Elizabeth Tan Su Mei has frequently played police officers in local movies and dramas. Be it her role in Sheriff: Narco Integrity or Special Force: Anarchy, the 31-year-old Kuala Lumpur native’s filmography mostly consists of “masculine” police characters.
But Tan is switching things up with her role in the upcoming film Wantugo.
Slated for release sometime this year, the actress-singer will star alongside actors Meerqeen, Zul Ariffin and Daiyan Trisha in the first local battle royale film.
The battle royale genre centres around a select group of people who are forced to kill one another for their own survival.
Wantugo will be no different as the film follows a group of friends known as “The Clique”, who find themselves unwitting participants in a deadly game.
Under the watchful eye of a mysterious game master, they must navigate through three game stages, where only the last survivor will earn their freedom.
As the stakes escalate, the group discovers that these games are intricately connected to their shared past involving their former college friend Luqman, sparking tensions in the group.
Tan’s character Isabelle is one of the group’s members. In an interview with theSun, she dishes on her role and experience shooting the film.
Why did you agree to get on board?
Malaysia has not done a movie like this before. Korea has done it quite a few times, Hollywood as well. But Malaysia has never had a movie in the death game genre.
So, it is quite interesting. It is fun and it has been fun shooting it. I hope audiences will enjoy watching it.
What can you say about Isabelle?
She is actually five months pregnant and she has always dreamt of becoming a mother. So, she is protective of her baby and herself.
Most of the characters I played before were police officers. I was masculine for the roles. But now, I get to be feminine. I changed my voice tone. I spoke in a higher tone, a more feminine range.
I am also playing a pregnant woman for the first time. That is what I like about playing this character. It was challenging for me because it was something new. I hope I gave justice to the role.
If you could switch characters, who would you want to play?
No, I would not want to get into other characters. I love my character Isabelle. She is a good character to play with.
What are some difficult scenes your character goes through?
Without revealing too much, I had to shoot a cold scene. It was -5°C and for five days in a row. I had quite a lot of dialogue and I am personally bad at being in cold places.
Plus, we had no jackets, nothing. We just shot in our regular outfits in -5°C. But I just focus on knowing my lines. It helped me give my best even though it was -5°C.
Any new music on the way?
I just released a new song and music video for my song Rezeki. I also have an English song with Talitha Tan and Claudia Tan. The three Tans. People always ask us if we are sisters or cousins.
But we are absolutely not related. Claudia wrote the song and produced it with her boyfriend Erwin.
It is called Girlfriend Material and that is hopefully coming out this year as well. But we have not shot a music video for that yet. It is going to be girly pop.
What is on your bucket list this year?
My plan, since last year, has been to get a baby. I have been trying for one year actually. Hence, this character Isabelle resonates a lot with me.
She is finally pregnant and she is just trying to protect the baby. She does not want the baby to die basically.
I relate because last year, I had two miscarriages. I am also focusing on my job. If I get more opportunities to do movies, I will definitely take it.
