PUBLISHED ONBYKristy ChuaThe dystopian-crime drama The Leftovers is now streaming and what's crime without some action scenes?
During an earlier visit to the drama's film set at Iskandar Studios in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, AsiaOne spoke to Yes 933 DJ Lim Pin Juen and actress Yunis To about their experiences on set.
The drama, which also stars Li Nanxing, Zoe Tay, Jesseca Liu, Jeremy Chan, Desmond Tan, James Seah and Zhang Zetong, is set in three eras between 2017 and 2043, and shows the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in Equaland that results in high rates of organ failure due to environmental pollution. Subsequently, organ transplantation becomes a necessity, giving rise to kidnappings and organ trafficking.
At the set visit, we observed that Yunis' scenes throughout the day involved her getting attacked and defending herself against assailants.
The 32-year-old, who plays young mum Ai Li in a relationship with triad member Zhang San (Jeremy), revealed to AsiaOne in an interview that the fight scenes were a first for her.
"When I got the role, I was happy and nervous at the same time. I was happy because it's a big production and I'm honoured to be a part of it.
"I was also nervous because there are a lot of parts where I have to challenge myself for the first time, including fight scenes, intimate scenes and childbearing scenes."
In one intense fight scene, Ai Li and Zhang San are on the run with a baby, chased by Jia Busi (Zhu Zeliang), who works in a pharmaceutical company dealing with lab-grown humans. However, Busi gets beaten up in the middle of a street by the public.
Also tackling action scenes for the first time was Yes933 radio DJ and rookie actor Pin Juen.
The 30-year-old plays Ah Wei, a police officer who leaves the force after going astray.
He admitted to feeling "a little nervous" and added he had "some idea" of action scenes from watching dramas and movies. "And of course, we have professional martial artists and professional technical crew to help and guide us. So, that will greatly reduce the difficulty," Pin Juen added.
Yunis also explained to us the preparatory work: "Before the shoot, the crew sent us a demonstration video. The stunt choreography team would show us the moves first. They would show us how to do it and that gave us some mental preparation.
"The stunt instructors would give us personal guidance on set, so I think it was a big challenge. It's also a longer shoot, because they took very good care of our safety, making sure all the protective measures were done. After confirming that there's no problem, then we'd start the shoot."
Watch our E-Junkies video for the interview!
The first season of The Leftovers is now streaming on Mewatch Prime and Netflix. It will be available on Mewatch and Channel 8 from Nov 16, airing weekdays at 9pm. Season two and three are expected to premiere in 2027.
[[nid:750272]]
No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.