While filming can often be gruelling, local singer-songwriter Nathan Hartono found himself embracing his inner “feral child” while shooting the upcoming local mockumentary The Sandbox.
Speaking to AsiaOne at a press conference for the comedy film in September, the 35-year-old shared what it was like on set, juggling multiple creative pursuits and why he believes creative spaces are essential in Singapore.
Nathan described filming The Sandbox between May and June last year as a pleasure with “good vibes every day” thanks to the fun and energetic atmosphere.
“There’re a lot of things to jump on, jump around, punch and kick. I had to conserve my energy every time I walked in here because it just brings out this feral child in me,” he admitted.
During the interview, Nathan was also seen hopping around the venue and even throwing a few playful punches at hanging bean bags, reflecting the infectious energy he said the set brought out in him.
He also described the film’s director and writer James Thoo as someone who prefers to let a scene play out rather than call “cut”.
Recalling one of his favourite scenes to film, Nathan highlighted an “especially long take” involving a training exercise, during which the cast escalated their antics and pulled off increasingly absurd stunts as the cameras continued rolling.
The Sandbox is a mockumentary that follows a struggling stunt training school on the verge of closure when rumours surface that a major Marvel superhero production is scouting for talent in Singapore. The school suddenly finds itself filled with aspiring stunt performers and superhero wannabes hoping for their next big break.
Nathan plays Dennis D. Wong, an ambitious and know-it-all acting student whose extensive knowledge of acting is matched only by his desire to show off his intellectual prowess.
The cast includes Sandbox’s real-life founder, actor and action director Peps Goh as well as local talents Fauzi Azzhar, Benjamin Kheng, Oon Shu An, Estelle Fly, Jon Cancio, Xuan Ong and Aaron Mossadeg.
It’s written and directed by James Thoo in his directorial debut and produced by Mocha Chai Laboratories. It first premiered at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival in November 2025 and is set to open in local cinemas on Oct 8.
During the same period, Nathan was also preparing for Legally Blonde – The Musical, which ran from July 29 to Aug 16 this year and saw him take on the role of Warner Huntington III, an ambitious law student and the ex-boyfriend of protagonist Elle Woods.
While he acknowledges he is fortunate to be involved in a wide variety of projects, he’s not sure if that comes down to luck or his own “necessity to have different stimuli”.
“Every once in a while, I’ll remember that I’ve been doing this for 20 years, so it becomes very confronting,” he admitted. “I think it’s just assumed now that I’ll do an average to good job, so I’m just put in things.”
Welcomes ‘healthy pressure’
On whether he feels the weight of people’s expectations, Nathan said he welcomes it.
“I think that is a healthy kind of pressure. You should feel the pressure to do a good job. You should feel the pressure to show up and not just be.
“There should be some kind of pressure to show up for the people that are putting in the work to make things happen.”
Between the two characters Dennis and Warner, Nathan had no qualms choosing who would be more unbearable to have a conversation with.
He said: “They’re both kind of a**holes. They’re both kind of d***heads in their own way. I would say, 100 per cent Dennis D. Wong.”
He explained that Warner may give off an unbearable vibe but is quite a fun-loving guy “if you didn’t have to do business with him”.
Dennis, on the other hand, is “absolutely insufferable” and constantly feels the need to prove he’s the smartest person in the room and ensure everyone knows it.
As the film follows superhero wannabes looking to land a role in a major Marvel production, we naturally asked Nathan what kind of Marvel character he’d want to play if the opportunity ever came his way.
His pick? Not a muscular superhero charging into battle, but someone akin to Ned Leeds from the Spider-Man films.
He said he would rather play the “guy in the chair”, working behind the scenes and helping to keep the team on track.
Creative spaces ‘crucial to human experience’
Nathan is also involved in Sing Song Social Club, a community choir started in 2024 by Singaporean musician Aarika Lee, alongside local singers Benjamin and Sandra Riley Tang.
He explained it’s “extremely important” to have spaces where people can create simply for the sake of creating and to collaborate with others, calling it “crucial to the human experience”.
For artistes like himself who have chosen to make the arts into a career, he added that it’s even more important that such creative spaces continue to survive.
With Sing Song Social Club, he said the team wanted to build a community where people can constantly come back to create and learn.
Nathan, who has sung in choirs and a cappella groups, explained: “I know how magical that kind of alchemy is when people make harmonies together, when people learn together, when they go through something challenging together, and then come out with a beautiful result.
“So, it was because of all those reasons that I was like, ‘I want other people to experience that. I want other people to have that.'”
The Sandbox opens in Singapore cinemas on Oct 8.
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