Meet movie actress Ong Xuan Jing, 10, the real Ah Girl beyond the trophies and tears

Child star Ong Xuan Jing, 10, makes her acting debut in director Ang Geck Geck’s first feature film Ah Girl.

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

Published Nov 03, 2026, 07:00 AM

Updated Nov 03, 2026, 12:10 PM

Ong Xuan Jing, 10, won praise for her raw role in Singapore film Ah Girl, which earned her two Best Actress prizes and a Golden Horse nomination.

The film follows a young girl facing her parents’ separation, and director Ang Geck Geck used games and close support to help the child actors perform.

Ah Girl opens in cinemas on Nov 19, and Ang hopes to continue the story in two more films as Xuan Jing grows older.

SINGAPORE – Local newcomer Ong Xuan Jing has cried so convincingly on screen that even her adult co-stars have been moved to tears.

Yet, ask the 10-year-old titular star of Singapore film Ah Girl what she found most upsetting about filming her debut movie, and she has a decidedly more ordinary answer: chopping off her tresses.

“It was very scary because I used to have very long hair, and suddenly I had short hair,” the Primary 4 pupil recalls of her bowl cut at a press conference on Nov 2 at Capitol Theatre.

The haircut was real, filmed in a single take.

Child actress Ong Xuan Jing says having to cut her long hair in her debut movie Ah Girl was an upsetting experience. PHOTO: AGGREGATE FILMS

Child actress Ong Xuan Jing says having to cut her long hair in her debut movie Ah Girl was an upsetting experience.

PHOTO: AGGREGATE FILMS

Local writer-director Ang Geck Geck, 38, remembers the young actress repeatedly asking whether she really had to do it. Returning to school with the new look was, the child says, “very annoying”.

Not even her heartbreaking scenes left quite the same impression.

Xuan Jing’s performance as a seven-year-old caught between her separated parents has earned her two international Best Actress prizes and a nomination for Best New Performer at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards on Nov 22 – the same award that former actress Megan Zheng won for Homerun in 2003 when she was 10.

Xuan Jing became the youngest Best Actress winner at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in April, claiming the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition.

She then shared the Best Actress prize with 21-year-old Swiss actress Lila Gueneau, who starred in the historical French drama Silent Rebellion (2025), at the Malaysia Golden Global Awards, held in July during the Malaysia International Film Festival.

Ong Jing Xuan in Ah Girl. PHOTO: AGGREGATE FILMS

Ong Jing Xuan in Ah Girl.

The 99-minute comedy-drama has also travelled to more than 20 festivals, winning the Youth Jury Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Best ASEAN Film and the New Voices Award in Bangkok, and Best Film in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the recent Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards on Oct 31.

Opening in Singapore cinemas on Nov 19, Ah Girl has earned three Golden Horse nominations: Best New Performer, alongside Best New Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ang.

Set in 1994, Singapore, and drawing on Ang’s childhood, the film follows Swee Swee (Xuan Jing), affectionately known as Ah Girl, and her five-year-old sister Ah Tian (Sydney Wong), as they navigate their parents’ split.

Living with their father (James Seah) and grandmother (Doreen Toh), Ah Girl faces an agonising choice when her mother (Carrie Wong) asks her to move in with her, leaving behind the rest of her family.

Ang tells The Straits Times in a separate interview that she first spotted her leading lady at an audition when Xuan Jing was five. Though the child caught her attention, Ang did not shortlist her then.

Director Ang Geck Geck (left) and actress Ong Xuan Jing on the set of Ah Girl. PHOTO: AGGREGATE FILMS

Director Ang Geck Geck (left) and actress Ong Xuan Jing on the set of Ah Girl.

When Ang held another open call a year later, Xuan Jing’s mother signed her up again. This time, the six-year-old impressed Ang with the subtle nuances in her facial expressions.

“She could understand what I was trying to tell her very clearly,” says Ang.

Xuan Jing made the shortlist of about 12 or 13 children from hundreds of hopefuls, and kept standing out over months of workshops. Filming took place in 2024 when she was seven.

