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By Lam Yi Nei
After trying to find Chow Yun Fat for 3 months, leaving messages and faxes to his Hong Kong company and American management company all returned with no replies, I almost went mad. How can it be this hard to contact him?
Those who has been through media training will not abandon this matter. I only blamed myself for forgetting to check phone numbers with Mr. and Mrs. Chow at the John Woo party.
Finally when Chow Yun Fat returned to promote his first Hollywood film The Replacement Killers, Mrs. Chow Jasmine finally returned my call.
"We're running around like dogs." Fat Soe said.
"There's a lot of politics in Hollywood, you know I am very foreign, I couldn't get used to it." Fat Soe said.
I said it's hard for Fat Soe to accompany her husband too. Fat Soe said, "He is such a good husband, so I am willing to do so much for him."
Speaking of marriage, Fat Soe said dating is different from marriage. Once someone marries, "Everything is out! Marriage is about mutual compromise."
Fat Soe is very capable. With her men making a career for himself overseas, having a woman about naturally reduces the loneliness.
I told Fat Soe I would see the Replacement Killers. Fat Soe said Fat Jai is good in the film and the female lead is also good, but the script was a little less than perfect, "Don't expect too much." Fat Soe told me directly. As for the future, "He wants to do more drama roles."
Finally the lead appeared. Chow Yun Fat quickly agreed to call the two radio program I hosted to chat. One ran between 9 to midnight on Saturday nights, the other ran between 11 to 1 Sunday night. The crew worried that he would forget to call or the radio station phone lines will be tied up. I said don't worry, Chow Yun Fat has always been reliable. With his smarts he can call into the studio if he really wants to.
Finally he really called on time. I asked him before hand, "Should I call you Fat Gor or Fat Jai?" "Fat Gor" is his position title, Fat Jai is his pet name to everyone in Hong Kong. "Call me Fat Jai." He insisted. Has living abroad made him homesick? The name "Fat Jai" extremely close to him. Hong Kong people are the ones who watched the growth of this superstar.
After watching The Replacement Killers, I breathed a sigh of relief. The film has made him look very handsome, and he also performed well. We were most afraid of the Americans making us Chinese look ugly, as if Chinese people can't look good at all.
Fat Jai has lost weight and is in better shape. His deep facial features surfaced completely and he was very happy.
"My husband works very hard," Fat Soe said, "he is running and learning English everyday."
In the film Fat Jai's English was rather good and didn't have much of a Hong Kong accent. During television interviews in the U.S., he also spoke fluently. One of the largest newspapers in San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, on February 6th featured a full page introduction of him, which praised him as a combination of Clint Eastwood, Robert Mitchum, and Cary Grant.
The report on February 18th regarding Chow Yun Fat and his possible ties with the underworld was quite a joke. Everyone knows the stars of Hong Kong try their best to avoid those people. Foreigners always treat the entire Hong Kong as one big job, then what about their Frank Sinatra? Can old Frank be clean when he opened a casino? How come they don't talk about their own people? Fat Jai only plays a killer and a God of Gamblers. Those were movies. Even when Tim Magazine put Fat Jai on its cover it said, "Chow Yun Fat actually doesn't like guns at all. After a scene he would return the gun to the prop crew. Unlike some American actors who after a scene would take the gun to a bar and start trouble, he is a good guy."
What is considered ties with the underworld? Sometimes when we exchange morning greetings with an underworld figure we wouldn't know what he does for a living. Americans are so strange.
Actually Chow Yun Fat is rather happy in Hollywood. Not only does he have the support of John Woo (Ng Yu Sum), he also have the admiration of famous directors Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone.
Before the Lunar New Year I had lunch with Fat Jai and chatted a little. He really was in better shape, looking dapper and very handsome.
He said, "The Replacement Killers is my best American film, one and only, the only one! Nevertheless, I wouldn't lie to myself, in the film there isn't a single thing that Chow Yun Fat does which hasn't been seen by the Hong Kong audience."
The Hong Kong audience of course would ask for more out of Fat Jai than its foreign counterpart, because Fat Jai has already given us so much. With his outstanding portrayal of several dozen characters, from Mong Jung Yun (Lit: Man in the Net)'s good son [A TVB show -- see God of the Tube for this and other titles listed below. -- WL] to All About Ah Long (Ah Long Dik Goo Si)'s father, from The Bund (Seung Hoi Tan)'s wealthy mobster to A Better Tomorrow (Ying Hung Boon Sik)'s down on his luck hero, from Siu Ngo Gong Wu (Lit: Smiling Proud World)'s carefree big hero Ling Wu Chung to An Autumn's Tale (Chau Tin Dik Tung Wa)'s Chinatown small potato Suen Tau Chet, we have seen Fat Jai's changing faces; but the Western film circle has never seen it, thus the critique for The Replacement Killers although said the plot was empty still praised Chow Yun Fat's look and performance.
