Max Loong
Max Loong (born March 8, 1980 in Malaysia) is a Swiss actor, host and producer of Chinese (Malaysian) descent.
Max Loong | |
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Born | |
Occupation | Actor, host, producer |
Website | http://www.maxloong.com/ |
Swiss entertainment magazine Schweizer Illustrierte [1] ranked him as one of the top 100 most important and influential Swiss personalities in 2007.
In the same year, Elle Magazine [2] Singapore awarded him the ‘Breakout Star of the year’ award.
Among some of his most recognisable works, he has been the host of MusicStar,[3] the Swiss equivalent of American Idol, and also filled a role as the lead character (Michael Wong) of Singapore’s Emmy nominated comedy First Class.[4]
Life
Max was born in Malaysia to a Swiss mother and a Chinese-Malaysian father. His father was a race car driver in the 1970s, and his mother worked for Christie's auction house in Zurich. His grandmother, Rosemarie Volz was an Opera singer in Switzerland in the 1940s and 1950s.
When he was three, Max moved to Switzerland. Shortly after graduating Kantonsschule Hottingen [5] with a degree in economics in 2000, he got in contact with VIVA Schweiz, at this time Switzerland's top ranking music channel. This was eventually where he landed his first on-screen job as a TV host.
In 2004 he trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles, where he discovered his passion for acting. His fellow students and teachers cast him in independent movies such as The Intervention or Syndicate:Zeed.
Max resided in the United States until he relocated to Singapore in 2006. He relocated in part to rediscover his Asian roots, and to be closer to his family in Malaysia. As an MTV VJ and an actor, he went on to become a popular television personality in South East Asia.
TV career
At the age of 20, he beat more than 400 other competitors to become the host for the first Swiss music channel, VIVA Schweiz. This was his first foray into hosting.
Shows he has hosted in Europe include Fanta Fiesta (teleprompter), McMusic (requestshow), FreaX (gameshow), Popschau (newsshow), Sunrise (latenightshow) and his own produced hit show Interaktiv (liveshow) where he has interviewed famous artistes such as Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Usher, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Robert Downey Jr. and Pierce Brosnan to name a few.
Traveling and trying things at least once was a philosophy well rewarded when he landed a job in Asia in 2006 as MTV Southeast Asia’s new VJ. He hosted the award-winning multimedia show "MTV Mobbed" [6] which was broadcast all over the Asia Pacific Region. He also kept his other interests alive during his tenure by hosting Gamepad (gameshow), Pop 10 (chartshow), Pop Inc. (life-style show) and red carpet coverage of the MTV Asia Awards 2006 in Bangkok (Thailand).
In 2007, Max was chosen as the Musicstar host, which is the Swiss equivalent of American Idol.
In 2008 and 2009, Max Loong also hosted reality- and entertainment shows such as the S-Factor and Mitsubishi Challenge. He has also been involved in numerous productions for one of South-East Asias largest networks Mediacorp Singapore.
In 2009, he signed on for the 4th season of MusicStar in Switzerland.
Film career
In 2003 he has acted in leading roles on the big screen in Swiss movies such as in “Piff Paff Puff”, a movie about gangsters with different racial backgrounds, playing the role of a drug addict.
While in Snow White, a film about the high society party scene of Zurich, being a DJ, and in his controversial hit movie Breakout,[7] a movie about violent kids locked up in a Swiss youth jail, he took up the role as a rapist, playing his most challenging character so far.
He also had a television drama series named after him, Adventure Max. He appeared in the first two seasons of the French television series Deja Vu and other television shows.
Loong landed a starring role in the Asian dramedy series After Hours, which ran for 13 episodes. He starred in Singapore’s Emmy nominated number 1 comedy series First Class (season 1&2) as a young teacher at a dysfunctional school and the 2010 drama “Perfect Deception”.
Filmography
Actor
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Who Killed Johnny | Max | Lead Role |
2010 | Perfect Deception | Lucas | Supporting Role (Asia) |
2009 | First Class 2 | Michael Wong | Lead Role (Asia) |
2009 | Déjà Vu 2 | Ming | Supporting Role (France) |
2008 | Maggie & Me | Rich | Supporting Role (Singapore) |
2008 | First Class 1 | Michael Wong | Lead Role (Asia) |
2008 | Déjà Vu 1 | Ming | Supporting Role (France) |
2007 | Lifestory | Lionel De Souza | Lead Role (Singapore) |
2007 | After Hours | Danny Mereles | Lead Role (Asia) |
2007 | Breakout | Blade | Supporting Role (Europe) |
2006 | Syndicate:Zeed | Zeed | Lead Role (USA) |
2006 | The Intervention | Gay | Supporting Role (USA) |
2005 | Snowwhite | DJ | Supporting Role (Europe) |
2004 | Piff Paff Puff | Ming | Supporting Role (Switzerland) |
2015 | Lion Moms | Richard Lee | Lead Role (Singapore) |
Host
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | MusicStar | Host | SF1 Swiss National TV |
2009 | S-Factor | Host | Mediacorp Channel 5 Singapore |
2008 | Sport Of Kings | Host | Mediacorp Channel 5 Singapore |
2008 | Mitsubishi Challenge | Host | Mediacorp Channel 5 Singapore |
2007 | MusicStar | Host | SF1 Swiss National TV |
2007 | New Year’s Eve Countdown | Co-Host | Mediacorp Channel 5 Singapore |
2006 | MTV Mobbed | Host | MTV Asia |
2006 | MTV Pop Inc. | Co-Host | MTV Asia |
2006 | MTV Gamepad | Co-Host | MTV Asia |
2006 | MTV Asia Awards Red Carpet | Host | MTV Asia |
2004 | VIVA Interaktiv | Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2004 | VIVA Comet Awards | Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2003 | VIVA Popschau | Co-Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2003 | VIVA FreaX | Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2002 | VIVA McMusic | Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2001 | VIVA Sunrise Late Night | Co-Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2001 | VIVA Abenteuer Max | Lead | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
2000 | VIVA Fanta Fiesta | Host | VIVA Music Channel Switzerland |
Awards
References
- Schweizer Illustrierte
- Elle Magazine
- Musicstar
- First Class (TV Series)
- Kantonsschulen des Kantons Zürich
- List of programmes broadcast by MTV in Asia
- "The Internet Movie Database, Breakout". Full cast and crew.
- "Max Loong". Kosmic Film Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-07-28.