A man of value

A man of value

Ananda Everingham is caught in the thin line between cop and criminal in the new 'Khun Phan' sequel By Duangkamol Panya

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
A man of value
action reprise: Ananda Everingham in a scene from 'Khun Phan 2.' PHOTO: SAHAMONGKOL FILM

The most legendary law enforcer in Thai history, Khun Phantharak Rajjadej, stopped crimes and cleaned up the bandits all with nothing more than a police badge, the gravitas of a peacekeeper, and perhaps, as legend has it, immortality which he derived from ancient Thai witchcraft.

The legend lives on as the second installment of Kongkiat Khomsiri's Khun Phan movies, scheduled to open in cinemas on Aug 23, offers a new acrobatic twist on tried and conventional Thai hero movies with another tale of the late crime fighter who, for decades, was immersed in a triad culture of violence and criminality to serve the law.

Donning his signature moustache and tattooed mantras, Ananda Everingham has returned for the role of the crusading police officer who, despite spending his whole life fighting crime, is now facing the prospect of committing one himself.

"Shooting Khun Phan is just brutal. It tears your body apart," revealed the actor, who showed up after a crammed 12-hour shooting schedule of action sequences.

"When I woke up this morning I felt like I was a crippled old man. It is one of the most exhausting projects that I have participated in. I must admit that if we had made the second one right after the first I may have said no to it just out of pure exhaustion."

But the painstakingly draining process has paid off, apparently. After the cinema release in July 2016, Khun Phan spawned blockbuster success and eventually a sequel, in which Ananda claims he loved re-visiting despite the toll it takes on his physique.

"Going into [Khun Phan 2], the sense of excitement comes back and it makes you feel like a kid going on an adventure again. We started pre-production at the beginning of the year and it is still going now. That's quick for a film this size so there's been a lot of work to do.

"So many dynamics are intertwined in this movie in terms of creativity, psychology and morality that it never occurred to me to turn it down because I knew deep down that it is a character that is special to me, and it was an honour to play such a legendary real-life person from Thai history," says Ananda.

PHOTO: Pornprom Satrabhaya

The Khun Phan actor confesses that he has never been a fan of Thai superstition, and knew little about it, but it was gratifying that many people responded to his character when the first film was released.

He says, "I didn't realise how deeply ingrained this superstition thing in Thai society was. It hit me as a surprise," said the actor.

"After the first film came out, I had a lot of people come up to me who were very passionate about all things to do with magic depicted in the movie. They would analyse all the different tattoos that I had -- and a lot of people have the same tattoos too -- so it was quite fascinating to see how enthused people were about the movie."

The second installment of Khun Phan stands up as an equally action-packed flick with less digital wizardry compared to the rather stylised prequel.

"The first movie had a sort of cowboy feel to it – like those westernised Thai films with shoot-outs and explosions, even some parts in the spaghetti western style. But in this one we strived for a more urban look with mafia-gangster type of elements," Ananda explains.

"Some of the things that we had in the first movie were intended to make the violence especially gruesome. There would be footage of someone's finger getting cut off and flying though the air. That's always been the style of Pi Khom (Kongkiat Khomsiri, the director) -- a bit of campiness in his violence. But this time around the violence comes off as a bit more realistic because [Khun Phan 2] is a game of politics and wits.

"We wanted to use a little less CG to make the action feel more visceral. In most cases, we try to use real effects, real explosions, real gunfire, and every time we come into an action sequence, we try to make it important rather than just having it for the sake of visual effect."

The second Khun Phan installment has stellar actors onboard including Arak "Pae" Amornsupasiri as gun-toting young anti-hero Suea Bai; and a real-life man in a uniform, Lt Col Wanchana "Colonel Bird" Sawasdee, as one of the country's most influential gangster leaders, Suea Fai -- while the gory, rather masculine plotline is given a lighter tough with the addition of actresses Rachawin "Koy" Wongviriya and Arpa "Maggie" Pawilai.

Fans will also be introduced to two of Khun Phan's most cunning enemies, Suea Fai and Suea Bai as the movie reminisces the glory days of bandits (commonly referred to as suea) back in the era where people started to lose faith in police and looked up to criminals as true vigilante heroes.

