Desmond Tan Gained Over 10kg for ‘Pace’ — But Getting His Six-Pack Back Was Only Half the Transformation

Singapore actor Desmond Tan has spent years being associated with a lean, athletic physique. For his upcoming local film Pace, however, the 40-year-old deliberately went in the opposite direction — gaining at least 10kg, developing a noticeable belly and eventually reaching a point where he said he barely recognised the man looking back at him in the mirror.

Now, with the weight gone and his familiar toned physique back, Tan has revealed the full extent of a transformation that appears to be about much more than a dramatic before-and-after photo.

The physical change was required for his role as Malcolm, a middle-aged former drug offender trying to rebuild his life after addiction and rehabilitation. Malcolm eventually turns to long-distance running as he struggles to find his footing again.

Tan shared photos of his heavier appearance on Instagram on Aug. 30, followed by a video documenting his journey from his usual fit body to his heavier look for the film — and eventually back to a visibly muscular physique.

“The body had to change for the role, then the role changed the body,” Tan wrote in a subsequent post, according to AsiaOne.

Desmond Tan’s Weight Gain Was Far From Comfortable

The transformation may look impressive in hindsight, but reports from several Singapore media outlets show that the process came with significant physical challenges.

CNA reported in November 2025 that Tan had gained more than 10kg while preparing for the film. The actor said his clothes stopped fitting properly and even ordinary walking could leave him breathless. He also explained that his diet and exercise routine were deliberately adjusted while his progress was monitored.

Tan was careful to make one point clear: his transformation was being done for a film role and was not intended to promote extreme weight gain or weight loss.

Lianhe Zaobao reported that he experienced increased sweating and overheating after putting on the weight, describing the additional mass as feeling like carrying a bag of rice around throughout the day. Attempts to increase his weight rapidly with fast food also reportedly aggravated his sensitive skin and caused breakouts.

For an actor long known for keeping himself in shape, there was another psychological challenge.

Tan admitted he worried about whether he would actually be able to lose the additional weight again once the production required Malcolm to become leaner.

That fear now appears to have been answered.

His latest transformation video shows Tan eventually returning to a defined, muscular physique — complete with the abs audiences have long associated with him. AsiaOne reported that production was divided into several blocks from late 2025 into early 2026, allowing his body to change alongside Malcolm’s progression in the story. Tan worked with professional support, including a dietitian and trainer.

Why Did Desmond Tan Have to Gain So Much Weight?

For Tan, simply wearing prosthetics or padding apparently would not have created the Malcolm he wanted audiences to believe.

He previously explained that the character should resemble an ordinary middle-aged Singaporean man rather than the polished leading-man image audiences normally associate with Desmond Tan.

To study that appearance, he even spent time observing middle-aged men in Singapore’s Central Business District.

The result was the softer physique and paunch seen in his recent photographs.

The transformation also represented a significant professional milestone. Tan said Pace marked his first time portraying someone struggling with drug addiction during his long acting career.

His preparation went much further than changing his diet.

According to CNA and The Straits Times, Tan visited Changi Prison to better understand his character’s experience of incarceration and spent around 10 minutes alone inside a cell. He later described getting a sense of the oppressive isolation his character may have experienced.

Simonboy Helped Tan Understand Another Side of Malcolm

Another significant part of Pace is its casting of content creator Simon Khung, better known as Simonboy.

Simonboy plays Malcolm’s friend in the film and has spoken publicly about his own past incarceration and recovery.

Tan previously told AsiaOne that Simonboy became an important resource while he was developing the character because of his first-hand understanding of experiences that Tan himself had never lived through.

The film therefore appears to be positioning Malcolm's story less as a simple morality tale and more as a drama about relapse, rehabilitation, family and the difficult process of rebuilding a life.

Director Jonathan Choo has said the intention was to humanise the character rather than make Pace feel like a straightforward educational film. He has described recovery as involving emotional highs and lows that are considerably more complicated than outsiders might assume.

Running Is at the Heart of ‘Pace’

The film's running theme also has a surprisingly personal origin.

Jonathan Choo told Lianhe Zaobao that the concept began taking shape around 2019, when he frequently went running at night. He found that running cleared his mind and generated thoughts about life, eventually helping form the foundations of the story that became Pace.

Malcolm's physical transformation is also mirrored by another cast member.

Joel Choo, who plays Malcolm's brother and a marathon runner, reportedly lost about 10kg in two months for the film. He went from strongly disliking running to gradually increasing his distance from roughly one kilometre to eight kilometres while training several times a week.

The cast also includes veteran actor Zhu Houren, Jonathan and Joel Choo's father, who plays Malcolm's father.

That makes Pace something of a family production on screen and behind the camera: Jonathan Choo writes and directs, while Zhu Houren and Joel Choo appear among the principal cast alongside Tan.

When Is ‘Pace’ Coming Out in Singapore?

Audiences will not have to wait much longer to see whether the dramatic preparation translates onto the screen.

Pace is scheduled to open in Singapore cinemas on Oct. 8, 2026, with Cinema Online listing Clover Films as its distributor and the movie as a Mandarin-language drama.

The project is supported by the Singapore Film Commission and Infocomm Media Development Authority through the Media Talent Progression Programme's Long Form Content Grant, as well as the Yellow Ribbon Project.

Tan's transformation is already generating attention online, but focusing only on the disappearing belly and returning six-pack may miss what Pace is actually attempting to do.

The bigger transformation is Malcolm's.

Behind the viral before-and-after images is a story about a man trying to move beyond addiction, incarceration and the label society has placed on him — one kilometre at a time.

And when Pace reaches cinemas on Oct. 8, the question will no longer be simply how Desmond Tan managed to gain and lose more than 10kg.

It will be whether audiences can forget the Desmond Tan they know long enough to believe in Malcolm.

WWC ONE MEDIA MJE