George Town is buzzing. Walk past Jawi Peranakan Mansion or the Blue Mansion this week and you might spot Mark Wahlberg strolling through heritage streets with British actor Riz Ahmed, filming scenes for Netflix thriller “The Big Fix”. The production has closed roads, lined camera crews along lanes, and turned a humble Perodua Kelisa into an unlikely co-star.
But the Uncharted star is far from the first Hollywood heavyweight to trade Los Angeles for Malaysian soil. According to Free Malaysia Today, a string of A-listers have helped put the country on the cinematic map. From Kuala Lumpur’s historical architecture to Sarawak’s lush rainforests, The Borneo Post has documented how Malaysia has doubled as everything from 19th-century Siam to colonial Vietnam over the decades.
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Florence Pugh and the Merdeka 118 Stunt
When Marvel Studios rolled into Kuala Lumpur in 2024 for “Thunderbolts”, Florence Pugh lobbied hard to perform one of the film’s most daring sequences herself at Merdeka 118, Malaysia’s tallest skyscraper. Insurance concerns and safety protocols nearly stopped her, but her persistence won out. The result became one of the blockbuster’s standout moments and gave Malaysian audiences a rare pride-in-the-screen moment.
Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones and the Twin Towers
Long before superhero blockbusters, “Entrapment” turned Kuala Lumpur into an international heist playground. Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones starred in the slick 1999 thriller, which featured the Petronas Twin Towers prominently in its climax. Released just before the millennium, the film introduced millions of moviegoers worldwide to Malaysia’s then-new architectural icon, even if its interpretation of KL’s geography took some creative liberties.
Jodie Foster’s Thailand Problem
After Thailand refused permission for “Anna and the King” to film there over its depiction of the Thai monarchy, the production turned to Malaysia. The result was one of the country’s most ambitious international shoots, spanning Penang, Langkawi, Ipoh, Selangor and Perak. Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster portrayed British schoolteacher Anna Leonowens opposite Chow Yun-fat, and Malaysia convincingly stood in for 19th-century Siam.
Chris Hemsworth in Cyber-Thriller Mode
By the time Chris Hemsworth arrived for Michael Mann’s “Blackhat” in 2015, the Australian actor was already a global star as Thor. The cybercrime thriller brought him to Kuala Lumpur and parts of Perak, with the city’s modern skyline serving as backdrop for the globe-trotting action film. While “Blackhat” did not match his Marvel outings commercially, it showcased Malaysia in a slick Hollywood package.
Jessica Alba in Sarawak’s Rainforests
The story of “The Sleeping Dictionary” is one of Malaysia’s most fascinating cinematic chapters. Production company Fine Line Features built an entire Iban longhouse set along the banks of the Lemanak River near Batang Ai for the film, shot in 2000, at a cost of almost RM250,000. They tore it down three months later.
A then 19-year-old Jessica Alba, fresh from James Cameron’s “Dark Angel”, ventured deep into Sarawak’s ancient rainforests to film the romantic drama. The production also featured Hugh Dancy, Golden Globe winners Bob Hoskins and Brenda Blethyn, and a young Emily Mortimer. Fine Line Features poured their resources into another project simultaneously, “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and ultimately released “The Sleeping Dictionary” straight to DVD, where it still won three acting awards at the first DVD Exclusive Awards in 2003.
As Wahlberg and Ahmed continue filming through George Town, their presence adds another chapter to a story that stretches back to Nick Nolte trekking through Sarawak’s jungles for “Farewell to the King” in 1987. Malaysia has long been capable of stealing scenes of its own.
