SINGAPORE — Once upon a time, Jack Neo plucked a group of boys from relative obscurity to star in a certain movie about National Service.

Suffice it to say, Ah Boys To Men’s (ABTM) Tosh Zhang, Wang Weiliang, Joshua Tan and Maxi Lim turned into household names — and the franchise made history time and again. The first movie became the highest-grossing Singaporean film of all time back in 2012, with a box office take of 
S$6.2 million; the sequel surpassed it (raking in S$7.8 million). The third instalment, Ah Boys To Men 3: Frogmen (ABTM3), which is still in the cinemas, could be the highest-grossing film, having already garnered S$7 million as of March 18. (And let’s not forget the musical version.)

We’re guessing the fact that the boys have promised to go topless if ABTM3 hits S$8 million will play a huge part in pushing the film over the finish line. Why? Because director Neo’s Midas touch notwithstanding, the success of Ah Boys To Men undeniably has a lot to do with this merry band of brothers. Read on and see why Singapore — and its multitude of screaming fangirls — fell in love with these boys.

Q: What annoys you most 
and what do you admire 
about each other?

Maxi Lim: I admire Josh’s accent. But it also annoys me. Because it’ll start coming out in interviews and that is not how he normally speaks.

Joshua Tan: That is the one thing that annoys me (about Maxi) — his failed accent! When we speak to Caucasian people, he would go (imitates a bad Australian accent), “Hi mate. I’m Maxi Lim!”

Wang Weiliang: The one thing that annoys me about Tosh is he doesn’t like to pick up his phone. But what I love about him is exactly why most fan girls love him — he looks nice wearing anything. I tell you, it’s very weird, ah. Just wearing normal shorts and singlet — already can! It’s his “say” (Hokkien for “attitude”) lah! He moves around the stage (flapping his hands) and he still looks good. Shuai ge (Mandarin for “handsome young man”)!

Q: What’s the impression you had 
of one another after meeting for the first time?

Joshua: Wah, mostly bad all around! (laughs)

Tosh Zhang: When I first saw Weiliang, I was shocked. It was at an ABTM boot camp. Everybody introduced themselves in English. Suddenly, I heard this guy saying his English wasn’t so good so he’ll be using Mandarin. Then I turned around and saw him with helmet hair and office wear and I was like, “Wah, this guy looks like Chu Ke-liang (a Taiwanese actor and comedian known for his “over-the-top appearance” and coarse humour). I thought he was 30-plus because of the way he dressed! But after I got to know him, he made me realise how vibrant and big the getai (Mandarin for “Chinese stage shows”) culture was.

Weiliang: I looked like 30-something ah? But who looks older now?

Tosh: Yeah, now everybody says I look more chao lao (Hokkien for “smelly and old”) than him.

Weiliang: Yeah, karma!

Q: How did you handle the transition from being relative nobodies to becoming popular stars?

Maxi: I couldn’t even believe it was possible. Because when I first started, I didn’t think that this might happen.

Josh: The whole fame thing was very sudden. And it was very hard to take. I remember, while we filming (the first movie) we were like, “How ah? Will anyone watch our movie? Will it be a flop?” Because we were all newbies and we were afraid no one was going to watch our movie. It was a lot to take in and we had to learn a lot of things on the spot. It was a steep learning curve.

Q: You guys are now officially part of Singapore film history. Any thoughts?

Tosh: I was a film student so I actually wanted to become a film director. I always wanted to be part of the film industry but I never thought I would be part of it as an actor. I always thought I would be an editor or (work) behind the scenes.

Weiliang: Wah, if Tosh never act hor, then good ah! We will be the ones acting while he’s the cameraman!

Joshua: But what if ABTM’s box office didn’t get as high because Tosh wasn’t part of the cast?

Q: Do you have any fears of being typecast from now on, since you’re all so deeply associated with ABTM?

Tosh: Initially, we feared being typecast because we didn’t want to play military roles for the rest of our career. But like Jack Neo said, a lot of actors work their entire career and struggle to find a role that people remember, whereas we have roles that people immediately remember. So instead of taking that as a negative, take that as a positive and try to build upon that. I am happy that outside of ABTM we have roles here and there that are not military related so I guess people can see that we can do more than just “fall in” or “push up”.

Weiliang: After (acting in) Lion Men and other work, I think there are many other avenues we can take — and have already taken. We can host, go on radio to be a DJ like Maxi. There are many roads we can all explore.

Q: What was the most memorable thing throughout this entire journey?

Joshua: It was when Part 2 came out and we had the fan meet-and-greet at Bugis+. There were over 3,000 fans who came and we were signing autographs and taking photos for about two hours — and it was never quiet. The fans kept screaming non-stop and that, for me, was “Wow!”

Maxi: We had to sign autographs non-stop to a point where we were told it was taking too long and we had to sign in short form! (laughs)

Q: D you do things differently now that you’re in the public eye?

Weiliang: I still go about doing things in the same way, like I still go to the coffeeshop to eat. But I’ve also realised I have to be a role model for younger fans so in that respect we have to watch ourselves in public. The old me used to be very crass and coarse; and I would speak very loudly everywhere I go. But now I don’t want young people to think that they can behave the same way, too.

Q: What’s your biggest takeaway from this whirlwind experience?

Maxi: Friendship — as a bunch of people from different walks of life, who most likely would not have crossed paths and who have experienced something only we can understand. Even our families and those closest to us might not really understand us. There are a lot of things I can’t put into words, but you can only understand if you’ve been through it.

Weiliang: Before, it used to worry us that people might not like (what we do). But we now just try our best to do our duty and don’t bother with the negative things that people say. People are always going to be telling you that you shouldn’t be doing this or that. But I feel that every celebrity has their own personality and image. If you curb that, then we are all going to be cookie cutter (celebrities) with no unique personalities.

Q: There seems to be a definite bromance between you guys, especially between Tosh and Weiliang.

Tosh: Bromance? We can go to the Registry Of Marriage and get married after all this!

Weiliang: Yeah, I see him more often than I see my own mother.

Q: Is your mother jealous then?

Weiliang: Nope, my mother isn’t jealous. She says, “earn money, bring back and then everything will be fine”.

Q: What advice would you give your 16-year-old selves?

Tosh: I would tell him to love his family more. My family was going through a rough patch back then and if I was around more, I guess it would have been better.

Maxi: At that time, it was quite hard (for me) as well. So keep believing in what I do, because it will be fruitful at the end of the line. Something is going to happen!

Joshua: I would have told the 16-year-old me to keep my shenanigans in check. My dad always said he lost a lot of hair because of me. Now that I am older, I try to spend more time with my family but it would have been good to understand the importance of family when I was younger.

Weiliang: I was very rebellious for a very long time. But whatever happens your parents will always be there; and all I have is my mother. So I would tell my 16-year-old self that I must care more for my mother. All our mothers want is for us to just get home safely each night.

Q: This is the last ABTM film — for now. What would it take to get you all together again?

Joshua and Maxi: The script!

Q: Isn’t that a bit cliche?

Joshua: But it’s very true! Honestly, a lot of people who dislike the franchise say it’s too predictable already. They keep guessing what’s next. Policemen, firemen, airmen, postmen?

Weiliang: We are not worried about that right now. It’s all about the fans’ reactions. If audiences still want to see more Ah Boys movies with us, we will just keep working on a script until it’s good. If fans are really enthusiastic and want a fourth, then we will talk to Jack Neo about it. But at the moment there are no plans.

Joshua: But it’s also risky. What if we do a bad one? ABTM has done so well already, we want to leave on a high note.