Ray of Saram shine

Don't hate her either because she's your atypical actress-singer prototype (got brains), can discuss the finer teachings of communications theorist Marshall McLuhan and, somehow, manages to find something to laugh about at every turn.

Mr Yan himself alluded to his Meteor Garden 2 co-star's constant laughter on set as highly infectious.

For the record, the giggles come in a set of motor-quick, ascending tones. The laugh, a hearty guffaw of the head-thrown-back variety.

Whatever it is, you see a lot of Michelle's teeth, a lot of the time.

The break probably helped. Sars has shelved her movie, TV and ad projects in Hong Kong and China and her management company, Hype Records' Artiste Networks, is looking to fill in her time.

What of that infamous nightmarishly over-extended shoot for the sequel to Taiwanese TV candy floss, Meteor Garden, last year?

Not so bad, apparently - despite her co-stars' rants in the press.

"A bit stressed lah," conceded the 28-year-old initially.

"We reworked the scripts and reshot certain things they felt were not good enough, and changed directors. But you felt it was a project that people wanted to be good rather than just get out there. And it inspires you to want to do well, too."

In the sequel to the phenomenal hit, she plays a wandering spirit who inadvertently comes between the golden couple, played by Jerry Yan and Barbie Hsu.

The shoot in Barcelona and Taiwan, scheduled to last four months, dragged on for eight.

While it was a breeze in Barcelona - "I wasn't shooting every day and my friends happened to be in Europe at the same time. We rented a car and drove up the coast" - the Taiwanese food and weather weren't as kind. "It was a strain. I had diarrhoea and vomitting," she recalled with a shudder.

HANGING OUT WITH F4

Surely it was bearable, considering she spent a lot of that time in knee-weakening alpha male company, namely pop sensation F4?

"The boys are just boys," she said, shrugging. "Easy to get along with. We talked about music and movies and stuff like that."

Before you even ask the glaringly obvious question - was Jerry Yan truly a pain in the neck on set? - she volunteered.

"Everyone asked me, 'oh yeah, I heard he's difficult to get along with'. It was fine. We laughed a lot. But I laugh a lot generally."

Cue chortle.

So, where did all those vicious rumours, especially those about him not exactly being pals with Barbie Hsu, come from?

"Publicity?" she hinted.

"His character in Meteor Garden was like that. So it was nice that people have something to relate to. He's a strong character, so is Barbie. I don't know, sometimes that can be misinterpreted."

Don't expect her to talk about how this sequel differs from the earlier one, because she didn't make it through the first as a viewer.

"I saw bits of it," she admitted.

"I suppose the target audience isn't really someone like me. It's not as easy for me to get into as, say, Sex and the City."

In some ways, her high-profile turn in Meteor Garden, which is now showing on StarHub Ch 56 on Sundays at 12pm, marks a bittersweet comeback for this Katong Convent girl. She first made it big in Hong Kong in an ad with Aaron Kwok in 1997.

LEARNING TOUGH LESSONS

Her up-and-up career flight was grounded temporarily when her Taiwanese management company sued her for breach of contract in 2001. The legal tussle has since been resolved, and lessons learnt.

"Innocence is not necessarily a good thing in the real world. It's probably more difficult for me to trust anyone now," she said quietly.

"But I'm having a good time. It hasn't marred me in an obvious way. I'm alright."

The irony perhaps, is that a showbiz career wasn't even part of the plan when Michelle was completing her mass communications degree at the Nanyang Technological University.

She was an intern at the now-defunct Go magazine when she was "discovered", and later signed up by Elite Models.

In a parallel universe, she'd probably be doing "something journalistic or in fashion, or I could've continued studying".

Married?

"No, don't be silly."

Cue laughter again.

"To me, that seems ages away. Maybe because I haven't dated for a long time."

Three years, to be exact. And no, she's not in a hurry, either.

"It's nice to have someone who's all your own, but then I have such good friends who in total add to that, without having the downsides of a relationship."

And since this Indian-Chinese belle enjoys having her ribs tickled, interested parties had better approach with an arsenal of good jokes.

"I was talking to some guy friends, and they said, 'women always say they like men with a sense of humour.' But when I play a trick on them, they just never speak to me again! And the guys said, 'maybe they meant preferably the joke is not on them'."

SPEAKING SAME LANGUAGE

Not that she has a string of must-haves for a potential date, either. But there is one prerequisite.

"English being a mode of communication - very, very important," she said nodding.

"It's about cultural similarities. You get the same jokes. Most of my friends here and overseas are either locals who speak English or ABCs (American-born Chinese). These are the people, even when I'm overseas, I immediately click with."

Boys or not, this thrill-seeker (she skydives and wakeboards) is at least making a concerted effort to look a little girlier.

Her barely shoulder-length crop is the longest hairstyle she's ever had. She owns a grand total of three skirts. And she had to buy heels to practise walking in, for work.

"I guess I hang out with the boys quite a fair bit. We sit around and talk about cars, scuba dive. Heels and all that feminine stuff get in the way," said the T-shirt-and-shorts girl.

In fact, talk about cars and she gets all excited.

Though not a speed demon - she claims - her car of choice in an ideal world would be the Porsche 911 turbo.

In the real world, she zips around in her Mum's Toyota Corolla to the sounds of acid jazz - "I figured, let's not put Linkin Park in the car or it might shock her".

Much like her dream car, her career is back on track and seemingly turbo-powered.

But this free spirit has no desire to cruise down the one road for too long.

"I will do this as long as there's work and interest in me, and Hype is still interested in managing me. But I'm exploring different ideas."

Without getting into details, she mentions social work as a possibility.

"I've met quite a few people who are very unhappy about where they are, and somehow, they start opening up to me, and I spend a lot of time listening to their woes. Maybe it's time for me to do something to help them."

That would be impossible to hate.