Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably would have heard of the news that veteran stage and screen actor Lim Kay Tong will be playing the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew in upcoming dramatic thriller, ‘1965’.
Playing a prominent role like Mr Lee Kuan Yew turned out to be an easier task compared to some of Lim’s past roles because of the available materials he could get access to. Having said that, the most difficult aspect is to portray the man himself. “He is Mr Lee Kuan Yew, so you better get something right,” said Lim.
He added: “There are a lot of expectations on you, and that makes it a challenge - people know so much about him so you got to be fairly credible.”
One of the key scenes where most of us will be looking forward to, is the part where Mr Lee teared up when he announced the separation from Malaysia. For that, Lim watched that particular footage everyday for three to four weeks to ‘find the motivation’.
(Watch the trailers here!)
“I will go into the archives almost everyday to watch the footage. In the key scenes, you have to watch it to understand how it happens. Although the film only covers a short bit of it, it was understanding what led up to it… It was also the reading of his autobiography to make you understand how he arrived to that moment,” explained Lim.
When asked if he was disappointed that the late Mr Lee won't be able to see the movie, Lim said: “I think he will be highly critical... but it would have been nice to have him watch it.”
Reiterating the point that 1965 is not a ‘political film, propaganda film, historical film or a documentary’, executive producer Daniel Yun explained that ‘1965’, which took five years in the making, is a movie based on historical events that happened in Singapore but mainly touches on racial harmony and the fragility of it.
"In the last year, I have been eating, sleeping and breathing this project. Now I am focused on getting the finer details in. So that, minutes into the film, audiences will be able to almost taste and smell the 1960s,” said Yun, who is also the co-director of the film.
Lead actress Joanne Peh who plays Zhou Jun, a Chinese immigrant in 1965, found out about her pregnancy half-way during the filming of the production. Luckily for her and her baby, most of the intensive and emotionally-demanding scenes were filmed before she knew about her pregnancy. “I may not able to do what I did if I knew that I was expecting. The outcome may be different,” Peh shared.
“I remembered when I was doing 1965, I actually found myself getting tired very easily and I couldn’t understand why because I have always been active and I always make sure that I lead a healthy lifestyle despite my busy schedule. When I was doing the movie and felt I was getting tired easily, I thought ‘this was not right, something’s a bit strange’. Of course, I didn't know until much later when I found out I was pregnant.”
The cheerful mom-to-be quipped: “I told Daniel. I think I said ‘you guys have to be a little bit more careful with my action scenes…’”
When the production team knew about the news of Peh’s pregnancy, some tweaks were made to ensure her safety though Peh didn’t want to ‘compromise the reality of it’.
“If everything is so real and everyone has put so much effort. If I were to go like ‘Oh, I can’t do this; I can’t give my 100%’, then I don’t think that’s quite fair. I mean, if you want me to trip over a rock and fall, obviously I will tell you ‘maybe we can do it something else?’ If not, I would like to do it to the best I can.”
The movie will also feature original songs by local musicians Sezairi, who also has a role in the film; and Gentle Bones. Both who were present at the media update performed a short acoustic version of ‘Selamat Pagi’ and ’65’ respectively.
1965 is directed by Randy Ang and also stars Qi Yuwu, Deanna Yusoff, James Seah and Mike Kasem, and opens InCinemas 30 July 2015!