Lead actress Mindee Ong stars in local movie Perfect Rivals – as a boy.

Mindee Ong, right, shares a scene with veteran actor Ha Yu, left

She was “Little Papaya” in the musical movie 881 who made aunties (and uncles) cried in her death scene and traumatised audiences in a harrowing gang rape scene in 12 Lotus. And she’s back in a new movie Perfect Rivals with one or two challenging scenes of contention.

Perfect Rivals is a family dramedy by A.I Pictures, a subsidiary of FLY Entertainment, starring Irene Ang and veteran Hong Kong actor Ha Yu as rival bak kwa (barbequed meat) sellers.

Actress Mindee Ong (pictured below at the press conference) stars as Yuan Yuan, daughter of Mei Mei (played by the affable Irene Ang), who cross dresses as a man to spy on the rival’s family. For her gender bending role, Ong had to wear layers of clothes to look bulkier and bind her chest. “Wearing the elastic band was so tight and hot. And I was constantly sweating from wearing layer after layer of clothes,” laments Ong.

But the difficult parts of filming weren’t restricted to just elastic bands. Ong had to film a bathtub scene – the first time she had to reveal a lot of skin on screen. “It was awkward soaking in the bathtub for hours with the 10-plus crew and (Malaysian actor-singer) Josh looking on,” enthuses Ong, who wore skin-coloured underwear for the scene.

Josh Lai, who plays the son of rival seller Chen Hao (played by Ha Yu), had to stumble into the scene acting drunk. He chimes in Mandarin: “I was very embarrassed and I tried to avoid looking at Mindee too much.”

Catch the trailer and Mindee’s bathtub scene here:

Ong, voted Babe of the Year for The New Paper’s Flame Awards in 2007, replies in mock indignation: “That was actually okay. I was more concerned about the ‘vomit’ because Josh had to puke into the bath tub. The gross ‘vomit’ was a combination of Milo, coffee and other gross stuff!”

Despite the challenging scenes, Ong enjoyed acting on set. “I got to act with Ha Yu whom I grow up watching on TVB,” says Ong. The 30-year-old actress lets on: “I felt happy and carefree acting in Perfect Rivals together with the FLY family (mainly with Irene and co-star Pamelyn Chee) compared to the more emotionally challenging role in 12 Lotus.”

Indeed, that carefree and warm spirit was evident throughout the filming experience for the rest of the cast (pictured above). Irene Ang, who shared a kissing scene with the venerable Ha Yu, reveals: “Usually a kissing scene can be done in one good take. I don’t know why there are so many takes that day!”

Ha Yu, in his trademark grin, says in impeccable Mandarin: “We have great chemistry although we come from different cultures. Irene does comedy very well and is very Westernised compared to my traditional acting.” Yu, who is appearing in a Singaporean production for the first time, has the last word on the actors of today: “I’m very happy to be able to lend advice and share my experience with the local actors because they have a lot of potential and bright future ahead.”

Perfect Rivals opens 17 March in cinemas island-wide.