Saturday, February 25, 2006
Ben Tan is a Malaysian actor who studied Drama during a time when plays only ran for two nights in Malaysia. The only remuneration actors got at that time was two comps, a poster and if they were lucky, a T-shirt of the production. Ben then went to London to do his masters in Design Research. His thesis: A (possibly) historically accurate production of Puccini’s Turandot! When he returned to Kuala Lumpur, Ben lost interest in the what was happening in the Theatre scene then and spent the next two decades working as a Creative Director in Advertising. After a twenty year absence, Ben finally got back into Theatre and has since been involved in many productions by The Actors Studio and Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre. Ben has now branched out into film, both for TV and cinema, locally and internationally. He has also dabbled in Production Design and is the 2009 recipient of the Malaysian National Arts Award for Theatre Design.
• THE BATTLES OF COXINGA (Chikamatsu),
• THE LADY AOI (Yukio Mishima),
• KANTAN (Yukio Mishima),
• PINTU TERTUTUP (Jean Paul Sartre),
• PLAY (Samuel Beckett),
• THE PROPITIOUS KIDNAPPING OF THE CULTURED DAUGHTER (Lee Joo For),
• HAMLET (Shakespeare - First ever production in Malay with translation by Latiff Mohidin),
• NARUKAMI (Tsuuchi Hanjûrô/Yasuda Abun/Nakata Mansuke (1742), Oka Onitarô (1910),
• OF MEN AND OTHER FAMILIAR STRANGERS (Joe Hasham),
• DANGEROUS LIAISONS (Christopher Hampton),
• HAMLET (Shakespeare - The Actors Studio 2001)
• UDA DAN DARA (Usman Awang),
• STORIES FOR AMAH (Mark Beau de Silva),
• A GOLDFISH TALE (Choong Chi-Ren),
• A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (Sir Robert Bolt),
• EPITAPH OF THE WHALES (Sakate Yohji),
• LIFE SDN BHD 1 (Cast with Joe Hasham),
• LIFE SDN BHD 2 (Cast with Joe Hasham),
• LIFE SDN BHD 3 (Cast with Joe Hasham),
• TAI TAI (Low Ngai Yuen),
• THE HOMECOMING (Harold Pinter).
• SUMOLAH (Michiro Kubota, Tomoko Kubota, Christina Orow, Afdlin Shauki)
• THE RED STREET DINER (Fergus Ong)
• OKIKU (Sam Yen)
• 1957 HATI MALAYA (Shuhaimi Baba)
• JALAN BERANGAN (Virginia Kennedy)
• THE TELL TALE HEART (Edgar Allan Poe/Gavin Yap)
• CAR PARK MURDER (Khairil M Bahar)
• LINE (Beck Lim)
• AMPANG MEDIKAL (Keith Chong)
• DAS TRAUMHOTEL (Maximilian Krückl)
• THE BLUE MANSION (Ken Kwek)
• SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT (Ruth Toma)
• PHUA CHU KANG (Malaysia)
• THE PHILANTHROPIST (Lukas Reitner/Tom Fontana)
• DIMENSIONS (Mat Wakeham)
• LOST CHAPTERS
• WOMEN OF SILK RIVER (Devised)
• RAYA TAK JADI (Shukor Mohaideen)
• MURMURATION OF STARLINGS
• SAMSUNG SMART TV INTERACTIVE VIDEO
OF MEN AND OTHER FAMILIAR STRANGERS
As Matthew (with Will Gluth). Directed by Joe Hasham 2000
LIFE SDN BHD 1, 2 & 3. (Directed by Faridah Merican) 2003, 2004, 2005
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS.
As Cardinal Wolsey. (Directed by Joe Hasham) 2003
A GOLDFISH TALE.
As George. (Directed by Joe Hasham) 2002
STORIES FOR AMAH
As Uncle Zack. (Directed by Joe Hasham) 2001
As Teddy (Directed by Gavin Yap for KLPAC) 2006
THE HOMECOMING WILL BE RESTAGED AT THE ACTORS STUDIO BANGSAR IN APRIL 2008!
EPITAPH OF THE WHALES
As Satoo (Directed by Lim How Ngean) 2005
As the Old Man (Directed by Low Ngai Yuen) 2005
Ben plays Tadano in Afdlin Shauki's new film SUMOlah!. With Afdlin Shauki, Inthira Charoenpura, Gurmit Singh, Awie, Radhi Khalid, Patrick Teoh, Kartina Aziz, Gavin Yap and Terry Gallyot.
