Yeo Yann Yann is a bona fide rebel

Before she ever touched solid ground, Yeo Yann Yann lived on spindly stilts.

Her small fishing village in Kukup, Johor where she grew up, was built on a kelong – a wooden structure standing over the water, connected by planks instead of roads. “When it’s high tide, you see water. When it’s low tide, you realise there is actually a mangrove below you,” she says, adding that the smell of the sea still grounds her. “We walked on planks all the time. As a child, I never really touched the earth.”

The 49-year-old actor chuckles, remembering her wild kampung girl image. She would be constantly barefoot and outdoors, running wherever her little feet would take her. But from as early as the age of seven, Yann Yann was also drawn to the stage. Her school in Kukup was tiny – barely 20 children to a cohort – and this meant ample opportunities at storytelling or singing competitions.

“I actually enjoyed being on stage as a child,” she muses. Off stage though, she describes herself as reticent and introverted.

That idyllic, unhurried life disappeared when Yann Yann, the middle of three children, turned nine. Her family relocated to Johor Bahru to start a seafood trading business, and the kelong girl suddenly knew no one. “I think I grew even quieter,” she shrugs. The first time she set foot on grass in the city, she recoiled. “I was like, this is the weirdest thing ever.”

Finding her stage

In secondary school, Yann Yann discovered a love for windsurfing. “I was muscular and very tanned,” she grins. At present, she looks quite the opposite, dressed in a black knit top and pants, her dark hair slicked back demurely as she sips a hot cup of rose tea.

When teenage awareness crept in and she started to fret about her looks, Yann Yann joined her school’s drama club and won Best Newcomer in her first year. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh okay, I have some talent in acting,’” she guffaws.

lBut it is a different memory from that same drama club that brought out her deep love and commitment to acting. Yann Yann recounts an incident when the teacher was absent and the rest of the troupe had abandoned the rehearsal, except her. “I went, ‘If you guys are not rehearsing, please just leave,’” she says. “I was so mad. I just wanted to make the show really, really good.”

Unsurprisingly, her “goody-two-shoes” demeanour led to her falling out with them. “People hated me. All of them hated me and thought I was crazy,” she continues. When asked why she was so serious about it back then, she still cannot fully explain it. “Perhaps, at that point as a student, nothing really excited me. But performing excited me, and I wanted to do it well.”

At 19, Yann Yann left for Singapore to pursue acting and theatre, a decision that put her at odds with her family. “I had never been so stubborn about anything in my life before,” she recalls. “I defied my parents’ wills. My mother threatened to throw me out of the house.”

She worked on several plays, was part of 1998 Mediacorp drama Right Frequency, and then joined the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) when was 23.

When I ask if she knew then that this was going to be her lifelong career path, her eyes crinkle. “No, my dear, it took me a very long time,” she admits. “There were so many moments of people telling me: Maybe, you shouldn’t be an actor. They said, ‘You are not tall enough. You are not beautiful enough. You are not good enough.’”

But Yann Yann knew her firm resolve towards acting would push her to keep going. Her mentor, legendary theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun, was also a constant source of encouragement. “You can call me stubborn. You can call me anything, but I knew I liked what I was doing,” she says with a flourish.

When she turned 30 – after being in the industry for a decade – the self-professed late bloomer finally realised what that stubbornness was. Yann Yann elaborates: “Back then, I wouldn’t use the words ‘I love this’ or ‘This is the career that I wanted to develop’. But I would still be in school at 3am, and it would occur to me how much I love this. I love the art of performing, and realised I really do want to work in this field forever.”

A 20-year friendship

Yann Yann’s latest work is in Anthony Chen’s We Are All Strangers, which aired in August this year. This is the final chapter in the filmmaker’s Growing Up trilogy, which began with Ilo Ilo (2013), followed by Wet Season (2019).

She has been a part of all three films, and has worked with the award-winning film director for two decades now. They are “friends, colleagues, soldiers who will go to war together”, she says of their relationship.

Yann Yann and Anthony first met in 2006 when she auditioned for the latter’s short drama film Ah Ma, which went on to win a Short Film Special Distinction at the Cannes Film Festival. She plays the youngest daughter in a family keeping vigil at a hospital, and Anthony told her that the character shouldn’t cry, “because sometimes, sadness does not need to be represented by tears”.

“When I met Yann Yann on set, I remember thinking she was like a young Sylvia Chang. She had great screen presence, and had great instincts,” Anthony reflects. “Her presence was unlike the other screen actors I had seen or experienced in Singapore. Now looking back, I really think she was born for this career.”

Seven years later, when she was auditioning for Ilo Ilo, Anthony kept pushing for her performance to be smaller and more restrained.

“If it’s any smaller, there’s nothing else for me to act,” she finally told him.

His reply: “That’s right, that’s exactly what I want.”

Yann Yann was cast in the role, but as life would have it, she found out she was pregnant before filming began. As she suggested other names for the role, it dawned on her that she truly did want to be part of the film. The plucky actor hedged her bets and made her case instead: “If you look for a new actor now, it is a risk. If you use me, it is also a risk. Why don’t you take the risk on me?”

A few months later, Yann Yann got a text from Anthony saying he rewrote the role for a pregnant mother.

“I auditioned her among other actors for Ilo Ilo and she was the most convincing,” Anthony concedes, calling Yann Yann someone who is uncompromising and sets high standards for herself. “I now call it fate. Fate brought us together, and somehow created this beautiful 20-year collaboration.”

He sums up her journey: “Yann Yann has matured in life, in craft and in spirit. She has always been a good actor, but I think not enough people realise how great an actor she is – a rare gem we should all treasure.”

