Hong Kong actor Ronald Cheng not only wrote, directed, and starred in the action movie 'A Long', but also undertook intense bulking and muscle-building training to portray the role of a 'vengeful father'. During filming, he was even accidentally injured. His dedication and strong willpower drew admiration from co-star Chrissie Chau.
'A Long' is co-directed by Ronald Cheng and Vincent Kok, and features actors including Fong Shun-ying, Chrissie Chau, and Philip Keung. The film tells the story of Ah Long, played by Ronald Cheng, who travels to Thailand with his 8-year-old daughter (played by Fong Shun-ying), only for his beloved daughter to be kidnapped by a human trafficking syndicate. To save her, Ah Long stops at nothing, turning into a blood-stained avenger. The movie will officially premiere in Malaysia on September 4th. As part of the promotion, Ronald Cheng and Chrissie Chau gave a special online interview with Malaysian media on Friday to share behind-the-scenes stories and filming experiences.
Ronald Cheng revealed that the inspiration for the film came from a true story about the abduction of a Hong Kong child. “When I saw that news, I felt really uncomfortable. As a father myself, I wondered if I could do something through film to raise public awareness about this issue.” He said this thought sparked the creation of the story of 'A Long'. He mentioned that the biggest challenge during filming was not the fight scenes but rather gaining weight for the role. He laughed, “I usually eat very little, so it was really hard to keep eating so frequently in such a short time!” He added with a smile that the production team even halted filming for eight months to give him enough time to become the 'bulkier' version of Ah Long.
Chrissie Chau had many Thai-language lines in the film. She explained that with staff recordings and repeated practice beforehand, it wasn’t too difficult. The real challenge was that, having only worked with Cheng in comedies before, switching to serious roles almost made her break into laughter at first. “Luckily, both characters have complex emotions, so we were quickly able to find our groove.” Ronald Cheng also laughed, saying that both of them took some time to adjust to this new style.
The movie was actually completed as early as 2018, but its release was delayed multiple times due to the pandemic and changes in censorship regulations. Ronald Cheng revealed that the film was initially scheduled for release right when the pandemic broke out, after which the censorship board underwent personnel changes, and every reviewer had different standards, resulting in repeated requests for edits. He admitted that although the team created several different cuts, in the end, they still had to remove some violent scenes. “There were things I really didn’t want to cut, but we had no choice—without those cuts, the movie couldn’t be released.”#