9 Nyawa - 9 Lives

9 Nyawa (9 Lives) (2016), written by Christopher Yeo, is a Mediacorp Suria TV police and crime drama series. Chris is also the writer and director of "A Land Imagined" (2018) that won the Lugano International Film Festival's prestigious Golden Leopard Award. 

You can watch 9 Nyawa for FREE, here .

I played the factory supervisor of a glue factory, incidentally also called "Mr Chua". 

There was supposed to be a stunt double for the dunking and drowning of Mr Chua, but he turned out to be a lot shorter and smaller build than I am, so it did not work. As the show had to go on, I did the stunt myself.

This is what appeared in the final cut:

This (below) is the behind-the-scene shot. It wasn't as difficult as it looks, as there is a method to the struggle. The difficult part was when I had to remain totally motionless in the water while playing dead. Then, the water rushed into the nose along with the piercing and stinging pain. It probably only lasted for about 15 seconds, but it felt a lot longer. Such a relief when I heard 'cut'.

We did about 3 takes and it was done. We got it. It actually felt quite relaxing after that, just like how it feels after a good swim.

 

To check out the Malay shows I have been in (including this post), click here 

The Nasty Bits

Here are some nasty bits they asked me to do on set... This one plays the beggar at a urine stinking corner in Chinatown. It is a pity that cameras cannot capture smell.

This one is for a scene in Jack Neo's "We Not Naughty". The most painful part was not having to be sprayed upon, but rather the need to over-act.

This one is for Suria TV's "Nine Lives" drama, coming soon to a TV near you.

It is not as difficult as it looks. You just have to get used to seeing the world upside down and going underwater for a few seconds at a time, blowing out bubbles from your nose. The hardest part was to play dead at the end - motionless enduring the discomfort of the water flowing into my nose.

They planned to have a stunt man for me, but he was too small and it was hard to disguise and match. So I did it myself - (thankfully) in one-take. More about "Nine Lives" in another post.