A stranger worth knowing

At time of print, news has just broken that Yann Yann has been nominated for Best Leading Actress at the 63rd Golden Horse Awards, which will take place on Nov 22. This marks her third Golden Horse nomination; she previously won Best Supporting Actress and Best Leading Actress for her performances in Ilo Ilo and Wet Season, respectively.

We Are All Strangers has also been selected as Singapore’s official submission in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards next year. Both Ilo Ilo and Wet Season were also previously selected as Singapore’s official entries for the same category at the 86th and 93rd Academy Awards, respectively.

It has been a strong festival run for the local film. Earlier this year, We Are All Strangers became the first Singapore production ever selected for the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it vied for the festival’s top award, the Golden Bear. The film also opened the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival, while Yann Yann picked up a nomination for Best Performance at this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards for her role as the brassy yet kind Bee Hwa – a performance, we’ve heard repeatedly from various moviegoers, that moved viewers to tears.

Yann Yann’s character, Bee Hwa, is brilliant at portraying duality. She is a Malaysian-born “beer auntie” who initially appears tough at work, with zero tolerance for co-workers moving in on her customers. But she noticeably softens as widowed Hokkien mee stall owner Boon Kiat (played by Andi Lim) begins courting her, and later proves herself as a grounding presence within the home.

“Something I haven’t yet said about Bee Hwa is how she brought up her brother,” Yann Yann says, pausing mid-sentence. “It wasn’t a huge thing in the film but it informs you who Bee Hwa is. She is someone who really, really took care of her family, without anything in return.”

Her co-stars, Koh Jia Ler and Regene Lim, who play Boon Kiat’s son Junyang and daughter-in-law Lydia respectively, both observe a similar sentiment in Yann Yann when it comes to nurturing others. They let on that she is professional and hard-working when the occasion calls for it, but is also a fun and outgoing team member who will keep the energy levels high no matter the time of day.

“Even if you start out as strangers, acting with her feels very smooth sailing and comfortable, like you’ve known her for so long. She’s just so good at managing herself both as an actor and as a team player, which really inspires me to work better,” Jia Ler affirms. He is the only other person who has been in all of the Growing Up trilogy, working with Yann Yann in every single one of them.

Regene adds: “I had a scene around the end of We Are All Strangers that I was particularly anxious about. She knew about this and coached me beforehand, guiding me through the process to understand the scene. She mentored me when she didn’t have to, and it just shows what kind of person she is – willing to give all she can to make the work good, to help fellow actors shine together.”

Double duty

If there’s a unanimous truth about Yann Yann, it would be that her dedication to the craft is nothing short of admirable. From rebelling against her parents to convincing Anthony to cast a pregnant woman in Ilo Ilo, there is no doubt that the career choice she made was meant for her, and that she has gained from it as much as she has given to it.

Yet even after 30 years, Yann Yann is hesitant when asked if she considers herself a leader in her field.

“I would love to think that,” she says gingerly. “I think I’m a leader in my own cult of believing in the performing arts.”

She continues: “I believe that the art of performing actually helped me through my life – by observing human beings. I learnt a lot from that, including teaching me how to observe my own child as she grows up.”

Yann Yann smiles openly when we breach the topic of motherhood and Vera, her 14-year-old daughter. As the default leader at home, she states that she is a hands-on mother who is open-minded and easy to talk to, so her daughter “always knows she can voice her thoughts, mistakes or questions freely”.

Still, she is quick to caveat that motherhood is also challenging, and she does not have all the answers as she navigates raising a teenager for the first time. “The hardest part of parenting a teenager is knowing I’ve been in her shoes and have so much to share, yet knowing she is still too young to be able to put my advice into practice,” she says.

“I also believe that real wisdom comes from living through experiences, so I try not to be too overprotective or shield her from how the world works. I want her to go out, experience life, and grow on her own terms, while knowing that I’m right here to guide her whenever she needs me.”

The balance between motherhood and acting, Yann Yann admits, is a constant conundrum. Earlier this year, she brought Vera along to the Shanghai Film Festival –the first time Vera has joined her on a work trip. While Yann Yann was tied up with press and screenings, Vera was given the freedom to explore the city on her own.

“I want her to feel confident navigating the world and growing into an independent young woman,” she shares. “It’s less about splitting time perfectly, and more about being present whenever we have time together. On my days off, I make sure that time belongs to her.”

Dreaming big

Even with two Golden Horse Awards and one Asian Film Awards under her belt, Yann Yann is refusing to take her foot off the gas. She has three films lined up for release next year, including local comedy-drama Ah Boys to Firefighters, directed by Jack Neo. She is also producing one of these films, her maiden attempt in a production role.

At the minute, her definition of success is when people kindly present her with invitations. “The Kukup girl could never have imagined she’d be on stage at the Golden Horse Awards, nor at the Cannes Film Festival, nor at the Berlinale, nor film a scene with Forest Whitaker in Netflix action-thriller Havoc,” she ruminates. “I also could have never imagined being in a magazine like this, and having what I’m saying being printed in a book.”

She bursts out laughing, in a half joking yet half serious manner, as she boldly names Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg as people she would love to work with in the future.

“I’ve never stopped dreaming. I have too many of them,” Yann Yann beams. “I am in the industry of dreams.”

PHOTOGRAPHY JOEL LOW
CREATIVE DIRECTION & STYLING: LENA KAMARUDIN, ASSISTED BY MANDY TAN
ART DIRECTION RAY TICSAY
HAIR SEAN ANG
MAKEUP CLARENCE LEE, USING LOUIS VUITTON LA BEAUTE
OUTFIT & JEWELLERY FOR FEATURED IMAGE LOUIS VUITTON
LOCATION BAR KAP