Joey Leong has a lot to smile about these days. Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
Joey Leong can cry so easily on cue that some production crew members have dubbed her the waterworks girl.
However, when the worst happened to her, the 29-year-old said she only cried twice.
In 2018, the actress-singer was hospitalised after suffering second-degree burns on both her legs when a fire got out of control while shooting the film Amazing Spring on location in Puchong, Selangor.
She had to go through a few weeks of physiotherapy before she could walk without pain.
However, she regards herself as lucky.
“It was a very traumatic experience,” she admitted to StarLifestyle, before continuing, “It was super freaking painful, one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever had in my life. And the entire recovery journey was tough.
“But when you’ve never been through something major that changes a lot of things in a split second, you don’t really know how you would react to them.”
From this experience, Leong said she got to know herself a lot better.
For one, the actress learned she is made of sterner stuff than she gave herself credit for.
“I was seen as this sweet, fragile girl who needed to be taken care of by everyone. When my family and friends heard about the accident, they were devastated and thought I couldn’t take the news. I thought the same too actually.
“As it turned out, I remained optimistic and took courage in facing what was ahead once I realised what is done is done and I can’t change the past.
“The only thing I can change is myself and what I decide to do at that moment.
“Once I got into this mindset, I was grateful it wasn’t a worse accident, and looked on the bright side of things. I did not entertain thoughts of why this happened to me and all the ‘what ifs’.
“There is always a solution. It’s important not to be bogged down by a problem because problems will always come... that’s just life.”
After the incident, Joey Leong took to Instagram to thank her supporters for their concern. Photo: Joey Leong Instagram
In person, too, Leong comes off as calm and collected.
Not once was she frazzled during this interview and photoshoot, even when we were running late.
It was apparent that the busy star wanted to convey her best self in whatever she does.
In this instance, she checked how she looked in the photos, often stopping to discuss with the photographer and then coming up with better poses.
She also seemed self-sufficient.
Other than having her newly coloured red hair touched up by the makeup artist, Leong pretty much handled her outfit change and all the different poses for the photoshoot without any direction.
This professional attitude can be attributed to the fact that Leong has been doing this for more than two decades.
She became a singer at the age of five and started acting when she was 10 years old.
“I just loved putting a smile on my relatives’ faces,” recalled Leong of her love for performing as a child.
“I would get on the dinner table and start singing during a gathering. And when they clapped for me, I felt like I was rewarded for doing a good job.”
Joey Leong with Koe Shern (right) in River Of Exploding Durians. Photo: Handout
That led to vocal lessons, auditions and stage performances as well as TV shows.
Thanks to her early start, Leong has participated in more than 50 projects, some of which have taken her to countries in the region including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.
For one her earlier film roles – Blood Ties (2009) – Leong received the Best Actress nomination at the Asian Festival Of First Films Award 2009 in Singapore.
Her other projects have seen her working with Hong Kong director Herman Yau (Second Coming 3D, 2013) and local award-winning director Edmund Yeo (River Of Exploding Durian, 2014).
While she’s grateful she was given the freedom by her parents to pursue her passions since young, she also made sure they had no concerns when it came to her education.
“I knew my main focus was my studies no matter what projects I took on. (My parents) never pressured me, but I put that pressure on myself.”
Joey Leong lights up the red carpet with her Most Elegant Red Carpet Dress Award at the 3rd Malaysian Golden Global Awards conducted at Istana Budaya. Photo: SHAARI CHEMAT/ The StarOf course, there were sacrifices along the way.
“I missed out a lot too like friends’ gatherings, school activities and lessons. At times, I didn’t go to school for two or three months.
“Then when I came back, I had to really catch up. This was tough, especially for PMR and SPM.
“A lot of people have asked me if I could turn back time, would I do the same thing? The answer is yes, I wouldn’t change anything.
“It was tough, but luckily, I did quite a good job in school,” said Leong, who studied at Help University in Kuala Lumpur and later at Coventry University London campus.
In her profile, it’s stated that she received a full scholarship from Coventry University London, from where she graduated with first class honours.