Ananda is full of praise for the actors who play those gangster roles.

"After being together on set for over 30 days now, I feel like no other actors can exist as Suea Bai and Suea Fai. I'm not quite sure how they approached their character but they own their characters so wholeheartedly and deeply that I can't even imagine anybody else doing that."

Arak is the lead in the TV series My Girl, the latest project of Ananda's production house. However, Ananda himself reveals that Khun Phan 2 is their first time they have co-starred in the same movie.

Ananda recalls what it was like to film the duel scene during which his Khun Phan character comes face-to-face with Suea Bai in the woods.

"Pae [Arak], when he first came into this film, was enthusiastic about the whole experience. He was excited about everything including shooting guns and whatnot. So I told him, 'you wait and see'."

He continues: "[When we shot the battle scene] it all looked cool at first but then after being in the rain for 12 hours, drenched, with the ground like a big pool of mud, we were just slipping around in the freezing cold, drained, dirty and smelly.

"I looked over at him and he was just silent. He had this dead look on his face and looked like he could barely move and talk. So, I went over and said, 'See? I told you so,' to which he just nodded and was like, 'yeah, I get it'," the actor laughs.

Often, movies have to deal with real-world tensions that afflict the society. For Ananda, the "where have all the good policemen gone" trope that is taking place in social conversations finds a place in this film's story too. According to the actor, Khun Phan is more than an action adventure tale of a man who can survive a barrage of bullets, because it's somewhat also a mirror of our time and collective sentiment.

"[In this movie] Khun Phan is betrayed by the law. He's torn between the establishment he has always upheld and the life of a bandit. And in that sense, it's like a question for the audience as well: Does the law apply the same standard for every single person in Thailand? Are there people who take advantage of the law?

"These are the questions which I'm sure every Thai has an opinion on. I wouldn't say that the film invokes any new sentiment in society, but it is a reminder of the questions that we already have," says Ananda.

joining the bad guys: Ananda returns to his leading role in 'Khun Phan 2' with Arak 'Pae' Amornsupasiri as Suea Bai, left, and Wanchana 'Colonel Bird' Sawasdee as Suea Fai, centre. PHOTO: Sahamongkol Film

In the Khun Phan sequel, Ananda's Khun Phan character occupies the moral centre but also finds his definition of what is right now lying in ruins.

Incorruptible, virtuous, strong, heroic, but underappreciated and doubted, this time around Khun Phan embarks on a quest of restoring faith in law enforcement and seeks ways to execute people he deems to be criminals through new methods that veer off his cardinal path.

"Khun Phan is symbolic of the sacredness of the law. What's interesting with this movie is how after Khun Phan joins Suea Fai and Suea Bai's group he finds out that although these criminals may not follow the law they do have their own rules which somehow reflects a moral code and values. I think the audience can empathise, or understand why he's doing what he does, the pain and the anger and the bitterness and the why of it all."

The Thailand-based, Australian-Laotian actor made his debut with his take on Anda kub Fahsai in 1998 when he was 16 years old, and another remarkable mainstream breakout with the horror blockbuster Shutter in 2004.

"My first film Anda kub Fahsai projected me as a young, long-haired boy on the beach. I think what happens to many actors that start at a young age is that they get stuck in this time capsule and everybody thinks of them as just young kids.

"Before filming Shutter, I had actually taken about three or four years off from acting. When I had got enough of that whole self-reflection time -- questioning things such as 'why am I doing this' and all that, I came back, determined to go for acting as my career," says Ananda.

"I think the craft of acting is like a muscle. If you don't work it out, it starts to deteriorate. I treat the craft like athletes would treat their body, and part of the exercise is to push yourself and try different things, different roles.

"The nice thing about getting older is, you're not stuck in this social construct that you're the lead male who needs to look a certain way and accept certain roles. I like the fact that I'm now getting away from that image and I can accept a myriad of different roles instead of being stuck in the typecast, stereotypical male lead frame."

The air of awkwardness and hard-to-approach persona which comes across during Ananda's earlier career has diminished with the passing of time.

