Jack and his Lion Men

SINGAPORE — To the cast of Director Jack Neo’s latest movie, The Lion Men, filming the movie was full of surprises.

Not only did the cast — including Ah Boys To Men alum Wang Wei Liang, Tosh Zhang, Maxi Lim, Noah Yap and Charlie Goh — have to learn how to do the lion dance and martial arts, they also had to deal with being hung on wires three storeys high while filming.

And then, there were the other little things.

“Working with Jack Neo for a second time… Well, one thing about him is that he really likes to surprise us. For example, you’ve already memorised the script word for word, but when you get (to the set) he gives you a completely new script! ‘Surprise’!” said Wang, who plays Mikey, the lion dancer who is afraid of heights.

Zhang, who had to do his first onscreen romantic role opposite love interest Eva Cheng, added: “We weren’t even supposed to film that scene, but ... I won’t say we were awkward, but we were shy. I mean, there’s the cameraman there, and the sound guy there, and everyone’s staring at you, and then you have the director looking very intently into the monitor. It’s really not as romantic as it looks on screen.”

Speaking of uncomfortable moments, Wang, who has had eight years of experience in lion dancing, said that doing the stunts was not as easy as it looked. “I injured my leg while filming and for one week, I couldn’t even walk properly.”

Meanwhile, despite his cool image onscreen (playing Shi Shen, which literally means “lion king”) and getting to show off some cool lion dancing stunts, it’s Zhang who had the biggest hurdle to deal with.

“I’m the one who’s afraid of heights! I can’t even sit on a rollercoaster, because I don’t really like that feeling. When director Jack Neo asked me to go up on the wires, I thought they would just raise me a few inches above ground and jump around (on the pillars), but they actually hung me three storeys high above the pillars with no padding below, so I was screaming all the way — even though I was supposed to look cool while doing the stunts. But after a while, I actually found it really fun.”

And when asked if it’s easier being the lion’s head or rear, Maxi Lim replied: “The hardest part for me was being the lion’s bum. I have a lot of respect for them now. It’s really a back-breaking job. You’re always bending your back and you can’t see anything except for the floor. The only time I get to see something is when I lift Wei Liang up on my shoulders.”

The Lion Men is now showing in theatres.