by BETH ACCOMANDO
Photographed by Vicki Berndt
Giant Robot
Winter 1996

Thanks Nameless!

Picture of CYF on the cover with following title:

"The Deadly Hands of Chow Yun Fat"

Give Chow Yun Fat a matchstick as a prop to nip between his teeth and suddenly the humble actor is transformed into one of his cocky characters. Chow may be one of the biggest stars in Hong Kong, but you'd never guess it from the way he presents himself in person. Arriving for his interview on foot, he walked to the Century City hotel from his L.A. residence down the street. Casually dressed, Chow travels without an entourage and immediately puts you at ease.

The cool and charismatic Chow has come to symbolize the irresistible, over-the-top, in-your-face Hong Kong film style. Not quite a household name in America, Chow has won a devoted following for the John Woo actioners The Killer and Hard Boiled. These tough-guy roles have earned him international fame. However, he has worked in every conceivable genre, with a quicksilver ability to move from outrageous slapstick to sensitive drama to macho action--sometimes within the same film.

When Woo was casting his breakthrough film A Better Tomorrow in 1986, he was looking for a modern knight, a man with real guts who would stand up for justice, someone with real personality and human qualities. "I read in the paper that Chow Yun-Fat did a lot of work with orphans. This is what I was looking for. A strong man with a good heart," says Woo. The film derived its phenomenal success not only from Woo’s rapturously stylized violence, but also from the empathy audiences felt with Chow’s Mark character, a petty gangster who dies in the name of honor, friendship, and loyalty. This was the role that secured his place as a Hong Kong film deity.

Dubbed "the coolest actor in the world" by the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Chow shrugs off his star status and reveals genuine self-effacing modesty. Still, he’s a bona fide superstar whose mere presence can guarantee even bad films good box office returns.

Currently, Chow is a megastar in Hong Kong, but the island's film industry faces uncertainty as 1997 approaches (even so, the Communists would love to see Chow, a national treasure, continue to make Chinese films). Hollywood also has plans for Chow. Everyone from Quentin Tanantino to Oliver Stone is supposedly courting him. As a result, Chow is now splitting his time between Hong Kong and Hollywood. Somehow, he found time in his busy schedule to spend an afternoon with Giant Robot.

THE REPLACEMENT KILLER

GIANT ROBOT: First of all, can you put an end to all the rumors and tell me what your first American project will be?

CHOW YUN-FAT: One with Columbia Pictures called The Replacement Killer. That seems to be my first American movie at this moment. And John Woo wants to make a movie with me next year after he finishes Face Off. I appreciate that. I’m waiting to work with him again.

GR: So Replacement Killer would be the first one you shoot?

CYF: I hope so. Oh, by the way, there’s another one attached to Universal Studios which is called Heavy Metal [laughs]. It's something like a future film. It's set in the year 2000 or something, and it talks about all the people in Los Angeles after an earthquake. The white people, the black people, and the Asian people each live in separate communities. I'm the guy who's picked as one of the leaders, a spiritual leader who passes through all the areas to send the men to a place called Highland. It's a very interesting story. The topic is pretty hot because of the riots in Los Angeles. The executive producers at Universal Studios want to bring all the race problems together, and to try and use the movie to project their hope that all the people can live in harmony.

GR: Are you trying to go for a different image from what most Americans probably have of you, which is that of the tough action hero?

CYF: Yes, it's totally different. But right now I really don't have the ability to pick out my projects. Even though people know who I am, there are only a few roles for Asian actors here. Even though some may know who I am because of my work with John Woo in so many films, the majority of the audiences in the United States is more or less thinking, "Who is Chow Yun-Fat?" They don't know who I am. So the studio has to think about your commercial value. They have to think how much they can get back from the Asian market or Europe. They have to be confident to start a project for you. Otherwise, they have to answer questions from the sales department, the financial department, who'll ask, "You know this guy?" I need to have one or two projects starting now to let all the people know who I am. The studios have to base their decisions on the box office. The actor or the actress, the value of their performance-both sides have to balance.

GR: Is there a director for Replacement Killer yet?

