Ann Kok: The 5 Roles That Defined Her Career

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Those who grew up watching television in the late nineties would know that Ann Kok was the dream girl for many.

Time flies, and the eternally-youthful actress, who turned 51 earlier this year, has been in showbiz for over three decades. She is set to receive her All-Time Favourite Artiste trophy at this year’s Star Awards.

With congratulations in order, 8days.sg hopped onto a phone call with Ann to find out more about her journey as an actress, and the roles which defined her showbiz career.

Morning Express (1995)

Ann, who got her start in showbiz after taking part Star Search in 1993, immediately names the teen drama as one of her more significant projects.

The drama, about a caring school teacher and his class of wayward teens, also starred Chen Hanwei and Fann Wong, and launched all three actors into the stratosphere. It had a sequel that featured a set of new characters bar Hanwei's iconic Fang Laoshi

“I played a sick student (Ye Xiaojing) in Part One, but in fact, it’s Part Two’s role which I have more memories of. The reason was because we went to New Zealand for filming, and it was really quite an experience,” says Ann, who worked on the drama as a fresh-faced 22-year-old.

Legend of the White Hair Brides (1996)

“I played two characters, mother and daughter (Nalan Minghui and Yilan Zhu respectively). I was the only actor on set for quite a few scenes and I was acting with myself. It was tough. I had to act [as one character] first, then with a stand-in. They filmed the stand-in from the back, and she wasn’t acting, nor did she have any expression, so I had to [imagine] everything myself,” recalls Ann. 

“After that, I needed to change my hairstyle and everything. It was a period drama so it was a bit troublesome lah. At that time, it was very hot. We filmed the show in Shanghai and Xinjiang, and managed to experience summer and winter in the span of three months because of the difference in seasons in both places.”

She remembers the filming and living conditions in China to be tough, and her time there was spent mostly working and sleeping. “Sleep was so important then,” she adds with a laugh.

Wok of Life (1999) 

The 50-episode drama, which centres around the characters working at a reputable hotel restaurant, Fu Man Lou, is in Ann’s words “just so good lah”.

“The story, all of us working together, it was just so memorable,” she says, also calling it one of the projects she had the most fun working on.

“I had fun in my role as my character is like a chilli padi with a very soft heart. She had a big personality, and she was in charge of taking care of her siblings,” says Ann of her role Saiman.

Listen to the theme song for Wok of Life, which was sung by Ann, in the clip below. 

Kampong Ties (2011)

“We filmed the whole thing in a small town in Malaysia and we experienced a flood there. It was so scary. We had to stop filming and go to a building to wait for the water level, which was almost one storey high, to go down,” she says.

“We were also staying at this hotel which was [structured] like a resort, but not the luxury [kind] lah. It was still decent, but there were quite a few mornings where I woke up to get prepared for work and the whole bathroom floor was covered in insects. I’m scared of insects so I was like ‘Oh, s***!’. I had to tell myself to be brave, so I wore slippers into the bathroom. Luckily most of the insects were almost dead already, so I washed them into the drain. It was very scary,” she laughs.

For Ann, the best part of working in a kampong was getting to try the town’s local food.

“I used to go there for the buns, and for breakfast and coffee. That’s the perk — getting to eat,” she chuckles.

Trapped Minds (2016)

When asked about the most challenging role she had to play, Ann takes some time to ponder before landing on this 2016 four-episode miniseries.

“I was kidnapped by [Zhu] Houren da ge in the drama, and my four limbs had to be tied to the back of my body. I had to lie down [in that position] for hours, and it was actually very uncomfortable and physically exhausting,” she says.

After the trip down memory lane, we ask Ann if she would choose to go back in time to do anything differently.

Her reply takes us by complete surprise.

“I wouldn’t be in the entertainment [industry],” she says with a laugh.

“I wouldn’t have become an actress at all. I’m not sure what I would’ve done instead, but I’m quite sure I wouldn’t be acting. I was never the person who had dreams of being a singer or actor, things just happened and I ended up in this line, that’s it,” she says.

She joined Star Search simply because she thought she would “maybe give it a try”. She didn’t expect to find success at all.

As for now, Ann, whose last Mediacorp drama was Healing Heroes (2022), is “taking one step at a time”, and not looking too far ahead. She will still take up a new role if she feels that it’s interesting and suitable for her.

Photos: Ann Kok/ Instagram, mewatch, TheJoyfulme/ YouTube

Catch the Backstage LIVE event of Star Awards 2024 from 3.30pm - 10.30pm on mewatch or Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel on April 21 (Sunday).

The Walk Of Fame will be from 5pm - 6.30pm, on mewatch, Ch 8, Ch U, and Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel on the same day.

It will be followed by the Star Awards 2024 Live Show from 7pm - 10pm on mewatch, Ch 8, Ch U, and Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel.

The repeat telecast for the Walk of Fame and Award Ceremony will air on Ch 8 from 2pm - 6.30pm on April 28 (Sunday).