Aaron Aziz may be busy with his acting and directing works, but he still has time to spend as Malaysia's celebrity ambassador for the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, "Marvel's Ant-Man". Cinema Online had the chance to meet the actor-director at "Marvel's Ant-Man" gala premiere recently, where Aaron also had a meet and greet session with his fan club, the Aaronators. Read on to see what the actor thinks of making his own superhero movie, his Hong Kong project and moving houses during Raya.
Cinema Online: Hi Aaron, have you watched "Marvel's Ant-Man"? Why were you chosen as the ambassador for the movie? Aaron Aziz: No, not yet but I will be watching it in a while. Well, this is not my first time working with Disney. We've done a couple of projects together and I'm very honoured that they selected me among all the other actors in Malaysia. Probably because I'm a family man that represents the character pretty well; the things he does for his family, the things he goes through for his daughter's love, he's just doing what a dad's got to do. If you could be any hero other than Ant-Man, which hero would you want to be? I want to be the Invisible Man because... in my line of work it's good to be invisible [laughs]. Malaysia already has Cicak Man, what other superheroes do you think the country needs? Don't you want to make your own superhero movie? I think every dad is every kid's superhero. I think it should start from there. We need to educate our kids in that way, as in we need to tell them some white lies so they know what their father could do. Not only so that the kids can look up to their dad but also to create that bonding. If I were to make a superhero movie, I would be Superdad in it. Nowadays you're more into directing too, but between acting and directing, which do you find more challenging? I think directing is much more complex, it is harder and a lot of work. As an actor, my job is just to go on set, deliver, perform and then I go home. But as a director, I have to work on the project from the beginning until the end, right until it airs onscreen. And the actors' performance will fall on the director's shoulders, be it good or bad.
Care to tell us more about your sophomore directorial effort? I'm trying to get it out this December. It's called "Sayu Yang Syukur (SYS)", it's about being thankful in the most heartwarming way. It's a love story but it's something different from the love stories that I've done before. Somewhere early next year, I'll be working on my third movie. Are you working on another Hong Kong production? What is it about? I'm going to right after Raya. I was supposed to go on the 27th of June but because it was within the fasting month, the producer back in Hong Kong was kind enough to let me come on board later. That is the reason why my Raya time with my family is shortened this year. I have to fly to Hong Kong probably about four or five days after Raya. I can't tell you the title because it's in Cantonese, I don't know how to pronounce it yet [laughs]. It's an action movie, all I know is it's about gangsterism. What other projects will you be working on in the near future? A long episodic drama is coming up but I'm not sure whether I'll be taking that on or not. I'll also be working on another film. This one, I can't reveal the title because it's still in the pipeline. What are your Raya plans this year, since you said you have to rush back to Singapore? This Raya is the most hectic one for me. On top of my café businesses, I also shifted house recently. Word of advice, do not shift house during Raya, contractors are prone to do something wrong, and then you cannot do anything because it's the festive season.