Career
In 1995, while in her freshman year at the National University of Singapore Arts Faculty, she entered the 4th bi-annual Star Search Competition organised by MediaCorp (Chinese: 新传媒; pinyin: Xīn Chuánméi). She won the female category of the competitions and was awarded a contract.
She soon discovered that she enjoyed acting and decided to quit her studies. The first few years with MediaCorp were tough for her because despite the fact that she was given lead roles in several drama serials, she was not well-received by the public.
Tay finally got her big break when she replaced Phyllis Quek for the role of He Xiangu in the TV series Legends of the Eight Immortals in 1998. Her popularity soared and as a result for her acting in this series, she received her first Star Award in the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste category.
As one of the leading stars of MediaCorp, Tay's features make her an ideal candidate for both period and contemporary roles. In the Wuxia drama, The Legendary Swordsman, an adaptation of Louis Cha's The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, she played one of her more challenging roles as Dongfang Bubai.
She has acted in various roles ranging from a girl-next-door, to a member of a hotel staff to a psychiatrist. Tay's screen performances in period dramas were so well-received that she won the coveted award of Taiwan's Most Popular MediaCorp Female Artiste in Star Awards 1999.
Another of Tay's many talents is singing. She recorded a few songs for drama serials in which she was starring, including "Love Me, Love Me Not (Singapore TV series)", which was a radio chart-stopper on Singapore's popular 93.3FM. It was also used as an intermediate song in another of her dramas, "Da jiu dian" (English title: The Hotel). Tay also has a compilation album for MediaCorp Music along with the rest of the MediaCorp artists.
Tay briefly left MediaCorp to take a break from acting. She made her TV comeback in 2012 where she played a lawyer, Alice in Pillow Talk opposite Thomas Ong and Michelle Chia. Tay also announced plans to film one drama series per year.
Read more about this topic: Jacelyn Tay
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