PETALING JAYA, Aug 17 — English-Iban TV personality/actor Henry Golding who stars in Crazy Rich Asians told The Hollywood Reporter that Malaysian screen icon P. Ramlee inspired him in his acting career.
“When @hollywoodreporter asked about who inspired me as a kid growing up, without fail… this man,” Golding said in an Instagram post yesterday
“The first time growing up seeing myself represented on screen was during my time as a kid in Malaysia.
“There was one prolific golden age actor by the name of P. Ramlee, he was the Malaysian version of Frank Sinatra/Charlie Chaplin.
“He sang, acted, directed, wrote and created such memorable stories. Still a hero in Asia to this day,” said the 31-year-old in his interview.
Golding plays the lead role of Nick Young in Jon M. Chu’s much-talked-about film Crazy Rich Asians.
The film which was released in the US this week received a 92 per cent rating on movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.
Golding and his family moved to England when he was seven and relocated back to Asia in 2008.
His TV hosting career began with 8TV Quickie and he gradually built up his name in the region by hosting several other shows including Football Crazy for ESPN, The Travel Show for BBC 2/ BBC World News and Surviving Borneo for Discovery Channel Asia.
Deemed “one of Asia’s most loveable television hosts” by BBC, Golding can be seen next in A Simple Favor with notable actors such as Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. The film is set to be released next year in Malaysia.
* Crazy Rich Asians will hit Malaysian cinemas on August 22