Rather than coach the first-time child actors on how to perform emotions, Ang used games, conversations and familiar experiences to help them understand their characters.

She also worked closely with parents and sought professional advice from child counsellors, as she was worried about asking children to act out painful situations.

Over months of preparation, Ang and Xuan Jing also developed a close bond. The director spent time with her almost every day, even visiting her home to observe how she interacted with her family and other children.

“She is very close to me and we have this chemistry,” says Ang, who found that Xuan Jing’s sensitive and empathetic nature made it easier for her to connect with the character’s emotions.

Director Ang Geck Geck (right) hopes to continue to work with Ong Xuan Jing in her future films. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

Director Ang Geck Geck (right) hopes to continue to work with Ong Xuan Jing in her future films.

In one scene, Ah Girl is distraught at the prospect of being separated from Ah Tian. Ang told Xuan Jing about her own experience of having her sister taken away and began crying. Xuan Jing, observing her director, followed suit.

The first-time feature film-maker had taught the children to hold an emotion until the cameras were ready, turning “action” and “cut” into cues they understood from play. Xuan Jing was so attuned to a scene that she sometimes asked her screen parents to scold her to help her reach the right emotional state.

The grown-ups learn a lesson

Carrie Wong, who makes her feature-film debut as Ah Girl’s mother Mummy, was startled by how effortlessly Xuan Jing and Sydney entered the world of the film.

“When they are sad, they are really crying. When they are happy, they are really playing,” the Mediacorp star tells ST. “Whatever they gave on screen, it’s very raw and genuine.”

Rather than dispensing acting advice, Wong, 32, found herself learning from her little co-stars. One scene, in which her character emotionally manipulates Ah Girl, affected her so deeply that she had to step aside.

“I had to take a breather because I was crying,” she says.

(From left) Ah Girl cast members Sydney Wong, James Seah, Ong Xuan Jing and Carrie Wong. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

(From left) Ah Girl cast members Sydney Wong, James Seah, Ong Xuan Jing and Carrie Wong.

Seah, 36, who plays Ah Pa, was equally impressed by Xuan Jing’s instincts.

“A lot of times in acting with her, she actually reminds me to be in the present moment with her,” he says. “That’s what acting is really about – listening and reacting to each other.”

Her performance also kept the Mediacorp artiste on his toes, often requiring him to improvise and react spontaneously rather than stick rigidly to the script.

James Seah and Ong Xuan Jing play father and daughter in local movie Ah Girl. PHOTO: CHARLYN NG

James Seah and Ong Xuan Jing play father and daughter in local movie Ah Girl.

Xuan Jing’s mother Kiki Cai, 42, who runs her own business, found some emotional scenes difficult to watch. “There were times when, after the scene, when they said cut, I also cried,” she says. “It’s really not easy to see your daughter going through a crying scene.”

Away from the cameras, Cai describes her middle child as happy, easy-going, sensitive and empathetic.

Xuan Jing became interested in acting after seeing her older brother, now 14, in a television advertisement and asked her mother if she could try it too.

Cai began applying independently for commercial jobs for her daughter. She has also tried introducing her youngest child, Xuan Jing’s six-year-old sister, to acting, but feels she is not ready for it.

Despite her natural flair in front of the camera, Xuan Jing has never attended formal acting classes. Even her co-curricular activity at Chongfu School in Yishun has nothing to do with the performing arts – she belongs to the Red Cross Youth.

Life at school has continued much as before. Although Ah Girl’s shoot, which took about 28 days, was planned around the mid-year holidays, it spilled into the school term, so Cai collected assignments and helped her daughter catch up.

Xuan Jing insists her friends treat her “the same”, although her mother sees it differently. She says Xuan Jing’s classmates take newspaper cuttings about the budding child star to school and that a teacher has played the film’s trailer for the class.

Would Xuan Jing like her classmates to watch the movie when it screens in cinemas?

“Hopefully, no,” comes the shy reply. “It’s embarrassing.”

