Eh, You Guys Actually Going To Manage To Meet Up or Not??

The amount of times the cast would hear me saying that to them either via email or on the phone from the UK was a common occurence. A lot has been happening over the past few weeks with work on the edit, the impending launch of our simple and concise website (seriously, no frills one) and completion of the trailers.

In the midst of all that I thought I would blog about the 5 people I casted who became 5 friends by the time I saw them again almost a year and a half later.

The S'kali production team got down to casting in the Summer of 2004. We put up notices on all the usual spots and then had a series of auditions over subsequent weekends.

It was always going to be hard to find people who could pull off characters that were loosely based on real people, who could embody their spirits and temprements.


Davina Goh - Sze



Davina possesses the inner silence and focused energy that I think one finds in actresses such as Naomi Watts. Everyday I would sit in front of the monitor and watch as this wonderful actress transformed herself so selflessly and totally into the character of Sze, nailing every nuance and emotion so perfectly.

Davina is also due to appear in Kit Ong's up and coming film and is busy with possible castings on future projects. Some may also remember her as the face of Whisper and TMnet at one point.


Jayaram Nagaraj - Ravin



The character of Ravin was the last one we cast. We had not found anyone who I felt fit the essence of the guy I had written. I knew of Jayaram via some relatives and gave him a buzz asking him to come in for an audition. We got him to read with Davina, a scene which was in the early drafts and is now the fight scene in Ravin's car.

The room was silent when they finished.

We offered him the role there, on the spot.

Jayaram is of course better known as Junior from Hitz.


Derek Ong - Tzao



The producers never thought Derek would work. I told them he would. When Derek read fo us, you could see, in his eyes, the wealth of life experience this guy brought with him. The producers were primarily worried about his theatre background and if or not he would be able to adapt to the different style of film acting.

Derek rose to the challenge, tackling Tzao with such minimal dialogue, all the while proving that his theatre background was giving him some serious acting chops. Watch out for his scene with the character Bahir towards the end of the film. The scene was shot in one take, and features what I feel is on of the most stellar performances.

Derek can be seen on the stage in Habeus Corpus.


Zimy Rosan - Bahir



Zimy auditioned with a heavy American accent. He had been away from Malaysia for a while and everyone was like "Will he lose it?". But sure enough, a few months back home was all he needed and soon enough he was doing all the "lah's", "oi's" and what not, like, if not better than any of his fellow countrymen.

I chose this picture because I think it shows the very thing that stands out when it comes to Zimy; his eyes. He says everything with it and there are times when every emotion he is holding under his skin explodes onto the screen via those eyes of his.

You will see more of this guy I am sure. Since being on S'kali Zimy has been for various casting calls and hopefully it results in some work for him.


Angeline Rose - Tehmina



Angeline is of course now well known to the Malaysian audience thanks to KL Lights and I am told has just secured a role on an upcoming film. Angeline had the challenge of tackling the one character I wrote without trying to know too much about her. With the other 4, I became so familiar with them, I had their histories and where I knew they would be mentally and emotionally at various stages of their character arcs.

With the character of Tehmina, I wanted it to be a little unknown, I wanted to see what the character would do and where SHE would want to be taken.

Angeline embodies that for me. You can never quite read her, but there is a lot going on under the surface and that was exactly what the character Tehmina needed.


I will always cherish this cast.

They will always be in my mind the people I worked with for my first feature. It was not easy. As it so often happens on a film, tensions arise and stress levels peak as tiredness and fatigue set in.

So once again I thank you guys.