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It only took actor Zhang Zetong five years after winning Mediacorp’s Star Search in 2019 to win his first Star Awards in 2024.
But the 32-year-old revealed on Saturday (Apr 26) that he was close to leaving showbiz before he clinched all three awards that he was nominated for: Most Hated Villain, Most Popular Rising Star and Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the villainous Richard Mo in TV drama All That Glitters, a role he considered the “last” of his acting career.
“I knew that my growth was phenomenal – nothing short of rocket-speed growth, it was very fast. I expected myself to be progressing a lot slower than what I had right now,” said Zhang on a podcast episode with actor-singer Glenn Yong.
Since beginning his acting career in 2019, Zhang admitted that the pressure to prove himself as the Star Search champion came not from his company or management, but from within.
“It’s all these thoughts that I have with myself, whether I’m doing well enough or performing to the standards,” he said, describing these self-imposed pressures as “distracting thoughts”. “It really took me a very long while to put down all these thoughts.”
It was only shortly after Zhang secured his role in All That Glitters and took acting classes that he managed to overcome these insecurities.
“That’s when I was able to retract myself from Zetong and try to stay in the character for a long time,” he said. “When I was filming, I was thinking (about) nothing but just this show and how I’m going to perform.”
The Mediacorp actor added: “At that point in time I really told myself: My acting is not going anywhere and it was looking a lot to me like a guy who could study might not be a guy who can act.
“So I’m thinking this is the last good role that I’m getting so I'll just do my best and just say goodbye.”
When Yong asked him why he was so harsh on himself, Zhang compared his situation to a swimming athlete at the Olympics – one that knew that no matter how hard they tried they were never going to clock the time trial.
“As long as I put in my best effort, (even if) I can’t clock (the time trial), it’s fine, I can say goodbye to this. If it still doesn’t work out, I’ll just take a step back and leave the industry altogether,” he said.
“Because it’s not amounting to anything so I tell myself I have to be realistic about my situation,” he said, adding that he thus treated his role in All That Glitters like the “last role” that he would be doing for his acting career.
“I was really this close to leaving the industry. Thankfully it turned out well.”
