Wang Weiliang Doesn’t Follow Any Of The Ah Boys On IG But Says He Didn’t Fall Out With Them & Jack Neo - 8days Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Wang Weiliang Doesn’t Follow Any Of The Ah Boys On IG But Says He Didn’t Fall Out With Them & Jack Neo

The 37-year-old, who is the executive producer of new CNY movie Baby Hero, does admit to 8days.sg that he is not as close to his mentor Jack anymore. 

Wang Weiliang Doesn’t Follow Any Of The Ah Boys On IG But Says He Didn’t Fall Out With Them & Jack Neo

No part of this story can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.

It's a Wednesday afternoon, and this writer is standing along Amoy Street with actor Wang Weiliang and his manager after our interview. 

"Eh Lobang King! You're Lobang King," calls out a very enthusiastic man who walks past us.

Yes, it’s been 13 years since Jack Neo’s Ah Boys To Men yet the character Weiliang played in that movie is still the first thing people think of when they see the 37-year-old.

But we think it’s time we introduce you to the new Weiliang.

He's the boss of local movie company Hong Pictures, creative production company Paperplane Productions, as well as music school Seed Music.

He is also the executive producer of new Chinese New Year movie Baby Hero.

In the movie, which is a joint production between Hong Pictures and Bangkok-based film company Hollywood Thailand, Weiliang also plays a clumsy, rascally burglar, who refers to himself as the “Southeast Asian Thief God”.

While it may be easy for Weiliang to funny onscreen, he tells 8days.sg that being an executive producer was the total opposite. 

"As an actor you don’t have to care about the nitty-gritty things, like who goes where and who signs what," says Weiliang. 

"That said, being an executive producer brings about its own sense of satisfaction because you get to bring people together to achieve a common goal."

He also says that even though he’s the boss now, he’s actually at a position "to serve" the people around him instead of ordering them around.

We don't doubt that. After all, he even went out of his way to serve this writer.

Remember when we said we were standing along the road after our interview? 

We thought Weiliang and his manager were, like us, waiting for their ride. Turns out, they have their own car and were just waiting with us. 

And when our Grab arrived, Weiliang rushed to open the car door for us... in the drizzling rain. 

This Lobang King sure knows how to make someone feel special. 

Weiliang in Baby Hero

Making a movie for the first time is daunting enough, and it doesn’t help that Baby Hero is up against two other local movies during the CNY period: Jack Neo’s sci-fi comedy I Want To Be Boss and Mark Lee's drag comedy Number 2.

When asked if he’s worried about the box office, Weiliang is unexpectedly chill. 

"I’m not too stressed over it. I made this movie to give the audience more options. It’s not meant to be a competition," he says.

How many tickets does he need to sell to not suffer a loss though?

"That’s a good question. I can’t dodge it 'cos if I say I don’t know, it would sound like I didn’t do my homework," he laughs. "In Singapore, I think the movie would have to make S$4 - 5mil to be considered a success."

Weiliang also says he did not intentionally set his movie’s premiere date (Jan 23) a day before Jack’s I Want To Be Boss premiere to give himself an edge. 

"We set the date long ago. Maybe it’s because Director Neo is my mentor so great minds think alike," he says.

Speaking of Jack being his mentor, did Weiliang go to the former for advice while making Baby Hero?

The answer is: No.

"I think our movies were filmed around the same time, so I didn’t dare to bother him. He was already busy with his own project, I shouldn’t let him worry about me too," he explains. 

While Weiliang admits that he doesn't contact Jack much anymore, he stresses that they did not fall out.

"He’s my mentor no matter what. None of us Ah Boys would pick a fight with him," he asserts. 

He also says Jack sees all the Ah Boys as his children and would not hold anything against them.

There have also been rumours claiming that Weiliang has fallen out with the rest of the Ah Boys, including Tosh Zhang, Joshua Tan and Maxi Lim.

We also found out that Weiliang does not follow any of them on Instagram.

"Oh, I don’t use Instagram to make friends. I’m just a fan there and I only follow those whose content I watch. I also follow Lionel Messi but I don’t know him," he says.

Weiliang adds that he is already friends with the Ah Boys and they can communicate in real life, which is why he doesn’t have to follow them on social media.

He admits that he and Joshua, who was the co-founder of Paperplane Productions,  mutually agreed to stop their business partnership to "pursue different opportunities that better align with their long-term goals" but are still friends despite the latter’s departure from the company.

"How old are we already? Why would we fight? We are not children anymore," he says.

He does, however, reveal that they did not ask him along on their trip to Japan last year.

"Maybe I was busy! When was it? They didn’t jio me, huh?" he chuckles.

Weiliang says he’s been busy with Baby Hero since last January, and that he doesn't usually join them on their vacations anyway because he doesn’t enjoy travelling. 

"I hate taking a plane. The seven-to-eight hours waiting at the airport and then flying to your destination, I can’t take it," he says. 

He also isn't the kind to feel FOMO when his friends have fun overseas without him.

"If they’re happy, I’m happy for them too," he insists.

How are the Ah Boys going to show support for Baby Hero then?

"I might have to force them to book a theatre for the movie. They haven’t offered to buy tickets yet. Maybe I should remind them to support my first movie," he jokes.

Well, at least we did see both Tosh and Joshua at the movie’s premiere last week. That's a good first step?

Weiliang wants you to know that they're definitely still bros
Catch Weiliang in Magic Chef on mewatch or in the video below:
Photos: Hong Pictures/Instagram, Yahoo Singapore, Cinema Online

Advertisement

Advertisement

Shopping

Want More? Check These Out

Watch

You May Also Like