Inspired by his friendship when he was a young boy, Malaysian director Ryon Lee came up with the story for the local Chinese New Year movie Small Town Heroes.
The film centres on the young occupants at the House Of Happiness orphanage, specifically Feng (Phua Chandler) and his new friend, Hero (Roger Shak).
Often imagining himself to be a kung fu warrior on a wondrous journey, Feng drags Hero along on his many “adventures”. One of it includes running away to Penang in search of Hero’s mother.
Along the way, Hero not only gains a true friend but someone who teaches him the value of loyalty, to be courageous and the meaning of family even when they are not related to each other.
“When I was young, I had a friend like Feng,” shared Lee to StarLifestyle. “He was a big influence in my life as he was the one who motivated me to be brave enough to chase my dream.”
Pursuing one’s ambition, the many layers of relationship and just the joy of being young in a challenging world are just some of the many themes that audiences can find in this heartwarming drama.
Lee also hopes that Small Town Heroes can show just how harmonious Malaysia is when everyone – regardless of their race and religion – join hands for a common purpose.
“Various festivals we celebrate in Malaysia are a good example of that harmony. It’s beautiful when we get together to celebrate our many festivals such as Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and be happy at the same time.
Besides featuring that harmony with a scene where the characters organise a Chinese New Year show at their village, the movie also highlights some gorgeous sceneries including Penang’s Frog Hill, which is an abandoned quarry with vibrant blue pools.
“I want to showcase the beautiful places that we have in Malaysia,” said Lee, before pointing out yet another important message within the film.
“One thing I want to bring forth through this movie is that prejudices against orphans are just terrible, whether from children or adults,” said the filmmaker.
Since the film relies on the two young protagonists to carry so many heavy themes, the casting of the two young actors in the integral roles of Feng and Hero was crucial.
Lee auditioned almost 200 boys, who came from all over Malaysia before deciding on Chandler and Roger.
“They are both very smart,” said Lee of Chandler and Roger.
“During the audition they spoke well, sharing things about their lives, which I found very impressive for someone their age.
“After working with them, I have no doubt if they want to become actors in the future, they will have no problem.”
Chandler, 13, has done a number of TV ads, while Roger, 15, has appeared in the international movie Crazy Rich Asians. They are both active on social media, creating content for their respective accounts.
Actor-singer-TV host Jack Lim (Papa, Come Home, Huat The Fish) generously agreed that Chandler and Roger are the main stars of Small Town Heroes and he is just a supporting cast.
Lim plays one of the adults in Small Town Heroes who often visits the orphanage with a van full of goodies, and helps out whenever the boys get into trouble outside the orphanage.
Lim said: “I know Roger and Chandler through their YouTube videos and commercials, and they are pretty good. So far, they’ve only had to handle happy scenes whereas in Small Town Heroes there are many tear-jerking scenes where they have to cry.
“I must say they pulled off the emotional scenes brilliantly, and only with a little guidance,” said Lim, who is himself a father to a teenager.
Roger, who lives in Shah Alam, and KL-based Chandler said they were friends even before working on Small Town Heroes. They pointed out to StarLifestyle that they both had problems prior to filming their crying scenes.
Chandler recalled: “Actually I didn’t know how I was going to cry for my scene because I have never done it before. I was very nervous on the day of the filming.
“Then my dad told me that my cousin passed away and he told me not to cry. He said, don’t cry, don’t cry’.
“Then when I started shooting the scene, I started bawling and I couldn’t stop. When I saw that everyone on set was also crying, I cried even more.”
Likewise, Roger had to recall a sad memory in order to start crying for his big scene in the film. “I cried so much for the scene that I didn’t know how to stop either.”
The energetic teens shared that the first time they watched the film, they were sure they weren’t going to cry at the emotional scenes.
“When the scene started, the tears did too,” said Roger. “My dad, who never cries when watching movies, was crying as well!”
Nodding, Chandler said: “I reached for the tissue as well.”
Completing the cast member in Small Town Heroes is Layla Sania, who plays a volunteer teacher at the orphanage who forms a strong bond with the children.
The character also harbours a dream of becoming the first female wrestler, but is constantly told it’s simply impossible.
Layla rose to fame through I Can See Your Voice Malaysia Season Three in 2019.
The 20-year-old, who can speak and read Mandarin, released her first single Que Sera Sera the same year. Small Town Heroes marks her acting debut in a movie.
According to Layla – who’s pursuing a Diploma in Early Childhood Education at Unitar Malaysia – she faced no problem when she was on set acting with the youngsters.
“I love hanging out with children because they don’t judge and they are honest. So, I always find it more comfortable being myself with them because they are themselves as well.
“So, in terms of acting as a teacher who likes hanging out with the children, it wasn’t that difficult. Furthermore, the director let us be ourselves.
“He wanted us to be honest with our performance and not follow the script strictly.
“But reading the script – all in Mandarin – now that was difficult,” said Layla who attended Chinese primary school as a child.
“I had to understand what each word meant. Mandarin is complicated – one word can mean a lot of things – which was why I had to sit down with my dictionary to figure out the script properly.”
Despite all the challenges, Layla confessed she’s looking forward to many more acting jobs in the future.
“I want to be able to pursue my dream as a singer, actor and an educator. I want to do it all,” Layla told StarLifestyle.
With so many themes in Small Town Heroes, we asked Lim what he thought was the biggest takeaway from the film was.
He answered: “I hope children who watch this film with their parents realise that they are very lucky to have parents who treat them like a prince or princess. Anything they want, their parents give them.
“I hope they appreciate their parents and not take them for granted. And really know that the parents are doing anything and everything for them out of love.”
Small Town Heroes opens at cinemas nationwide on Thursday (Feb 3).
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