SINGAPORE - The movie version of Triumph In The Skies may contain more romance than what’s inside the head of a teenage girl, but at the press conference for the movie held at the ArtScience Museum earlier today (Feb 16), actors Julian Cheung and Charmaine Sheh revealed that they led much plainer lives than their characters.

“In real life, I am not so good at courting girls,” Cheung, who is married to actress Anita Yuen, said. “I don’t have many opportunities to say such romantic things in my personal life, so you can say I have given all I have to this role.”

Sheh added: “We don’t have so much time (to be so romantic in real life). My life is a little less exciting. But it feels good to be able to live out our romantic fantasies in this movie.”

Cheung and Sheh were in Singapore to promote the movie adaptation of the wildly successful Triumph In The Skies drama series. The Hong Kong film is directed by Wilson Yip and Matt Chow, and also stars Francis Ng, Louis Koo, Sammi Cheng and Amber Kuo. Although Koo was not present at the press conference, his co-stars made sure he was not forgotten. Sheh, who plays Koo’s lover in the movie, spoke highly of the actor’s ability to take care of everyone on set. Well, except her.

“We were filming one scene when he suggested that we should hug and roll from our bed to the floor. I looked at the distance between the bed and ground and thought it looked difficult, although I didn’t say anything. He said, ‘Don’t worry, I will protect you!’ So I said, okay,” Sheh recounted. “Then when we started shooting, I hit my head (on the ground). And he said he was sorry because he had miscalculated! I told him if anything happened to me in the future, he would have to take care of me for the rest of my life.”

Cheung also had his own anecdotes about his co-star. “We’ve talked about (how we train our bodies). Louis claims that he doesn’t go to the gym and that he eats supper every night. But during the movie premiere, when I saw his body on screen, I realised he was lying to me! I followed his advice and all I got was a big tummy!”

Triumph In The Skies will premiere in Singapore on February 19.