SUMOlah! will be shown in Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. 2006
Visit: http://www.sumolah.com and http://nokotta.blogspot.com
THE RED STREET DINER
Written and directed by Fergus Ong. 2006. In cinemas soon.
With Ker Shing
With Ash Nair
O K I K U
Ben plays Lord Aoyama Tessan, the favourite samurai of the Shogun Tokugawa who, haunted by the spirit of Okiku, becomes mad and commits seppuku at the end. Directed by Fang Chyi and Kimmy Kiew. January 2007
Ben as Aoyama Tessan
With Corinne Adrienne, Louisa Chong and Janice Yap
1957 HATI MALAYA
Ben will be making a little cameo appearance as Tan Sri TH Tan who set up the Merdeka Bureau in London in 1954 with Tunku Abdul Rahman in Shuhaimi Baba's new film entitled "1957 HATI MALAYA". To be released during Malaysia's 50th Anniversary Merdeka celebrations in August this year. 2007
Ben as Tan Sri TH Tan with Kem as Tunku
With Kee Thuan Chye as Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock, Kamarulzaman as Tunku Abdul Rahman and Na'a Murad as Tun Razak
Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
A made-for-television movie directed by Virginia Kennedy
Aired May 2007
With Corinne Adrienne and Usamah Röhner
With Usamah and Keith Chong
Directed by Gavin Yap for KLPAC
28th April - 6th May 2007
(With U-En Ng, Lee Swee Keong and Rauf Fadzilla)
CAR PARK MURDER
Aired 8th August 2007 10.30pm ASTRO RIA Dark City Series
Directed by Tony Pietra
With Yusmal Ghazali and Nell Ng
Ben and Nell Ng will soon be appearing as husband and wife again in an Indie Short called LINE written and directed by Beck Lim.
With Chelsia Ng and Wong Yok Kim
With Chelsia Ng and Jagdave Singh
Ben makes regular appearances as Sui Chen's dad, Dr. Wong in NTV7's AMPANG MEDIKAL.
DAS TRAUMHOTEL (MALAYSIA)
Ben just finished shooting Dream Hotel (Malaysia), a German/Austrian TV series in which he plays an architect.
Directed by Otto Retzer. 2008
With Patrick Teoh who plays business tycoon Mr.Wong.
THE BLUE MANSION
Ben shall be appearing in a Singaporean film directed by Glen Goei called THE BLUE MANSION. Actors in the film include Patrick Teoh, Louisa Chong, Adrian Pang, Lim Kay Siu, Neo Swee Lin, Claire Wong, Tan Kheng Hua, Deborah Png, Pam Oei, Karen Tan, Wendy Kweh, Huzir Sulaiman, Steve Yap, Emma Yong, Denise Chan and Dato Zahim Albakri. It was shot mostly at the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in Penang and should be in cinemas by next year.
Ben as Wee Bak How. 2008
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT
Ben as the Asian doctor in a new German film called 'Same, Same but Different' with Davis Kross (The Reader). Directed by Detlev Buck. 2009
PHUA CHU KANG
Ben shall be making a cameo appearance in Phua Chu Kang Malaysia Season 2.
THE PHILANTHROPIST (2009)
Ben as General Khin.
Ben appeared in The Philanthropist, Episode 2 "Myanmar"
which aired on NBC 1st July 2009.
Shot in South Africa and starring James Purefoy,
Neve Campbell, Jesse L. Martin, Lindy Booth
and Michael K Williams.
Directed by Ed Fraiman
Ben plays Bota Liu the villain with super powers in DIMENSIONS.
LOST CHAPTERS (History Channel)
Ben plays Dr. Lim Boon Keng in History Channel's LOST CHAPTERS. (Yet to be released)
WOMEN OF SILK RIVER
Ben as Mr. Taka.
With Nicole Fuchs, Dawn Cheong, Helena Foo, Mien Ly and Prisca Florence Wong.
RAYA TAK JADI
Ben shall be appearing in a new comedy called Raya Tak Jadi directed by Prof. Madya A. Razak Mohaideen.
Actors include Saiful Apek, Dato Jalaluddin Hassan and Johan Raja Lawak. In cinemas 2011.
Here with Iedil Putra Alaudin and Heiry Azly.
MURMURATION OF STARLINGS 2010
(In production for the Berlin Festival 2011)
Directed by Prof. Razak Mohaideen.
SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
Directed by Detlev Buck. Here with David Kross (The Reader)
SAMSUNG SMART TV INTERACTIVE VIDEO
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