THE Ultimatum just finished its run last week.

If Zoe Tay and Jerry Yeo are considered the baddies in the series, then Felicia Chin (below) has to be the most pitiful character.

The series of unlucky events that happen to her in the show has been a hot topic on Internet forums.

Joanne Peh's potrayal of a rape victim in The Little Nyonya garnered her a Best Actress win at the annual Star Awards.

Is The Ultimatum's scripwriter trying to create the same sort of buzz by casting Felicia in a victim role?

Said the actress: 'I can't answer this from an actor's standpoint - I just follow the script that is given to me.

'But I don't think the scriptwriter would do something like that.'

Felicia added that this was her most emotional role to date.

She said the assault that she had to endure from Jerry's character 'felt like it was real', and she felt all the pain that her character experienced.

Is this MediaCorp's way of ensuring that she will be a shoo-in for Best Actress at next year's Star Awards?

Felicia said: 'I know that a lot of people will consider this and make comparisons (to Joanne's role) but I don't think about such things.

'How can it be that someone can win awards just by acting as an assault victim? All I can say is that I gave it my best shot as it was something new to me, and I am satisfied with that.'

But Felicia admitted that scoring a memorable role has its perks.

For example, her chances of winning at the Star Awards are likely to increase significantly.

Out of MediaCorp's seven princesses, Felicia and Jesseca Liu are the only ones who have been guests on CelebriTea Break.

It was recently reported that Jeanette Aw and Rui En rejected requests to be on the show because they are not fluent in Mandarin.

Felicia said: 'Actually, I had no confidence in attempting such an in-depth interview.

'Members of the media would know that my reaction to questions is slow, and I always sound very down. I was afraid viewers would fall asleep during my interview!'

Even her friends thought she wasn't a suitable guest for the variety show.

Not eloquent

Felicia said that she wasn't the most eloquent of the seven princesses and could never take the place of chatty veterans such as Quan Yifeng.

'Although there has been some 'interesting' news about me, on the whole I would say that news about me has been very scarce.

'Perhaps it's because I'm a rather boring person and I won't go out of my way to create news about myself.'

She added that some people may have the wrong impression of her and think that past reports about her were a ploy to gain publicity.

But what is most important to her is the opinions of those closest to her.

Friends and family have expressed concern over reports about her, and she has explained that some of these reports have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

'After I've spoken to them, they know which articles to believe and which just to read and then forget about,' she said.

This article was first published in The New Paper