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Desmond Tan Gets Cheeky About Baring His Naked Butt (For Real) In New Toggle Series Derek

 

But Desmond will not just be baring his soul (and teeth) to play the sociopath, he will also be showing off his ass-ets. And by that we mean he will be baring his nekkid tush. Now this is a plot point we can get, um, behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 DAYS: Were you aware that you’ll be baring your butt for the show?
DESMOND TAN: No! I did not know until I went for the imaging session! (Laughs) When I first heard that there was going to be a spin-off, I immediately accepted the role without thinking too much. I was excited because I loved playing Derek. I trusted the director, so even though I only knew about baring my butt at the last minute, I was still okay with it. I thought they were kidding, but then they said they were serious. Initially, I kept questioning if it was necessary. But I realised that in order for my character to hang himself in prison, he would have to make a rope using the only clothes he has on, which are the overalls.

Can you walk us through the filming of that scene?
In the few days leading up to the shoot, I felt a bit of regret [agreeing to do the scene]. (Laughs) Nah, just kidding! It was the pre-shoot anxiety creeping in and I started to get worried. However, the director showed me the storyboard and explained how he was going to film it. On that day, he cleared the set so it was just three people, including me, in the room. But there was a monitor outside so practically everyone could watch… So even though there was no one around physically, virtually everyone on set was staring at my butt. (Laughs) We took about one or two hours to film that scene. I haven’t seen the show yet so I don’t know how many seconds my butt was on screen for, but according to my friend, it's quite long. (Laughs)

 

Did you do any special prep work, like, um, squats, to make sure your butt looks perky?
Not really leh! (Laughs) I didn’t do anything particularly special because I was already quite into the role the previous season, and it was rather easy for me to snap back into character. I also didn’t have to do much preparation when it come to my physique 'cos Derek would have been a prisoner for a period of time by then and so the character wouldn't need to have a good body.

 

What about your fans screengrabbbing that scene of your butt?
It’s okay, my butt is fine! It’s a [piece of] art! (Laughs)

 

If you were given an opportunity to do a full-frontal nude scene in the future, will you do it?
I'm surprised that I even agreed to do this scene because I thought that I would never do such a thing! I felt like I became more conservative as I grew older, but at that time when they told me about it, I just said, Okay lah . Now that I’ve pushed my limits, I’m open to doing more scenes like this.... but it depends on the script. My idol, Tony Leung, did Lust, Caution and he went completely nude. If I find that a show that is worth being naked for, I might just do it! Maybe not show my 'precious gem' but more than what I have revealed [in Derek]. (Laughs)