CYF: No. Once they complete the deal then we will look for the right director, the right actors. We have no idea right now because I am the new kid in town. My agents, they will arrange everything for me.

THE BIG BOSSES

GR: Are there any directors you would like to work with?

CYF: It's very difficult to say, because this kind of action movie will depend on who directs it. Of course they want John Woo to direct the film, but I don't think John Woo will be available, because he has a project with Paramount Pictures. I think next year he will have another project with me. My manager Terence [Chang] says that for my first American movie, it is important to work with one of the famous American directors. The studio would probably feel safer that way. Plus, if for my first American movie I work with John Woo again, people will feel that it is too much. So Terence wants me to work with a Hollywood director to get more inspiration, more experience. Then, once the movie is released he wants me, if I have time, to make an appearance in every big city doing the promotional tour. When I was here last time, I was stuck in Los Angeles all the time [makes face and laughs].

GR: Getting bored of the city?

CYF: No. I like the weather here and the people. The most important thing is that every day I've got two hours of English class. It's what I've wanted for my acting career for almost twenty years. I don't have a long period to take a rest--this is a good time to take a rest. On the other hand I have the opportunity to learn a new language. It’s pretty good.

TALE OF TWO CITIES

GR: Are you worried at all about what’s going to happen to Hong Kong in 1997 when China takes over?

CYF: Not at all. Not at all.

GR: You don’t think it will change the film industry at all?

CYF: Ummm. A little bit, but it’s not a big deal. Every new government has some new policy, but I don't think they will hurt Hong Kong. I don't think so.

GR: When I interviewed directors Mabel Cheung and Wong Kar-Wai, they almost seemed to welcome the change. They said it may shake things up and get the industry out of its slump, and allow for more artistic rather than commercial projects.

CYF: Yeah, because the Hong Kong government and the British government won't support the Hong Kong movie industry because this is one of the colonies, it's not British culture [laughs]. It's not like Los Angeles. The government, the county (sic) itself, they give a lot of support and this is great for the film industry here. But in Hong Kong, no. Never. Even though we apply for the permit for location shooting, the police won't allow you to have the permit. So [laughs], we're always breaking the law, you know. Shooting on the streets without a permit. Sometimes we apply for a permit to shoot some government building or office or maybe the police stations, but they won't allow us to do it. So we set up the set by ourselves and we always have a lot of friction with the police and the government.

MONEY SHOTS

GR: Now with very elaborate action scenes, like the opening teahouse scene in Hard-Boiled, how many days does it take to shoot?

CYF: Not including the explosion shot, more than ten days, just for the opening sequence. Of course, John Woo did a good job. He tries his best, and the film crew gives him a lot of support. Here, I think the studio won't allow him to extend the shooting a few more days. Actually the schedule for that scene had been seven days only, but he extended it three days more because he wanted to get more exposure, more action-packed.

GR: And whose idea was it to have you slide down the banister with two guns? That was a great shot.

CYF: You like that?

GR: Yes.

CYF: [laughs] I don’t know why the ladies like the action-packed more than the drama.

GR: Well, I think just in terms of pure cinema, the way the camera moves, it's just exhilarating to watch a well-staged action sequence in a film.

CYF: More than what Hollywood movies are doing with more computer works?

GR: Yeah, that gets old, but Hong Kong films just have a way of moving a camera through action that just gives it an intoxicating energy.

CYF: Not like the typical Hollywood movie that goes one shot by one shot. But that's because in Hong Kong the space is not like in Hollywood. In the Hollywood studios you have more room, more space, I mean for the dimension for the camera, for the screen. But in Hong Kong, our buildings, our rooms are narrow, so we must use a lot of action or movement because the depth is not enough to expand the whole images in the picture. So we must use a lot of movement. Also, we must use a lot of wide-angle lenses to enlarge the environment, the space. So every time you see actors in the movie we look wider, fatter because the lens can make the people like that [puffs up his cheeks for emphasis]. Usually, here we are using 50mm lenses for the close-up or 85mm lens. But in Hong Kong we use 35mm or 28mm, because the depth is not enough.

