TAIPEI – Having established himself as one of Singapore’s top Mandopop exports, might JJ Lin be setting his sights on Hollywood next?
He and his friend, former Da Mouth singer Harry Chang, recently attended a one-month acting class in the United States, his agent confirmed to Taiwan Apple Daily on Monday (Sept 5).
In an Instagram photograph that was seized on by the newspaper, the two singers appeared to be at a dinner at Spago Beverly Hills with Chris Nahon, the French director of the 2001 Jet Li movie Kiss Of The Dragon. Also pictured with them was Japanese businesswoman Yuki Kageyama, a one-time superfan of Lin’s label mate Jam Hsiao.
Taiwan Apple Daily quoted Kageyama as saying she had hosted the US$3,000 (S$4,000) dinner for the singers and the director. She said she hoped to invest in a JJ Lin film, having been a fan of his work since his 2011 album Lost N Found.
In 2013, she hit the headlines for moving into the same building as Hsiao and trying to give him shark’s fin soup around midnight. But she no longer likes him because he is surrounded by “terrifying people”, she said.
Instead, she added, “I appreciate JJ’s talent and like his adorable face”.
Explaining the dinner, Lin’s agent said the singer had made friends in the movie industry recently. The star dined with the fan through the introduction of a producer friend, the agent said.
Responding to the fan’s investment offer, the agent said: “We thank her for her kindness. If it’s a good script, a good production, we’ll consider.”
Lin, 35, has won multiple Golden Melody Awards for his music but chalked up only a handful of acting credits, including Hanazakarino Kimitachihe, the 2006 Taiwanese television show starring Ella Chen, and The Secret, the Chinese movie starring Leon Lai and released in China in January.
A Hollywood role will come as a natural move for Lin, whose fellow singer-songwriters Jay Chou and Wang Leehom have been showing up in American movies such as The Green Hornet (2011) and Blackhat (2015).
This article was first published on September 7, 2016.
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