Lim Kay Tong

Did you know?!

1. A change of course

   In his youth Lim played rugby for the national team as a wing-forward. During National Service he received a Singapore Armed Forces Colours award for what he achieved in the sport.

2. First role

   Lim's first acting role came in 1974 when, bored during National Service, he auditioned for Robert Yeo's landmark play Are You There, Singapore? with the Experimental Theatre Club.

3. A role that slipped away

   Lim was cast as an interrogator in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor but had to give up the role because of a scheduling conflict.

4. Early training

   Lim earned a Bachelor of Acts (Honours) in English and Drama at the University of Hull in 1978, where Anthony Minghella was both his contemporary and his tutor. He received an acting diploma from London's Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in 1980.

5. Behind the camera

   Lim co-founded TheatreWorks in February 1985 after resigning from The Straits Times, and the company was the first adult professional theater company in Singapore.

6. Languages

   In 2007, Lim took the lead in The Photograph, a role he calls significant and in which he spoke Bahasa Indonesia. The Indonesian film received the Special Jury Prize at the 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.