Jack Neo 'destroys' Fann Wong's Image in "Just Follow Law"

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Jack Neo 'destroys' Fann Wong's Image in "Just Follow Law"

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Writer: Pamela June

22 Mar – "My aim is to 'destroy' (the image of) Fann Wong," said Singaporean director Jack Neo at the press conference of his movie, "Just Follow Law", at GSC Mid Valley yesterday.

"Fann has been the pretty, graceful female in all her movies and by doing this, it is a break-through as this is a very good chance. I've known her for a long time, and off-screen, she makes me laugh hard and I was thinking eventually: she is a comedian, but how can I make her act it out? This is a challenge for both of us and she has accepted the challenge," he said.

Asked if it was hard to do the movie, Neo said that it's not very easy for Fann because she had always been gentle in her actions and speech. "I had to make her speak like someone from a lower class. When she first said some vulgar language, we laughed like mad," he added.

Fann Wong, however, quipped that she was insulted. "I was excited about the project, but I was not prepared. So it's quite terrible, because everyday I would go home and look at the scenes and I was going like: ‘Oh my god, what have I done today?'" she said. "I was traumatised by the things I had to do."

Lead star Gurmit Singh said he and Fann both agreed to practise their roles for the other before the actual shooting. "We would usually go like: ‘OK Fann, I'm suppose to be a woman here, I'm going to play your character, how would you do that?' Then I'll watch it. Then she'll ask me also, and I will do it the 'man' way, my line, and we will just show up, and later we show it to Neo," he explained.

In the movie, Fann plays Tanya, the vice president of a government WAS (Work Allocation Singapore) department alongside Gurmit Singh's character Zui, a blue-collar technician who is Tanya's subordinate. However, after a freak accident, their souls swapped bodies and they find themselves trapped in each other's body. Tanya is now a vulgar ‘man' while Zui becomes the image-conscious lady boss.

According to Neo, "Just Follow Law" is the only Chinese New Year blockbuster that is still screening in Singapore cinemas.