"As I got older, I started to let go of things. In my twenties, I felt like I had this chip on my shoulder that I needed to prove myself and I wanted to be the best. Awards and stuff like that were important to me.

"By nature, I wasn't a social person but I was working in a very social industry so that might be one of the reasons why I was a bit awkward. Plus, I've never been signed to a label so I never had any guidance as to what type of image I should project for myself," Ananda admits.

"I think what people saw was just exactly who I was. I was a bit angsty and a little bit awkward and wasn't quite comfortable around a lot of people. I hated public speaking. So, what people saw was a reflection of who I was.

"And now I'm a bit more relaxed -- not to say that I'm more passive in life or anything like that -- I no longer try to micromanage all my feelings and instead just accept my frustrations for what they are. I'm not as anxious as I used to be and now I'm just more excited about what I'm doing and what comes next," he adds.

In fact, the actor who has been proven of his versatility in many genres is looking forward to something more comical and personal.

"I would love to try something that's a bit more slapstick, or even a role similar to Gandalf," he laughs, "But as a producer, I have a script that I'm very interested in producing. It's just a small, gritty action-thriller which I would love to produce. I've done so many commercial films for the last 10 years. So it must be nice to do something small -- something a bit more selfish -- if I have a chance."

With a string of projects both in front of the camera and behind it, 36-year-old-actor says has been working every day for the past 40-50 days straight.

"I need to take a holiday and recharge," says the actor, promising he will find more leisure time for himself to get away from the city.

"I have plans to do a travel and photography blog. Just travel around, take pictures, and then put the experiences together in an exhibition space."

"It's a cliché to say so but riding motorcycles just gives you a sense of this visceral freedom -- the way you smell, hear and feel everything, and you literally have to be at one with the machine between your legs," says the self-proclaimed motorbike enthusiast who has incompletely fused metatarsals in his foot due to a motorcycle accident 10 years ago.

"I can't bend my toes. Sometimes if I don't have the right shoes on, my toes dig into the ground. Sometimes during shooting I have to stop and ice my foot for a bit to help alleviate that pain. It's a condition I've dealt with for the last 10 years, and I feel it more now because the problems that come with the injury have accumulated."

PHOTOS: Pornprom Satrabhaya

However, Ananda says the accident was far from being a traumatic experience as he continues to hop on bikes whenever he has free time.

"I mean, it wasn't the motorcycle's fault, it was my fault. Sometimes it's just nice to get up and just go to somewhere alone and random. I have made many friends by just getting on the bike.

"When you travel by yourself, it forces you to engage with your environment. I meet people and get to see other people's lives. It gives me a sense of perspective and place in the world. And especially with the work I do, I feel it's important to get away from it. This industry can be quite toxic if you really start to believe that your life exists only for it," the actor smiles.

As his experience have molded him into a seasoned actor, Ananda has naturally become an example to younger actors who come into his orbit. Whenever he comes, he passes on what he can to the next generation.

"When people, especially younger actors, ask me for advice, they're usually looking for shortcuts -- you know, an easier way to get into a particular position. But the thing is that, I don't think there are any," says the actor.

"We're in a generation where everybody is so self-involved. Everybody cares about that public self-image rather than creating the substance that would then create an image. It's unfortunate that today people can become famous for just being famous.

"For me, you just have to be able to step out of yourself and look at yourself from a different perspective -- see if you're pushing yourself, growing, and gaining new knowledge.

"Quite often, I feel like people focus more on the final product rather than what you need to achieve to get to that destination. You need to be well-studied. You need to take in everything, read, watch and listen. Generally, just be curious."

As much as he is happy to see his peers having kids and enjoying their lives as parents, the 36-year-old actor remains firm that he is not looking to settle down any time soon.

"I may have a more naturalistic, fluid and organic point of view on how relationships work because the whole idea of marriage and family were never ingrained in me. It's never occurred to me to question when is the right age to get married, who would make the right kind of woman, or how I should raise my kids.

"They really are not concerns of mine, to be honest. The construct of marriage was just never pushed on me," says Ananda.

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