Producer's Debut Overflows with Favor Requests: Henley Hsieh Thanks His Wife for Selfless Support

Malaysian artist Henley Hsieh takes on the role of producer for the first time in the local Sabah film 'The $8 Millionaire.' For this project, in which he both produces and acts, he not only pulls all the strings to personally invite friends like Joanne Yew and Ivan Chen to participate, but also racks his brain trying to include his wife, Chailee Tan, and their daughter Maya, who is under one year old, in the film. However, since his daughter was only three months old at the time, he decided against it.

In 'The $8 Millionaire,' Chailee Tan makes a special cameo as a classroom teacher, a role specially designed by her husband Henley Hsieh. After Henley took on the film, he's been trying to find a role suitable for his wife. At the time, though, their child was young and she couldn't leave. Later, he figured she would attend the wrap party, so he arranged a cameo for her.

Talking about the journey from inception to filming and now to release, Henley Hsieh opens up emotionally and admits his wife has been indispensable, saying, 'She's been through so much, taking care of our young daughter while also handling the movie's trivial matters for me. I love singing and acting, but I'm not good at coordinating, and my wife has helped me a lot in this area without receiving any pay.' Director Chai Sun-Min adds, 'There will be compensation, I'm saying this to the media!' 

'The $8 Millionaire' is set to premiere nationwide on January 2 next year. The director "Wadao" Chai Sun-Min, producer and actor Henley Hsieh, actors Joanne Yew, Ivan Chen, Chen Junquan, June Soh, and Lamdojo attended the press conference on Monday and the grand premiere in the evening.

Henley Hsieh faces great pressure in his debut as producer and actor in 'The $8 Millionaire,' but fortunately, his wife Chailee Tan supports and encourages him, helping him overcome various challenges.

Regarding the collaborative process for the first time, Wadao stated that this film is based on his true story, with the characters inspired by him and his wife, drawing from a time when they were so poor they only had $8 in their wallet. When preparing the film, Wadao always envisioned Henley Hsieh as the ideal male lead. Coincidentally, they met and immediately agreed to collaborate, even encouraging Henley to bravely take on the producer role for the first time. Henley not only took on multiple roles for this Sabah-centered film, including songwriting and singing the movie tracks 'I Love You Sweet as Honey' and 'Van Gogh's Starry Night,' but also extended gracious hospitality to his actor friends during filming. Bringing in Singaporean comedian Marcus Chin also added bright sparks to the film.

The film's female lead, Joanne Yew, has collaborated with Henley multiple times. She said she accepted the role entirely because of him. 'Not only did Henley personally invite me, but it's also his debut as a producer, so I had to support him! We've worked together so many times and have great familiarity and chemistry. Now that he's married and a father, I especially look forward to how his life's experiences can bring new sparks to our collaboration.'

Many of the core team members in front of and behind the camera of 'The $8 Millionaire' are from East Malaysia, Sabah. In front of the camera, besides Henley Hsieh and Director Chai Sun-Min, Chen Junquan, known for 'The Ah Boys to Men 3,' is also from Sabah. The production even "heavily invested" to invite "Electric Goddess" Cai Yan and Justin from East Malaysia to perform the movie tracks, holding significant meaning. Henley stated that he hopes there will be a Sabah people's film presented to audiences every year.