My Reelity

So my doctor just called me up all of a sudden to tell me that he saw me on telly last night.

Apparently, they did a rerun of my Incredible Tales episode last year in a brand new rehash series called “The Best Of Incredible Tales”.

He told me he didn’t know it was me at first; in fact he was drawn to the episode because he thought the lead actor was acting very well. He was intrigued and wanted to know who this actor was, and as he watched he gradually found him more and more familiar. So he purposely waited until the credits rolled and lo and behold, much to his amazement, it was yours truly!

He told me my acting was very natural and that I’m really a good actor. Needless to say, by the end of the conversation, he had me beaming to the skies.

Audience appreciation, at a time when I’m at my most jaded, couldn’t be more timely I guess. But to be honest, I don’t know if this is enough for me to stay the course.

But more on this subject another time. Right now, I just want to bask in the moment a bit.

On another note, I guess this should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt I can do non-villiany roles. 😉

Most of the time, this question always leave me in a state of bemusement.

Let’s see what the basic definition is :

ac?tor
? ?/?ækt?r/ [ak-ter]
–noun
1. a person who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, television broadcasts, etc.
2. a person who does something; participant.

So going by the above definition, then I guess I am one.

But anyone can be an actor, you say. True, I mean its not like you need a Masters degree to be one. And wasn’t it Bill (William Shakespeare) who labeled everyone an actor?

I guess why people ask me the question is because I’m too obscure and/or haven’t been featured prominently in anything mainstream. I don’t fault them for that; heck if I’m in their shoes, I too, will have difficulty believing I’m an actor.

But I do get offended by people if their questioning goes along the lines of “Are you pretending to be an actor”. Please lah, I got nothing better to do meh? Why do I want to pretend to be something anyone can be?

And then there are those who differentiate between extras, bit players and main part actors. Most of us have to start somewhere and its just too bad that the industry here don’t really advocate working your way up. But that’s not a reason to condemn those who call themselves actors but have been only doing carelefare work (see definition above).

So am I really an actor? Well, you decide for yourself. But I do know I have a good body of work behind me, so if anyone’s asking, I’m an actor.

And a darn good one at that. 😉

But I like to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas anyway.

And, Happy Birthday Lord!

Wishing You a very happy birthday!

And to all my readers, a merry and wonderful Christmas!

Its been a long time; I know.

But I still get the same stirrings, and I still feel my spirit rise, as we rehearse the songs.

It really, really feels good to be singing to You again.

Night of Movie Premiere
Lance : Hello! you acted in a movie recently? truth be told. how come never inform?
Me : Eh got leh, its in my website. You just caught the premiere?
Lance : Yup. you got website?
Me : https://vinceli.com So how is it? Good? How was my performance?
Lance : good. will recommend to others.

Lance was one of my ex-customers turned semi-regular gaming kaki. Sigh. How come my ex-customer gets to go the premiere and I don’t? >.< **************** Sneak Preview Night
AM’s back for her annual visit, so I jioed her to go to the preview. We were there early but because it took me quite a while to find the theatre, I didn’t manage to catch the beginning of the movie, no thanks to GV’s poor naming system of cinema halls.

But I did manage to catch a bit of the opening scene, and true enough yours truly was there, and not in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-me way as well. Not quite the way I had hoped I would see myself on a proper big screen for the first time, but I still managed to get a small kick out of it.

I was disappointed, though, that I couldn’t really appreciate the movie from where I was seating. I’d only managed to get seats three rows from the screen, and the screen was really way too near for that row. But in spite of that bad experience, I find this was one of the better local movies I’ve watched so far.

I was also quite impressed with the way some of the scenes were shot in the movie; my favourite ones were the scene using a mirror to get a three shot and the one in which a stream of light streak across the actors’ eyes in a darkened room. The acting from the main cast was really good as well; I am really impressed with Uncle Liang Tien’s showing.

