Local actress Ferlyn Wong had a health scare when she woke up one morning in early December last year and couldn't open her eyes.

Visiting the hospital a second time for the same ailment, she had expected the doctor to give her stronger medicine. 

Instead, she was shocked to hear that she needed emergency surgery immediately. 

While promoting her new drama The Spirit Hunter, the 33-year-old told AsiaOne in a recent interview that around two and a half weeks earlier, she was filming in a "rough and sandy" environment.

Despite this, Ferlyn was determined to do most of her character Hua Cheng Feng's fights and stunts herself. 

"We were actually attached to a stunt double for every single scene," she said. "But I set a very high expectation for myself and I wanted to do most of the scenes."

She added she performed 80 per cent of her scenes herself.

The production team used strong wind effects, sending sand into the air and into the puddles left behind by the morning's rain.

After filming the scene, Ferlyn fell into a puddle of muddy water, where a lot of sand went into her eyes.

"The next day I felt something was off with my eye," she shared. "I thought in just one or two days, it would be fine, you know?" 

As the day went by, Ferlyn felt "weirder" so she saw a doctor and was prescribed medicine. However, her condition worsened and she ended up battling a severe eye infection that required surgery.

She told us that her manager and parents were overseas at that time, and so she had to leave the hospital by herself. 

Although filming was delayed for four days because of her condition, the production staff put the actors' safety and health first, she said.

Ferlyn has since recovered with no impact to her vision, but shared that she developed a double eyelid on her right eye after the surgery.

In The Spirit Hunter, she plays Hua Cheng Feng, a swordswoman with a life purpose — to give back to her god-uncle after he saved her life.

Hong Ling plays protagonist Tian Nana, a 20-year-old girl burdened to carry a toy sword infused with the spirit of Jian Ling (Richie Koh), which curses her to see supernatural entities that she must defeat.

Ferlyn shared that the script was inspired by the concept of yin and yang, where there's darkness within the light and light within the darkness.

"Who says good won't do evil? Who says bad won't do good?" she said. "People would think that Hua Cheng Feng is evil, but there's always a reason to why she's doing what she's doing."

The Spirit Hunter, which also stars Tyler Ten, will be available on demand for free on Mewatch from June 30 and premieres on July 3, airing on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8.

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liv.roberts@asiaone.com

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