Post Chinese New Year movie "The Beggar Hero" starring TVB's own Wayne Lai, at a glance may be mistaken for a Hong Kong production, but don't be fooled as this local production by Worldwide Platinum Holdings Sdn Bhd also features Singaporean actor Henry Thia and Karen Kong as the leads, injecting as much of a regional feel towards the production as the diverse cast exerts through their roles. Shot in just 25 days on the streets of Penang, this light-hearted tale of believing in your dreams carries the simple message of; "Nothing Is Impossible", and audiences who seek an uncomplicated tale that's straight-up in your face, or those whom are just plain fans of Wayne Lai from his TVB work (or even Henry Thia) may find "The Beggar Hero" enjoyable. Cinema Online interviewed the 3-time TVB Awards Best Actor winner, who reportedly was paid a 6-figure sum for his role, and got some insight on his experience filming for a local production and on the streets of Penang. Read on to find out what Wayne had to say: Cinema Online Interview with Wayne Lai conducted during the premiere of "The Beggar Hero" at The Grand Cinema, Elements Shopping Mall, Hong Kong on 25 February 2014. We heard that you were involved in adding to the script during the production? Wayne Lai: Normally I wouldn't be involved in writing the script, but in a production environment, not just in this movie but in any production, as an actor we bring our creativity to the table. Especially when there are spontaneous moments that we try to recapture to improve the scene and make it better. I believe as an actor we must be lively and be free to express ourselves. We cannot just follow according to the script strictly because we need to bring a lively energy to our performance.
What do you think of Malaysian actress' Karen Kong's acting? Well, I think Karen's acting is good. She has this acting expression that feels quite real and natural. But of course, there's always room for her to improve her acting skill. Having come to Malaysia to make this movie. Are you planning to make more movies here? None at the moment because I'm busy with my work for TVB. In fact, I have to thankful for the [TVB] bosses for allowing me to come in November when it is the busiest time for TVB because we have to promote the TVB Anniversary Awards that happens around that time. So it was a difficult schedule for me to come and shoot this when it started in November and I had to fly back to Hong Kong to do my TVB work.
What are your hopes for this movie? I hope this movie would be a success, because as I said, this movie is not just an ordinary movie but it's another step for the Malaysian movie industry that brings together actors from Malayisia, Singapore and Hong Kong to make this co-production. Even though there's still plenty of room for improvement and we won't be able to beat movies from Hollywood, but like I said earlier, every country should appreciate their own local culture. So I hope that Malaysians would come and support, and give us any suggestions or ideas so that in future when we are making another movie we would be able to broaden the horizons. "The Beggar Hero" is now showing in cinemas.