page_title: Bad Genius
section_title: Casting
hierarchical_section_title: Bad Genius / Production / Casting
caption_attribution_description: English: Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying from a promotional video clip for the Taiwan release of Bad Genius
context_page_description: Bad Genius, known in Thai as Chalard Games Goeng, is a 2017 Thai heist thriller film produced by Jor Kwang Films and distributed by GDH 559. It was directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, and stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying in her feature film debut as Lynn, a straight-A student who devises an exams-cheating scheme which eventually rises to international levels.
  Inspired by real-life news of students cheating on the SAT, the film transplants the heist structure to a school-exams setting, and features themes of class inequality as well as teenage social issues. The young main cast consists of relative newcomers Chanon Santinatornkul, Teeradon Supapunpinyo and Eisaya Hosuwan as Lynn's classmates Bank, Pat and Grace, while Thaneth Warakulnukroh plays Lynn's father. Filming took place on location in Thailand and Australia.
  Bad Genius was released on 3 May 2017, placing first at the Thai box office for two weeks and earning over 100 million baht, the highest-grossing Thai film of 2017. Overseas, it broke Thai film earning records in several Asian countries, including China, where it grossed over $30 million, making it the most internationally successful Thai film ever.
context_section_description: The film's main cast was relatively inexperienced—none of the four young main actors had had film roles in a major studio production prior to 2017. Lead actress Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, a fashion model, made her film acting debut as Lynn. Chanon Santinatornkul played the role of Bank, and Pat and Grace were played by Teeradon Supapunpinyo and Eisaya Hosuwan, respectively. (Teeradon and Eisaya had past TV acting experience, and Chanon had appeared in a few indie films as well.) According to Nattawut, casting for the four main actors took a long time before arriving at the four final choices, who were virtually perfect fits for their roles. He was so impressed with their work that he allowed them considerable room for improvisation during filming. The chemistry underlying Lynn and Bank's relationship, for example, was unscripted, and part of Pat's sales pitch speech was ad-libbed by Teeradon.
  The only veteran actor in a major role was Thaneth Warakulnukroh, who played Lynn's father. Primarily a singer and songwriter, Thaneth had been absent from acting for over thirty years when Nattawut came across a magazine interview of him, and invited him to cast for the role. Nattawut noted that Thaneth's performance led him to modify the script and make the father less controlling, resulting in a more profound father-daughter relationship.
  The cast underwent acting workshops for a couple of months before filming commenced. Romchat Tanalappipat served as acting coach, and worked with the actors before and during filming. Special preparations by the actors include Chutimon practising writing with her left hand, as her character is left-handed, and Chanon memorising the value of pi to beyond the 30th digit.
caption: Lead actress Chutimon, a fashion model, made her film debut in Bad Genius.
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