Juin Teh Volunteered To Take On Malay-Speaking Role, But Didn't Dare To Rewatch Her Audition Tape

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Those who have watched new Mediacorp Malay series Durrani-Perjuangan Lion Mum would probably have noticed an unexpected face — Mediacorp actress Juin Teh.

In the family legal drama — a spin-off from the popular local series Lion Mums — the 35-year-old Malaysia-born Singapore-based actress plays a woman from an affluent background who enters a socially equal marriage. A polished influencer in the public eye, she hides the reality of prolonged domestic abuse behind closed doors.

Though it surprised many to see the Star Search 2019 finalist in the show, Juin had in fact volunteered for the role.

Speaking to 8days.sg, Juin explains that she'd been telling her manager for quite some time that, if there was a role that required a Chinese actress who can speak Malay, she would really love to go for it.

"When this opportunity came, she immediately thought of me and felt that the role is suitable so she proposed me for the role," she recalls.

That said, Juin still had to audition for the role, and the production team also assessed Juin's language ability through the audition tape. 

"When I was preparing for the audition, I realised that memorising lines in Malay was more challenging than I expected. After recording the audition tape, I didn’t even dare to watch it again," she says.

"I just sent it out with a 'if I get it, I get it; if not, it’s okay' mindset. So when I eventually got the role, I was both happy and a little nervous at the same time."

For someone who volunteered herself for a role like that, you'd assume Juin would be confident of her Malay proficiency. But Juin rates her Malay language skills a three out of 10 when she first landed the role.

"After completing the drama, I do feel that I’ve improved. Now I would probably rate myself around a five," she tells us.

In an earlier interview with Zaobao.sg, Juin shared that she practised Malay by speaking it to others whenever she got the chance to. 

"There was once I was speaking Malay with a Malay Grab driver. When I first got into the car [and started speaking Malay], he didn’t see my face so he assumed I was Malay," recounts Juin.

When the driver finally saw her and realised she's Chinese, he was quite surprised and praised that her "Malay was quite good".

"So I jokingly told him: 'Oh, it’s because I married a Malay man!' He replied: 'Oh I see'. Then I clarified that I was just joking, I meant my husband in the drama is Malay, not in real life," she laughs.

Regardless, Juin tells us that there was surprisingly not much language barrier while filming. 

"I think I already went through the language barrier phase back when I was in my first year of secondary school," explains Juin.

The actress was attending a Chinese primary school before enrolling into a Malaysian government secondary school, where Malay was the main language.

"At that time, I really couldn’t understand what the teachers were saying at all and I had to copy notes from my classmates. So having gone through that stage before, returning to a Malay-speaking environment now actually feels quite familiar to me.”

Of course, there were times when she would have little boo-boos too.

"There were moments where I would get a bit mixed up between languages, suddenly thinking whether I should respond in Mandarin, Malay or English," she shares.

“The lead actress Nurul Aini actually understands Mandarin. So sometimes on set, she would speak to me in Mandarin and I would reply in Malay."

Juin also added that there were quite a few "rojak" moments which could "feel a bit chaotic but also quite fun".