Romeo Tan only turned 36 last month, but the actor has already achieved something he never thought he’d do so soon: play someone’s grandfather.

In new Mediacorp drama Soul Old Yet So Young, Romeo plays the 76-year-old owner of a rattan handicraft store who one day mysteriously wakes up looking like his 25-year-old self.

In order to achieve the look of a septuagenarian, the star had to sit in the make-up chair for an hour and 45 minutes each day as layers of ageing make-up and a wig were put on him.

He would then spend as long as 12 hours in that get-up before taking half an hour to remove it with a special type of alcohol at the end of the day.

“I think the alcohol was quite harsh on my skin ‘cos towards the end of the shoot, I found myself having more clogged pores and little bumps on my face, but I recovered after going for a few facial sessions,” Romeo told 8days.sg in a phone interview last week.

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“When I’m in the make-up, someone will usually tapow food for me, but since I can be quite picky, I sometimes prefer to go down to the kopitiam myself to see what I can eat,” he explained. “Of course, I did get stares from people, but I don’t think they recognised me. They probably thought, ‘This guy is weird.’ (Laughs)”

One particularly amusing encounter took place when a white-haired and wrinkly Romeo went to Bugis to buy sports shoes during his lunch break. “I looked like an ah pek but I spoke normally, like the young me. I think the salesgirl was a bit traumatised. (Guffaws)”

Another poor person he traumatised was his own mother.

“There was one day when I had a slightly longer break and the filming location happened to be near my parents’ house, so I went home without telling them while still in my make-up,” he recalled.

When he got to their place, he saw his mum watching TV in the living room and, in what sounds like a scene from a slasher flick, just stood there at the gate quietly looking at her (remember, he was in costume as a 76-year-old man).

Upon spotting the ‘stranger’ outside her door, a wary Mama Tan asked, “Who are you looking for?” but naughty Romeo deliberately stayed silent to add to the suspense. “After asking me again, she said she was going to tell her husband, and just as she was about to call my dad, I burst out laughing, and she recognised my voice.”

“It was quite funny, but it’s too bad I never recorded it! She was a bit scared, like wondering why there was some weird ah pek outside.”

Since Romeo’s character finds himself in his much younger body, we asked the star what he would do — and if he would do anything differently — if he found himself in a similar situation. His answer was pretty surprising.

“Perhaps I wouldn’t go into showbiz,” mused Romeo, who joined Mediacorp after competing in Star Search 2010.

Instead, he’d want to explore some technology-related endeavours (“Like becoming friends with the creator of Facebook”) so he can invent apps, make tons of money, and “have a better life”.

When we reminded him that he just moved into a stylish bachelor pad at the swanky Marina One Residences, he laughed and said, “Well, then maybe I could move into something even better.”

Speaking of his new place, Romeo shared that while he is loving the location, he’s still trying to get used to having to do all the housework by himself.

“I’m enjoying my time alone, but there’s a lot of laundry and all that, which is quite a headache,” he laughed. “I miss my mum a lot lah ‘cos she was always the one who washed and ironed my clothes!”

As for what he hopes he will be like when he’s in his 70s, Romeo just aims to be healthy and “better-looking” than his character in Soul Old Yet So Young. He also named ageless wonder Chuando Tan, 55, as a role model.

“There are so many things you can take good care of as long as you start now and stay disciplined,” he said. “Actually I’m already quite disciplined ‘cos I’m in showbiz, but I think I can do even better.”

Does that mean he’ll be open to certain aesthetic procedures to keep up a youthful appearance?

While he doesn’t rule out considering minor treatments as he gets older, Romeo admitted that he’s very opposed to the idea of going under the knife for things like nose jobs, where there’ll be something “put inside” the body, as he’s always found those “quite scary”.

In any case, he thinks even simple things like working out or switching up one’s styling can already make a difference.

“After I cut my hair shorter and started exercising more, people have been telling me that I look younger by a few years, so it’s not all about aesthetic [procedures]. Your diet and fitness also play a big part.”

Soul Old Yet So Young will be available on demand for free on meWATCH from June 7.
It will air on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8 from June 7.

Photos: Romeo Tan/Instagram