Game, set but no match

ITTISAK Eusunthornwattana has worked on many movies but now he’s wearing a director’s hat for the brand new romantic comedy “Mr Hurt … Mue Wang Undub Jeb”, which stars Sunny Suwanmethanont as a professional tennis player with an unhappy love life.
“I wanted to do a film about a sportsman and tennis seemed an obvious choice. Professional tennis players have very different personalities both on and off the court. Some are hot-tempered, others are fashionable and yet others are best known for their techniques on court – think John McEnroe, Marat Safin and Rafael Nadal. And some internationally known players marry actresses or models,” Ittisak says.
“The tennis player in my film has mood swings. He’s irritable and bad mannered. And his biggest rival in the love stakes is a fellow professional, though one in the world of music not sports.”

“I loved the script from the moment I read it,” adds Sunny. “And I was so excited to get some training as a professional tennis player. For me, making the film has really been a double pleasure.”
Sunny, who enjoys kicking a football around in his spare time, had never played tennis before starting work on the film. To get the kind of physique he required as a professional athlete, he threw himself into a six-month body-building regime that included working out, learning tennis and dieting.
“I needed to bulk up and show more muscle,” says the actor. “More importantly, I needed to play tennis like a professional and that meant having a good forehand and backhand swing,” He laughs. “It’s very different from football!”
In “Mr Hurt”, Sunny plays Don Sichang, the country’s rising tennis player who has a reputation for his bad manners as well as for chasing girls. His life improves after he meets Anna, played by Thai-German model and starlet Marie Broenner, a rising actress who places importance on love. Sensing her relationship with Don is going nowhere, Anna drops Don and later hooks up with Jimmy the Rocket, portrayed by Pongsatorn “Phuak” Jongwilas. Dismayed at the new development, Don tries to win her back with the help of his new girlfriend, girl-next-door Dew (Mashannoad “Linn” Suvanamas).

But inevitably, one of the two men is going to get hurt, hence the film’s title.
“I can’t actually remember being badly hurt,” says Sunny. “I’m sure I would feel sad or disappointed but I don’t think I would be tearful like my character.”
In fact, both Don and his problems in love are similar to those of former Thai no 1 tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan.
“If we think of our national tennis player, then obviously it’s him,” says Sunny, who laughs out loud when he’s asked about his own tangles with love.
“My big love story was a few years after my graduation but it wasn’t serious. As I said before, I’m nothing like the character. I’m quite the opposite. I can carry on no matter the situation I’m facing. But Don is different. He sinks into despair and buries himself in memories, asking himself what happened and why. He would like to get back with her again. That I can understand. To play the role, I had to draw on the people surrounding me. I know plenty of my contemporaries behave like Don. You only need listen to the people making phone calls to Club Friday, a programme on Green Wave 106.5 FM. People are serious about love.”
For someone who pretends not to be too serious about love, Sunny has a lot to say on the subject.

“Love is beautiful. Love can do everything. Love can make us feel hurt and depressed and at the same time it makes us feel lively and stronger. It depends on how we live with it. I wouldn’t say it’s scary but we all have a tendency to take the beauty out of it by showing jealousy, being furious or wanting revenge. We want the people we love to be like we want them to do, not as they are.”
Don, Sunny adds, reacts badly to getting hurt. “Obviously he feels sad and annoyed when he loses a match. It hurts but he can tell himself he just didn’t play well enough. Losing in love is different. His girl leaves him without giving him any reason and that buries him in self doubt.”    Time though, Sunny stresses, is a great healer and it’s best to go with the blows.
“We should let it go and try to stay in the moment. Feeling hopeless is such a waste of time. We need to fight back and spend time making our lives better. In the movie, Don needs much longer to solve the problem. He wallows in his misery. I personally feel that we need to start looking forward and understanding and adjusting ourselves.”
In fact, Don is so down at his loss that he tries to commit suicide by climbing out onto the balcony. Fortunately, he changes his mind.
“It’s just only a moment and obviously he can’t throw himself off – ‘Mr Hurt’ is a romantic comedy,” the actor says, laughing.
 So who does Sunny feel has a better chance of seducing the woman: the tennis player or the rocker?
“It’s all about the timing. First Anna was Don’s girlfriend. She could see the relationship wasn’t going to work and left him. Later she met the rocker and he made her feel better. Let’s face it, when it comes to love, we tend to put our
 selves first,” says Sunny.

Love Hurts

- “Mr Hurt … Mue Wang Undub Jeb” goes on general release on Thursday. Previews are showing at selected cinemas through Wednesday at 5pm.