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Scoring a homerun Journalists gather to pitch and strike questions at Jack Neo and his cast at a recent Homerun media junket
Talking about life imitating art, Liu Qian Yi, who plays a provision shop owner in the anticipated local movie Homerun, has his own tale of yearning for a pair of shoes when he was much younger.
"I remember I was very poor then and I wanted to get a pair of new basketball shoes. My father could not buy for me because he had to support my family. I have to sell about 200 ice creams to earn $5 for that pair of shoes. I have to keep shouting 'Ice cream, Ice cream' in the streets to earn that $5," veteran TV actor recalls wistfully in Mandarin. Many will recall his last big screen and wonderful performance as a boorish, uncouth businessman in I Not Stupid. Indeed, Homerun retains most of its cast from Jack Neo's previous critically and commercially successful Jack Neo film I Not Stupid, with child actors Shawn Lee and newcomer Megan Zheng as the main characters. The star-studded ensemble includes veteran actors Huang Wen Yong and Xiang Yun as the parents of the main characters, and guest stars Sharon Au and old-time favourite M C King. The birth of the movie Since the movie is set in 60s Singapore, the setting for the press conference is the aptly quaint Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green Community Centre hall, which echoes nostalgic memories and stories of recitals, mini-concerts and gatherings for the older generation. Jack explains in Mandarin why he decided to make a film out of the richness of Singapore's nostalgic stories. "I was very sad to hear people from the Hongkong's film industry saying that Singapore has no story to tell and I wanted to prove them wrong by adapting an overseas winning film into a local context. "The film is about kinship, about the love between brother and sister, and it is made for the mainstream audience who will appreciate and understand the family value and theme behind it," Jack adds. The director-producer-comedian-scriptwriter becomes self-deprecating and jokes about the scepticism he met in adapting an internationally acclaimed film. "When I told Daniel [CEO of Raintree Pictures] I wanted to adapt Children of Heaven for Singaporeans, he asked me, 'Can you do it, Jack?'" If there's anything we know about the multi-hyphenated Jack is that he can do it. His delivery of Homerun reaffirms his passion and talent for "making better local films in the long run that will make an impact overseas". Initial doubter Daniel Yun shares the same sentiments: "Homerun is an example of how far local movies have come. "The film shows that Jack is progressing as an artiste and after watching the film, I realise it is an important symbol for the local film industry and I hope it will be a homerun in many ways," Yun jests. Over to the cast "This time, I didn't have the chance to utter any famous line, but I realise despite my minor role in a few scenes, I got to fly on 2 plane trips and ate a lot on the set," the plump comedian quips in Mandarin, revealing the perks of his profession. Sharon Au, dressed for the occasion in an old-fashioned white flare dress, speaks fondly of working with the young actors on the set, "I learnt a lot from the child actors. They are very innocent and real. It really taught me to go back to the basics in acting because most of us [adult actors] focus a lot on technique, and the child actors get in touch a lot with their emotions."
As Homerun's theme of the innocence of childhood is ably carried by child actors including Joshua Ang (I Not Stupid), Ho Wen Long (My Valentine) in addition to the main characters Shawn Lee and Megan Zheng. Newcomer Megan, who was selected in a long and arduous audition for the female child-leading role, speaks about her first foray into acting and her experience: "I learn that life was very difficult in the past." The 9-year-old Primary 4 student is your typical child who faces constant stress in her education, and when asked what kind of difficulties she faced, she laments in a soft tone, "Sometimes, I cannot finish my homework." The future holds a lot of promise for Megan, who received praises from her co-stars, including Sharon Au who shares a scene with Megan. "When you ask her to cry, she really cries on cue, and with emotion," Sharon remarked.
Shawn Lee, who won the Young Talent Award in the MediaCorp Star Awards 2002 for his touching performance in I Not Stupid, talks about working on the set with the older actors, "I learnt a lot from them, like how to act and how to interact with people." The soft-spoken Secondary 1 actor enjoys a close working relationship with Jack. "He is like a friend to us. He talks, jokes and shares with us everything." Shawn enjoys acting, especially in the company of fellow peers of similar ages, "I have a lot of fun with them [the child actors] because we are very mischievous on the set." Joshua Ang, who was his co-star on I Not Stupid, chips in, saying, "We just fool around with the other actors and play pranks." The tanned and charming youngster, learns from the movie to "cherish and not take things for granted". Indeed, with such positive societal values and messages pitched (no pun intended) in the movie, Jack and his Homerun team are set to strike (no pun intended, again) the hearts of every Singaporean with its heart-warming storyline. |
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He
wasn't the only one joking that day. The hall burst into peals of laughter
when M C King takes the microphone. "I want to thank Jack Neo for
giving me the opportunity again to work on the film and also on I
Not Stupid. I am happy to utter a famous line in I Not Stupid,
'Guang-ying-ma [Goddess of Mercy] dot com'. When I went to Taiwan, they
actually recognised me for that line.