MONEY ON FIRE

GR: What I also like about your performances are the details, the little bits of business the characters do that define them in an instant. Like lighting up the cigarette with the hundred dollar counterfeit bill in A Better Tomorrow or flipping the butterfly switchblade in Full Contact. Do you come up with those bits of business? Do you work with the director in creating them?

CYF: Usually, once they have the script, we will sit together maybe three times, four times, to go through all the dialogue. Other than that, you have to bring back the script to your home and study for a week and then we study together the details, the build up, the character, the whole development of the character inside and out. So, we have a lot of ideas to put in the character. If the director feels that using the hundred bill to light up the cigarette will fit the character, he will let you do it. It is very flexible, Even though on location we have, all of a sudden, a flash or a quick idea, or maybe I put a little bit of this in because I saw something in the script that made me say, "Ah, this will be fun." But other times, it happens on location suddenly. It happens, and the director thinks this situation is good for the script. I mean, if it’s good he will allow you to do it. So it’s very flexible, even though if you were to ask Mabel Cheung and Wong Kar-Wai, [they might say], "He has a lot of crazy ideas on the locations." But they don’t stick to the script either, especially Wong Kar-Wai [laughs].

GR: Oh yeah?

CYF: Oh yeah! He likes to get the real details from the actors and actresses. He wants to find the true spirit, the true Chow Yun-Fat or the true actor from their body, from their blood, more than stick to the dialogue.

GR: I don't remember any film you did with Wong Kar-Wai. Have you worked with him?

CYF: Before, we were supposed to have a chance to work together, when he was still a scriptwriter. It didn't work out, but we know each other real well.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN HONG KONG

GR: Are you planning to make any more films in Hong Kong at this point?

CYF: I will go back to Hong Kong to make a lot of movies if I can work with people like Zhang Yimou. But I hope I spend a lot of time to make my first American movie, this is my major purpose to stay in Los Angeles.

GR: So you don't have anything lined up in Hong Kong?

CYF: A few months before I came here, I met Wong Kar-Wai and he was supposed to have a project for me and him to work together with Gong Li, as well. It sounds very good. I’m excited. So maybe next year, maybe after my first American movie I will work with Wong Kar-Wai, maybe. It depends on the script.

INSIDE CHOW

GR: What kind of image do you think American audiences have of you? You made the cover of the L. A. Times Magazine which dubbed you "the coolest actor in the world." Is that the kind of image that you want the American public to have of you? Or would you prefer that they also see your other work, your comedies, your dramas?

CYF: I appreciate that they gave the cover to me, but people will maybe misunderstand "the coolest actor in the world." Maybe "the coolest guy" means you can do anything, but I prefer the audience to see that I can do a comedy, drama, action, or more, and understand me inside.

GR: Do you have a favorite role?

CYF: A lot, like A Better Tomorrow, like The Killer, like Mabel Cheung's An Autumn's Tale. I made a film with Ann Hui called The Story of Woo Viet, and one that’s called Hong Kong 1941, and City on Fire with Ringo Lam.

GR: Are there any films you wish you hadn't made?

CYF: A lot, a lot. I made more than 70 films, and of course I made a lot of bad films. Making films is my job, okay? I'm an actor and I'm not God, you know? You have to survive. Even in Hollywood, some people want to make the big movies and some artists, they want to pick up some art films. Even though they play a small role, they want the audience to know that they prefer the art performance rather than the commercial value of the move sometimes. Of course, in Hong Kong, more than 85% are commercial films, but sometimes we pick up some art films like Mabel Cheung or Wong Kar-Wai or some Stanley Kwan.

GR: Which of your roles is more like you?

CYF: None of them. Because I am quite the family man. For my job I'm on location all week talk, talk, talk about the dialogue, associating with the people. So every time I go back home, I stay quiet.

GR: Would you ever redo a part that you had already done before?

CYF: You mean like Better Tomorrow Part II and III?

GR: No, I mean more like if an American studio wanted to remake The Killer?

