Jack Neo’s Chinese New Year Film The King of Musang Kings (Musang Kings) was supposed to be Wang Lei’s last movie, but Wang Lei could not act in the end. Hence, Mark Lee (Li Guo Huang) took up his role, while Jack Neo portrayed Mark Lee’s original role.
Note: ‘Musang King’ is better known as Mao Shan Wang, the famous durian brand.
When Jack Neo was interviewed by Lianhe Zaobao after Musang Kings was done filming, he was asked about the acting and directing process.
Towards this, Jack Neo admitted that it was quite challenging because he hasn’t directed and acted such a strenuous role in a long time. He said, “I’m getting old and my physical strength is waning. When I’m acting, the directing portion is covered by two co-directors.”
The Singaporean director also revealed that he wasn’t supposed to act in the movie, “Because Wang Lei couldn’t come and act, Mark Lee had to take up his role, while I took up Mark Lee’s role.”
Jack Neo and Wang Lei are good friends.
Since Wang Lei said that he was planning to retire from acting, Jack Neo specifically crafted a role in Musang Kings just for Wang Lei, and it would be in collaboration with Mark Lee and Henry Thia (Chen Xiu Hui).
They are all old-time actors who have starred in many of Jack Neo’s films.
This is also the first time Jack Neo, Mark Lee and Henry Thia have acted together since Money No Enough 2 (2008).
Alas, fate is unpredictable and plays with men; when mm2 Entertainment went to visit Wang Lei, they were shocked to see Wang Lei’s sick and pale complexion.
Jack Neo said, “After he contracted COVID-19, he did not completely recover his voice. Furthermore, he has been very busy at work which exhausted him greatly. [When mm2 visited him] he had collapsed from sickness, and said he needed to go to the doctor. After seeing him in such a state, how could we force him to act?”
Since Wang Lei was unable to act in this movie, Jack Neo was asked if he would make another last movie for him.
Jack Neo replied, “I don’t know if he wants to act in a movie again.”
The King of Musang Kings tells a story of a Malaysian woman called Mei Lian (played by Yeo Yann Yann) who was dumped by her husband Jin Shui (played by Mark Lee) for another Vietnamese woman.
She continues to tend to a durian plantation left to her by her late father, while raising three children on her own. One of the children is portrayed by local actor Glenn Yong.
Later, Mei Lian develops feelings for her childhood friend Mao Shan (played by Jack Neo), who has been a secret admirer of hers for years. However, Jin Shui later returns to the durian plantation when he realises that the Vietnamese woman was only after his money.
Neo: I Can Write A Dissertation About Durians Now
Although the filming of Musang Kings was completed last Friday (7 Oct), the filming crew will be returning to the location in mid-November for the harvest season as the durians were not ripe during the initial shooting.
The biggest challenge while filming Musang Kings was the weather, said Jack Neo.
It was raining all the time and the weather was inconsistent; it could be cold in the morning and blazing hot in the middle of the day.
The 62-year-old director added that he loved eating durians and joked, “I’ve been eating durians since the early Kampong days to the current Mao Shan Wang. I can probably sell durians on the internet in the future. I have done a certain level of research into durians; I can write a dissertation about it now.”
Jack Neo has taken his love and knowledge of durians and turned it into a story in the movie. He thought that the whole research and filming process has been a wonderful journey and believes that the movie will attract the audience’s curiosity.
He emphasised, “The durian plantation is really beautiful. The plantation used to be very messy, but now it is well-planned. The distance between each durian tree is calculated.”
“Props” Eaten By Actors
When Jack Neo was interviewed in August when production had just started, he told the reporters that it was not Mao Shan Wang season yet.
Thus, the few durians that they found were precious and the actors were instructed not to eat it.
However, the actors—especially Yeo Yann Yann—could not resist the temptation of the durians, and they would eat while filming.
When asked about how many durians they used, Jack Neo said, “Countless. The real ones and fake ones were all mixed together.”
He divulged that there was one type of “prop” that would always be eaten, and that was durians.
Apparently, all of the real durians have ended up in the stomach of the actors.
The King of Musang Kings was shot in Raub, Pahang, Malaysia.
The movie will be in theatres for Chinese New Year 2023.
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Featured Image: Lianhe Zaobao 联合早报
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