Mediacorp Actress Cheryl Chou Isn't Just Miss Universe Singapore 2016, She Could Be Our Next Action Star

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Cheryl Chou’s one to watch. 

The realisation hits us in the middle of our chat with the 27-year-old Mediacorp actress, who stars in the kick-ass #girlpower drama SHERO.

Maybe it’s her pageant training — she wasn’t crowned Miss Universe Singapore 2016 for nothing — but Cheryl carries herself well, and speaks with the confidence of someone who’s been in the industry for years and years.

However, being in showbiz was something she “never expected”.

“For me, stepping into pageantry was a spur of the moment decision, and jumping into entertainment as well. It was something that I never saw myself doing, so it's great, and I'm really happy to be where I'm at today,” Cheryl tells 8days.sg at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa, where the press conference for SHERO was held.

But she's definitely no prissy beauty queen. 

Cheryl’s proficient in Muay Thai and cinematic martial arts and trained under martial artist and Ip Man 4 actor Chris Collins before she joined showbiz proper. 

One can say she was born to play female bodyguard Zhou Jingyu in SHERO. Prior to that, the effectively bilingual Cheryl has acted in a mix of English and Chinese productions, from English thriller Reunion to the supernatural-themed Soul Doctor.

Cheryl, who is Singaporean, moved to China when she was eight with her parents who were based there for work. An only child, Cheryl spent 10 years in Shanghai where she studied in an international school. Her mum runs her own business and her dad is now retired and both are back in Singapore.

At 18, she moved to Hong Kong for a year. There, she did her freshman year of university before returning to Singapore to study fashion marketing and merchandising at LaSalle College of the Arts. Midway through, she joined the Miss Universe Singapore pageant, and well, the rest is history.

8DAYS.SG: You mentioned having gone for stuntwoman training before. How did that come about?

CHERYL CHOU: I've always wanted to do a lot of action stuff, so I've been very on-the-ball with cinematic martial arts training and Thai boxing as well.

I've trained in Hong Kong, as well as in Singapore. It's been about four to five years of training on-and-off, and so when I got the offer to be a part of SHERO, it was a dream come true for me. I was very excited.

What was it like training in Hong Kong?

It was for about a month, sort of like a bootcamp, crash course with a trainer called Chris Collins. He worked on Ip Man 4, so it was great that I was able to train with him, and use that as a stepping stone to get even deeper into cinematic martial arts.

Why are you so into that? 

I grew up watching a lot of Hong Hong action films and dramas, like the Ip Man series, and I think that really sparked my interest into becoming a Shero, basically. 

And when I entered the industry, I was given a lot of opportunities to play many different characters, and diving into cinematic martial arts and working towards being... an action star is definitely on the top of my bucket list. 

Would you say that you would want to be the next local action star?

I mean, I would really hope to be able to achieve that 'cos growing up I watched a lot of TV, and I was very inspired by female actresses that can fight on screen. And I'm also really into fitness, and martial arts, so hopefully I'll be able to tie that interest into acting.

So kind of like Michelle Yeoh?

Yeah, that's something I hope to achieve in my career.

What’s your gym schedule or fitness routine like?

I try to keep it as routine as possible. I work out almost every single day, unless I have a really early call time and I'm working a full day. Generally, I do like to do at least some sort of physical activity at least once a day, whether it is running, or going to a HIIT class, or even walking on my own, that's enough for me.

You’re very bilingual so do you prefer to act in English or Mandarin?

I think definitely for now, just to switch things up a bit, I'll like to get more into doing Chinese dramas, but there really is no preference, as long as it's a good production and it's a good script. The language doesn't really matter.

I've been acting for about six years now, and I've done a good mix of English and Mandarin dramas, so to me, the most difficult part would be mastering the art of acting.

Are there any celebs you look to for showbiz advice?

I think for now, it'll definitely be the cast of SHERO 'cos we formed such a good bond with each other over the last few months.

What about other stars you look up to and want to work with?

I think in the recent productions that I've done in the past year, I've been very fortunate to work with a lot of very established and strong actors. For example in SHERO, Joanne [Peh] is one of them, and it was definitely a good experience learning from her on set. Another actress I worked with recently is Jojo Goh from Malaysia. We did Chinese drama Silent Walls together last year. It's great to be able to be part of productions where you get to learn so much from the people around you.

You can catch SHERO on meWATCH here, or on Ch 8, weekdays at 9pm from June 12 onwards. The first episode is embedded below.

Photos: Dillon Tan, Cheryl Chou/Instagram