CYF: No. Tristar wanted me to make The Killer again, but I said, "No, no, not again." I mean, it's very difficult to make it better than the original. You put yourself under a lot of pressure.

TVB GUIDE

GR: You started in TV right?

CYF: Yeah. In 1973 after I left high school. Actually, I never finished my high school. I worked at different kinds of jobs--factory worker, postman’s assistant, sales assistant, office boy, you know. Then I saw one of the bigger stations called TVB--Hong Kong Television Broadcast Company, Ltd.--they have an advertisement on TV and in the newspaper that they need new blood. So I pick up the phone, and about two weeks later they send me back an interview letter, and then they chose me for a class. I took one-year training. Then I graduate in 1974, and from 1974, I start my contract until 1986.

GR: What kinds of TV shows were you doing?

CYF: Mostly drama, and comedy, the action type, the old Chinese stories.

GR: Were they series?

CYF: Yes, series.

GR: What kind of pace were you working at in television? That must have been hectic also.

CYF: [hangs head and sighs] I am still young. I can afford it. I tell you what, you had to get up at 6:00, because 6:30 or 7:00 you have to get to the station for make-up. Usually for the males, thirty minutes for make-up, for the ladies, one hour. At 8:00 sharp you have to go to the location for shooting, okay? Then, on location shooting for several hours, then after lunch you have to go back to the studio for the recording-for the studio recording, okay?-until midnight or sometimes one or two o’clock in the morning, but usually they just stick to twelve. You can see that it’s almost 18 hours, more than 18 hours per day. If you want to have the leading roles, you must work hard for the whole period. You know what I did, the longest series was 128 episodes, it took about seven months. So in this period, I think you see the actors and actresses more than you see your own father and mother, you’re on the set and location more. So it’s pretty hard, pretty tough. Doing a series is just like working in a factory. But on the other hand, I can say that I appreciate what I did for the TV station because it is a very good acting foundation. It’s good training, because you have the opportunity to play different roles and you learn to survive in very bad conditions. Even though you are not sleeping enough, even though you are not in very good condition, you have to concentrate to play your role. It’s one kind of struggle of your spirit.

GR: Was TV shooting more like working on the stage? Were you allowed longer takes and allowed to work more in sequence than in film?

CYF: Shooting back at the TV studio, it’s like acting machines. You know, non-stop. One day you can shoot-for my record-46 scenes, scenes, not shots.

HANGING WITH RINGO

GR: I heard that you were in an acting class with Ringo Lam at TVB?

CYF: Yeah, we were schoolmates.

GR: What was that like?

CYF: Everyday we spent three hours, six days a week on the acting training, acting skill, make-up, modern dancing, ballet dancing, Chinese dancing, some martial arts, speech, stage play.

GR: And how was it to be in a class with Ringo Lam?

CYF: Once we graduated, he was the first guy to play in twenty five episodes of a TV series. He played the main role, supposedly the leading actor, so everybody was so jealous of him [laughs]. After we graduated, he was one of the biggest stars in Hong Kong in 1974 in TV. After that, he got bored and didn't like to act. He was too stiff, and he found out acting was too tough for him, so he quit to become an assistant director for one of the famous TV directors at the TV station. So after a few years he became a TV station director.

GR: What kind of director is he to work with? I've heard that he describes himself as a devil on the set. You have worked with him on a number of films.

CYF: We worked together on City on Fire, Full Contact, Prison on Fire I and II, and another one called Wild Search. Probably five films.

GR: So do you like working with him?

CYF: Ahhh. [He hangs his head then shakes it as if to avoid the question]

GR: You don't want to talk about it?

CYF: [laughs] We are very good friends. We are close friends, but on location, he is totally another kind of alien, an alien from another planet, out of his mind [laughs again]. Actually, he is a very good director. What he needs is, for every scene, every moment in the picture, in the camera, he wants the real thing. So this is very difficult, very difficult to work with him to get. But for an actor or an actress, this is very good training to work with a director who really wants your real stuff from your heart, from your soul. He also didn’t like to use the stuntmen. He always wants you to do it yourself, all the time [laughs heartily]. So as the actor gets older and older, some physical things he cannot do, you know? It's too tough for the actor. No matter how much he used camera tricks to help you, he must see your face in the picture. So it's a lot of fun, a lot of hard times, a lot of patience to work with Ringo Lam.

