SINGAPORE — He might pepper every sentence with the word “unbelievable”, but given the year he’s had, the inimitable Chen Tianwen is surely allowed to milk it for all its worth.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would know that the MediaCorp actor’s “Un-un-un-un-unbelievable” music video for the television sitcom Spouse For House went viral earlier this year. It attracted more than 3 million views on YouTube and Facebook, spawned countless parodies and memes, and even caught the attention of foreign media.

The whole situation had left both the actor and Singapore — borrowing a line from the song — “stunned like vegetable”. Not only did the video put smiles on a lot of faces, it also won the veteran actor a new legion of fans.

And on Thursday, it will be hitting the big screen.

With a supporting cast that includes getai star Liu Ling Ling, Marcus Chin and Ah Boys To Men star Tosh Zhang, the 52-year-old Chen reprises his role as the music video’s zany crooner, Eric Kwek, in the movie spin-off. Written and directed by Ong Kuo Sin, who also helmed the viral video, Mr Unbelievable is all about never giving up one’s aspirations, no matter how old one might be.

Speaking ahead of the film’s gala premiere tonight (Dec 1), Chen revealed that he didn’t get much sleep last night. “You can say I’m a little nervous, but I’m also very excited,” he said, in Mandarin.

Which is completely understandable. While Chen appeared in the award-winning film Ilo Ilo, which nabbed him a Golden Horse nomination for his supporting role as the unassuming father, Mr Unbelievable is his first leading role in a movie.

According to him, his 30 year-long career in entertainment, with its fair share of highs and lows, has come to a stage where it’s been pretty “unbelievable”. “My lowest point was two or three years ago, before I shot Ilo Ilo. There weren’t a lot of job opportunities,” he shared. “In a year, I was only shooting one project. My actor’s contract was up for negotiation and the amount they were offering was, erm, unbelievable.”

But things have really turned around for the actor, who just signed on with MediaCorp for two more years.

Watching the completed movie for the first time, he confessed that he did shed some tears.

“Yes, I did cry,” he said, with a laugh. “Right from the beginning of the film, when I was singing on the beach by the sea, I think I already starting tearing. Because, really, in some ways, the movie is really art imitating real life. So yes, I felt emotional.”

Mr Unbelievable opens in cinemas on Thursday.