Wong with Michelle Yeoh on the set of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ last year. — Pix courtesy of Calvin Wong

PETALING JAYA, Aug 17 — When freelance writer and writing teacher Calvin Wong auditioned for a minor role in Crazy Rich Asians, the last thing he expected was a callback.

Wong, who has dabbled in scriptwriting and stage acting, read for the part of Bernard, a billionaire playboy surrounded by models.

“I saw the script and thought that’s not me... I tried anyway but after the casting was over, I wasn’t very confident.

“A month later, I got an email from Warner Brothers that I had been cast but it wasn’t for the role I read for,” the 32-year-old told Malay Mail.

In the film, adapted from Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel, Wong plays PT Goh, the brother of Rachel Chu’s (played by Constance Wu) best friend.

“He’s quiet, shy and awkward — I can do that,” laughed Wong. On-screen siblings: Wong and Awkwafina, who plays Goh Peik Lin in the film.

His on-screen sister Goh Peik Lin is played by American rapper Awkwafina while his on-screen father is played by Ken Jeong, best known for his role as gangster Leslie Chow in The Hangover films.

Wong described the Gohs, as people who “eat lobster for dinner” and “own multiple sports cars.”

“I was grateful because I didn’t think I was able to get to the level needed for that role,” he said.

The first day of shooting was a dinner scene when Wu’s character meets her best friend’s family.

It was filmed at the former Istana Negara (now The Royal Museum) which served as the Goh family’s residence.

Wong said Ken Jeong, his on-screen father, would ask him about the Hokkien dialect in the script.

“I walked out from my trailer and a guy said ‘How are you?’ — I wasn’t sure what was happening at first so I replied ‘Oh, hi’ and realised it was Ken Jeong. He was really nice and very generous.

“He would always talk to me and ask me language-related questions in the script because his character speaks Hokkien — I said my Hokkien is awful but he wanted to hear me say it,” said the Petaling Jaya resident.

He added that working with director Jon M. Chu was a breeze and that the American director liked trying different things including physical comedy to get the best out of his character.

“The first hint that something was going well was the other actors behind the camera were cracking up so I guess it must be funny,” he recalled.

In Singapore, Wong and some 50 actors shot a party scene on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands that lasted for 14 hours from sunrise to sunset.

The highlight of Wong’s long day was meeting Malaysian actor Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh.

“I cried. I told her how much she means to me being a Malaysian and watching her in all those movies that I loved growing up,” he gushed.

“She thanked me when I said she was my hero. I can’t really remember, it was all a blur but she was very gracious and nice about it.”

Wong described ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ star Constance Wu as quiet and reserved when she was off-screen.

Asked what it was like meeting Wu, the Fresh Off the Boat star who plays Henry Golding’s girlfriend, Wong said she was hilarious when she was in character but quiet and reserved in person.

“It was a reminder that celebrities aren’t obliged to be their on-screen selves at all times and it’s unfair to expect that of them,” he said.

Wong added a film like Crazy Rich Asians is significant as roles for Asian actors are not easy to come by.

“Part of the reason why this film is so meaningful to me is that it’s a Hollywood movie funded by a Hollywood production company that’s directed by an Asian director, written by two Chinese writers and stars mostly Asians.

“It’s so rare for Asians to have one role and suddenly we have something that is of this scale — I hope it does well so Hollywood will make more films like this,” said Wong.

Crazy Rich Asians premieres in Malaysia on August 22.