Brothers in Arms

In this exclusive interview, Abang Adik's director Ong Lay Jin as well as leading star Jack Tan reflect on working on the film and its unexpected success

-  Brian Cheong

When he was writing the screenplay for Abang Adik, Ong Lay Jin had only one person in mind for the role of Adik—Jack Tan, whom he helped discover 15 years ago. The story goes like this: At 17, Tan accompanied his friend to an audition to become an artiste, and was only there to offer moral support. As they were about to leave, Tan was also asked to audition and got accepted into the artiste training programme.

Ong, who was part of the team at the academy, then took Tan over to Taiwan to film his first project, an idol TV series. The rest, as they say, is history.

Abang Adik (富都青年) is the story of two stateless orphans struggling to survive in Kuala Lumpur. Tan offers his take on why Ong picked him to play Adik: “He already knew me well, so he didn’t have to stress over an actor he wasn’t familiar with,” he laughs, before adding that he didn’t hesitate for a second when he was offered the part. “He helped me in my career from the beginning so it was a no-brainer to participate in his first movie many years later.”

Tan, 33, admits that he had never entertained any notions of being an actor and the first year was challenging. “I got scolded by the director who wasn’t satisfied with the way I spoke because it wasn’t Taiwanese enough. I wanted to run away, and remember being so jealous of my classmates who were living a carefree life back in Malaysia.”

After a phone conversation with Ong, he doubled down and focused on getting the job done. “I practised on my accent every day and eventually the director complimented me on my improvement,” he smiles.