Kampung life in Jack Neo’s new movie

IPOH — The cast of Jack Neo’s new period drama Long Long Time Ago is soaking up the kampung life halfway through their 60-day shoot in Ipoh’s Kampung Cina Pusing. The movie is about the trials and tribulations of a Chinese family living in Singapore in the ’60s and ’70s and stars, among others, Neo’s long-time collaborator Mark Lee, veteran MediaCorp actress Aileen Tan, comedian Suhaimi Yusof and getai entertainer Wang Lei.

For her part, Tan, who plays Zhao Di, a widow who makes an unwelcomed return home to her patriarchal family with her three daughters, is immersing herself completely in her role — in a manner of speaking.

“I fell and broke one of my front teeth the very same night after the press conference where we publicly announced my role in Jack’s film,” the award-winning actress revealed. “It was a pure accident and it looked really bad. I sent a picture of myself with the broken tooth to show Jack, thinking we might have to delay (the production), and he told me it was perfect for my character and not to fix it till we finishing shooting the film. So here I am months later, still with my broken tooth!” GENEVIEVE LOH