Host-actress Xixi Lim scores first lead role in new series The Blockbusters

These days, Xixi Lim’s days are packed to the brim. The 36-year-old Singaporean comedienne, host and actress is often on set for close to 12 hours, before having a quick dinner and then heading off to dance practice. 

She is filming the Mediacorp series The Blockbusters, about the rise of a plus-sized girl group and the ups and downs the four members of the dance act face.

In the show, slated to premiere in November, Lim plays Bree, alongside local actresses Kayly Loh and Tay Ying, as well as Malaysian Meeki Ng. 

Without a strong background in dance, Lim has to put in more effort to perfect the routines Bree performs. She also has to get used to finally being in the spotlight.

“This is my first time taking on a lead role, and I really didn’t expect myself to be in every scene and to have to film every day, so I was quite overwhelmed in the initial stages of filming,” the multi-hypenate tells The Straits Times over the phone during a lunch break while filming. 

Indeed, Lim is not the typical choice for a female lead of a drama produced by the broadcaster, or in any local production.

Unlike Mediacorp’s roster of mostly svelte female artistes, Lim is a plus-sized talent signed to Basic Models Management. She is usually cast in comic relief supporting roles, such as recruit Yuan Yuanyuan in local director Jack Neo’s comedy film Ah Girls Go Army (2022).

She has also taken on supporting roles in local dramas such as My One In A Million (2019) and Hello From The Other Side (2019). In 2022, she won the reality competition show for live-stream sales hosts, Streamers Go Live, and bagged $10,000 in prize money.

She is among the regular hosts of the YouTube variety programme Outcasts, which has more than 76,000 subscribers on its channel.

This is why The Blockbusters is such a big deal for her. 

Lim says: “I’m very happy about this opportunity. There is quite a narrow genre of roles for plus-sized actresses because we are often seen as the funny ones or comic relief. So the fact that there’s a script like this – it’s an eye-opener not just for me, but also for everyone.”

She will get to flaunt her dramatic chops too, as the drama follows the turmoil in the members’ personal lives, including Bree’s romantic entanglements and other difficulties. 

Her first lead role coincides with her first major win at Mediacorp’s Star Awards held in April. She took home her first Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste trophy, which is based on public votes.

Lim, who was hosting the award ceremony’s behind-the-scenes live show, had to run from her backstage gig to the ceremony hall to receive her award. 

In her acceptance speech, she tearfully said: “It’s not easy being a plus-sized female artiste... I want to say to everyone, no matter if you’re a man or a woman, if you believe in yourself, you can do it. Lastly, I’d like to say, I am Xixi, I am perfect the way I am.”

On her back-to-back career milestones, the bachelorette says: “It’s like the stars aligned. People have become more receptive towards plus-sized actresses and also perhaps more receptive to me and the variety of things that I can do.

“I think audiences are more open to changes and unique selling points now, so maybe The Blockbusters will seem like a fresher sort of Mediacorp drama to them.”

The Blockbusters’ executive producer Leong Lye Lin is similarly optimistic about the audience’s reception to the series, “given its authentic, compelling and refreshing concept”.

In an e-mail to ST, Ms Leong says: “We hope everyone can join the four main characters on their journeys of self-love, self-acceptance and growth.”

Indeed, more body-diverse leads are having their moment in Hollywood.

The third season of Netflix period romance Bridgerton, premiering on May 16, will be led by Irish actress Nicola Coughlan, who is curvier than British actresses Phoebe Dynevor and Simone Ashley, the conventionally model-thin female leads of the first and second season respectively. 

Another Netflix hit, dark comedy-drama Baby Reindeer, which started streaming on April 11, sees plus-sized English actress Jessica Gunning in a chilling role as a stalker who harasses a stand-up comedian. 

But change is slow in Asia, where being slim and fair is still largely seen as the beauty standard, and plus-sized actors and actresses remain rare.

Lim is well aware of the discrimination and fat-shaming that persists.

She was bullied and ostracised in school, and became anxious and depressed about her appearance during her secondary school years.

In an episode of local documentary programme Tuesday Report, she talked about how she overcame her struggles by reaching out to classmates and friends, who accepted her and made her realise that not everyone hated her.

After a short-lived stint as a child star in the 1990s, Lim started acting in 2011. Since then, she has had to contend regularly with comments mocking her weight.

In 2022, she clapped back at a netizen who repeatedly insulted her over direct messages on Instagram. The person targeted her friendship with her Ah Girls Go Army co-star Glenn Yong, by calling her “a toad that wants to taste swan meat”, and trolled her for not being attractive enough to stand next to the local actor.

And the cutting remarks have not died down even as her popularity soars.

She notes: “There’s a video of me running from backstage (at Star Awards) to get my Top 10 trophy, and even in the comments of that video, there are people saying things like, ‘No wonder I felt my house shaking, because she was running.’ It’s very common to see comments like that. Of course, I still feel hurt by them, especially when I have had a bad day. So sometimes, I take social media breaks. If I don’t see it, I don’t feel it.”

She says there are very few plus-sized role models for her to look up to in the local entertainment industry, though she does admire Singaporean funnyman Mark Lee. 

“He’s successful, he’s talented, he can act, he can host and he even has a Golden Horse Best Actor nomination (for the 2020 film Number 1), but he’s not conventionally handsome. He always gives me a stare when I say that,” she jokes. 

Lim says The Blockbusters is a good sign that the industry is changing and including more body positivity, as viewers hunger for fresh storytelling and different perspectives.

She certainly hopes for more roles for plus-sized talent.

Lim says: “I feel like there is a need to break stereotypes about who can be in a leading role. In real life, people come in all shapes and sizes. Not everyone is fair and pretty, tall and slim. Of course, I want to see more variations on screen so that I have more opportunities as a performer. But as a viewer, I also want to see someone relatable in the shows I watch.”

For now, she is booked and busy beyond The Blockbusters. She will make her stand-up comedy debut in the live comedy show Happy Ever Laughter – Standup Comedy Madness in June.

It features a line-up of established comedians such as Fakkah Fuzz and Dr Jason Leong, as well as Lim and actor Noah Yap, who is also making his stand-up debut. Yap is best known for starring in Neo’s Ah Boys To Men film franchise (2012 to 2017).

Lim, who has written her own jokes for her set, is a bundle of nerves about her first outing on such a stage.

“I’m super scared. I love stand-up comedy, but it’s a whole different ball game. You need to have engagement with the live audience, make sure your jokes are paced well, and be aware of your tempo and facial expressions. You have only one chance to get it right.

“But my attitude to life is, ‘try lor’. I’m not scared of bombing. Even if I fail, I know I tried.”

• The Blockbusters is slated to premiere in November on mewatch and Channel 8. 

Book It/Happy Ever Laughter – Standup Comedy Madness

Where: Capitol Theatre, 17 Stamford Road
When: June 20 to 28, 8pm; June 22, 3pm
Admission: $65 to $165 via Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg/events/laughter0624)