Winning is only a bonus

Despite her recent trophy haul, the youngster seems remarkably relaxed about the upcoming Golden Horse Awards. She will be heading to Taipei with Ang, and her dress has been selected. But Xuan Jing does not profess to grasp how prestigious the ceremony is.

Asked how she would feel if she went home empty-handed, she replies: “It’s okay because I already (got the nomination).” Winning, she adds, will be “a bonus”.

Cai, who says her daughter is mature for her age, is proud of the recognition but is in no hurry to turn Xuan Jing into a full-time actress. There has been interest from Mediacorp for television projects, but she will consider opportunities at Xuan Jing’s pace, especially with Primary 5 and 6 ahead.

Xuan Jing says she wants to continue acting, though she has yet to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. She also likes clothes, hair and make-up – which perhaps explains why she saw that dramatic haircut as such an indignity.

Director Ang Geck Geck and young actress Ong Xuan Jing on the set of Ah Girl. PHOTO: AGGREGATE FILMS

Director Ang Geck Geck and young actress Ong Xuan Jing on the set of Ah Girl.

Meanwhile, Ang has long-term plans for Xuan Jing. Ah Girl took more than a decade to develop, and the film-maker hopes to follow the character through two more films, as a teenager of about 16 or 17 and then an adult.

Ang also wants to nurture Xuan Jing’s talent and give her opportunities she feels she herself did not haveas a child.

At the prospect of having to wait until she is an older teen to work with Ang again, Xuan Jing breaks into an incredulous exclamation: “What, 17? So long?”

Ah Girl opens in Singapore cinemas on Nov 19.

Film festivals/awards

10岁的童星王璇京在导演洪基克的首部电影长片《阿妹》中首次亮相银幕。

ST 摄影：AZMI ATHNI

发布于2026年11月3日上午7:00

更新于2026年11月3日下午12:10

10岁的王璇静凭借在新加坡电影《阿妹》中稚嫩的表演赢得了赞誉，并凭借该片获得了两项最佳女主角奖和金马奖提名。

这部电影讲述了一个小女孩面对父母分居的故事，导演安玉玉运用游戏和密切支持来帮助小演员们进行表演。

《阿妹》将于 11 月 19 日在影院上映，安琪希望在接下来的两部电影中继续讲述宣静长大后的故事。

新加坡——本地新人王璇静在银幕上哭得如此逼真，甚至连她的成年搭档都被感动得热泪盈眶。

然而，如果你问这位10岁的新加坡电影《阿妹》的主演，在拍摄她的处女作电影时，最让她难过的是什么，她会给出一个非常普通的答案：剪掉她的头发。

“这很可怕，因为我以前留着很长的头发，突然就剪成了短发，”这位小学四年级的学生在11月2日于国会剧院举行的新闻发布会上回忆起她的锅盖头时说道。

理发过程是真实的，一次拍摄完成。

童星王璇京表示，在出道电影《阿妹》中被迫剪掉长发让她感到很沮丧。图片：AGGREGATE FILMS

童星王璇京表示，在她的出道电影《阿妹》中被迫剪掉长发是一次令人难过的经历。

照片：聚合薄膜

现年38岁的本地编剧兼导演安·格克·格克回忆说，这位小女演员反复问她是否真的必须这样做。孩子说，以新造型回到学校“非常令人恼火”。

即使是她那些令人心碎的戏份，也没有给人留下同样的印象。

宣静在片中饰演一位夹在离异父母之间的七岁女孩，凭借此片获得了两项国际最佳女主角奖，并入围了11月22日举行的台湾金马奖最佳新人奖——该奖项曾由前演员郑惠玉在2003年凭借《全垒打》获得，当时她年仅10岁。

今年四月，宣静在香港国际电影节上荣获青年电影竞赛单元的火鸟奖，成为该电影节历史上最年轻的最佳女主角得主。

随后，在7月马来西亚国际电影节期间举行的马来西亚金环球奖颁奖典礼上，她与21岁的瑞士女演员莉拉·盖诺共同获得了最佳女主角奖，莉拉·盖诺主演了法国历史剧情片《无声的反叛》（2025）。

