The cast(Li Liyun,Nick Shen and Priscillia Chan) of The Released had shared with me their working experience with Timothy J. Alvin in his latest Work "The Release".
Note:
Nick is represented with N.
Liyun is represented with L.
Priscillia is represented with P.
Q: Could you tell us briefly on the character that you portrayed? Also, what was your experience like portraying this role?
N: The character that I portrayed goes by the name Ah Hao. Ah Hao is a young man who was left semi paralyzed after an unfortunate traffic accident. Because of this accident, he also lost his dad and his mum (played by veteran actress Lin Liyun) was left blind. Although he has to take care of his blind mother, he bears a lot of pent up resentment against her as he thought that it was her who caused this unfortunate accident. This is based on a true story and I was fascinated by this character that I have to portray.
I was very excited when I was offered this opportunity to play Ah Hao. Firstly, it is because the lines would mainly be in Hokkien, and because I am a Teochew, I enjoyed the linguistic challenge of portraying a character speaking in a new language. Next, I also enjoyed the challenge of portraying a semi-paralyzed person. A semi-paralyzed person is someone who still could perform simple daily functions despite some physical limitations. Because of that, I had to be extremely precise on the way I walk, talk, think and feel. I even made a trip down with the director and one of the producers to a handicap school to understand the difficulties these people have to undergo daily.
Liyun jie and I also did another mother-son relationship performance in En Bloc. However, the experience in this film was definitely different given the fact that both of us have to portray a characters who have physical limitations, as well as the fact that both of us have to perform in an entirely new language on screen.
Overall, I enjoyed the challenge that was presented to my for this film.
L: I played a wheel chair bound cum visually impaired mother. She was in that state due to a traffic accident. Because of the accident, her son was blind, and thus she donated her pair of eyes to him with the hopes of him taking care of her when she gets older. She is a very traditional mother who leads a life filled with misery.
P: The person, Hui Juan, is a rich man's daughter. She is not a bad person, she is just subconsiously being programmed to be pampered. She has never lived a life which is not picture perfect. She has never tasted what it feels like to miserable. But when she was asked to live with her soon-to-be in-law, she had a culture shock. Try as she could, she simply could not adjust to her life living in a lesser well to do household, thus she vented her frustrations on her fiance.
Q: What was your experience like working with Timothy?
N: Timothy is a very talented young man. Not only he is able to capture the esssence of the actor, he is also able to direct the cameraman. He has this special trademark of his which was doing one long take from the beginning to the end. He is also a very down to earth person, thus making the whole filming process enjoyable for both the cast and crew.
P: I was excited. Timothy, although being very young, has a natural flair to engage the actors in getting deep into characters and emotions. He is a very talented director despite his age, and I truly feel that there should be more support from the public as well as the government for people engaging in entertainment and arts. I wish him well in his future projects.
L: Timothy is a very young and ambitious person. He has his own ideas and principles which I strongly admire. I love to work with young people as they give me the energy and the drive to be better, and at the same time, I could share my experiences with them. However, I still feel that that many of them tend to rush things and venture without taking considerable calculation.
Q:What are your future plans after completing your first Independent short film?
L: Well, to be honest, I do not have any plans. My goal is to constantly try out new things, be it short films, theatre or even commercial series to find ways to improve my acting skills.
N: I just renewed my contract with Mediacorp. Acting is my passion, and I am willing to explore different forms of acting, be it, commercial dramas, films, stage plays or even Teochew opera. This is definitely important. I feel that in terms of acting, one should continuously learn and unlearn. The more experience you are in acting, the more you have to unlearn and relearn. This is because, I realized that actors tend to get stuck in a similar technique in acting if he/she is used to it. That is dangerous. To be a versatile actor, one should break out of his/her comfort zone and engage in something entirely different every now and then.
P: I would definitely want to have more opportunities to work in independent productions. I would also like to attempt Arts Central productions, as well as other productions which gives me more opportunities to explore "space" for my characters.
-The Release will be release REAL SOON!(Keep a Lookout for it!)
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