COOKING UP A SERIOUS ACT

CHEF Wan's family hit the panic button when the culinary expert started tackling transvestite roles. What made them really worried was when he decided to take on two similar roles in two movies. They felt it wouldn't augur well for his image.

But Chef Wan seemed pretty cool about the whole thing. Playing Naza in Habsah Hassan's latest movie Soal Hati (directed by Othman Hafsham) and drag queen Mama Lulu in Klon are just part of acting and nothing else.

``I know it's going to spark off a bit of controversy even though such things exist. My family advised me not to take on these roles. On the contrary, I feel proud that I got the offers,'' says the chef-turned-actor who first appeared in Lurah Dendam in the mid-90s.

In Soal Hati, Chef Wan plays Naza, a sales assistant who dresses up mannequins. Starring Afdlin Shauki, Erra Fazira and Zaibo, the film is expected to be completed this month.

Klon, a Grand Brilliance Sdn Bhd production, sees him playing a cabaret dancer and boutique owner. It is directed by Rashid Sibir and production will start late this year.

Chef Wan says he took pointers from Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Bird Cage and Some Like it Hot which all centred on drag queens.

For his Mama Lulu role, Chef Wan is required to sing and dance so ballroom dancing lessons are a must. He will soon be taking lessons from Singapore drag queen Kumar and has plans to enrol in a singing class. ``I love any form of art, be it singing, acting or interior decorating. It's in my blood. I just have to do it if the offers come my way. There's not much monetary gain. It is purely for the love of the arts.'' Still, acting brings out the best in him. Though he is gearing to give any part a shot, not much has come his way. Maybe it's the tight working schedule that made him missed the acting offers.

The vibrant professional cook consoles himself by injecting all his ``acting passion'' into his shows. ``After all, hosting a programme also requires a certain amount of acting. Most of the time, I write the script for my programme,'' says the aspiring actor who has appeared in Soldadu, a drama aired over Singapore's Prime 12.

Chef Wan who recently appeared as guest artiste in ntv7's Spanar Jaya says he prefers serious roles to comedy ``but never got the chance to put this to the test.''

``Give me any role, I'm game enough to try it out. Forget my chef image. In acting, you have to be daring and gutsy, that's me!''

``Even if I have a lot of cookery shows, I make sure each one is different. It defeats the purpose if I were to do the same thing year in year out,'' says the globe-trotting chef.

Chef Wan will soon be appearing in a Pernas-sponsored cookery programme (which has yet to be titled) over TV3. Then there's Panggilan Pulau, also to be screened over TV3. The series will be produced by his own company Karya Pancawarna which he set up two years ago.

``We will start shooting Panggilan Pulau in September and it will take viewers to 22 islands around the world such as Tahiti, Fiji, Bora-Bora, Tonga and Maldives. The series traces the islanders' lifestyles, their food and culture.''

Meanwhile, ntv7 will screen his new cookery series Ke Dapur Nenek on July 29. ``This one will trace the traditional cooking tips by grandmothers from different communities and cultures like the Bajau tribe in Sabah and the Cristang (Portuguese Dutch descendants) in Malacca.''

Then there's Citarasa Kraft and one Ayammas-sponsored programme on TV1. Culinary Adventure, a cookery series in English, will join TV2's line-up soon.

Amazingly, Chef Wan could still find time to do cooking shows overseas A Taste of South Australia for ABC Australia, Food of the Mediterranean for TV Norge (Oslo, Norway) and Selera Asean for TV Suria (Singapore).

If that's not enough to fill his one-year diary, Chef Wan has said yes to Astro for a new talk show Bersama Chef Wan which is fashioned after the enormously successful Oprah Winfrey Show.

Wonder what the chef has on his plate next ...

BY ZIEMAN - PUBLISHED 19/7/2000