Dennis Chew and Rui En’s friendship might seem a little odd to the world. They are polar opposites: he’s a ball of sunshine, while she’s an ice queen.

Yet, they have one of the closest friendships in local showbiz.

Dennis shed light on how the unlikely bond was formed on this week’s episode of Quan Yifeng’s talk show Hear U Out.

“I never thought that we would become this close. I thought we were too different, Dennis, 47, said of Rui En, 40, who was a singer before she was an actress.

I met her a long time ago: I was the host of her first performance so I knew who she was. But when we were both at Mediacorp, there were times when she ignored me when we walked past each other. She headed straight to the other side of the room and sat down [to do her make-up].”

The seeds of their friendship were planted when they were filming 2013's The Dream Makers, where Dennis played Rui En's brother.

In one scene, Rui En had to take shelter in Dennis’ car after getting drenched in the rain.

He said: “According to the script, I was supposed to say: ‘I told you that I’d pick you up at the reception, but you insisted on meeting at the back door instead. You’re drenched from head to toe!’ But when [Rui En] entered the car, she was really drenched, so I added this line: ‘I can see the colour of your bra!’”

Dennis said he immediately regretted his actions and feared what would happen next.

“I felt that there was a possibility she would yell ‘Cut!’ and ask me what I meant by that statement, so I braced myself for that, recalled Dennis, laughing. After I said the line, I thought to myself, “Oh no, I’m in trouble. What should I do?’ But her response was, ‘Oh really? What colour is it?’”

Dennis said that the director then told them to redo the scene 'cos their ad lib could not be aired. We burst out laughing at that and we started chatting from then on, chuckled Dennis.

When we were working [on The Dream Makers], she even told me that she looked forward to filming with me. After our last scene, which was shot at the airport, I was packing up and getting ready to go home when I heard her shout from the escalator, ‘Brother! Thank you so much.’”

But they didn't become BFFs after that. Dennis revealed that he only got Rui En’s number when they were filming The Dream Makers II in 2015.

He said, “One day, she suddenly asked me if I was free that night. I said I was because I didn’t have work the next day, and she asked me for my phone. She then keyed in her number and asked if I wanted to go for dim sum after. That’s how I got her number.”

It was that night when he decided to bite the bullet and tell her what he thought of her.

“We had a good chat over supper that night and after that, I asked her point-blank, ‘Will it kill you to say hello to other artistes?’ She retorted, ‘Nobody taught me how to do that and nobody said that I had to either.’ I told her, ‘So I’m saying this to you now: You won’t die if you do it. Try it and see for yourself.’ She laughed at my response, recalled Dennis.

That wasn’t the last conversation they had about Rui En’s unapproachable demeanour.

“When we became really close, I reminded her, ‘I want you to pick up this habit today: Say hello to other people when you see them. Approach them and initiate a conversation. Can you do that?’ She said she would try, but I insisted that she do it.”

Rui En took his advice, and Dennis soon received a status report from the actress.

“One day, my phone rang and when I picked up, [Rui En] gushed, ‘Gor, I did it! I said hello when I ran into this person and their jaw dropped! They never imagined that I would do that. I think I’m very good today.’”

At this point, Yifeng asked Dennis why he thinks Rui En has built a wall around herself when she’s clearly a great person.

Dennis paused for a moment before saying, “I think she’s been hurt by someone in the past, and that made her feel that keeping everyone at arm’s length would be for the best.”

These days, they’re as thick as thieves and support each other through their ups and downs.

“I was there for her when she was at the lowest point of her life, said Dennis, referring to that period when Rui En was plagued by a series of scandals that followed after her traffic offence in 2016.

She once told me, ‘I never expected that you would be the last person to be standing on my side.’ A series of unfortunate events happened at once, so she had no self-confidence, and was afraid and worried. She would read what was written about her every day.”

To find out what else Dennis revealed on Hear U Out, click here for part 1 & part 2. ​​​​​​​

Photos: Dennis Chew's Instagram, Mediacorp, RBKD