HENRY GOLDING may be Hollywood’s next big Asian star as the lead of rom-com blockbustercCrazy Rich Asians, but the former hairstylist still does his mum’s hair for his movie premiere, okay?
It is 4pm in Beverly Hills, and Henry Golding is phoning us from the luxurious Beverly Wilshire hotel, where the Malaysia-born TV host-turned thesp is putting up while promoting the Hollywood romcom Crazy Rich Asians.
“What’s up? Hometown represent!” Henry, 31, chirps warmly to us, sounding genuinely glad to hear a familiar Singlish accent. This Singapore PR has called our island home for the past six years, where he did very Singaporean things like queue up for one Michelin star chicken rice, get around on SBS buses and lunch with his shirtless dad at home.
And, er, secretly indulge in his video game obsession when his wife’s not looking, just like most of our guy friends. “I watch [online game] Fortnite videos after a long shoot day. It’s so sad,” Henry admitted in an interview with Glamour magazine.
“My wife [Liv Lo] pretty much shut down my computer game-playing really early into the relationship, so I have to do it vicariously through the teenagers playing this game. I know all of the top players’ names. It’s embarrassing,” he added. Okay, we think he can at least afford Grab rides and maybeee skip the chicken rice queue now, since Henry Golding is currently, well, gold status.
His own rise to become Hollywood’s leading man du jour probably deserves a movie of its own. Born in Sarawak to a British father and Malaysian mother (who’s from Sarawak’s Iban tribe), Henry spent his childhood in Terengganu before moving to London, where he worked as a professional hairstylist in a posh hair salon.
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