Actress Tay Ying hopes her new drama will redeem her ‘very unpolished’ debut performance 4 years ago

SPEAKING OF YOUR MUM, AS A SECOND-GENERATION CELEBRITY, DO YOU EVER WORRY THAT YOU WILL NEVER LIVE UP TO YOUR MUM?

Why do I get this question all the time? I feel like I’ve been getting this question since I was born (laughs).

I mean the answer has always been yes. To a certain extent, I’m afraid of pulling down my family’s reputation ’cause I’m not just representing myself anymore. But at the end of the day, I’m me, I’m not them. It’s very hard to compare apples and oranges.

But if you’re asking about feeling pressured, yes, I think we (second-gen celebs) all (feel pressured). And if we don’t have that pressure, we should be worried ’cause if we’re just gonna do whatever we want without respecting them, it’s not nice as well, right?

OVER IN HOLLYWOOD, EVERYONE’S ALL ABUZZ ABOUT NEPO BABIES (SHORT FOR NEPOTISM BABY, WHICH REFERS TO SECOND-GEN CELEBS WHO’VE SUCCEEDED IN FIELDS SIMILAR TO THEIR FAMOUS PARENTS THANKS TO THEIR INFLUENCE OR CONNECTIONS)…

Yes, yes, I learnt that term recently as well.

SO IN THAT VEIN, HAVE YOU EVER COME ACROSS PEOPLE WHO DOWNPLAY YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS JUST ‘CAUSE YOU HAVE FAMOUS PARENTS?

All the time, to be real. All the time, every single day, everywhere. Yeah (laughs).

HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN THAT HAPPENS?

I just don’t read those comments. I mean, I’ve learnt not to read comments, like, I totally ignore them. Especially when there’s an article about my family online, there’s bound to be negativity, so why bother reading them. 

We’re just doing what we love, everyone has the right to be happy, everyone has the right to do whatever they want, so yeah, it’s time we learnt to be happy for each other’s achievements.

You can catch Shero on mewatch here, or on Channel 8, weekdays at 9pm.

This story was originally published in 8Days.