Henry Golding was a 'wildcard' pick for Crazy Rich Asians
A wildcard pick.
That was how Henry Golding described himself when asked how he landed the meaty lead in Crazy Rich Asians.
According to him, director Jon M. Chu had been unable to pick an actor to play wealthy eligible Singapore bachelor Nick Young.
Despite having a handful of options, the role remained vacant.
Golding's name was then thrown into the mix and Chu researched him online, looking at his past work on YouTube.
Chu also reached out to a mutual Facebook friend in San Francisco.
Golding told TNP: "At the beginning of the year, I received an e-mail from that friend who said Chu had been asking things about me. He asked if I was interested in a conversation with Chu over Skype to talk about a movie.
"From then on, it was full steam ahead."
That lucky break earned him the role of Nick, the boyfriend of American-born Chinese economics professor Rachel (US actress Constance Wu).
Crazy Rich Asians, adapted from the 2013 novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan, also stars Michelle Yeoh, Ken Jeong, Pierre Png, Fiona Xie, Tan Kheng Hua and more.
Part of the movie was filmed in Singapore in June, with Gardens By The Bay being one of the choice locations.
While the cast members got along well, Golding said it was local actresses Amy Cheng, Selena Tan and Janice Koh, or the "aunties", who went out of their way to make everyone feel welcome.
"They got everyone over for popiah parties and things like that. They were great at playing hosts," he said.
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