Koh Jia Ler Goes From Mama's Boy In Ilo Ilo To Loverboy In Wet Season

KOH JIA LER: I actually didn’t know about it. It was my mum who told me about it. She said, “Do you know you have a sex scene?” Me: “Huh? What sex scene?” She: “The director old me there’s a bed scene and he asked me if I’m okay with it?” Me: “Really meh?” She: “You okay or not? Can or not?” Me: “Sex scene? Can one. Never mind one.” But who knew shooting the scene was going to be so intense? I thought I would just push [Yeo] Yann Yann onto the bed and get on top of her and the director would yell “Cut!”. I didn’t know the shoot would be so precise. I had many things to do in that scene but I didn’t know how to do them. I rehearsed a lot with Anthony [Chen] and Yann Yann. Anthony even asked the assistant director to lie on the bed so I could rehearse with her. The filming was quite epic.

How did you feel in the days leading up to the filming?

Two days before the shoot, I asked Anthony, “Is this going to be a closed set?” He said, yes, and I was a bit relaxed. On the day itself, we started off with rehearsals, then we did the master shot of the bedroom. All this while, I thought it would be just the soundman and the cameraman with me and Yann Yann. Anthony then came up to me, “The cameraman needs the assistant to be in the room as well.” The assistant is female. I said, “Okay lah, anything.” She’s going to be standing behind the cameraman, I thought. After that, the soundman swapped places in the room with his assistant — a female — to be the boom operator. It was supposed to be just me, Yann Yann, the soundman, and the cameraman in the room. But now, there were five: three women, and two guys — me and the cameraman. It was awkward for me. When I walked over to Anthony’s room where I saw him replaying the scene on the monitor... with 20 people behind him!

Didn’t you get into an argument with Anthony over the scene and threatened to quit at one point?

It was really nerve-wracking. I had to drop my pants and everything. I was totally naked. Once Anthony shouted “Action!”, I had to take off my pants. Cut. I had to put them on again. “Action!” Take off again. I did it a few times. After the first take, Anthony [who was directing from another room], walked in and said, “Why are you acting like that? Why are you so afraid to express yourself?” Then he talked me through it. But slowly I just heck care. I just did whatever I was told to do. Let’s just get this over and done with. I’ve seen Wet Season twice. I’m quite happy with my performance, so I think all is good.

How long did the filming last?

We only had one day to film inside Weilun’s apartment. The bed scene wasn’t really that long, maybe 3-4 hours. After the bed scene, we had to shoot the corridor outside the bedroom. We had to wrap by 7pm.

She said, “We must be professional. Even if there are people around you, you have to continue acting. Otherwise, you’re delaying the production. Time is money.”

During the Ilo Ilo days, you used to call Yann Yann mummy.

I stopped doing that on the first day of filming. And I haven’t called her that since. I just call her Yann Yann, If not, lao shi (teacher) or tong shi (colleague).

Hate to ask you this. Sex scenes are extremely awkward for actors, even more so when they get a little, ahem, excited. Ashton Kutcher said the best way to deal with the situation is to tell the other person, “I apologise if I get aroused and I apologise if I do not get aroused”. Considering that this was your first bed scene, how did you deal with your situation?

I think I never did anything. If Anthony never says cut, I’ll continue acting When he said ‘cut!’, I’d wear my pants and step out of the room. I actually never said sorry. We had to be professional about it. But I did get excited. I couldn’t believe it lah. I thought it wouldn’t get excited. But I actually did.

Did you ever have a crush on a teacher?

No lah. I don’t see myself liking an older woman. I will never do that. I feel like a guy should take care of the girl. Some people might say, age doesn’t matter lah. But not me. The most was we’d notice a teacher who was better looking than the other teachers. That’s all. I’d never had a crush on a teacher.

I started learning wushu when I was six. From eight to 16, I was already competing in tournaments. I stopped training at 16 but I still kept in touch with my coach. I still help him out as an assistant coach. For Wet Season, I went back to train for 6-8 months so I can reach the standard you see in the movie. I remember two months into training, Anthony came down to my wushu centre at Jurong. He asked me to perform one full routine. My coach was there. Anthony was there. The assistant director was there. The casting director was there. The producer was there. I was actually quite stressed because Anthony and everybody else were filming the routine with their phones. What if I fall on my butt, how? At that point, I still wasn’t good with my back flip. So I did a full routine and I did fall on my ass.

