by WINNIE CHUNG
23 December 1999

They are calling him the "Tom Cruise of the East" and the sexiest action star of the year, but Chow Yun-fat's eyes take on a devilish glint when asked what he thinks of such analogies.

"Tom Cruise of the East?" he asks, with a laugh. "I think that should be Andy Lau [Tak-wah]. I'm Chow Yun-fat of the East!"

And Chow Yun-fat of the West too, his agents and fans hope, now that Anna And The King has opened to right royal reviews for him especially. "He is a supremely charismatic (and did we say dreamy?) specimen of manhood," gushed one American critic.

Another went: "Chow is a revelation: masculine, tender and gently amusing."

Hong Kong's most respected acting export to Hollywood is certainly in a class of his own in Hong Kong. It is no secret the film industry here lacked actors of his calibre until Chow came along. Three Hollywood films later, he has finally made his mark - not as an action star but as a dramatic hero - and he could not be happier.

Anna And The King is his first Hollywood outing in which he does not come out with guns blazing; the Magnums and Colts have been traded in for a sword and pretty frocks. Interestingly enough, it is the first time he has played a monarch despite a career encompassing more than 70 films.

"Finally, I don't need to hold a gun to make a living. Holding a sword is OK, it's different; it's more debonair and brings a new feel," he jokes. "I'm very happy and it feels very comfortable. I've been dying for it to happen for a long, long time.

"I had not been an action hero at all until 1986, when I met John Woo and did A Better Tomorrow. After that movie nobody would hire me in any dramatic roles, they always wanted me to be holding two guns as the action hero, again and again and again.

"Sometimes, as an actor, you just try to provide a service . . . so what can you do? You know, you just let it flow, let it flow, until somebody recognises your ability to play a dramatic role."

His wife, Jasmine, says: "It's good that people can finally see the other side of him, that he's not just an action star."

Despite the encouraging reviews (". . . the studio paid the reviewers to write that", Chow jokes), the Lamma boy is none too confident it will open up more dramatic opportunities for him.

"It really depends on my agents. As an Asian actor, I think it is very difficult to get a role like this [in Anna And The King ]. Maybe my agents, they did a very good job or were very aggressive.

"But I hope in the future the studios will get more dramatic roles for Yun-fat rather than holding two guns all the time."

There is no Hollywood project lined up after Anna And The King although Twentieth Century Fox - which produced the film - is said to have snapped him up for another movie.

"We're waiting," he says. "That's the Hollywood process. If it appears that I seem to have had one project after another, it's because we've been in discussions for them for several years. Now we'll stop for a while and then start new discussions."

And, there has been talk for some time about a Hollywood collaboration with action auteur John Woo, for a caper called King's Ransom.

"Oh, that kind of thing takes three or four years just to discuss!" Chow scoffs. "This film [Anna ] was in the works for six years, but there is a chance [I will work with John]. I hope to work with him but he's busy and I have other things on. We have to wait for the right time."

Chow has just finished filming Ang Lee's Hollywood-financed Chinese language Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on the mainland but says it will probably be some time before he can grace Hong Kong films again, even though there are many new directors he would like to work with.

"Hong Kong is now actually moving forward quite fast in creativity, film-making and ways of working. But if things take off [for me] in Hollywood, I don't think it would be possible to come back and make films. I hope to put in more time there and build a stronger foundation.

"I've made more than 70 Hong Kong films, I'd like to make 70 films in Hollywood. Then I can split my time between Hollywood and Hong Kong!" he says with a laugh.

Hollywood attention has not depleted the humility and level-headedness that have always been the star's strong traits. Pressed to name someone from Hollywood's A-list to whom he feels he would make a good comparison, he closes his eyes in thought. When they open again, you know that he has thought up a cheeky answer.

"Jack Lemmon!" he pronounces with a chuckle. "Did you ever watch The Odd Couple? They're so funny, he and the other guy, Walter Matthau. I think he is most like me, an old man shambling around!"

Hardly the picture of a sexy action star, but Chow does not see himself in that light anyway.

"I think if they say the characters I play are sexy, that's OK but if they're referring to the real person, I wouldn't dare think that much of myself. People would run if they see me. I would run if I saw me!"

It is obviously not something that Hollywood women who have worked with him, or even met him, would agree with. Anna And The King director Andy Tennant talks of his wife and personal assistant swooning every time Chow so much as walks by. Co-star Bai Ling comments on him being "so handsome, it seemed surreal" and compares him to a beautiful sculpture.

Even Oscar winner Jodie Foster, who plays royal governess Anna Leonowens in the film, was not immune.

"He's got a great sense of humour. He's very boyish. He's like a little boy. I think that's the sexiest thing about him. Plus I love his relationship with his wife, Jasmine . . . they're always together, but they have this schoolkid personality together," says Foster.

All this probably went a long way in helping Chow deal with King Mongkut's 58 children. He found the young actors "quite a handful".

"Most are quite good but there are eight or 10 who are really naughty and cheeky," he says, a fond smile tugging at his mouth. "They know who I am because they are Malaysians - and Malaysian Chinese at that - and would always want to play with me. At times, they'd ask really personal questions like 'how much money do you have in the bank?' or 'how many cars do you have?'.

"Sometimes, I think, 'Oh dear, this is a tough time for me, I need to learn my lines, go away' but sometimes you have to play with them. If they were really my kids, it would be a big headache."

When they became too naughty, Chow resorted to a little punishment - "I'd smack their bottoms" - but it often backfired. "They'd smack my bottom too, and pull my ears."

He admits, however, meeting more than his match in mischief in Foster who got the crew to put up a banner proclaiming: "Welcome, King Fatty" and hired a marching band to play When The Saints Go Marching In on Chow's first day on the set. The rousing welcome certainly took Chow by surprise. "I never expected that from her but once you get to know her, she can be very playful and mischievous. I think she sometimes is forced to repress this facet because she is so famous and people expect so much from her. But she is very playful - sometimes she's worse than me."

His fondness for the actress is obviously reciprocated. "I just love the guy. He's just such a nice man, and so fun, and just such a joy to work with him, and just such a joy," says Foster.

Foster's reputation as a film-maker and a two-time Academy Award-winner (The Accused, Silence Of The Lambs ) would daunt a lesser actor, but Chow said he thrived from his experience of working with her.

"Any actor would like to work with someone with high expectations, or with a very good actor. When your co-star can exert that kind of pressure on you, it makes you rise above the occasion. For an actor, this is a challenge and very good practice."

Foster also helped out when Chow had difficulties with his lines, especially since he had to speak a combination of English and Thai - which proved to be his biggest challenge. "The English used was originally archaic and almost Shakespearean and Jodie would always suggest that Andy [Tennant] change it to ordinary English so that I could manage it."

There is no doubt that the combination of factors has brought about Chow's most impressive performance in Hollywood to date and there have been rumbles about award nominations, even though he did not make the Golden Globe list released this week.

"All these ads say everyone has a chance but it's all advertising," he says. "As an actor, once you've finished the movie, what follows is none of your business. What we enjoy and want to do, we would have done on the set already. If you get a nomination, you just have to think of it as dessert. It's like you go for dinner and they give you a free fruit platter."

Anna And The King opens in Hong Kong today.

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