Even though the Ah Boys To Men 3 star is done with formal studies, she’s constantly learning new things in her profession by taking on different challenges.
“If you want to keep going in this industry, you’ve got to keep learning,” reasoned Leong.
Her upcoming project will see her starring in Malay drama X-Change, which is something totally new to her.
“I’ve always been in the Chinese industry, where the spoken languages are Mandarin and Cantonese. The only other language I’ve used (in projects) is English.
“Malay is something I can’t really speak fluently.
“Sure, I got good results in school for Bahasa Malaysia, but when it comes to speaking... it is totally different,” explained the KL-born actress, who attended a Chinese primary school.
“I had never been in an environment where I needed to converse in Malay. In secondary school, I spoke mostly English with my Malay friends.”
The 10-episode Astro Originals centres around a pair of lovers Khalif and Lilian. Photo: HandoutBefore landing the female lead role in X-Change, opposite actor Arfie Shah, Leong starred in the 2022 local horror flick Pulau.
However, Leong called that film “a warm-up” as 80% of the people involved in Pulau were from the Malaysian Chinese entertainment industry.
“X-Change is a 100% Malay production,” she said.
“At first, I was quite worried about taking on the project. But I loved the role, and when I heard the story, I felt I had to give it a try.”
The 10-episode Astro Originals centres around a pair of lovers Khalif and Lilian (played by Arfie and Leong, respectively) who plan to go overseas to study.
Unfortunately, the couple’s future is jeopardised when Khalif’s father wants him to take over the “family business” – which happens to be robbing stores.
To make matters even more complicated, the store that Khalif’s family is targeting next happens to be owned by Lilian’s family.
Created by Lemuel Ong and directed by Norhanisham Muhamad, the action/coming-of-age drama is set to air on Astro Premier on July 12.
To ensure she could fully grasp the language, Leong said she mingled with the cast and crew... speaking Malay as much as possible on set.
She also watched Malay programmes to get a better command of conversational Malay.
“It’s great that more TV series and films in Malaysia are incorporating different races in one show.
“I’ve been in the industry for a long time, and all the while the industry has been quite divided... this change makes me happy.
“Hopefully, there will be more chances like this in the future where all of us can gather and make a show together.”
Even though she's been in the industry for so long, Joey Leong is always up for new challenges. Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
Besides acting in the drama, Leong also recorded a song for the serial released on June 28.
As is her personality to ensure quality to anything she does, Leong took the time to find the right emotion when singing the song titled Fog, which she recorded in Mandarin.
She said in a press release: "I had to take some time to get the right emotions... (in line) with the entire drama.”
Leong added that she was almost brought to tears as she could completely relate with the song's lyrics which tells of a person "facing a crisis with herself".
“I feel like the song is very special. So, I am extremely grateful to the production team for choosing me to deliver the song,” said Joey.
Meanwhile, Adrianna Cinta sings the Malay version of the same song titled Semesta.
Besides acting in 'X-Change', Joey Leong also contributes a song for the drama. Photo: Handout
On Instagram, Leong – who has 448K followers – describes herself as “actress, singer, warrior”.
She told StarLifestyle: “When you see yourself as a warrior, you feel like you can fight and overcome anything. It’s not because you are that courageous; you have a lot of fear, but you kind of need to confront that fear.”
While she likes being alone or spending time with her dogs, to “recharge her battery”, Leong said her strength in facing her fears comes from having trustworthy people around her.
“I’m lucky because I have my family around me, and friends whom I can trust.
“So I know, that whatever I’m going through, I’m not alone.”
This message is something she shares with her social media followers.
“If you’re going through something and you’re doing it alone, it’s going to be hard.
“It’s important to have at least one or two people around, so that they can be there for you, even if they cannot help you. As long as you seek help and say it out loud, the help will come from somewhere. That’s what I believe.”
Although she joked that she is not ready to turn 30 come September, there’s no doubt this woman is ready and able to take on whatever comes her way.
X-Change is set to debut on Astro Premier (Ch 410) on July 12.
