Rurusama talks to AsiaOne about preparing for her role as extraterrestrial agent Layla in the microdrama My Girlfriend is an Alien. She shares her script memorization, character interpretation, and practice methods, including studying anime expressions. She recounts challenging screaming scenes and advice from co-star Mark Lee, as well as working with Benjamin Tan on romantic scenes. The series centers on Layla coming to Earth, meeting livestreamer Ken, and facing a conflict over planetary energy.
Rurusama spoke to AsiaOne about her experience filming her new microdrama My Girlfriend is an Alien. Yeo Shu Hui As a rookie actress, Rurusama made sure she has memorised her scripts, interpreted her characters and practised her expressions well before the camera rolled.
In an interview with AsiaOne on May 28 for her new microdrama My Girlfriend is an Alien, the 26-year-old shared she was invited to audition for the role of extraterrestrial being Layla by King Kong Media Production in late March. By the time filming began in mid-April, she had read the script about 10 times and had her own interpretations of the character. She said: "I had a lot of discussions with the director about Layla...
Because the cast of this microdrama is smaller, and most of the lines are delivered by Benjamin and me, whenever I have questions, I will always ask him or the director for their opinions. My Girlfriend is an Alien tells the story of extraterrestrial agent Layla who comes to Earth to learn about advanced technology in new energy after her home KK Planet faces an energy crisis.
She meets Ken , a game livestreamer who brings her around Singapore to understand more about the city and its energy conservation plans. In the process, they fall for each other. Layla learns that her captain Tyler advocates for stealing Earth's energy, leading to a fierce confrontation between them. Ken's mother Irene , who is the director of a privately-owned new energy research bureau, also harbours secrets of her own involving Tyler.
As the crisis escalates, Layla has to choose between protecting her loved ones and saving her home planet. Bringing extraterrestrial agent Layla to life Rurusama, who gained fame as a cosplayer and content-creator, shared that she had interpreted Layla differently in the beginning. She explained: "Initially, my impression of an alien is a bit more whimsical and funny, so I thought Layla would be so.
But the director wanted me to be more robotic, with no in delivering my lines, because Layla doesn't understand Earth at the start. But eventually as the story goes, she becomes more human-like.
" In addition to familiarising herself with her lines before filming began, she also practised her expressions by recording herself on camera, so that she could look back at her performance. Rurusama also watched Chinese microdramas and anime, including Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Witch Hat Atelier to study facial expressions.
"Sometimes, when I watch some very expressive anime, the characters are really drawn very well and it feels almost easier to understand because someone had to think of the emotion and draw it on the character," she added. Something that took Rurusama by surprise was the aftereffects she suffered after she performed screaming scenes.
"Layla screams a lot, in every single scene where she is angry, she would yell, but I'm someone who doesn't yell at all. So every time I screamed, I got lightheaded. I really thought I was going to pass out... because I needed to feel angry and all the blood was rushing to my head.
" Once, she had to portray a confrontation with Mark in a carpark and she screamed for about five takes. "After every take, I turned to the director and told him that I was going to faint.
Then he would get someone to get a fan for me and stuff like that, which really helped, and I would be ready for the next take again," she recounted. She added she is thankful for being able to perform the scene with Mark: "He's such a great actor and he really managed to pull out the most anger in me.
" The 57-year-old veteran entertainer, who is also the founder of King Kong Media Production, had given her helpful advice and guidance during rehearsals. She recounted: "I remember I had trouble with one line. Although it's not long, the words are quite complicated.
"One of the best advice Mark gave me was that if I don't understand the word, I have to really go and understand what it means, so that when I deliver the line, I know what I'm talking about. "So instead of just memorising the lines, I have to really understand what it means. He also explained the line to me and it really helped me immediately. He was very patient and joked a lot on set as well.
"Playing a couple with Benjamin in the series has left Rurusama with a good impression of him. She said: "He is really very nice, super gentle and gentlemanly. I would always have discussions with him about the performance while rehearsing our lines together...
"We also had the chance to talk more while travelling in between filming locations to get to know each other better. " Rurusama and 33-year-old Benjamin also shared two kiss scenes in the series, and she was appreciative of how he initiated a discussion with her before filming. She explained: "The scenes were all done very tastefully and not scandalous.
Before filming, Ben told me that if I was uncomfortable with anything, I could let him know in advance, so that he could help me convey it to the director if I didn't dare to say it. Seeing criticisms as learning opportunities My Girlfriend is an Alien marks Rurusama's third acting project after microdrama Love in Transit and local filmShe hopes to try out a long-form drama and more films, adding in laughter: "Please cast me in villain roles...
Actually, I am okay with both protagonist and antagonist characters, I would love to try a variety.
"She explained: "I accept criticism. I'm someone who is very okay with people who have criticism about certain things, because that's how I improve faster.
"Also, technically, I'm not doing the drama for myself to watch, so having the audience give me correct feedback and things that they think I can improve on is actually a good thing, as it gives me space to go and learn new things, so I have never thought it was something negative. "My Girlfriend is an Alien is now showing on King Kong Media Production's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok as well as YouTube platforms, with new episodes released every Thursday.
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