王静璇在《阿妹》中。图片：AGGREGATE FILMS

Ong Jing Xuan 出演《Ah Girl》。

这部 99 分钟的喜剧剧情片也参加了 20 多个电影节，在鹿特丹国际电影节上荣获青年评审团奖，在曼谷荣获最佳东盟电影奖和新锐导演奖，并在 10 月 31 日举行的新加坡国际电影节银幕奖颁奖典礼上荣获亚洲故事片竞赛单元最佳影片奖。

《阿妹》于 11 月 19 日在新加坡影院上映，已获得三项金马奖提名：最佳新人演员、最佳新导演和最佳改编剧本（Ang）。

影片以 1994 年的新加坡为背景，取材于 Ang 的童年经历，讲述了被亲切地称为“阿妹”的 Swee Swee（Xuan Jing 饰）和她五岁的妹妹 Ah Tian（Sydney Wong 饰）在父母分居后的生活。

阿妹和父亲（詹姆斯·西）和祖母（杜君玲）一起生活，当母亲（王嘉莉）要求她搬来和自己一起住，离开其他家人时，她面临着痛苦的选择。

Ang在接受《海峡时报》的另一次采访中表示，她第一次注意到女主角宣静是在一次试镜中，当时宣静只有五岁。虽然这个小女孩吸引了Ang的注意，但她当时并没有把宣静列入候选名单。

导演洪基杰（左）和演员王璇晶在电影《阿妹》片场。图片：AGGREGATE FILMS

导演洪玉洁（左）和演员王璇晶在电影《阿妹》的片场。

一年后，当Ang再次公开招募演员时，萱静的母亲再次为她报名。这一次，这位六岁的小女孩凭借面部表情的微妙变化给Ang留下了深刻的印象。

“她能非常清楚地理解我想告诉她的事情，”Ang说道。

璇玑从数百名候选者中脱颖而出，入围了大约12或13名儿童的名单，并在长达数月的培训中持续表现突出。拍摄于2024年，当时她7岁。

与其指导这些初次演戏的小演员如何表演情感，Ang 不如利用游戏、对话和熟悉的经历来帮助他们理解角色。

她还与家长密切合作，并向儿童心理咨询师寻求专业建议，因为她担心要求孩子重现痛苦的情境。

经过数月的筹备，昂和宣静也建立了深厚的感情。导演几乎每天都和她在一起，甚至亲自去她家观察她与家人和其他孩子的互动。

“她和我关系很亲近，我们之间很有默契，”Ang说道。她发现，宣静敏感而富有同情心的性格让她更容易与角色的情感产生共鸣。

导演Ang Geck Geck（右）希望未来能继续与Ong Xuan Jing合作拍摄电影。ST PHOTO：AZMI ATHNI

导演Ang Geck Geck（右）希望在未来的电影中继续与Ong Xuan Jing合作。

其中一个场景里，阿妹一想到要和阿天分开就伤心欲绝。她向璇玑讲述了自己姐姐被带走的经历，说着说着就哭了起来。璇玑看着导演，也跟着哭了起来。

这位初次执导长片的导演教导孩子们在开拍前要控制好情绪，并将“开拍”和“停”等口令变成孩子们在游戏中就能理解的指令。宣静对场景的把握非常精准，有时甚至会要求“银幕父母”责骂她，帮助她进入合适的情绪状态。

大人们吸取了教训

首次出演电影的黄嘉莉（Carrie Wong）饰演女主角阿妹的母亲“木乃伊”，她对宣静和Sydney轻松融入电影世界的方式感到惊讶。

“他们难过的时候会真情流露，开心的时候也会尽情玩耍，”这位新传媒明星告诉《海峡时报》。“他们在荧幕上的表现都非常真实自然。”

32岁的黄阿丽并没有给小演员们传授演技技巧，反而从她们身上学到了很多。其中一场戏，她饰演的角色在情感上操控着“阿妹”，这场戏深深触动了她，以至于她不得不退出拍摄。

