{
  "id": 4782421,
  "title": "'I stopped recognising the person in the mirror': S'pore actor Desmond Tan gained over 10kg for new movie",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/i-stopped-recognising-the-person-in-the-mirror-spore-actor-desmond",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-31T16:54:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mothership",
    "slug": "mothership",
    "url": "https://mothership.sg/2026/08/desmond-tan-gain-weight-movie/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Local actor Desmond Tan, at 40 years old, underwent a significant physical transformation for his latest role as a middle-aged man overcoming drug addiction. He gained over 10kg for the part, altering his appearance dramatically. In an Instagram post, the actor showed photos of himself with a larger belly and love handles, captioning it \"Meet Malcolm\" and promising more updates. The transformation proved challenging, as Tan struggled to recognize himself in the mirror and even avoided looking at his reflection. The demanding physique left him with a heavy feeling, causing him to overheat, sweat, and become breathless easily. Despite the difficulty, Tan's dedication to the role earned him praise from fellow celebrities.",
  "summary": "He described the experience as being like \"carrying a bag of rice around every day\".",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}