I recently saw a photo gallery put up on Famous that featured Hollywood stars who fell in love on set (unfortunately the link is broken) and it got me thinking about how people meet and fall in love. In all honesty, my first response is, "How else do you think Hollywood celebrities meet that special someone, fall in love and live happily ever after (or not)?"
I am classified under the category of common folk. I have had a normal life. I studied in school for a mandatory 10 years then went on to college, then university (twice). In between I've worked in part time jobs and even kick started a career in media at MediaCorp Channel 5.
Working in the entertainment industry has helped shed some light on how hectic and fast paced the industry actually is. When I was studying in school, we were told and knew that Television or Film production is tedious, time consuming, and only possible through the hard work of a team of individuals. However, the extent of that was only clear to me when I started to actually work in the industry.
Television is a well-oiled machine. Television stations churn out programs regularly according to schedule and that schedule is a very tight one. A drama production would take about 3 months of filming and that's excluding post and pre-production depending on the length of the series. With such a grueling schedule, I barely have time to rest, much less have the time to meet friends. My friends and family have always been very understanding of my tired face and listless manner when I do manage to squeeze some time to catch up with them. Considering the fact that even friends and family have to wait in line to meet up with me, time and opportunities to meet someone new or special at a social outing is even more scarce.
It isn't just the behind the scenes crew that have such crazy work schedules, so do the actors and actresses who work with us. If we work hard to prep the "stage", so to speak, they work hard getting ready to be on that stage and in front of the cameras. It's always work, work, and more work. So when would celebrities have the time to meet someone who could be the love of their life besides on set or at premieres and working social events?
Love blossoms when two people spend quality time together and get to know each other well. When celebrities work together, they spend a lot of time together. Especially if they need to act as if they were in love at work, romance might spill over into real life and they might actually fall in love. Of course, one cannot and should not generalise and claim that celebrities can only find love on a set or a working event. However, the chances of love blossoming on set or is higher than meeting someone through friends or family.
Now this theory needs a little revision when applying it to local celebrities. In Singapore, our celebrities are contracted under companies who act as managers and agents and since there really is only one major Television broadcasting station which is what our local entertainment really entails. As such, local celebrities don't necessarily need to act as lovers on set to fall in love. In fact, some celebrities fall in love but never act as a couple on screen until after they've become a couple off screen. For example, Chen Li Ping and Rayson Tan have never acted as a couple on screen prior to meeting and falling in love, while Fann Wong and Christopher Lee have acted alongside each other as a couple multiple times and fell in love in the process (and not immediately might I add).
There are also some celebrities who go out of their way to not date someone within the entertainment circle. They already have to spend so much time at work they don't want their personal lives entangled with work as well. And at the end of the day, acting and being a person adored and looked up to by the masses is a celebrity's job. And like us common folk, if we haven't already found Mr or Miss Right before we start our working life, chances are that special someone would either be from working with the person or introduced at work events or through colleagues.
So next time you read the news about a celebrity couple getting together or breaking up, cut them some slack; they're just normal human beings, with unique high-profile jobs, falling in and out of love.
Click here to follow Entitled to Opinion on Facebook!
I am classified under the category of common folk. I have had a normal life. I studied in school for a mandatory 10 years then went on to college, then university (twice). In between I've worked in part time jobs and even kick started a career in media at MediaCorp Channel 5.
Working in the entertainment industry has helped shed some light on how hectic and fast paced the industry actually is. When I was studying in school, we were told and knew that Television or Film production is tedious, time consuming, and only possible through the hard work of a team of individuals. However, the extent of that was only clear to me when I started to actually work in the industry.
Television is a well-oiled machine. Television stations churn out programs regularly according to schedule and that schedule is a very tight one. A drama production would take about 3 months of filming and that's excluding post and pre-production depending on the length of the series. With such a grueling schedule, I barely have time to rest, much less have the time to meet friends. My friends and family have always been very understanding of my tired face and listless manner when I do manage to squeeze some time to catch up with them. Considering the fact that even friends and family have to wait in line to meet up with me, time and opportunities to meet someone new or special at a social outing is even more scarce.
It isn't just the behind the scenes crew that have such crazy work schedules, so do the actors and actresses who work with us. If we work hard to prep the "stage", so to speak, they work hard getting ready to be on that stage and in front of the cameras. It's always work, work, and more work. So when would celebrities have the time to meet someone who could be the love of their life besides on set or at premieres and working social events?
Love blossoms when two people spend quality time together and get to know each other well. When celebrities work together, they spend a lot of time together. Especially if they need to act as if they were in love at work, romance might spill over into real life and they might actually fall in love. Of course, one cannot and should not generalise and claim that celebrities can only find love on a set or a working event. However, the chances of love blossoming on set or is higher than meeting someone through friends or family.
Now this theory needs a little revision when applying it to local celebrities. In Singapore, our celebrities are contracted under companies who act as managers and agents and since there really is only one major Television broadcasting station which is what our local entertainment really entails. As such, local celebrities don't necessarily need to act as lovers on set to fall in love. In fact, some celebrities fall in love but never act as a couple on screen until after they've become a couple off screen. For example, Chen Li Ping and Rayson Tan have never acted as a couple on screen prior to meeting and falling in love, while Fann Wong and Christopher Lee have acted alongside each other as a couple multiple times and fell in love in the process (and not immediately might I add).
There are also some celebrities who go out of their way to not date someone within the entertainment circle. They already have to spend so much time at work they don't want their personal lives entangled with work as well. And at the end of the day, acting and being a person adored and looked up to by the masses is a celebrity's job. And like us common folk, if we haven't already found Mr or Miss Right before we start our working life, chances are that special someone would either be from working with the person or introduced at work events or through colleagues.
So next time you read the news about a celebrity couple getting together or breaking up, cut them some slack; they're just normal human beings, with unique high-profile jobs, falling in and out of love.
Click here to follow Entitled to Opinion on Facebook!
