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- 47 | Michael H. Chua – The Actor who Consulted Governments
47 | Michael H. Chua – The Actor who Consulted Governments
Hey, quick note…all my Q&As come with a podcast episode!
So yes – you can watch and listen to the guest yourself.
Want to skip straight to the podcast? Here’s the link: https://linktr.ee/ex.vicarious
Otherwise, back to the Q&A (est. 4 minute read).
What to expect:
How Michael was scouted out of the blue from a social media pic
Why he developed a limp after playing a limping army officer
How meditation has saved him in both business and acting
I got my first actor on the podcast!
Yep, red carpets and all.
This gentleman has
featured in Cannes Film Festival winning pictures,
been in Short films with over 30m views, and
won 4 “best actor” awards
His name? Michael Chua.
Fans of the viral web-series “Titan Academy”, may know him as Mr. Alan.
But outside of acting, he’s also a university lecturer, advisor in AI, and… cybersecurity consultant for the government!
Michael has realised his dreams through travelling the most unconventional of paths.
So it was a pleasure to discuss how the h*ll he does it all.
Enjoy.
Q&A
Do you remember a moment in your childhood, during a stage performance when you felt, “This is something I want to explore more deeply, maybe through acting”?
“Not consciously. Growing up, unless you came from a very wealthy family—which was rare in Singapore—you wouldn’t even consider telling your parents you wanted to pursue a career in the arts.
Maybe subconsciously, I wanted to be a performer, perhaps a singer; I did dream of that, but never as an actor.
The acting part likely came from a need to perform and entertain. Consciously, though, I wanted to become a civil engineer.”
So when you first got that Facebook message to act on camera, what was that like?
“It was a huge surprise, really—it came out of nowhere.
There I was, just trying to make it as a freelance IT professional, and suddenly, “Would you like to become an actor?”.
It was definitely unexpected.”
Have you ever accidentally stayed in character, bringing it into your personal life?
“Yes. I was in a short film called Hentak Kaki as a warrant officer with a limp from a bad knee. The production lasted five days, and by the fifth, I felt real pain in my knee. By the sixth and seventh days, it was worse.
I started worrying, thinking, what is this? By the eighth day, I told myself, Michael, don’t be stupid, will it away. Thankfully, it disappeared on the ninth.
Why? During a scene where I fell and clutched my knee, the director kept saying, “No, Michael, not good enough. Do it more real.”
Eventually, it became real.”
Why is “a healthy amount of paranoia” necessary for both the movie world and cybersecurity world?
“In cybersecurity, paranoia is essential because you always have to consider that someone could be trying to breach your system. Even if a user has the correct password, you have to question if they’re legitimate and monitor their actions beyond just the entry point.
If everything seems fine on the surface, then you start worrying about hardware—whether any firmware has been altered by hacker codes or spyware. So, that’s the cybersecurity side.
In film production, if you’re the producer, you need to be just as vigilant because there are countless moving parts. Missing even one element could delay filming by hours.
For instance, if a character is supposed to be married but isn’t wearing a ring, you’d have to stop and check with the prop master. You need to ensure every detail, from costumes to set design, aligns with the scene, especially if elements like colours have changed.
Good producers can manage all of this chaos calmly, with minds that seem to handle multiple threads without losing their cool.”
Thanks for reading my Q&A with Michael.
You can connect with Michael here:
You can check out Michael’s work here:
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But if you want to experience the full podcast with Michael, listen here:
And as always,
Keep dreamaking.