Star Awards 2024: Zhang Zetong takes Best Supporting Actor, Aileen Tan Best Supporting Actress
Tan said winning is stepping stone and she looked forward to her next challenge, while Zhang said the recognition for his award-winning role was a boost.
Winning Best Supporting Actor at Star Awards 2024 might have seemed like a long shot for Zhang Zetong.
After all, he had only been in showbiz for five years, while the other nominees had way more experience under their belt. There were veteran actors Peter Yu and Zhu Houren, former Star Search 2007 champion Andie Chen, and Darren Lim.
But, the 2019 Star Search champion clinched the win for his role as the villain in All That Glitters and cried as he delivered his acceptance speech.
Speaking to local media after his win, the 31-year-old actor apologised to the other nominees in response to a question asking what he would like to say to the veteran actors. He said sheepishly, “I’m sorry. Just now when they said the experience of the nominees ranged from five years to 39 years, I’m the one who has the least.
“I feel that this win isn’t just because of my own ability. A lot of the times, it’s a group of people who contribute to the creation of a character, so thank you to every crew member on All That Glitters.”
As for celebrating his first major acting award, well, Zhang said he starts work at 7am tomorrow so there’s no time for it.
He also said that the recognition he received for the role, prior to the awards, was a confidence booster for him.
“There are a lot of seniors, veterans, industry watchers, people like reporters, co-stars, coming to me and telling me I did a pretty good job. And to me, I felt those were invaluable and worth more to me than the trophy itself.”
Aileen Tan looking for next challenge after win
Meanwhile, actress Aileen Tan took home the Best Supporting Actress award for her role of ‘Chen MeiHui’ in 2023 action drama series Shero.
Speaking to local media after receiving the award, the 57-year-old said she is “grateful” that her luck has arrived.
This was even though she was deemed ineligible for the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes award due to a change in eligibility criteria for nominees.
“Maybe it’s because they pity me? This is a pity award?” she jokingly asked. She added that the reason she won this award is because of the contributions of many people.
“It is not just my effort that I landed such a good role, or had the ability to play this part well.”
She also told Yahoo separately on her win, that she still has “a lot of things to learn” and yearns to keep going further.
Aside from setting her sights on a global award, she is looking for her next challenging role, possibly one in a historical drama or a psychotic role.
“I’m always looking for new challenges. This award is just a stepping stone.”
On how she intends to celebrate her win, Tan said she looks forward to going home to get a good rest. However, the actress can’t rest entirely just yet. She has to prepare for her next role.
“I can’t really celebrate too much as my next character wears a qipao, so I must maintain a good figure.”
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