Australian YouTuber John Luc, aka mychonny, prepares for his film debut next year, featuring in independent movie Sucker.
(Photo source: http://www.suckerthemovie.net/cards/1.jpg)
Based on the experiences of Australian comedian Lawrence Leung as a young adult, Luc stars as Lawrence, a lazy high school student who failed to get into med school. To punish him, Lawrence’s parents send him to stay with his uncle for the summer where he meets the Professor (Leung) and his daughter Sarah. They hit the road as the Professor teaches Lawrence the art of fraud, and together begin to plan their biggest scam. Meanwhile, as Lawrence and Sarah fall in love, they come up with a plan of their own. As the summer ends and choices must be made, Lawrence must decide which path to take, stuck between his head and his heart.
Although loosely based off co-writer Leung’s life, he told The Sydney Morning Herald, “Some things are real, some things are false, some things are elaborated for dramatic effect.”
Director Ben Chessell, a long time friend who remembers Leung as a teenager, helped Leung write the script. He says Luc reminds him of a young Leung, sharing a few of the same quirks and traits. Years before the film began production, producer Robyn Kershaw offered Luc the part after her children showed her Luc’s MyChonny videos. He auditioned for the leading role last year, and once the project received the go-ahead, filming began earlier this year.
“I’ve always wanted to do more than just Youtube,” he posted on his Tumblr last August when he announced the film. “I think Youtube is just a stepping stone for much bigger things.”
Luc created his mychonny channel in 2008, followed by yourchonny, chonnyday, kpopchonny (my personal favorite), and chonnygame. Combined, he has over 2 million subscribers, and a line of clothes inspired by his videos. He has also hosted his own radio show on SBS Australia and appeared numerous times at various YouTube fan events in Australia. Luc frequently collaborates with his YouTube friends like DarrenTP, JohnnyUnleased, piccoyotom, and DatJoeDoe (also known as COOL for kpopchonny subscribers.) Coming out later this year is his first web series Mychonny Moves In.
In the same August tumblr post, Luc wrote, “(I) always wanted to move on from the Internet world…(but) I won’t forget about my roots dw (don’t worry).” Fans interested in supporting Sucker can buy fun paraphernalia from the website store, and can catch up on watching all of mychonny’s videos until Sucker hits theaters in 2015.