GROWING up in Taiwan, rising pop singer and actress Guo Shu Yao has always believed in the supernatural.
“There are certain things that even science can’t explain. There are many instances when people report on inexplicable ghost sightings and occurences,” says Guo during a Press conference for the TV series The Teenage Psychic, at St Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
The talkative 27-year-old, who had her breakout role in the 2013 film Step Back To Glory (which won her the Best New Performer trophy at the Golden Horse Awards) adds that she also believes in the karmic world.
“There’s always a cause and effect to every action. It’s when you understand how the karmic world works that you’ll be less afraid of the unseen,” she says.
Having a relatively young star talking about the karmic world seems a little out of place. Perhaps Guo’s screen persona in The Teenage Psychic has rubbed off a little too much on her.
SPIRIT CHANNELING
In the series the actress plays 16-year-old Xiao Zhen, who can communicate with spirits from other realms. Juggling between her teenage life and managing her role as a temple psychic, her ability to help people deal with their dearly departed gives her inner strength to navigate through her complicated school life and her first romantic encounter.
In order to portray a realistic role, Guo worked with a real temple medium, Sophia, on the dos and don’ts of spirit channeling.
“I received lots of guidance on how to look the part. I even learnt how to handle the Taoist sword (a ritual sword),” she says excitedly.
“I’ve always been fascinated with spirit channeling, so the series allowed me to learn more and helped me to understand the other realm better,” says the actress, who has appeared in a string of TV series and films including I, My Brother, Office Girls and When A Wolf Falls In Love With A Sheep.
Guo relates one time during filming when the equipment broke down for no apparent reason. The sound guy also picked up weird noises on the microphones.
Explains Guo, “The creepiest thing was when Sophia said there were some ‘guests’ that had decided to hang around. After performing some prayers we continued filming and nothing else has happened since.”
When asked, if given the ability to speak to spirits, who she’d speak to, she says: “My dad, he died of heart attack when I was quite young. It would be a long father-daughter chat. I miss him a lot,” says Guo, eyes welling with tears.
She adds: “Always cherish every moment with the loved ones. Life is short, so always be thankful.”
Shot entirely in Taipei in just two months, the six-episode series is adapted from the short film, The Busy Young Psychic. It also stars Kent Tsai (Mon Mon Mon Monsters) as Ah Le, Chen Mu Yi (Comes The Black Dog) as Teacher Kim, Alina Cheng (Our Times) as Qiao Wei and Nana Lee (Youth Power) as Alice.
Directed by Chen Ho-Yu, The Teenage Psychic is HBO Asia’s first original Mandarin series, jointly developed with Taiwanese broadcaster Public Television Series and Singapore’s InFocus Asia.
The Teenage Psychic airs Sundays at 10pm on HBO (Astro channel 411 and HD channel 431). The first episode airs today.