Yvonne and ET held a Q&A session after the screening, and I think I was the only cast other than Yvonne at the preview. They singled me out in the middle of the Q&A and introduced me to the rest of the audience, which really had me blushing like a schoolgirl (I gotta get used to this I guess).

*************
Afterthoughts
Throughout the movie, my character name keeps getting mentioned. A lot. In fact, it gets more air/screen time than the person. Ironic isn’t it?

I was actually quite disappointed not to have landed the “Ah Hao” role back then. That is because “Ah Hao” gets a bit more screen time than “Ang Chee Beng”. But after having watched the movie, I think its a blessing in disguise instead, and I landed the better role after all. Cuz peeps are going to remember this character more; I mean its hard not to when it keeps getting mentioned right? Hehehe.

Which goes to show, my agent up there is really doing an awesome job.

Thanks Lord! And please forgive me for doubting ye over this. 😛

“So why are you joining this contest?’
“Cuz I’m tired of using the shower head as the mike.”
“You look familiar, (looks at application form) “oh, you’ve done productions in Channel 5 before?”
“Yes I have.”
“Are you under any talent agency?”
“No, I’m a freelancer”
“Have you joined any singing competition before?”
“No”
“Why not?”
“Errm, cuz I’ve never thought of becoming a singer.”
“Then why are you here?! What is your dream?”
“My dream is to be an actor.”
“so why did you join this competition?”
“I was “attacked” at the mall.”
“What? Oh you got here because of “Hit and Run”. Which place?”
“Cineleisure. I was with a girl, going to catch a movie when they just sprang out of nowhere as I stepped out of the apple store.”
“So are you saying that you are forced into this?”
“No, they told me I was good enough… so ok lor, why not?”
“Who approached you?”
“Eng Hao”
“So why have you not gone for any singing competition before?”
“Well I’ve never thought of singing for other people. I sing for my own pleasure, to relieve stress. I sing when I shower, I even sing when I’m on the train, albeit softly, when I’m very into the song I’m listening.
“But you said you wanted to act right?”
“Yes, but I also see myself as an actor who can sing when he is needed to. So I see myself being able to sing in a movie or in a musical.”

More or less, that is the transcript of the Q&A session, as much as I can remember it. For obvious reasons, this is password protected (yeah its my first one I know). And as you can pretty much guess, I’m prolly not the typical contestant they are looking for either. At least not the gushing ooh I’ve always wanted to do this kind of contestant. And I thought then that if I got through after such a Q&A session, then it really must be His Will.

And you know what, I did got through.

Have fun, she said. Yeah right.

Butterflies in the stomach, quivering voice, legs going almost jello, really isn’t my idea of fun. And the worst was yet to come. The Q&A session was awkward to say the least. And even though they were not politically correct, I gave those answers anyway. Cuz, you know what, they were the truth.

And I guess getting through based on the truth kinda shows that this is indeed Your Will as well.

I had another scare when they said I had to go do another interview. Luckily, they canceled it in the end.

Guess what. They called.

And I suppose its Your Will too (cuz I’ve prayed about it, and yet it has come to pass).

And if what I’m about to do is criminal, I’ll like to say I’ve started punishing myself already :

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,
El-Elyon na Adonia,
Age to age You’re still the same,
By the power of the name.
El Shaddai, El Shaddai,
Erkamka na Adonai,
We will praise and lift You high,
El Shaddai.

El Shaddai, is most often translated as “God Almighty”.
El-Elyon na Adonai is a common phrase meaning “Lord most high”, with the syllable na included for lyrical purposes.
Erkamka na Adonai, meaning “I love you, Lord” (Hebrew ארחמך) is another common phrase with the syllable na included.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,
El-Elyon na Adonai,
Age to age You’re still the same,
By the power of the name.
El Shaddai, El Shaddai,
Erkamka na Adonai,
I will praise You till I die,
El Shaddai.

Happy Easter Everyone.