ARTICLE
Alien Huang and Lin Yu Pin to Star as Lead Actors in Upcoming Local Movie, “Fat Hope”.
By Flora / 15 Jun 2018 (Friday)
Photo Credit: Encore Films
Taiwanese actors Alien Huang 黄鸿升 (小鬼) and Lin Yu Pin 林育品 (阿喜) has been revealed to be the lead actors in the upcoming local movie, 'Fat Hope'. The film, produced by Encore Films, tells a story of a supermodel who, by a twist of Fate, turns fat overnight. She then realises that sometimes it is the simpler things in life that bring you the greatest joy.
Directed by Joyce Lee, the film also stars Liu Ling Ling, Hong Hui Fang, Wang Lei, Henry Thia, Quan Yi Fong, Jeffrey Xu, Abigail Chay, and Priscilla Lim. This marks Encore Films’ second feature film after 2016’s ‘Young & Fabulous’.
Photo Credit: Encore Films
Lin plays the role of the supermodel, Alisa Tan who became fat overnight. For that, Lin has to wear a fat suit to depict a plus-size woman who weighs about 120kg. In order for it to be convincing, Lee engaged Academy Award-winning special effects makeup teams that worked on blockbuster films like ‘Darkest Hour’, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ to create the look for Lin. Lin even flew to Los Angeles to do a life cast of the fat suit.
As it was her first time donning on the fat suit, she described her experience as ‘challenging’. “It really takes a lot of time to wear the fat suit. I need a team of people to help me with it because there are some areas that I can’t reach. It is also very heavy,” she shared, adding that it takes at least 30 minutes to a few hours to put on the suit.
“In Los Angeles, the designer mentioned that I can only wear it for a maximum of 8 hours in a day. But because the weather in Singapore is hot and humid, it may be shorter than that!”
Photo Credit: Encore Films
For Huang, he was envious of his co-star’s role as she had the chance to fly to America and to wear a fat suit. “It’s really cool! I wished I could do that, he said at the press conference. “In fact, I suggested to the director (Lee) to film a male version of the movie.” Huang plays Nathan, a musician who becomes the pillar of strength towards Alisa.
Lin wasn’t director Lee’s first choice, but there was something about her personality that stood out. “My initial plan was to cast someone from Singapore but I couldn’t. It isn’t because there aren’t good actresses in Singapore, but I just didn’t find the right fit for the character.”
Photo Credit: Encore Films
She added: “(For the role of Alisa) I travelled to Taipei and met a lot of ladies, and requested actresses from China and Hong Kong to send me their audition reels as well. And through contacts and recommendations, I met Ah Xi.”
As to why she chose Lin as her film’s lead, Lee explained that the 31-year-old actress-host has all the qualities of the character. “Ah Xi is funny, pretty, and doesn’t mind playing roles that may seem unattractive. And this is an important factor in comedies where the actor doesn’t take himself too seriously.”
'Fat Hope' will be filmed in Singapore and aims to be released islandwide in early 2019.