When I left America on February 12th, The Replacement Killers was still in the third spot in the box office and doing quite well. Chow Yun Fat has represented Hong Kong actor's acting and style outstandingly.
Action films perhaps aren't Fat Jai's favorite, but in the eyes of Hollywood, Hong Kong is the leader of the world's action film (according to Time Magazine). So it isn't surprising that Chow Yun Fat's first film in the West is an action film. Honestly, besides action films, our other film genre isn't as wide range as Hollywood and doesn't have anything to offer them. We will leave films about opium, ancient punishment and Qiu Ju to China.
Many people are upset that in The Replacement Killers Mira Sorvino didn't kiss Chow Yun Fat. Fat Jai said actually they made three versions. They kissed each other goodbye in one, shook hands in another, and gave each other a look in the third. Finally the producers chose the third.
I thought, when Chinese men saw Michelle Yeoh (Yeung Chi King) kissing James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies, they might be mad for Fat Jai for not getting to kiss Mira Sorvino or even to sleep with her. Actually both acts are no big deal, perhaps it's the Chinese men sense of conquest acting up. In most of Fat Jai's films there usually aren't any bed scenes. In A Better Tomorrow there wasn't even a woman!
Fat jai said, "Working in Hollywood, one has to be popular and powerful to make whatever he wants. I don't want to predict the future and would rather just let it be. The most important part is the beginning. Once I started God will naturally make arrangements so there is no need to be too nervous."
Some felt the film road of Chow Yun Fat, a hard to come by talent who is praised by director Li Han Xiong (Lee Hong Cheung) as "The Best Chinese Actor in History", has always had its share of bumps.
Fat Jai completely disagrees, "Bumps are just old people talking, 'If there is foresight no one would be a beggar.' Obstacles are necessary parts of life, what is the fun in being flat? Truthfully, I really don't feel all that bumpy. Obstacles to me are no big deal. There will be good and bad movies, successful and unsuccessful films. Life naturally has its highs and lows."
How does he feel about being in Hollywood initially?
"The beginning was somewhat empty. I was in an unfamiliar territory, with food I wasn't used. I don't like to English on top of that. Everyday it's hello hello, I am not a hello person. Some of my neighbors jumped ship to America, they still came later didn't they? We are like salmon, swimming back home in the end. There is no need to immigrate. I am not sitting in immigration prison, I constantly come back."
Fat Jai constantly remembers The Story of Woo Viet because that was his first movie. He is very appreciative of Ann Hui (Hui On Wa).
"Just because you are popular on television doesn't mean your movie will make money." Fat Jai deeply understands that. He felt that Hong Kong film could not find its direction, then Bruce Lee opened one up. When he died it lost its direction again. He was very happy to have encountered the new wave directors like Tsui Hark and Hui On Wa. "I feel very lucky to have made it on the ride."
Fat Jai started attending training classes and acting in television series in his teens in TVB. He said, "At the time the memo was for 09 to 03 (9:00 AM to 3:00AM), I didn't go home much. When I was young I accompanied lighting technicians and other crew members the most. Now some of them have retired and returned to China. This time I came back, they deliberately made the trip from Shenzhen to visit me, which made me very happy."
Starting from playing roles like pedestrian A, B, Gong Wu Siu Ji (Lit: Kid in the World) was the first television series in which he plays a supporting role. The lead was then the big brother of TVB Ng Wai Kwok. After that shows like Dai Gong Nam But (Lit: Big River South North) and Kong Chiu (Lit: Mad Tides) allowed him to show his skills, but Fat Jai felt when he made Mong Jung Yun was when he was able to completely control his role.
Mong Jung Yun is an emotional family drama about mother and son. The ending of Mong Jung Yun and the beginning of The Bund were made at the same time. "At the time Chiu Chun Keung offered him a role in The Bund, I thought how can I do it, in Mong Jung Yun I played a modern university student, in The Bund I played an 40's Shanghai university student, but Chiu Chun Keung said, it's not the same. At the time I was under contract I had no chocie. Whatever the company said to make I have to make it." He never expected The Bund to become a classic, and his Hui Man Keung has become a household name.
"The character Hui Man Keung was well written, very multi-dimensional. The story was about how a college student makes a living in complex Shanghai. When the story is well written it can be well acted." Chow Yun Fat said humbly. Actually the audience was watching a talented actor mature.
"How old was I when I was in The Bund? 1981, I was 26."