“我不得不停下来喘口气，因为我一直在哭，”她说。

（从左至右）《阿妹》剧组成员黄诗咏、谢志明、王璇京和黄思敏。ST PHOTO：AZMI ATHNI

（从左至右）《阿妹》剧组成员黄诗咏、谢志明、王璇京和黄嘉莉。

36岁的谢伊（饰演阿爸）同样对宣静的直觉印象深刻。

“很多时候，和她一起演戏时，她都会提醒我全身心投入到当下，”他说。“这才是表演的真谛——倾听彼此，并做出回应。”

她的表演也让这位新传媒艺人时刻保持警惕，经常需要他即兴发挥，做出反应，而不是严格按照剧本行事。

James Seah 和 Ong Xuan Jing 在本地电影《Ah Girl》中饰演父女。照片：CHARLYN NG

James Seah 和 Ong Xuan Jing 在本地电影《Ah Girl》中饰演父女。

宣静的母亲蔡琪琪（42岁）经营着自己的生意，她觉得有些情感戏份很难看下去。“有时候，拍完一场戏，导演喊‘停’之后，我也会哭，”她说，“看到女儿拍哭戏真的很难受。”

在镜头之外，蔡女士形容她的二女儿快乐、随和、敏感且富有同情心。

宣静在电视广告中看到哥哥（现年 14 岁）后，对表演产生了兴趣，并问妈妈她是否也可以尝试一下。

蔡女士开始独立为女儿申请商业演出工作。她也曾尝试让最小的孩子，也就是宣静六岁的妹妹，接触表演，但她觉得女儿还没有准备好。

尽管宣静在镜头前展现出与生俱来的天赋，但她从未接受过正规的表演训练。甚至她在义顺崇福学校的课外活动也与表演艺术无关——她是红十字青年团的成员。

学校生活基本照常进行。虽然《阿妹》的拍摄计划安排在年中假期，历时约28天，但拍摄却延续到了学期中，所以蔡女士不得不收拾作业，并帮助女儿补习功课。

尽管宣静坚称朋友们对她“一视同仁”，但她母亲却不这么认为。母亲说，宣静的同学们会把关于这位冉冉升起的童星的剪报带到学校，而且还有老师在课堂上播放了这部电影的预告片。

宣静希望她的同学们在电影院观看这部电影吗？

“但愿不会，”对方羞涩地回答，“这太尴尬了。”

胜利只是额外的奖励。

尽管最近斩获颇丰，这位年轻女演员对于即将到来的金马奖却显得格外轻松。她将和安洁敏一起前往台北，礼服也已经选好了。但宣静似乎并没有意识到这场颁奖典礼的盛况。

当被问及如果空手而归会作何感想时，她回答说：“没关系，因为我已经（获得提名）了。”她补充说，获奖将是“额外的惊喜”。

蔡女士表示女儿萱静虽然年纪小，但心智成熟，她为女儿获得的认可感到自豪，但并不急于将萱静培养成全职演员。虽然新传媒曾对萱静的电视项目表现出兴趣，但她会根据萱静的节奏来考虑这些机会，尤其萱静即将升入小学五六年级。

宣静说她想继续演戏，但还没决定长大后想做什么。她也喜欢服装、发型和化妆——这或许可以解释为什么她觉得那次戏剧性的剪发是对她的侮辱。

导演洪基杰与年轻女演员王璇晶在电影《阿妹》片场。图片：AGGREGATE FILMS

导演洪玉洁和年轻女演员王璇晶在电影《阿妹》的片场。

与此同时，吴宇森对宣静这个角色有着长远的规划。《阿妹》的创作历时十余年，这位电影人希望再拍摄两部电影，分别讲述宣静16、17岁左右的青少年时期和成年后的故事。

Ang也想培养Xuan Jing的才能，给她一些她自己小时候没有的机会。

想到要等到十几岁才能再次和昂一起工作，璇静难以置信地惊呼道：“什么，17岁？这么久？”

《阿嬷》将于11月19日在新加坡影院上映。

电影节/奖项