12 things you didn't know about actress Julie Tan

In December 2010, local company Alpha Entertainment and South Korea's JYP Entertainment organised a talent search in Singapore. Julie Tan participated in the closed-door audition where she sang Beyonce's Listen. Eventually, she was given a chance to sign with the former and debut in the now-defunct five-member girl group SKarf. Julie Tan, however, passed up the opportunity as it didn't fit into her dreams.

"I locked myself in my room for three hours, drew up a map of my career plan and had a debate with myself. I don't deny that I thought about being a K-pop star. It's human nature to be tempted by fame, and I was very tempted But it didn't feel right. Maybe it's the sixth sense that all girls have."

In 2009, Julie Tan made her acting debut in The Promise. That quickly paved the way for television and more movie roles including That Girl in Pinafore (2013), 96°C Café (2013) and The Dream Makers II (2015).

Julie Tan also scored multiple Star Awards' Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes nominations, scoring two trophies in 2015 and 2016. She was also awarded the Rocket Award and Best Supporting Actress in 2016 for her role as villain Dong Zihuai in The Dream Makers II.

Never one to rest on her laurels, Julie Tan took a six-month-long hiatus in 2016 to refine her acting skills at the New York Film Academy. This came as a surprise to many as it was announced after her triple win at the Star Awards the same year.

"I’ve been well-protected by (Mediacorp) for the past seven years, growing in a comfortable and secure environment… But when we grow too comfortable with the environment, there will be no improvement. Only when we are ‘uncomfortable’, will we keep pushing ourselves to achieve even more."

Then in April 2017, Julie Tan declared after that year's Star Awards that it would be her last in attendance. She didn't renew her contract with Mediacorp but said that she would still pursue her love for the craft. "There will be crossroads in life. Seven years ago, I made a decision to forgo my O levels, go to acting school and join show business. I've always been bold in my thinking. I'm grateful to the company, but now it is time for me to walk a different path."

Since leaving the national broadcaster, Julie Tan found opportunities in China, founded her own management agency (though she is now managed by Li Nanxing's company) and co-founded the restaurant Botany.

Julie Tan has too, jumped onto the livestreaming bandwagon. But unlike her peers in the field who are peddling products, she is broadcasting her games on Twitch by the name of Julavender. She started in January 2021 and has garnered 4.5k subscribers playing games such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Valorant and Call of Duty.

Starting from July 1, 2o23, elective egg freezing became legalised for women between 21 and 37. And because of that, Julie Tan made the decision to have them frozen. "Being able to freeze my eggs definitely gives me more freedom and time to choose what’s best for me. At 31, I choose to start all over again. I choose not to settle for anything less than I deserve. I choose myself."

You can watch her egg-freezing journey on her Instagram Stories highlights.

Conflicts with the family can be especially tough, which Julie Tan knows firsthand as she had a difficult journey with her mother. "When I was 21, my mum chased me out of the house. At 25, when I moved back, she chased me out again. Then, the next time I chose to move out on my own. In my twenties, I moved in and out for a total of three or four times." The tense relationship began when she was a lot younger but the two have since patched things up. Through therapy and having her own failed relationships, Julie Tan was able to empathise and understand her mother more. "I realised that when someone says they don't love me anymore, and I haven't yet learnt to love myself, it was a huge emotional hit. So I understood better why my mother wasn't able to control her emotions well back then."

With her father, Julie Tan has been noted to be a "daddy's girl" and he helped her when she looked at career opportunities in China.

In 2021, Julie Tan opened up on her TikTok about her struggles with depression and self-harm.

"Whenever I am feeling depressed, there are voices in my head telling me I deserve to be punished. So I would punish myself, I would bite my arms and slap myself. When I was younger, I used to cut myself, but due to work now I can't afford to have scars. It's been 10 months since I've hurt myself, but sometimes the emotions are so overwhelming. During tough times the urge to hurt myself is so strong. I will always tell myself don't give in to it, I need to be strong. But sometimes I am just tired of being strong."

Julie Tan signed off by encouraging others to be kind to each other as we don't know what others are going through. "So today I've decided to share with all of you. Esp those struggling. I want you to know that you're not alone. So let's be kind to one another. Cause we will never know what's their story behind those smiles."

When she was 17, Julie Tan faced negative comments from netizens who critiqued her high forehead, flat nose and chest. She later consulted doctors and almost considered having plastic surgery to enhance her looks. She later put that thought to rest as she has a low threshold for pain and became okay to "not have big boobs".

"I decided not to do anything to myself because to me it’s a kind of self-respect… Rather than trying to change yourself according to other people’s standards, why not embrace yourself? Because I think we can never please everyone."

When Julie Tan was in China looking for acting jobs, she only had one request: "No sleazy or bed scenes". "I don’t have the figure for it too! And I don't want to do such roles."

Thankfully, her manager was her father so he was able to screen through any prospective roles and offers before passing them on to Julie Tan.

Remember the Covid-19 regulations that limited how many people from different households could be together at the same place at the same time? In October 2020, Jeffrey Xu posted on Instagram Stories of a party that had gathered to celebrate his birthday. Among the 13 people (the cap was then five visitors) in the photo was Julie Tan, alongside fellow actors Shane Pow, Jeremy Chan and Terence Cao.

In 2018, Hong Huifang and Pan Ling Ling made headlines after the very public breakdown of their friendship. Julie Tan was forced into the mix after Pan Ling Ling had told Hong Huifang and her son Calvert Tay to get vaccinated against sexually transmitted diseases as his rumoured girlfriend at that time was Julie Tan, who had relationships in the past. The damage to her reputation also came as netizens left distasteful comments such as "Are you a prostitute?" and "Heard you have STD. Get well soon."

"The damage is done and there’s no undoing it. No one deserves to go through what I went through. But [what happened] helps me to see a lot of stuff more clearly now. In the future, I’ll teach my kids that words are double-edged swords. They can destroy someone or they can build someone up, so be a builder. I’ve also realised that there’s still a lot of bullying going on, that it comes in many forms and we can never stop it."