PUBLISHED ONAugust 08, 2024 1:22 AMByYeo Shu HuiWhile some words could be harsh, the truth needs to be told, and local actor Mark Lee is not afraid to voice it out.
Speaking to AsiaOne in an interview recently to promote his new film Wonderland, the 55-year-old was asked about how he would like to be remembered by others.
"To be frank, I hope the impression I leave on others is that the truth is the truth," he shared.
"Have means have, don't have means don't have. I won't talk or say things anyhow."
Mark added that being honest and frank is something he lives by: "If you want me to talk about someone's bad points and turn it into something good, I can't do that."
Directed by Chai Yee Wei, Wonderland centres around a reserved and illiterate single father Loke (Mark), who lies to his daughter Eileen (Xenia Tan) by selling their kampung house and moving to a one-room flat so that she could study in the United States.
Loke forms a friendship with his neighbour Tan (Peter Yu) after the latter helps him to read letters from Eileen and pen his replies. When a tragedy strikes, Tan and their neighbours seek to hide the truth from Loke, and their web of lies soon spirals out of control.
Mark won Best Actor and Peter, 56, Best Supporting Actor for their performances in the Mandarin and Hokkien film at the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival in April. It also picked up the Local Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January.
Mark added to us that being truthful in his words applies to him no matter if it's family or at work.
"I would always tell the truth and would never hide anything for myself or help others to do so and that includes my family. Sometimes I would also tell my mum if she did something wrong because being wrong is wrong," he explained.
"There couldn't be a case of maybe this or that, because sometimes when you help someone out in this way, in the future, they may think that there could be an excuse for everything."
Because of this, he finds it quite burdensome when he is invited to a movie gala.
"If a movie is not good and they expect me to say that it's good, I can't say it," he laughed.
Despite that, he shared that when he does attend such an event and ends up not liking the movie, he would leave before the closing credits ends.
"So they know if they can't find Mark, then it means that he doesn't like the movie. But if I liked it, I would stay and do the interview, and would also tell the directors and the actors that I loved the movie and it was very good," he said.
Mark also emphasises on truthfulness when teaching his children Calista, 16, Maksonn, 13, and Calynn, 11, whom he shares with his wife Catherine Ng, 51.
He said: "If they lie, I will spank them. It's no use explaining it to them nicely. Because when they go out into society in the future, nobody would tell them nicely that it's wrong to do that… If they tell lies, there is no way they can gain a foothold in this society, so I have to be very serious about this."
Wonderland opens in Singapore cinemas on Aug 8.
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