. Chen played Perry, from Taiwan, and Lee played Peter, from Korea.
The production was to shoot in Victoria and South Australia. The story takes the friends from Melbourne, where they study, to Kangaroo Island. Australia’s coastline and landscapes were chosen as the backdrop.
From casting to cinemas
On 4 March 2013, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green launched the film at Marina Bay Sands Theatres, with Chong and the three leads present. The film opened in cinemas in Singapore and Japan on 14 November 2013.
Chong’s debut, Already Famous, had been chosen as Singapore’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. That gave her second film considerable attention before it was shot.
Thirteen years after its release, the film still has a title page on Netflix. The service describes it as a love triangle between three college friends whose road trip after graduation takes emotional turns. The film’s own Facebook page announced that it had arrived on Netflix in Southeast Asia.
For Liew, the film marked her screen debut. It began with an audition she had told no one about.