Looking the part

I received a call from my manager today. She didn't say anything new because I've probably heard it from fifteen other people since I returned to work.

"You need to look after your skin, don't eat too much when u're in Beijing, stay away from the sun, look good..blah blah"

Because I'm doing an idol drama.

Worse, I'm paired with a male lead who is everything I am not.

Spokesperson for a particular custom-made for your skin-type beauty care salon, he's got good skin, a skinny frame, fair, chiselled jaw and effeminate facial features to complement it all. Think Japanese anime.

It's crushing because I'm not the Vivian Hsu type, whom I think would pair up with him beautifully.They'll make such a gorgeous couple and I can see the halo and clipped wings in an i-weekly photo shoot already.

Now the dude is 2 cm taller than me, which is highly dubious because I don't remember him to be THAT tall the last time he sang on a variety show I hosted. Then again, from my previous drama experience, heights of male counterparts are normally overrated, so I don't really count on it. Now the only problem is, he's short for a guy and I'm tall for a girl, so put us together, I'm probably going to look the domineering one.

Which is not supposed to be in the drama. At least not how I pictured it from the script.

Sigh.

I saw a Polaroid picture of me at variety wardrobe today. It was one taken quite some time ago when I had my short hair. I looked like I was a failed auditionee of catwoman. Anyway, I looked real skinny in the picture, with a skeletal frame supporting a rather big head and a black eye mask with two cut out holes where my eyes peeped out. It reminded me of Victoria in Tim Burton's movie "Corpse Bride", only without the boobs and long hair. Which if you seriously try to picture it, isn't sexy nor appealing as a woman.

But okay, my jawline was defined and my features were sharper then, so much so that rumours circulated that I had a nose job. FYI, losing weight on the face tend to make certain features like the cheekbones and nose stand out more. I guess that was what happened.

Now how to want your cake and eat it too, without suffering the consequences?

Life's not that pretty.

Well, the me then would probably look good with the male lead of my upcoming drama. After all, how wrong can two anorexic-looking people look together? I bet we would even be labelled compatible cos' we will spot similar hairstyles (that is if he hasn't changed his from the last time I saw it).

Unfortunately, (fortunately for me), my new found curves have tipped the compatibility scale. It just doesn't look right visually when the girl is bigger, or looks bigger than the guy. And by that I don't mean fat. I just mean in terms of the physical frame. It's like pairing Lin Zhiling with Nicholas Tse. It just won't look as good as Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse, even though all of them are good-looking people. But put Lin Zhiling next to Yao Ming, or Ken Watanabe and you get a nice comfortable match in terms of physical size.

I mean, why don't his manager ask him to eat more, get a tan and bulk up to look more like a stud? Or perhaps get bone extensions to make him taller?

Sorry, but I don't want to sink into androgyny like him.

I am moving into a womanhood (and very glad of it), and a woman will start to develop child-bearing hips. It's a biological thing. And because men have a trunk-figure, they'll never be pear-shaped no matter how hard they try. So it becomes easy even for a babe like Jessica Alba to look big next to this dude.

Oh well, why do I bother? After all, the duty of casting is not mine, so if we're physically incompatible, it's not my fault. If I wear flats and still look taller than him, I won't apologise for his short-coming.

Gee, suddenly I feel so grateful that I could still wear heels in "Destiny" and not stump our leading man. Local breeds have done us proud! I say this because I actually had to avoid wearing jacket suits and heels so as not to over-dominate our foreign guest actor for the same show. No wonder he walked funny. I guess he was trying to look more domineering.

I have been taught to mind my manners, so I shall do whatever I can to look every part the lovable, cute-idol-drama-type female lead.

Besides it's not like I can throw a diva bitch fit and demand a Huge Jackman-type replacement for the male lead, because I'm sure they're rather swap me for a Halle Barry or Jessica Alba Asian equivalent.

So I guess I'll shut up, and get over it.