1L milkshakes for breakfast? How Desmond Tan gained 15kg for his role in the movie Pace

He stars as a rehabilitated drug addict in the new movie. HIs recipe for rapid weight gain? Full cream milkshakes, and double portions of nasi lemak and char kway teow.

Desmond Tan's belly gets quite a few close-ups in the movie Pace. (Photo: Pace)

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More commonly associated with fashion spreads and topless shoots, actor Desmond Tan made his biggest physical transformation to date by piling on 15kg in just six weeks for Pace, premiering Oct 8.

In the Mandarin movie (rated NC16), he plays Malcolm, a rehabilitated drug addict who struggles to find his place at home and in society until he earns redemption through the discipline of running.

It is the first full-length feature film from director Jonathan Choo, who also scripted the movie. The 37-year-old is from a family of actors: His father, Zhu Hou Ren, and his younger brother, Joel, also have roles in Pace.

The idea for the film first came to him in the months before the pandemic “at a point in my life when I was running quite frequently,” Choo said. “I thought, ‘Running looks great on film’. And then, instantly, the idea of a prodigal son returning to a family just hit me.” Subsequently, his research into addiction led him to visits to halfway houses and conversations with former drug users.

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