The next production I'm going to get involved in will be another telemovie for NTV7 called KURUS. Borrowed the DA HUANG office last Friday to organize an audition. Was casting the three main roles, the skinny protagonist (the title character, a Malay boy), his plump comic relief sidekick (can be a boy of any races) and a Hermione Granger-like girl (can be a girl of any races).
Many turned up for the audition, the youngest was 12, the oldest was 22, half of them accompanied by parents, and almost all of them were girls (in fact, only two were males but neither skinny nor plump nor look the age of 15). So, while we had a pool of actresses to choose from, the other two main male roles remained a problem.
Fueled by desperation (and the lack of time, I'm flying off to Taiwan tomorrow), I decided to ask people I know whether they know any skinny 15-year-old Malay kids that we can cast for the protagonist last night. The first person I asked was my cousin, who had just finished his PMR (and bears an uncanny resemblance to me, albeit more rotund, look at photo below!)
He gave me a Friendster link, a photo of his friend, a skinny Malay boy who seemed to fit the description I wanted. Immediately I asked my cousin for his contact, and made a phone call:
The line went off, I was LIVID. I mean, c'mon, I'm THE GREAT SWIFTY, I can't take that kind of crap from a kid!!!!!!!! On MSN, I whined to my cousin.
So I called again, the guy didn't reply, but fired me a SMS. The following is our SMS exchange.
And my cousin, thanks to his assistance, will score a cameo in the film.
Anyway, if you are a skinny Malay boy around the age of 14-17 and are interested in acting, or if you know anyone like that, please PLEASE PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE contact me.
* Obviously a lie. That 'I don't really beg people' line was just an attempt to show the kid my manliness. If I were in the position to beg Scarlett Johansson to appear in my production, I would do so instantly.
Many turned up for the audition, the youngest was 12, the oldest was 22, half of them accompanied by parents, and almost all of them were girls (in fact, only two were males but neither skinny nor plump nor look the age of 15). So, while we had a pool of actresses to choose from, the other two main male roles remained a problem.
Fueled by desperation (and the lack of time, I'm flying off to Taiwan tomorrow), I decided to ask people I know whether they know any skinny 15-year-old Malay kids that we can cast for the protagonist last night. The first person I asked was my cousin, who had just finished his PMR (and bears an uncanny resemblance to me, albeit more rotund, look at photo below!)
He gave me a Friendster link, a photo of his friend, a skinny Malay boy who seemed to fit the description I wanted. Immediately I asked my cousin for his contact, and made a phone call:
Me: Hello?
Cousin's friend: Yah?
Me: (in my supremely friendly and polite tone) Hi, I'm Edmund Yeo, a producer of Greenlight Pictures Sdn Bhd, my cousin, Simon Kuan gave me your number. We are casting for a movie we are working on next month. You fit the age group we are looking for, so I was just wondering whether you'll be interested to come for a screen test.
Cousin's friend: (mumbles something)
Me: Huh? what?
Cousin's friend: I've got no time, ciao.
Me: Wait!
Cousin's friend: CIAO!
*CLICK*
The line went off, I was LIVID. I mean, c'mon, I'm THE GREAT SWIFTY, I can't take that kind of crap from a kid!!!!!!!! On MSN, I whined to my cousin.
Me: THAT (bleep) JUST CUT ME OFF ON THE PHONE! I NEVER HAD THAT DONE TO ME BEFORE!Of course, moments later, I figured that ifif I were a 15-year-old kid, and someone calls me saying that he's a producer and he got my number from a cousin, asking whether I'm interested in asking and wanting to cast me, I would've freaked out too.
Cousin: He thought it was a prank.
Me: And did you tell him it wasn't?
Cousin: I don't think he believes.
Me: (bleep)!!!! I've never been (bleep)ing insulted in this (bleep)ing manner by a 15 year old boy before!
So I called again, the guy didn't reply, but fired me a SMS. The following is our SMS exchange.
Him: Are you for real? Or is this a prank?"He believed me after that and we spoke.
Me: (in Great Swifty-like petulance!) For real. Look, if you're not interested in acting, it's okay, I'll ask someone else, I don't really beg people to act in my productions*.
And my cousin, thanks to his assistance, will score a cameo in the film.
Anyway, if you are a skinny Malay boy around the age of 14-17 and are interested in acting, or if you know anyone like that, please PLEASE PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE contact me.
* Obviously a lie. That 'I don't really beg people' line was just an attempt to show the kid my manliness. If I were in the position to beg Scarlett Johansson to appear in my production, I would do so instantly.
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