CHINESE SHAKESPEARE

GR: You recently did a stage play?

CYF: Yeah. Actually, back in 1973, we actually did stage play training. We did a lot of the Chinese Shakespeare (laughs). But after we graduate we mostly stick to TV, almost 100%. But ten years later, all the school mates from different years we join together to make an association and our goal, the main thing, is to gather all the people together. The second thing is, we hope to do something that we learned before, but didn't have a chance to do. Now we have the opportunity to set up an association where we can do it, and the most important thing is that we do all the shows for the charities. Nobody can get a dime, just free of charge. It's very meaningful. It's very interesting. And one thing I'm glad about is that a lot of the schoolmates didn't see each other for a long, long time and this allows us to work together. Actually, stage plays are our interests, our hobby, and a lot of fun, too. We did one called Run From Your Wife, basically it's a story from London, a very famous screen play from London by a writer called Ray Cooley. We bought the rights, we translate it in Mandarin and Cantonese, and we play it more than 100 times already within five years. We even performed in Los Angeles Chinatown, in Toronto’s Chinatown. In Vancouver, in New York City, in Singapore, in Malaysia.

GR: Did you put out a CD recently?

CYF: Yes, for charity as well.

GR: Did you enjoy doing that?

CYF: A lot of fun, yeah. In the training class we had the singing lessons, but I always got the D grade [laughs]. But for the past several years, I want to prove to everybody I can sing, I’m a singer [laughs]. But after a few records, I say forget it. [laughs]

HIGH-RISK INSURANCE

GR: What do you find more difficult to do, comedy or drama?

CYF: The action packed films.

GR: The action films are the most difficult? Why?

CYF:The action packed, you have to face the explosions, you have to face the physical problems because you can really get hurt.

GR: Have you ever gotten hurt?

CYF: Oh yeah, a lot. But it’s not a big deal, because no one insurance company in Hong Kong will allow the actor or the stunt man to buy insurance, because the action-packed films are really crazy. Even Jackie Chan, no one wants to insure him. It’s terrible. Comedy is the second most difficult for me because if you want to perform it, it is very important to stick to your body language. Like Jim Carrey, he has a lot of body movement-the jaw, the eyes, the hair, everything. It has to move to make people laugh. It’s very, very difficult. And it depends on the script. Some use the dialogue. The actor doesn’t have much emotion, just the dialogue. So it depends on what kind of role you want to play.

DIDN'T GET SHORTY

GR: Would you like to make a comedy here?

CYF: I think it would be difficult to do because a lot of in-jokes I don't pick up, I don't understand. I saw Get Shorty with a lot of Hollywood jokes. The inside jokes, I cannot get them. So if you want to make a comedy, I must stick to the script, and try to get more inspiration from the local people. Also, I have to watch more TV series because a lot of the in-jokes are from TV, from gossip, a lot of different sources go into the movies. Sometimes I cannot get it because of the local slang. Some of the American in-jokes, if you’re not staying here and you don’t know the culture or customs then you don’t know what is going on in the movie. It’s difficult. But I will try if I have the opportunity.

GR: Some of your Hong Kong comedies are wonderful. You seem to have a real flair for comedy even in a dramatic film. You have a self-deprecating sense of humor, you almost make fun of your own image.

CYF: Yeah right. It seems to me that in American movies they won't let the hero do both sides.

TRIADS

GR: I was wondering if you could talk a little about the Triads and how they function in the film industry? We hear a lot of stories here about Triad infiltration into the film industry in Hong Kong.

CYF: If the Triads were a real serious problem in Hong Kong movies, I don't think we would survive for long. I mean the Hong Kong movie industry. They just respect the industry. They stick to the rules. Everyone can invest money in the film business here. I hear that the Mafia controls the film business here. It’s the same. We have a funny saying that if everybody is in the gangs, if the film industry is totally controlled by the gangs, then there are no more gangs because they are all business men. Actually it is not a big deal.

