Some light up at the sight of pig liver in their dishes. But for local actor Shane Pow, he had to put them off his diet for a good two weeks.

AsiaOne recently visited the set of Mediacorp's upcoming dystopian-crime drama The Leftovers where we spoke to the 35-year-old about his role as the villainous young surgeon Victor.

"He's very ambitious and has a lot of dreams; he's a go-getter. Certain things he does may not be very correct, I feel, but to Victor, it's a necessary means to getting what he wants."

Donned dapperly in a crisp white suit and thick-rimmed glasses, Shane joked: "I have this little strand of hair here in case people don't know that I'm a bad guy."

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The Leftovers is set between 2017 and 2043, where the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in the fictional island of Equaland results in high rates of organ failure due to environmental pollution. Subsequently, organ transplantation becomes a necessity, giving rise to kidnappings and organ trafficking.

To simulate the appearance of human organs, Shane revealed that pork livers and kidneys were used as props on set, alongside the occasional use of animal blood.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, pig kidneys are similar in size and function to those of humans.

"So because we used real organs, it smelled on set after a while - imagine the smell after three hours," Shane recalled in disgust. "Do you like eating organs? Because if you do, after filming with all that on set... Wow, I stopped eating them for two weeks."

'I get paid to beat my boss'

As with all crime series, one would expect some beatings throughout the episodes.

When asked to share something interesting about the series, Shane highlighted that in his previous roles, he would usually be cast on the good side.

"It's like, now, I finally have the chance to do evil," he quipped.

In Victor's desire to rise to the top as the director of Equaland National Hospital, Shane shared that most of his scenes are alongside Xiao Wenze (Li Nanxing), a disgraced doctor, and his former research assistant Lin Aiqin (Jesseca Liu).

And there's a kicker: a love triangle arises among the trio where the two men silently battle for Aiqin, which Shane thinks spurs some of Victor's actions in the show - to the point where he becomes "very possessive" of her.

Recalling what was memorable on set, Shane said: "Actually, Nanxing is my boss, right? I have a fighting scene with him. Then I was like, 'So fun! I get paid to beat my boss!'

"We had to physically grapple with each other and the script goes even further but in the end, we didn't go that far."

Shane is signed to talent management agency LNX Global, founded by Nanxing.

Training for his stunts were done on set and not as intense as the parkour practice he had to learn previously for his roles in army dramas like The Recruit Diaries (2013) and When Duty Calls (2017).

Another challenge was staying in character, due to an erratic production schedule. AsiaOne previously learned that filming for The Leftovers spans from May to November this year, leaving extended periods of rest at certain times for the cast.

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"For this drama, we have quite a few important locations like the hospital, the Iskandar studio and the virtual production studio. As such, for my character, I have a bit of everything and it doesn't get filmed at the same time."

At one point, Shane was on break from production for almost three weeks, which presented the difficulty of maintaining his physique. He remarked that he had to be cautious of hair growth, and changes in his skin tone and weight.

However, at that moment during our interview, Shane's upcoming tango dance scene with Zoe Tay had him feeling more nervous than anything.

He told us: "I think me having two left feet is an understatement. At most, I have one foot because I stumble a lot. I mean, I'm more of an athlete than a dancer so when it comes to coordination, I'm quite rigid. And this is tango, which has a certain finesse and groove - which I can't feel."

Without any prior practice in the dancesport, Shane underwent two sessions under the guidance of a tango coach in a dance studio with Zoe for two to three hours at a time.

Furthermore, confessing that his pants felt tight on set that day, he told us he was afraid that they would split while he was doing tango with the senior actress.

Luckily, the scene went swimmingly and it was clear that Shane's practice had paid off, with applause from cast and crew filling the room when all was said and done.

The Leftovers also stars Zhang Zetong, Cheryl Chou, Jeremy Chan and James Seah. It has three seasons, with the first set to premiere in October 2026 on Mediacorp and Mewatch.

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kristy.chua@asiaone.com

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