Jack Neo sheds tears while discussing filmmaking, says it's his 'mission'

Singaporean director Jack Neo recently opened up about his career, and cried during an interview promoting his new movie.

In a Feb. 13 interview posted to YouTube by the Musang King Channel, run by content creators Bernard Hiew and Genie Low, Neo spoke about his new Chinese New Year flick, "Liang Po Po vs Ah Beng".

Neo was joined by his co-star, Jack Lim, a Malaysian actor-producer, as they answered questions over a meal of bak kut teh.

Passion or responsibility

Hiew posed the question: "From your debut till now, is passion the reason for your choice to continue to film and act?"

Without missing a beat, Neo said, "undoubtedly".

Low followed up with "Or perhaps it is a responsibility?", and Neo replied "I will tell you upfront that filmmaking is my passion and responsibility".

"At first I thought it was just a job, but along the way, I realised, and this is strange, it seems like I am always led to continue it by someone."

Neo talked about his educational journey and his army days, where he served as a drama director in the Singapore Armed Forces' Music and Drama Company.

As the SAF Film Unit was next door, this sparked his interest in scriptwriting and film.

Borrowing equipment from the unit, Neo entered a music video competition and won first place.

Feeling encouraged, and as benefactors recognised his talent, he soldiered on in the film industry.

'Once I got older, I realised they were benefactors'

Neo spoke about how he only realised the help of his benefactors as he got older, breaking down.

"I didn't realise people were guiding me, and once I did, I understood that I have a mission. That is why all my films have a message, because if not, I don't know how to film them."

He explained that whenever he felt like quitting filmmaking due to challenges such as funding issues, new opportunities would arise for him to do so.

Holding back his tears, Neo also shared how mm2, a local media and entertainment company, kept productions afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic.

His voice cracking, Neo said that "although [mm2] is facing issues now, I feel that they were very thoughtful in helping us and I hope everyone can give them a chance".

"mm2 was facing challenges too, but they still thought to start a film production so that people could be employed. A lot of people were thankful."

Neo added that because of mm2, "Ah Girls Go Army" was filmed, which "helped many people".

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Top photo from Musang King Channel/YouTube