The people of Shanghai said when the Bund played in Shanghai, "The entire Shanghai collapsed." Even though Fat Jai was definitely a Hong Kong boy, but the Shanghai people took a special liking to Chow Yun Fat. Once he went to Shanghai for an opening for a bakery, the streets were so packed even water could not pass through. A friend of mine in Shanghai said, "In order to catch of glimpse of Hui Man Keung, a lot of things fell from the trees." I asked, "What fell from the trees?" "A lot of people fell from the trees."
The best known and most admired Hong Kong actor in China is Chow Yun Fat. From the southern most Hainan island to the northwest Ningxia, all of the audience knows Chow Yun Fat. The strange part is Chow Yun Fat has never made a film in China, but his popularity surprises even himself.
"No one would have guessed you were on 26 when you made The Bund." I said.
"Perhaps I looked like I have suffered, like someone who has been pushed around." Fat Jai said. Before entering training class, he was a child laborer. Having done many jobs like washing dishes and selling dim sum in restaurants, he has the life experience of someone who matured early.
After more than 20 years in acting, Chow Yun Fat has never been recorded for any disputes. He is famous for being nice to minor crew members and stand in's. As for other leads, he has never had any disputes with them. "In the large environment of film making, I feel everyone should make everyone else happy. I really hope to have harmony. No matter where I am working at, I focus on harmony and accept being pulled from all ends. An actor should try to do his best to make a movie good. Even a thunderstorm is fun sometimes. One can take joy from suffering."
Some says Fat Jai is complicated and it's not easy to see what he has inside.
He disagreed, "I actually am very simple, I don't hide much. It's just the characters I play are complex. I am fine as long as I can work and sleep. I am not like some actors who want to go into other businesses. When I was on television I had a contract to fulfill, so I fulfilled it."
"I like to stay home, I like handy work a lot. Earlier I was fixing the water pump for 4 days, I even want to do the very detailed work. When I was little I like to build models, I saved money from meals to buy models. A home has a lot of stuff to fix. When I fixed something, I then feel this is really my home."
Fat Jai and Fat Soe's lives are very low key. Fat Jai loves to go food shopping in Kowloon City. People asked him isn't he afraid of being seen? He said, "Afraid of what, everyone is a neighbor. On top of that I come and go like a ghost, sometimes I show up early, sometimes I show up late, no one knows when I would go."
Fat Jai has long left his days of Rolls Royce piles behind. This superstar whose appearance would lead to mountains of people likes to live a normal life. "I can ride the MTR (Subway), I can ride the bus, I also can ride a bicycle."
"But every time you show up in public it's mayhem." I have seen many times that as soon as Fat Jai steps into the public he is surrounded by several rings of reporters. He laughed, "It's just because people rarely see me, I always am hiding."
Fat Jai's acting has a special feature which is noticed in Hong Kong and Hollywood. When he is silent he still has a very strong performance power. His silent stare is described by Time Magazine as deadly.
Fat Jai joked once that looks have to be quick, because if it's slow, when a director edited it out there is no movie.
His body language is also very strong, among them the two long runs in An Autumn's Tale have already become classic. One is out of joy, the other out of sorrow.
"The happy one? We ran for 7 days. The scene that ended up on the movie actually were run in different places. When we were shooting it we could not be more rushed. Today we shot something then ran for a bit, tomorrow we would shoot else then ran for a bit. On the first day of our shoot of course we ran happily, after the run our day was finished."
"Although the sorrowful part was shot with a telephoto lens, a long shot. You don't feel I have run a lot of roads, actually the road is several hundred miles. The long lens was hard to focus. It took us two day to shoot the run. I was out of breath and wilted, how can I not be sorrowful!"
When asked if he remembers all of the movies he has made, he said, "My organizational skill is really bad. I don't remember anything at all. Of course there are memorable moments, like the two long runs, the restaurant scene in A Better Tomorrow, the little sayings in Prison on Fire (Gam Yuk Fung Won). Do you understand? If a script was good, I would have performed it in my head already. If a role was well written it would move my heart, my soul, and in turn before the performance it would feel like there is something that has already flowed through my mind, through my mind it would flow through the body, then the character would come out, do you understand?"
"Some movies I just made to make for a living, the character cannot touch the heart and soul. There is no feeling. It's just selling my skills, I wouldn't lie to myself."
"Although the actor is a tool of the director, but the director should know the good points of the actor and help the actor. Sometimes an actor also needs the enlightenment of a director. Oh, Chow Yun Fat, this isn't good this is good, then this would be better. At different times directors would catch different good points of Chow Yun Fat, and would also ask for something that the audience hasn't seen from Chow Yun Fat. Each director and each role have different requests. When a director asks you to jump over this line, as an actor you shouldn't be shy, embarrassed, or have anything you wouldn't do. You have to accept different challenges. If you can make yourself believe you are that character, then you don't believe in yourself. Who will believe you? Who will buy tickets to see your movie?"
