Around 14 years ago, five unknown young men in Singapore suddenly shot to fame after appearing in Jack Neo’s movie Ah Boys to Men.
Now, would these four new faces share the same fate with the local director’s upcoming movie Ah Boys to Firefighters?
Jack, 66, revealed the four main leads to local reporters yesterday (Aug 31) during a set visit at Punggol Fire Station.
Best 4 among thousands of hopeful individuals
Jack shared that he and his team had searched for suitable actors internally before announcing an open casting in June.
They received over 1,000 audition clips and after two to three months of consideration, they decided on Raynold Tan, Chai Chang Yong, Luqmaan Hakiim and Kiki Darling.
“I think all the four boys are quite good-looking in their own ways,” he quipped to AsiaOne, as the young men joked among themselves.
Jack revealed that Luqmaan, who plays Hassan, was the first person to be confirmed: “He looked exactly like what we are looking for based on the script.”
On making his acting debut in Jack’s movie, the 23-year-old content creator-businessman said: “It’s very surreal for me because as a child, I watched the Ah Boys to Men (ABTM) movies.
“Honestly, when I sent the audition tape, I didn’t have any expectations at all. Even after I had gotten the role, I still didn’t believe I was going to play the part until the first day of filming, when I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I got it already.'”
Luqmaan co-owns local candy chain The SGFR Store.
Raynold, who plays Ayden, was chosen after receiving collective approval from Jack’s team for his boyish good looks.
The 28-year-old local actor, who is managed by TCP Artistes, has starred in series including The Day I Loved You (2023), Come Closer (2023), My Crazy Yandao (2024) and Provocative (2025).
This marks his first film and Raynold told AsiaOne it’s an honour to work with Jack.
Ah Boys to Firefighters centres on four full-time national servicemen (NSFs) Ayden Cheong (Raynold), West Seah (Chang Yong), Hassan (Luqmaan) and Ramesh Menon (Kiki), who are posted to the same fire station and have different attitudes towards their service.
As they respond to increasingly dangerous emergencies, they are forced to confront fear, trauma, guilt and the realities of saving lives.
Under the tough guidance of Sergeant Encik Daniel Ong (Tosh Zhang), Rota Commander Lieutenant Hakimi (Zhin Sadali), as well as Section Commander Sergeants Phang Jin Bee (Maxi Lim) and Hee Man (Noah Yap), the four recruits gradually mature from reluctant young men to a close-knit team who understand the true meaning of service.
Malaysian influencer-businessman Chang Yong, who plays West, was invited by Jack to act in the movie.
While Jack hopes that the 30-year-old Johor native, who has over 2 million followers collectively on Instagram and YouTube, would help the movie capture attention in Malaysia, he emphasised that they also found him suitable for the role.
Chang Yong shared that he grew up watching Jack’s movies and was “quite surprised and excited” to receive the invitation.
“After filming with Jack, I realised he has very high expectations about everything. I feel very happy to be able to join everyone in filming,” he added.
Kiki was found suitable to play Ramesh from his manner of speech and actions, Jack explained.
The 24-year-old content creator, who is also making his acting debut in this film, said: “I feel very blessed… A lot of Singaporean boys grew up hoping for this role. This is ‘The Role’. For us to be here, it’s truly such as honour and one of the rarest things that happened to me.”
Jack shared that his inspiration for this movie came from his relatives’ children who are serving their national service in the Singapore Civil Defence Force: “They shared their stories with me, which I found very interesting.
“I also think that firefighters are very special, because they would really go to the frontlines after their training. I believe members of the public would be curious about what these NSF do during the operations.
“These are interesting stories that I think I should share with Singaporeans.”
Connecting actors to characters
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Jack is known for improvising lines and cues for scenes and when asked how the new actors are coping with this, Raynold shared that while he had felt “stressful” on the first day, he understood it was for the best.
“I think it’s helpful because as we read the script, we have a certain idea about how it’s going to be.” he said.
“However, when we actually do it, it may turn out differently or the line may not be ‘right’ for the scene. So being able to switch on set and be adaptable is fantastic, it will make the film better for sure.”
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Kiki added: “I think the flexibility was also important for us because we got to add a bit of ourselves into the character, so that made the connection between us and our characters and from our characters to the rest of the characters so much better.
“Jack allows that flexibility, which really helps us.”
Ah Boys to Firefighters is expected to be released during the Chinese New Year period in 2027.
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