Into The Light

Yoson An is about to make his big Hollywood debut as one of the central characters in a live-action adaptation of a beloved Disney classic. The pressure is on but he’s taking it all in stride.

- Asri Jasman

“This is arguably going to be your biggest project thus far. Are you mentally prepared for it?” we asked Yoson An, the male lead in the anticipated live-action retelling of Disney’s Mulan.

“Well, I don’t know what to prepare for; I don’t know what to expect,” An laughs. “It’s a new experience for me. It’s like trying to prepare me to drive a car when I’ve never been in one. I can learn about it but I would just have to flow with it, I guess.”

Being part of Mulan 2.0 is no easy feat. After all, this is the only animated Disney classic based on an Asian legend, voiced by a largely Asian cast (Ming-Na Wen provided the voice of the film’s lead, with Lea Salonga taking on the musical numbers), and gave us the much-loved theme song ‘Reflection’. Inherently, the film is the first Disney production to feature a strong female lead, one who isn’t portrayed as a typical Disney princess.

Yes. There’s a lot riding on this retelling, especially on the nostalgia front. And as evident from initial reactions to previous Disney live-action remakes (think back to last year’s Aladdin and 2015’s Cinderella), ardent fans can sometimes be too harsh even before seeing the final product.

“I think people need to understand that the animated movie—which is one of my favourite childhood films—was introduced to the Western world through Disney and it’s originally an ancient ballad. And what we’ve done with this film is that we went back to the ancient ballad and created a new adaptation of it,” An explains. “There are going to be similarities—the memorable elements that people loved in the animated original will still be in this film.”