Henry Golding sets up production firm

SHANGHAI • Henry Golding was once a hairdresser before he made the cut as a box-office star in Crazy Rich Asians (2018).

Now, he hopes to further gel his standing in the movie industry as a producer, tweeting on Wednesday that he has formed his own production company. It is called Long House Productions, a nod to his growing-up years in Malaysian state Sarawak, where native tribes live in communal long houses.

Long House is a tie-up with China's Starlight Culture Entertainment Group and Golding said "thinking man's action and sci-fi will be the name of the game".

"I am excited to bring the unique stories that come from my experiences and the time I've spent living in Asia, London, America and all over the world to the movies I work on and the material I look forward to developing," he told Hollywood Reporter.

It is another feather in his cap after Crazy Rich Asians opened doors for him to be cast in upcoming films such as Paul Feig's Last Christmas and Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen.

Mr Peter Luo, chief executive of Starlight, is betting on Golding to continue to make waves, saying: "Henry is the only actor-producer with a deal here because we see him as a class of one."

The collaboration will kick off with two action films, with one focused on an assassin who finds himself the target of another.

Golding knows he has a shot at making more of his Crazy Rich Asians breakthrough and does not want to fluff the chance to transcend ethnicity.

"I definitely hold that responsibility in high regard, in the sense that I'm leaving an impression, maybe opening some doors for whoever comes next.

"I want to conduct myself in the way a leading man should conduct himself," he told W magazine.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 21, 2019, with the headline Henry Golding sets up production firm. Subscribe