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Brad Pitt gets Army Daze guys to reunite for War Machine

SINGAPORE — It has been some 20 years since the cast of the hugely popular Army Daze movie have got together for a project.

The guys from Army Daze got together to film a promotional video for Netflix's War Machine (from left to right): Ahamed Azad,Edward Yong Ching Tah, Sheikh Haikel, Kevin Mark Verghese, Adrian Lim Meng Kiat. Photo: Sonia Yeo

The guys from Army Daze got together to film a promotional video for Netflix's War Machine (from left to right): Ahamed Azad,Edward Yong Ching Tah, Sheikh Haikel, Kevin Mark Verghese, Adrian Lim Meng Kiat. Photo: Sonia Yeo

SINGAPORE — It has been some 20 years since the cast of the hugely popular Army Daze movie have got together for a project.

In a way, it took Brad Pitt to get the actors of the 1996 local film to do so. Actors Edward Yong, Sheikh Haikel, Kevin Mark Verghese, Adrian Lim, and Ahamed Azad gamely regrouped to be part of a promotional video for Pitt’s War Machine. Pitt stars as General Glenn McMahon, who commands NATO forces in Afghanistan in the satirical war dramedy, which premieres on Netflix on May 26. 

The video sees the Army Daze dudes in a skit responding to McMahon, who is explaining to troops from coalition countries what the troops’ mission is. He is seen interacting with the Army Daze guys, who are completely puzzled as to why they are being gathered (hint: they are to use what they learnt in Tekong to protect the people of Afghanistan).

“Who is this white guy?” whispers Verghese, in the character of effeminate Kenny Pereira.

“Do we get to change underwear later?” asks Haikel, who played super-blur Johari Salleh in Army Daze.

The Singaporean actors did not actually act with Pitt for the skit — it “borrowed” from the actual film for shots of Pitt. Scenes with the local boys were shot in Joo Koon, chosen for the likeness to the show’s setting.

For Azad, Verghese, Haikel, Yong and Lim — all in their 40s now — filming together was a hoot.

“There’s something special when we act together. We bounce (lines) off each other, and hopefully that shows in the video,” Verghese told TODAY.

When asked how he felt about the get-together, Haikel revealed that it has been a long time since the cast had all come together as a unit.

“I think it took something like Netflix to get all of us together because... we ain’t cheap, and Netflix got the money. Thank you, Netflix,” he quipped.

Haikel and Lim often interacted in the past because “both our sons were in the same (primary) school”, said Haikel, who first found fame as a rapper. He has recently released a track with his 13-year-old son, Sheikh Abbra.

And Yong and Azad are especially close, and see each other at least once a year, for Hari Raya. “Azad invites me over,” Yong revealed, saying that the close bond would not have happened if not for Army Daze.

With the exception of Haikel, many of the Army Daze cast did not continue in showbiz. Lim, for instance, is design director for the TWG Tea Company; Verghese is a retail education and development specialist at Apple; and Yong is a freelance editor-writer.

The cast’s reunion does not spell the possibility of a second Army Daze movie, although it has been announced that the theatre production, Army Daze 2, will be staged in August. But Azad said that this reunion has rekindled a friendship, with the cast swearing they will “see each other more” now.

It is not just lip service. Just a few hours after filming in Joo Koon wrapped, the cast got together at Haikel’s FatPapas Burgers and Shakes restaurant in Bali Lane, where they were seen talking and laughing over a meal.

Perhaps they’ll go see the musical together, next.

War Machine premieres on Netflix on May 26

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