Ekin Cheng Rejects S$1.7Mil Offer To Reprise His Young And Dangerous Role For A Day

When someone talks about Ekin Cheng, his iconic badass role as Chan Ho Nam in the Young and Dangerous franchise comes to mind.

Now that 25 years have passed since the sixth and final instalment of the films, will we ever get to see the 57-year-old reprise his role as the fearless, loyal gangster again?

According to Ekin's manager Sandy Lamb, many Chinese movie companies have expressed interest in making a new Young and Dangerous film in recent years 

A film company even hired acclaimed Hong Kong director Wilson Chin to helm the movie but the star was adamant about not reprising the role as he had issues with the plot. 

"There are no conditions [that need to be met]. There's also no need to alter the script. No matter what he will not take on the job. [The filmmakers] didn't believe it and offered to pay Ekin S$1.17mil," said Hong Kong film producer Manfred Wong.

They even promised that Ekin's scenes in the movie would all be shot in a bar so Ekin wouldn't need to travel around and that filming would be done in a day. But the star just wouldn't budge.

The film company still did not give up. They found out about Ekin's love for badminton and even invited Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan to be in the movie too.

Again, Ekin said no. 

Sandy also explained why Ekin hasn't been active in China's showbiz industry unlike his other Young and Dangerous pals such as Jordan Chan, Michael Tse and Jerry Lamb. The three men saw a resurgence in their careers after taking part in Chinese variety show Call Me By Fire.

"Variety shows are Ekin's weakness. He has tried them and knows they are not his cup of tea," she revealed. 

For starters, the actor doesn't like it when cameras are tracking him all the time, even when he's sleeping. 

"If he doesn't like it, why should he do it? Of course, you can say these are things an artiste needs to do. So if he has a choice, he wouldn't do it!" she said. 

It wasn't for the lack of trying though. 

According to Sandy, Ekin did go on Chinese variety show Beat The Champions with Jordan but could not get used to it.

"He came back and told me it was very tough. He couldn't deliver what the producer wanted. He made the producer upset and was upset with himself too. Then he asked me: 'Sandy, are we short on money?'," she recalled him saying.

When Sandy assured him they're doing fine, he said: "If we have enough then let's not accept these jobs".

And that's just what Chan Ho Nam would do.