"Rebel without a Cause"
Teen Heartthrob Nicholas Tse on movies, Faye Wong, and Hong Kong's "It" girl

Nicholas Tse left school at the age of 16, according to CV, to devote himself completly to music.  Born into show business, Tse, now 19, is the hot young "It" boy of the Hong Kong music and movie scene.  Never far from publicity, his romance with Canto-pop diva Faye Wong has kept the local papparazi working overtime.  TIME Asia reporter Stephen Short caught up with the star of Tsui Hark's new movie "Time and Tide" while he was recording a new album.  Excerpts from the interview:

TIME: You're Kurt Cobain over Chow Yun Fat...a music man through and through?

Nic: Always

TIME: Are the movies a hobby?

Nic: It's not a hobby.  In Hong Kong, you need to do everything possible to sustain your popularity.  I always tell my company, "you don't see Pavarotti going on some television game show and getting a cake thrown in his face,"  but I have to.

TIME: Midway through your schooling you went off to Phoeniz in the States. What's that all about?

Nic:  Well... a lot of reporters were chasing after me because of my family, so the principal got pissed off, the school got pissed of, and my parents decided to send me to the most boring place in the universe.  And I tell you that Phoenix, Arizona is definitely the most boring place in the universe.

TIME: Have you been hounded all your life because of your parents?

Nic: Yes always.  And I hated it.  I always had to smile and look nice and I just used to get pissed off.  The first two years were pretty hard as well because I was performing at 16.  I'd go up on stage and nobody took me seriously.  I'd get bottles chucked at me and people would say, "Eget the f*** off!" They thought I was just a kid screwing around.  People were curious and not used to that.  And I'd say, "For God's sake, look at Hanson, I mean, the drummer's touring and he's 13 years old!"

TIME: You're a rebel without a cause? James Dean?

Nic: Er... that's funny.  The first time I ever smashed a guitar on stage, the papers and the people on the street said, "Nicholas spat, he smashed a guitar and disrepected the audience by doing so.." And I'm like, "Come on, give me a break."

TIME: How do you cope with HK's candy floss cuteness?

Nic: It's contradictory.  I do have to make a living and I try to do what I want to do.For example, in my latest album released in May, I liked some stuff I wrote, but 50 % or more of the songs were themes from commercials and movies.  There was one from Bossini, one was Nissan Cup Noodles, one was from Panasonic, it's ridiculous.

TIME: Cecilia Chung is the so called "IT" girl of HK cinema.  You've been working with her on the new Tsui Hark movie, "Time and Tide." Is she?

Nic:  I agree 100%.  She's something else.  She's got it in her blood and I think she's the best actress in HK.  She's one great young girl, particularly one who can survive in this environment and still be herself.  She's awesome.

TIME: Have you heard her doing Madonna's "American Pie"?

Nic: No I was invited to her concert but I was busy in Taipei unfortunately.

TIME:  Tsui Hark is meant to be hell to work with.  What's your take on him?

Nic: It's not easy.  He has high standards and the weirdest perspestive. You'll light a cigarette this way and he'll say, 'that's wrong, do it this way.'  He doesn't compromise and he doesn't give a damn.  Some directors are like, "OK, that was two rolls today, that's enuf," but his attitude is like, "Screw you, let's do another ten."

TIME:  Do you ever watch your own movies?

Nic:  I couldn't watch Young and Dangerous: The Prequel because at that time I was under 18 and it was an X-rated movie for which I blasted the governement.  2 months ago, my girlfriend, Faye Wong, insisted on watching all my movies and I had to sit there with her and watch them..but I don't really watch them.

TIME:  Does she think they're any good?

Nic: I think she likes the Young and Dangerous most but I'm not sure about the rest.  I look upon them as a journey to other things.  It's like somthing you hafta go through in this business.

TIME: Shu Qi was in that movie.  There's a great scene in a restaurant where she asks you to kiss her a couple of times, you look bashful, then you do.  It was a superb kiss. That wasn't improvised,was it?  You look like you're blushing for real.

Nic:  Yes, and it was improvised.  I was a bit embarassed but Shu Qi's very down to earth.  She doesn't have any of the big star mentality about her.  She made it really easy.

TIME: Who would u pay to see in HK cinema?

Nic: I really don't know.  There are very few, almost too few HK films that I would still go buy a ticket to the theater for.  In terms of acting, Shu Qi would be my first choice.

TIME: U just released a new Cantonese album in May, and this afternoon you're putting the finishing touches on a Mandarin album and then working on another Cantonese album, Yes?