MOONLIGHTING

GR: Back in the eighties, there were times when you made something like a dozen films a year. How difficult was that to do? Are you just shooting constantly?

CYF: Yes, simultaneously shooting four films together.

GR: Mabel Cheung said that she couldn't change the hair style on her actresses because when they left her set they were going to another one.

CYF: Yeah, right.

GR: So do you ever forget which film you are doing?

CYF: No, once you walk on the set and see the people, the different director, they show you the different costumes or put on your wig, and you are the other guy. I mean, it is one kind of way to survive in the Hong Kong film industry. We don’t have very large budgets for the production, so the studio won't pay a lot of money for hiring the star. So everybody wants to work hard for more money before 1997. It's pretty tough, though. Sometimes I'm so jealous that the stars here can take two years, three years to make a movie. But in Hong Kong if you take three years, four years to make a movie, you die. You cannot survive like that. It's tough but it is the way that we treat ourselves to be a star. Sometimes everyone is proud of themselves when they make twelve films in a year, but on the other hand there is a sadness. There is a sadness. I feel shame that we have been working like a dog like this.

GR: You're not still working at that pace now, are you?

CYF: (sighs) I cannot stand it.

A REAL JOB

GR: What kind of childhood did you have? Did you go to the movies a lot? Is that how you got interested in acting? Were you a class clown and always wanting attention?

CYF: Oh no. When I saw the advertisement in the newspaper in 1973, my first impression is that this kind of job is quite funny, it's very interesting. I have the feeling that I didn’t want to do a 9-5 job. When I pick up the form, I was actually working at a job in one of the hotels, during the training class I am still working in the daytime and at night time I go to school. So I just take up to one year training, and I learn something that I'm wondering, is this really interesting to take a look at. I don't think that some day I can be an actor. But after the training, I feel that this is my real job. Because you don't have to stick to the office working hours of nine-to-five. This is what I wanted. The lifestyle is very fit for me. Once I become an actor I find that TV working hours are worse than the office hours. But I enjoy it, I love it. Because when I sign the contract, I feel that I got married to the acting. My job is one part of my body, I cannot live anywhere without it. It’s a very interesting feeling. When I was young I saw a lot of the Canton Opera. This is very interesting because they put on a lot of make-up, everything is so dramatic, you are on the stage with the music, the live band. I was born on one small island, and every year they have this kind of festival, it is called Goddess of the Sea. This goddess protects the fishermen, so every year the fishermen have a celebration, and they invite the opera to do the show and to appreciate the goddess who has protected them the whole year. So it's a sign of respect. So in childhood, every year we have a chance to see this kind of opera, the Cantonese Opera. It is very interesting because they light up the stage, you can see very colorful costumes, the sound, the music, and all the people in the audience are chewing the peanuts, the sugar cane. It's a lot of fun, you know. I think it is one of the strong impressions. When I was ten years old, my whole family moved to Hong Kong. My mother worked for one family as a servant, so I was sent to a boarding school. So every two weeks I have to go back to the apartment where my mother worked, but the owner, one of the ladies, is a very decent woman, and she likes movies very much. So every two weeks she brings me to the cinema. So that was the first time I saw the cinema picture. My first impression is "How can people act on the wall, on paper?" I saw stage plays and the actor is on the stage, but the first time I’m in the cinema I see the man as on the paper, on the screen. "How? How can they do this? How? And they can talk. Wow. Very strange, yes." So after that, every two weeks I must have a movie gathering with the owner.

GR: Were they local films or American films?

CYF: They were American films. She liked American movies. And during the sixties a lot of the good movies like The Longest Day, The Great Escape, a lot of war films. John Wayne is one of our idols. And Montgomery Clift, yes. And Clint Eastwood. And a lot of TV series were very popular, too, in the late sixties, early seventies.

GR: What kind of films do you watch now?

CYF: Oh, the comedies, drama, action, everything. As a member of the audience, I enjoy them. I don’t mind lining up with the people in Century City. I just want to treat myself like ordinary people going to the theatre as a kind of leisure to share with the audience together. I just want to sit there with my popcorn and Coke and watch the movie and have fun.

