Tom Wright, the co-author of the hot-selling book “Billion Dollar Whale”, was in Malaysia yesterday to promote his and Bradley Hope’s work, which focuses on Low Taek Jho or better known as Jho Low, the mastermind behind the infamous 1MDB investment.
According to various reports, it has been revealed that the book will soon be turned in to a Hollywood movie as a deal is currently in discussion. “There should be an announcement very soon about a movie,” he said as quoted by The Star.
“Billion Dollar Whale” documents the financial exploits of Jho Low, a 36-year-old businessman accused of stealing billions of dollars from Malaysian state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Wright refused to comment on which actor would be playing Low, but he joked that the movie will be produced by Red Granite Pictures, the movie studio which was also involved in 1MDB scandal.
It is not sure if Wright already has a cast in mind, but if he hasn’t, then here are 6 actors that we would like to suggest!
1. Ronny Chieng
Ronny Chieng is Malaysian-Australian comedian who is one of the correspondents on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”. He is also the creator and star of his own comedy sitcom called “Ronny Chieng: International Student”. The 33-year-old recently made his Hollywood film debut in Warner Bros’ “Crazy Rich Asians”. Thanks to his role as Eddie Cheng, we feel that he is quite suited playing the schemey and douchey kind of role, and not to mention that he is quite well-versed when it comes to political issues.
2. Randall Park
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American actor, comedian and writer Randall Park is most known for portraying the highly controversial North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un in the 2014 film “The Interview”, which is why we believe that he will be great playing Jho Low, another equally controversial character. Park may be a little bit on the old side as he is already 44, but we feel that his appearance can be changed with a little bit of makeup and screen magic!
3 Jimmy O. Yang
Jimmy O. Yang is Hong Kong-American actor who also stars in “Crazy Rich Asians”, but he is actually best known for his role in HBO comedy series “Silicon Valley”. Since Jho Low was known to be quite a playboy and a huge spender who parties with likes of Paris Hilton, Miranda Kerr, Kim Kardashian more, we feel that 31-year-old O.Yang will be able to portray the role as he is quite a party-animal in “Crazy Rich Asians” and a big arseh*** too!
4. Ki Hong Lee
Korean-American actor Ki Hong Lee is best known for his role in the “Maze Runner” series and Netflix sitcom “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. The 31-year-old started to gain worldwide attention through his collaboration with Wong Fu Productions where he plays all sorts of hilarious roles. That is why, we think that playing a rich, snobby and sneaky character like Jho Low would not be a problem for him.
5. Steven Yeun
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Steven Yeun may be a little bit too handsome to play Jho Low, but being in Hollywood, sometimes it’s important to have a good-looking actor for the main role to attract the audience. The 34-year-old Korean-American actor is best known for his role as Glenn Rhee in horror TV series “The Walking Dead” and he has also done video game and cartoon voiceovers. Having him playing Jho Low will definitely get audience into the cinema, because who wouldn’t want to watch a handsome manipulator?
6. Jason Leong
Jason Leong is a Malaysian stand-up comedian who has been promoting and volunteering himself to play Jho Low since The 14th Malaysian General Election. We feel that he is quite suited to play the character too as he already has the look. Plus, he has been following the Malaysian politic stories for a long time so we think that he is more knowledgeable on the 1MDB subject compare to any of the actors mentioned above.
