ARTICLE
Ah Boys To Men 4 Features Apple Chan as Franchise’s First Female Officer.
By Flora / 05 Jul 2017 (Wednesday)
Photo Courtesy of: mm2 Entertainment
Ah Boys To Men, Singapore’s most successful franchise, will be back for its fourth instalment in Q4 2017. In this movie, the most notable addition to the already extensive cast is newcomer Apple Chan, who will play Lieutenant Zhang XinYi.
The ensemble from the previous three films will be back for another army-themed adventure, this time with the Singapore Armoured Regiment. Tosh Zhang, Wang Weiliang, Joshua Tan, Maxi Lim, Charlie Goh, Noah Yap and Jaspers Lai will reprise their roles, along with newcomers Ryan Lian, Kishan J., Hafiz Aziz and Chan.
The sequel will focus on the characters’ lives after leaving the military and when are called back to serve the nation again under the Singapore Armed Forces’ Armoured Formation. They must juggle between work and their reservist duties.
Photo Courtesy of: mm2 Entertainment
Asked how Apple landed the role, director Jack Neo shared the actress turned up for the open casting call earlier this year and was chosen out of hundreds of candidates. “It was important that the actress was able to carry out the physical performance of an army officer, so the fact that Apple has an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) background is very useful,” Neo said.
He added: “In terms of acting, she managed to deliver what is expected.” Some may recognise this new female lead, for Apple has appeared in Hong Kong TV dramas such as ‘Come Home Love’ and ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’.
Xin Yi is Apple’s first role in a Singaporean movie. She shared that even though her scenes hadn’t been shot yet, just putting on the army uniform for the press conference already made her feel so much more confident and proud to be a part of the franchise.
Officer Xin Yi will, thus, be representing the many female officers in the Singapore army - the one group that was previously overlooked in the first three Ah Boys films. “There are actually a lot of female officers in the army, more so in the Armour unit and we want to reflect that portion in this movie. Female officers have a different approach in handling a situation, including handling the NSmen that she’s in charge of… we have prepared some special scenes for Apple,” revealed Neo.
The male cast members also agreed that having Apple on board would hopefully change people’s perspective of the army and inspire more Singaporean women to consider joining the army, just as how the first three Ah Boys To Men movies did to many young male Singaporeans.
“There are many female officers in the army, and I think it’s time for us to represent them,” said Zhang, who will reprise his role as Sergeant Alex Ong.
“It’s great to have an ‘Ah Girl’ with us."
Photo Courtesy of: mm2 Entertainment
Ah Boys To Men 4 is slated to open InCinemas end of this year.