Sheila Sim
(Photo: Joel Low)

1. She did the high tea fashion show thing…
“I was 17, and it was my first modelling gig. It was a high tea fashion show that paid really little, like $80, and that was before the agency took a commission!”

2. She auditioned for a Hollywood movie…
“My first acting audition was when I was 19 and in Hong Kong. My modelling agency was constantly finding ways to push me and sent me for a casting. I was totally unprepared and wasn’t really even considering acting as a career. It was for a Steven Seagal movie! He was there as I read my lines off the page – I was totally embarrassed.”

3. She’s a Telok Blangah girl true and true…
“I was in Radin Mas Primary School and then went to St Theresa’s Convent. I went on to Nanyang Polytechnic but dropped out after three months. In primary school, I would always hang out at the sandy playground near the one-room flat where we lived.”

4. She hung out at the mall with her schoolmates…
“We were always at Takashimaya Square after school! We’d buy food from the outlets and hang out there. It was THE place to be!”

5. Like a true Singaporean, she loves to eat…
“I love local food! My favourite is bak chor mee (minced pork noodles) and fishball noodles! My favourite bak chor mee is from Meng’s Kitchen at Upper Thompson Road, and for fishball noodles, I go to this shop called Song Heng Fish Ball Noodle. It’s so comforting for me as I’ve been eating it since I was young. My father still buys it for me. And if you love Hokkien mee, you must go to Toa Payoh and try Kim Keat Hokkien Mee’s claypot version.”

Watch an exclusive clip below of Sheila Sim on set at the photo shoot.

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