NO BIG DEAL

GR: You don’t seem to be very comfortable with the label of star? How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as a big star?

CYF: I don’t think "star" is very suitable for me. Because my behavior, my attitude, it's worse than a star. I don't have a limo, I don't have a bodyguard, I don't dress well. I don't have diamonds and gold chains and a gold watch. I don't have money in my pockets. I think I am worse than ordinary people under normal conditions. I go to the market, I cook myself, I don't have any servants. No chauffeur. So I think maybe my attitudes come from being poor, I stick to the poor. Even though I have a very good lifestyle, but basically what I came from is based on the lifestyle I had. I don't want to isolate myself from the crowd, from the audiences. Not because I want to do some research or to get some inspiration from audiences, but because it is my real life, it is what I want. This is my real life. I believe I communicate with the people, I'm so happy I feel that I'm a man. But when I'm attached to one of the premiere gatherings and parties, I feel that I am in a dream, in a fantasy. I am lucky that I can cross in and out of two worlds. But basically what I want is the reality. It’s quite amazing; I like the market. Human life is from the market. The fishermen catch the fish and put them in the market; the farmers put the vegetables in the market. Everything all in there. You pick up the energy from the market and go back home to make the sauces to make the food to give yourself energy. So I think the energy for me is all in the market. I like the market because you can see all different kinds of people. No matter if you are a princess or a king, you have to go to the market. Everybody needs food, it’s a very important thing, so one of my hobbies is cooking. I like cooking. And back to what you were asking, "Do people treat me in Hong Kong as a superstar?" The people actually don’t treat me like a star, they treat me like an elder brother. They get used to my living style. They know who I am. Everyday I go to the market. I’m not a big deal. No big deal. I'm just like ordinary people. They won't treat me good, they won't treat me bad. They treat me just like any other customer.

GR: Do you think audiences tend to blur the line between your roles and your off-screen personality?

CYF: They don't believe that a star like that can walk into the market everyday and dressing so lousy, with slippers on or just a t-shirt on. Sometimes, I'm driving a very lousy car. Some people say, "This doesn't match your situation. You must drive a Rolls Royce or something." But no. No, not a big deal. The most important thing is that people treat you like a star more than you treat yourself like a star. That’s the point. Some actors and actresses, they treat themselves always as stars, but the audience says, "I don't think so." If I don't treat myself as a star, but I treat myself just as an actor and you treat me as a star then [he bows] I appreciate it. Thank you.

GR: So you like to cook?

CYF: Very much.

GR: Do you have a specialty?

CYF: Some Chinese food, steamed fish. What I learn is from my mother. My mother was a very good cook. She can cook anything. She taught me how to cook. But some things, some specialties, I still cannot cook. In Hong Kong, we mix with a lot of different specialties like Chinese food, Peking food, Taiwan, even the European food, and American food. A lot, so you can mix all different kinds of ingredients together to create your own style. Because in the market everyday, the fish is fresh, the chickens can run all the time you pick it up, everything is fresh. In Hong Kong, you can even buy the snake. A lot of things that you cannot imagine we can get in Hong Kong. It’s fantastic.

GR: So, do you miss the food?

CYF: Oh yeah.

GR: Do you feel any pressure that you have to somehow represent a whole country?

CYF: I don't think so. Not a big deal. The pressure is that I have to face my wife and my manager because they give me a lot of encouragement. The pressure is from my English teacher: "You have to do this exercise for tomorrow, this, this, this." Ahhh. It’s difficult to absorb, a lot of the idioms, the pronunciation, the vocabulary. I cannot digest it. Every time I say, "Sir, give me a break. Slow down, slow down." I mean in reality, in real life, the pressures are more than in the film life. What I want to say is that the most important thing, no matter how painful or how happy, enjoy the moment. Who knows what happens tomorrow? Of course, the main purpose that I'm staying here is to make a movie. On the other hand, it is also to enjoy my life. To meet nice people here, learning my English.

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