BY JOY FANG

POOR Eddie Peng. The comely- looking Taiwanese actor was positively meek in the glare of the media attention on his promotional visit here last month.

Wearing a plain long-sleeved shirt, conservatively buttoned up to his neck, the 27-year-old boyish one looked like a wide-eyed bunny.

His disposition was a far cry from the cheeky, open-hearted persona he portrayed in the new romantic comedy Hear Me, which opens in cinemas today.

In the romcom - Taiwan's highestgrossing film last year, which earned NT$30 million (S$1.3 million) - he plays Tian Kuo, a carefree young man in love with Yang Yang (played by Chen Yihan), a strong-willed lass who has to take care of her hearing-impaired sister.

Peng's guarded air was a tell-tale sign that he knew he had to face questions about kissing - specifically regarding a kissing scene with Chen in the film, and also about kissing his rumoured real-life paramour, Taiwanese pop queen Jolin Tsai.

'Is this question a joke?' asked Peng with a pained expression.

Lucky for him, his minder interjected and urged reporters to move on to other non-romantic terrain.

And so my paper ventured to ask him about the state of his legal troubles instead - he is reportedly knee-deep in a long drawn-out lawsuit with his former manager, Liu Wei Ci, over contractual issues.

Peng's face turned beetroot red. Once again, the minder stepped in to say that reporters 'cannot ask these questions'.

Thankfully, he found himself on safer ground when asked about his character in Hear Me.

For his role, Peng had to communicate in sign language for two thirds of the film. The guy attended sign language classes daily for two months.

'It was quite challenging, like learning a new language that you are unfamiliar with,' he said, perking up.

In fact, interacting with the hearing-impaired made him realise how lucky he is, he added.

Later, after the interview, Peng came up to this reporter and apologised for not being able to answer the trickier questions posed to him.

'I'm really sorry that I couldn't answer some of your questions. Some things are a bit difficult to say now. I hope you understand,' he said earnestly.

How can we not, when faced with such a sweetheart?

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