‘Surprise!’ Director Jack Neo is known for making impromptu decisions and he pulled the biggest surprise yesterday at the press conference for his upcoming sequel, The Lion Men: Ultimate Showdown!
Just when the press conference for the movie was about to wrap, Neo took a gamble, played middleman and attempted to resolve a feud between mentor-disciple Getai singer Wang Lei and Wang Weiliang. It was said that they fell out earlier this year when Wang Lei publicly 'disowned' Weiliang on Facebook due to the ‘change’ he saw in the 26-year-old actor, and for not paying his mentor a visit during Chinese New Year.
The mastermind behind the plan, Neo said he had ‘thought about it for a long time’ and felt it’s time to resolve the problem. “I don’t know if what I did earlier was a good thing or bad thing, but all I want is for them to patch up,” Neo explained.
(Find out more about the movie here!)
“I’ve known director Neo for over 10 years and no wonder he reminded me yesterday to attend the press conference and another WhatsApp at 10am this morning. I have acted in his films for so many years and he never sent a personal message to remind me of all these, it’s usually his staff that does the reminder,” Wang Lei recalled.
“To me, Wang Lei and Weiliang are really like father and son,” co-star Maxi said. Cast member Charlie Goh nodded in agreement, adding: “As Weiliang’s close friends, we are already feeling very sad about it, so imagine the pain he is going through.”
“I’m still your disciple, teacher!” was what Weiliang emphasized during the press conference when the abrupt situation surfaced. During our interview with him, Weiliang shared that he still respects Wang Lei as his teacher and felt that he had not ‘changed since he became famous’ like what his teacher claimed.
“I feel that I’m still the same. I have not changed even after filming (Ah Boys To Men), just that when it comes to handling the internet sites, I’m really bad at it.”
Lead actor Tosh Zhang backed his co-star, explained that Weiliang was truly not active on social media like he is (Zhang has a huge following on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube). “There are a couple of times I will prompt Weiliang to retweet this or post that, he’s just not familiar with these stuff.”
Zhang plays Shi Shen, the leader of opposing lion dance troupe Storm Riders in the sequel of The Lion Men. Both Zhang and Wang’s characters fall for the same girl Xiao Yu (played by Eva Cheng), and from where the previous film ended, the sunshine girl chose to stand by Shi Shen. The 18-year-old actress is the youngest actress to be signed to Beijing Scarecrow Entertainment Co, represented by Nicky Wu.
Despite her youth, she has already been in 6 TV series and 2 movies. When asked about her limits when it came to acting, it’s a no-no if she has to appear nude. “I don’t think I will say yes to stripping or appearing nude,” she commented.
It’s been said that the sequel to Ah Boys To Men - Ah Boys To Frogmen will be in production soon. Though the cast list has not been confirmed at this stage, we’re quite certain that we’ll be seeing a few of the same boys back on the big screen very soon.
The Lion Men: Ultimate Showdown stars Tosh Zhang, Wang Weiliang, Eva Cheng, Chen Tian Wen, Maxi Lim, Noah Yap, Charlie Goh, Jaspers Lai, Bao Er Cong and Ngeow Zi Jie, and opens InCinemas 12 June 2014.