The Boys Of Jack Neo’s ‘I Not Stupid’ Are All Grown Up
They may play juvenile delinquents in Jack Neo’s new film I Not Stupid Too, but in real life, Joshua Ang and Shawn Lee are nothing like their characters.
Those who watched 2002′s I Not Stupid would remember the two as part of a group of three primary school students struggling with their studies in the EM3 stream.
Four years later, the boys are all grown up. In I Not Stupid Too, which opens in cinemas on Thursday, the two are the so-called “bad apples” of their secondary school class, struggling with both their studies and uncaring parents.
Judging by Joshua’s appearance at the press conference last week to promote the film, the 17-year-old is too cool for school. One can only imagine what his teachers at his alma mater, Pasir Ris Secondary School, would say about his blonde streaked hair and get up of loose shirt and baggy jeans.
While in the film, Joshua plays the rebellious Cheng Cai, who is kicked out of school for beating up a teacher, things are very different in reality.
He said the most rebellious thing he has done was running away from home and refusing to pick up his mother’s calls. But he admitted with a laugh: “I’m a good boy, actually”.
After being talent-spotted by Jack Neo and cast in I Not Stupid, both Joshua and Shawn acted in Neo’s Homerun in 2003.
That year, Joshua landed a role as Albert in the MediaCorp TV Channel 8 show Comedy Nite, which may have been one of the reasons more than 1,000 teenage girls auditioned for a role opposite him.
He shyly admitted to occasionally receiving letters or contact numbers scribbled on pieces of paper by female schoolmates.
“I will usually go through the letters but will not reply because I don’t know what to say.”
No less popular is Joshua’s co-star Shawn, who plays the lonely Tom. In the film, Tom falls into bad company because of parental neglect. Those who remember Shawn from the first film may be surprised at how much the formerly diminutive boy – he was the smallest among the three friends – has grown.
“My friends sometimes don’t like going out with me because they are uncomfortable with people recognising me in public,” he said.
“Tom is jealous over his parents showering more attention on his younger brother but at home, I am the youngest so I have more than enough attention from my parents.”
Currently preparing for his O levels, the chatty Bukit Panjang Government High student said: “After being exposed to the acting and the media, I think I can now cope better with pressures at school.” –
Channel News Asia