"I'm Still Taking My Shirt Off In Every Show": Tyler Ten Wants To Be Recognised For His Acting Too, Hopes Emerald Hill Can Be His Breakthrough

We're used to seeing Mediacorp actor Tyler Ten onscreen as a brooding tall drink of water. Not that anyone is complaining, given how good he looks playing such characters in dramas In Safe Hands (2021) and When Duty Calls 2 (2022).

This time the 28-year-old got to try something totally different.

In new drama Love On A Shoestring, a collaboration between Mediacorp and Taiwan’s TVBS, Tyler plays Chen Shi, who, as his name — it sounds like 'honest' in Mandarin — suggests, is an innocent and naive office boy.

When 8days.sg got on a call with Tyler, he eagerly tells us how this role has "unleashed the comic" in him. 

He says it was difficult for him to get into character at first but he overcame that quickly thanks to how comfortable and fun it was on set.

Tyler, who was a finalist in 2019's Star Search, also got advice from the director.

"When I first started filming, I did a few scenes and the director pulled me aside and told me to open up more so that I would look better on screen. Then I started to add in more funny gimmicks of my own and he approved of them," he recalls.

This is his first overseas collaboration and Tyler hopes that it could be his ticket into the foreign market.

"I hope Taiwan audience can see that Singapore actors can do comedy as well because we rarely do that here," he says. "It was a rare opportunity for us to work with a Taiwanese production so I do hope I have more chances to act in Taiwanese dramas in the future."

Love On A Shoestring was filmed entirely in Taipei for two-and-a-half months last year. Tyler says he and the drama's two other Singaporean actors, Cheryl Chou and Jernelle Oh, were basically left to "survive on their own in the wild" when they first arrived in Taiwan as they didn't know anyone there.

"But the crew, the director and actors (such as Taiwanese stars Yao Yao, Sam Lin and Lin He Xuan) were all very friendly to us. They would ask if we needed anything, and would invite us to have hotpot with them after filming," he chirps.

With Love on a Shoestring and his casting in next year's blockbuster Emerald Hill, the spin-off of 2008's The Little Nyonya, there's no doubt Tyler is well on his way on becoming part of Mediacorp's new class of leading men. 

We ask if he sees himself as a rising star. He laughs and says: "But I haven't won [Most Popular] Rising Star award [at the Star Awards], so no, I don't consider myself one."

"But I'm glad that people are giving me opportunities because I work very hard. There are also people who believed in me since the beginning and I want to prove them right for supporting me from the start," he says. 

What does Tyler think sets him apart from his peers, particularly his Star Search buddies Zhai Siming and Herman Keh?

"They both have very young-looking faces. For me, I look  more mature so I take on more mature roles," he says, adding that he doesn't actually audition for the same roles as Siming and Herman to begin with.

"I don't think I'll be able to do the roles they take on either. For example, acting as someone's younger brother. I can't do that. I only get to act as someone's husband. I even acted as a father in I Do, Do I?, you know? That's what sets me apart from them," he chuckles.  

As one of Mediacorp's fittest actors, baring his bod in his dramas has become somewhat of calling card for him. Does he think that has changed with time?

"I think not much leh. I'm still taking my shirt off in every show," he laughs. "In Emerald Hill I'll be bearing my body too."

Not that he minds though. "I mean, I've got the goods so why not show it right? Since I train every day, might as well show off my hard work," he laughs. 

Of course, Tyler hopes to be seen as something more too. 

"I think it's a good selling point. Not everyone can show their body on screen, but I don't want that to be my only selling point either," he emphasises.

"I also want to be recognised as someone who can act. To be honest, my upcoming role in Emerald Hill is very important for me because I think it can do really well. In terms of character and personality, it's something I've never done before," he muses.

In Emerald Hill, he'll play a coolie who's the love interest of Tasha Low, the new Little Nyonya. He says there were many other actors vying for that role but declines to reveal who he had, well, beat out. 

During the call, we tell Tyler that he has significantly become chattier since the last time we met him at the When Duty Calls 2 press conference close to two years ago. 

"Wah it's been so long?," he says. "I think it's important for me to open up in the industry, so that people will know more about me. But in real life, I'm not like that. I'm more reserved."

He acknowledges that he needs to put himself out there in order to know more people, and to communicate better. 

"For example, in Emerald Hill, if I don't open myself up to Tasha, we won't be able to deliver our scenes well, we won't be able to show how our characters have been close since young," he says. 

Tyler says there wasn't a specific "trigger" that caused this personality change, but tells us the extroverted side of him now comes out every time the camera is on. 

When we highlighted how outgoing he appeared in this video he did with Desmond Ng, in which they had to approach strangers on the streets, he chuckles: "That one no choice lah. If there was no camera, I wouldn't be able to do that."

"Plus I had Desmond beside me and I'm very close to him. He gave me courage. When I am with someone who is funny, it will bring out the other side of me," he says.