Talk about performance anxieties. Did you ever have an easy day on set?

Other than those days when I had to shoot the sex and wushu scenes, every day was easy. Because I had done so much prep work with Anthony that I didn’t even bring my script to the set. I would come in early morning for one scene, then break for lunch. Most of the time, I was sleeping in the make-up room. When it was time to do my scene, they would come and get me. I washed my face, walked over, and I jumped straight into Weilun’s mindset. I never used the script. If I weren’t sure about the lines and if Anthony was holding the script, I would just look at it again. I didn’t actually have any problems memorising the lines.

I understand shooting in the rain was no walk in the park either, especially the last scene.

That raining hug scene was actually quite hard. The sun was setting. There wasn't enough water in the rain machine. Everyone was under a lot of pressure. When Anthony got stressed, he would then scold me. At the start, we wasted quite a bit of water. But it was quite funny. After each take, we needed to shoot again but we had to dry our clothes. So they prepared 4-5 sets of clothes for me and two hair dryers to dry our hair. It’s actually quite fun.

Did you learn anything from working with Yang Shi Bing?

We didn’t have many scenes together, so we never really talked a lot. And if he were on set, I was probably sleeping. By the time I woke up, it was lunchtime!

Surely you guys talked during lunch?

I usually ate with Anthony. Because he wanted to make sure that I was eating healthy food. During the shoot, I had to lose weight for the bed scene. While everybody was eating good food — laksa, mee pok, nasi lamak — I got only to eat you tiao. For lunch, I would have beehoon soup with sliced fish. Very sad. I did this for almost 40 days.

Actually, I’m not very sure. I was very young when I did Ilo Ilo. I remember playing with the chicks. That, and every day I would just collect eggs from the chicken, but I didn’t collect them because I was scared of chickens. So someone from the lighting crew would help me. I would bring the eggs home. I slept a lot throughout the shoot.

Do you think you were cast because you reminded Anthony of himself when he was your age?

I don’t think so. He never really told me that before. He always says I’m very naughty. My Chinese is not good. My English is not good. So I don’t think he sees himself in me. He would always scold me. Not during the shoot, but after the shoot. When I was staying at his place, he would say, “Faster sleep lah!” He’d also confiscate my phone.

Is he stricter than your father?

I think so. But he’s family. Ever since Ilo Ilo, Yann Yann, Anthony and I are part of a family. After a six-year break, we’re together again on Wet Season — filming together, and doing publicity together. The feeling is like you’re reunited with your family.

You're a two-time Golden Horse Award nominee, one for Best Newcomer in Ilo Ilo and another for Best Supporting Director in Wet Season. for Do you finally see yourself as an actor?

Hopefully, I can act. Anthony always says I’m very lousy.

How do you think you’ve evolved as an actor?

When we started filming Wet Season, I’d just turned 18. I think I am a better listener now than I was when making Ilo Ilo. I just listen to what Anthony wanted me to do. He would tell me to be realistic in my performance. Whatever situation my character is doing, what would a person in real life do or not do? The workshops I did with him really helped. When I was filming Wet Season, I actually think Weilun was me.

Movies. When you’re making a movie, you’re doing it with a family. When I was doing Life — Fear Not , they would change directors every couple of episodes. Maybe episodes 1-20 were by this director and he has his own crew. Then episodes 21-40 would be another director who has his own crew. I wasn’t really used to this. Back then, I was 15. I didn’t really talk a lot. The friends I made on episodes 1-20, I never saw them again because the next batch of episodes involved another director or I wasn’t in them. It felt like I’m always meeting new people.

Isn’t that good, meeting new people?

But I’m not really good at making friends.

Why? I admire your fearlessness. You were naked in Ilo Ilo. And you’ve done a love scene.

I honestly don’t know [if I’m fearless]. I want to act in kung fu shows. Maybe after when I reach that standard, I would be scared of other stuff. But I like to be challenged. So if I get to work on another movie… let’s just see how it goes lah.

You'll start serving your National Service next month...

Right now, I’m promoting the movie full-time until my enlistment. I feel sad because I would be away for two years. Maybe when I come out, nobody will remember me.

By the way, what did your parents think of your performance in Wet Season?

My mother said my acting has improved. Everything seemed so realistic. In real life, I’m good in Mandarin but good in wushu. [But unlike Weilun’s parents], they are always home. Of course, they were taken aback by the bed scene. Overall, they thought I did well in my role.