Kelisa-riding Hollywood star turns heads amid filming in Penang
GEORGE TOWN: Netflix’s upcoming movie The Big Fix, starring actor Mark Wahlberg, has turned George Town into a Hollywood film set.
The action star has been turning heads after being spotted around the heritage enclave.
He has lit up the Malaysian social media sphere with posts showing the star walking through a bazaar and arriving at a shop in a Perodua Kelisa.
“Mark Wahlberg naik Perodua woiiii!” said an X user.
Another X user, Nazrul Razali, shared similar sentiments. His post “Mark Wahlberg naik Perodua Kelisa” was accompanied with a fire emoji.
Someone joked that the Kelisa owner would brag about this every Hari Raya: “Wei, Mark Walberg once got into my car.”
Even the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post caught the buzz in a report titled “Mark Wahlberg savours Penang’s charm as Malaysians floored by star’s humility”.
Directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur, The Big Fix stars Wahlberg alongside British actor Riz Ahmed.
The story centres on a former Interpol officer with links to FIFA who uncovers a global match-fixing operation.
Others in the cast include US-based Malaysian actress Nuha Jes Izman, Singaporean actor Chin Han, and Indian actor Vipin Sharma.
State tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said filming over the past three days had taken place at Jawi Peranakan Mansion, Cheong Fatt Tze-The Blue Mansion, Lorong Ikan and Penang City Stadium.
There will be other filming locations such as the Batu Kawan stadium in the coming weeks.
Wong said the production marked another milestone for Penang’s tourism and creative economy.
“A production of this calibre brings invaluable international exposure to Penang through one of the world’s largest streaming platforms,” he said yesterday.
Penang Island City Council said the filming team had been granted a permit from July 1 to 31.
Mayor Datuk A. Rajendran said the city council had approved six local and international movie productions this year.
Filming fees comprise a RM2,000 refundable deposit, a RM10 daily licence fee, a RM50 processing fee and a RM50 heritage site fee, with parking charges and rentals payable where applicable.
As for The Big Fix, even Communications Minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil and National Film Development Corporation Malaysia chairman Datuk Hans Isaac had visited the filming location a few days ago.
But not everyone got a chance to watch the action.
One X user lamented about not being told about the actor’s presence. And to make it worse, he was at work at the time.
“Mark Wahlberg mai penang tak roger. Dah la mai time aku dok keja,” he wrote.
