Jack Tan embodies Paralympic gold medalist Cheah Liek Hou in "Gold"

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Jack Tan embodies Paralympic gold medalist Cheah Liek Hou in "Gold"

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Writer: Nisa Irina

Jack Tan trained for months to be a champion on screen

18 Jul - Rising star Jack Tan had to prepare for six months prior to filming in order to successfully play the role of paralympic badminton athlete, Cheah Liek Hou through his latest movie, "Gold".

The actor shared as much during at the gala premiere and press conference of "Gold" at GSC Aurum The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur, recently. Directed by Adrian Teh, known for "PASKAL The Movie" and "Malbatt: Misi Bakara", Jack shared that he accepted Adrian's offer to star in the movie because he wanted a new challenge in his acting career.

"When Adrian first shared his plans for a film about Cheah Liek Hou, I was excited to be involved. Adrian said that I needed to train like a professional badminton player, so I worked hard for months with the help of former national team player, Adelle Ng who coached me. Prior to being involved with the film, I only knew the basic badminton techniques such as how to hold the racket and hit the shuttlecock."

"Honestly, I felt very challenged because it was not easy to play the character of Cheah Liek Hou. This guy is a real champion. But as an actor I need to embody the real Cheah Liek Hou to make this film a success," he continued.

Jack Tan (left) plays Cheah Liek Hou in the film, with the real Cheah Liek Hou

Jack added that he couldn't avoid getting injured during training, and felt that it was nothing as compared to our country's athletes who faced bigger challenges. In addition to mastering badminton, Jack also had to gain and lose weight during his six months of preparation to fit the character of Cheah Liek Hou.

"When I finished the movie 'Abang Adik', my weight was 78 kilograms. After training badminton for almost three months, my weight dropped to 67 kilograms. Upon completion of the first part's filming, I regained my weight for another three months. For the filming of the second part, my weight was 87 kilograms. So my total weight increased by 20 kilograms," Jack explained.

Jack as Cheah Liek Hou in "Gold"

In the meantime, Jack is thrilled when Cheah Liek Hou praised his acting after watching the movie. He believes that it can inspire others to pursue their dreams.

"Cheah Liek Hou gave me a lot of confidence. When I was training, he also messaged me to say hello and follow my progress. He is very happy with the results of this film," Jack enthused.

Apart from Jack, this film also stars Farid Kamil as Rashid Sidek. They are supported by Wan Raja as Misbun Sidek, Fabian Loo as Guan Ting, 1990s popular singer Freddie Ng, Josiah Hogan, Daniel Cheah, Yasmin Hani, Lynn Lim, Meeki Ng, and with special appearances by Tony Eusoff, Nafiez Zaidi, and Ikhram Juhari.

"Gold" has been screening in cinemas since 11 July.