"I feel the hardest thing to do is to make people laugh. Comedy is the hardest, a lot more difficult than drama or playing cool. In comedy, timing is very important. Which position can make people laugh, which is considered not going overboard, where should be held back and where to take advantage of the situation, all have to be grasped tightly. When it's overboard it's too exaggerated, and the movie becomes silly."
"I really admire (Michael) Hui Koon Man. He is very warm, making you smile from your heart, or rolling on the floor laughing. He isn't cheap and is very talented. (Stephen) Chow Sing Chi is good too, better than Jim Carrey."
Fat Jai also has made a few comedies. His comedy isn't bad either. He also enjoys stage work. Although he only had time to perform one show of Fa Sum Dai Jeung Fu (Lit: Philandering Big Husband) at the Performance Art Academy and throughout the show he wore only pajamas, he still made us flipped over with laughter.
Fat Jai isn't someone who minds. He is playful, playing comedy is a challenge he longs for. He fears costume films the most. With his short body and long legs, he looks good in modern fashion, in ancient costumes he looks too tall and he isn't used to it.
Once he was working on a costume film and we visited. Fat Jai asked me consciously, "Don't I look gross?" I didn't feel he looked bad, he himself was really uncomfortable.
"Playing Louis Cha (Gum Yung) Siu Ngo Kong Wu's Ling Wu Chung, I think he must have puke blood after seeing it." Fat Jai laughed. His other costume film [Both were tv shows, I think. -- WL] was So Hark Yi (Lit: Beggar So). He was also afraid of fighting because he wasn't good at it. I told him, "Mr. Lau Siu Ming said, after a kick from Fat Jai, there was a huge foot print on my chest. The kick almost made me still breathing." Fat Jai said, "He is a Mo (dance) Da star (Lau Siu Ming is a famous ballet instructor), I am a Mo Da (no fighting) star, I got nothing. Finally because both didn't know how to hold back and both of us were kneeling on the ground in a lot of pain." That is Fat Jai's fighting skill.
What about playing 007 James Bond? Fat Jai's look is very international, is he interested?
Fat Jai immediately likes the idea, "If someone gives me that chance, I would be all over it. Why wouldn't I do it? Since 1962 to 1998, after 30 some year and 4 generations of actors it is still going. I can at least leave a name in film history."
Out of the 4 James Bond his favorite is the first, Sean Connery. Speaking of this character, he even thought of how James Bond, a British secret agent can become Chinese. "Even Time Magazine has an American and an Asian edition. Chow Sing Chi too has played From China With Love (Gok Chan Ling Ling Chut). James Bond has been a philanderer and doesn't have too many real relationships. He shows his weapons more than his emotions. Can there be a dramatic James Bond? Then when I am dealt a card, it wouldn't be as simple to see whether to hit or not hit."
Fat Jai is the best at emotional scenes. He said it's because he has had a lot of training at it. "A kiss might have 90 some different ways of interpretation. Emotional scenes are especially easy to grasp because when I was doing TVB Jade series, the roles I played were all romance, tragedy, family drama and that sort. The plot revolved around people and I was very familiar with it. At the time it was the Golden Age of long television serial. I made them night and day, so actually I didn't have time to see a complete serial that I made until I left television. Only then did I have time to enjoy other people's performances."
Has Fat Jai met Mira Sorvino before making The Replacement Killers? He said they have talked after being introduced by his manager to avoid being too estranged when production began. He said this blonde Harvard graduate with a degree in Chinese spoke a mouthful of Beijing Mandarin and could read simplified Chinese writing. Mira Sorvino was rumored to be trouble due to her education and her boyfriend, did she have any disputes with Fat Jai?
"I looked at the bigger picture, when I was making movies in Hong Kong situations like those would not happen, even if they did I wouldn't create disputes. Because you both are the leads, if you two fight, how can the audience believe you are a couple? I would take care of her in real life as well."
Time Magazine wrote, if Chow Yun Fat can handle Mira Sorvino, he can conquer the entire city of Los Angeles. According to a friend in America, when they were interviewed together on television, Sorvino was quite cooperative.
Speaking of the Replacement Killers script, he didn't say what he thought about it, and only said the writer was high on aim and low on the shot. Of course, he felt holding two beauties are much more fun than holding two guns.
What he says to the foreign reporters is the same as what he says to us, as he dreams of playing a mute. "But the co-star has to be (Josephine) Siao Fong Fong!" One is deaf and one is mute.
Someone asked him if he hasn't had a child yet because he is too busy? He laughed, "Busy? A man making that doesn't require too much time!"
Fat Jai said with his calm heart he will first tolerate for a while that Hollywood sees him only a Hong Kong's premier action film actor. When the time is right he will show his other glory. Fat Jai, the Hong Kong audience wishes you well!
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