RICHIE JEN - THE KING OF HEARTS
from International B, January 2001 issue

Singer Richie Jen Hsien-chi looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. The Taiwanese version of the all-American boy-next-door - the kind mothers would be glad to see their daughters go to with.
But Jen, says there is a lot more to him than meets
the eye. "I'm not as goody-goody as my image would suggest", the singer-actor says with a laugh. "I'm a bit naughty, actually. If you look at some of music videos like Sad Horizon ( Sad Pacific ), you will see what I mean.
I love trying new things and I love new challenges.
I'm actually a very active personand not as bookwormish as I may look."

These are not empty boasts either. While fans in China and Southeast Asia know Jen best from his romantic songs and the underdog roles he plays in movies, Jen is actually a graduate in Physical Education from the University of Wen Hua in Taipei. As a student, Jen felt the opposing pulls of the creativity of the arts and the rigiddiscipline of sport. He opted for the best of both worlds, by majoring in physical exucation while using his free time for more creative pursuits such as playing in a band and being theschool disc jockey. "I was playing in a band by the time I was in Form Three", recalls Jen. "The rigours of sports training are very stressful and music was a way I could relax."

It was obvious what he excelled more at when he was talent scouted by a local recordcompany, Synco, even before he graduated from college. It didn't take long before he released his first album, Ask Once More, in 1990. He folowed that with Flying Towards My World and Coldness and Warmth,
and a television drama Hard to Forget within the next year. Yet just as it seemed as if his career was about to take off - he was already being called the "prime-time successor" - he ran into Taiwan's two-year mandatory national service. At the end of the two years things had changed a lot.
His record company had closed down while he was in the service, leaving his recording contract in limbo. He did not get the chance to record an album again untid Rock Records signed him up in 1996, and in the interim, he survived by hosting television programs and other variety shows.
"Those first six years didn't go very smoothly but I worked very hard.
Even though it was tough going, I still held out and was still hopeful that things would tru around. And I worked hard to get there. Maybe I wasn't that popular back then, perhaps the timing wasn't right. I still managed to get work on television dramas and some movies," he says.

It took his second album, Too Soft-Hearted, to show that he had been no flash in the pan the first time around. The title track from the album streaked across China, fulfilling his earlier promise. It also laid the groundwork for Sad Horizon (1998), which sold a record- breaking one million copies in Taiwan alone. The album spawned the hit single, Girls Over There, Look This Way,
a cover version from a song by Malaysian singer-songwriter, Ah Niu. He cemented his appeal by starring in the tearjerker, Fly Me To Polaris opposite Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi, and the romantic Summer Holiday opposite Canto-pop star Sammi Cheng Sau-man. Roles in television series such as The Legend of the Condor Heroes and State of Divinity, have not done any harm either.
The girls are certainly looking his way these days. While travelling in China for his concert tours recently, Jen had to sleep with bodyguards watching over him. He could not
even leave the hotel without being mobbed if he was not in disguise; sometimes the disguises didn't work either. With his change in fortunes, his priorities have changed slightly.

These days, he relaxes by taking his 250cc bike out for motorcross racing of just shoots the waves on Bali or a Taiwan beach. "At school, baseball was something I was best at but I'm interested in a lot of sports". In school, however, they only concentrate on the Olympic sports. Now, I prefer X-games so I go surfing, bungee jumping and motorcross racing," he says. "I love surfing because it brings me closer to nature. Nothing beats the feeling of standing out there in the middle of the sea and fighting the waves, and trying to maintain a balance."

With his passion for sports, it is surprising that he has not taken on more significant action roles. Even in Jackie Chan's romantic comedy Gorgeous, Jen played a lovelorn country bumpkin who comes to Hong Kong to find his missing girlfriend (played by Shu Qi). "Actually I did more action work in the past but I wasn't as well-known then so not many people noticed me. In Condor Heroes and State of Divinity, I still did some fighting", he says. "But I love action movies, especially Jackie Chan movies. I've been approached for action roles but the timing has never been right. I've always been busy with an album, a concert or some other movie. However, love dramas can also be fun anyway. The best thing would be to be able to do both kinds of movies."

At the moment, Jen is busy promoting his new album, Angel, Brother, Babyface, which was released in December. It has been almost a year since his last album, which is rare for a Canto-pop or Manda-pop singer.
"The ideal would be to release an album every nine months or so because you really need that amount of time to get an album produced, and packaged and do the promotion", he says. "With so many more cable networks in Taiwan now, promotion work is taking up to two months or more. And then, there's the concert tour to thick of as well." One of the reasons why this album has taken almost a year is because he had to take six months out for Summer Holiday and his concert tour in China, Hong Kong and the United States.

With absence, however, Jen is hoping that his fans will be able to see a new side to their idol with Angel, Brother, Babyface. For that reason, Jen invited actor Simon Yam Tat-wah and his wife, model Qi Qi, to be the photographer and art director for his new album cover and music videos.
"We met while we were in Switzerland for the Omega Golf Tournament and I mentioned to Simon how much I liked his photography. I asked if they were interested in helping me out with the album cover. They did a lot of research for me before we went to shoot the pictures in Hong Kong, Macau and the US", Jen says. "I'm very satisfied with the results. The pictures and the image are both different to things I have done in thepast."

Despite his current popularity, Jen knows how fickle the entertainment business can be. Although it may be a bit too early to be planning a second career, Jen already has his eye firmly on becoming a film director or music production. "A singer's career doesn't last very long. In Chinese music it's difficult to find someone who is popular into their 50s. It isn't easy maintaining popularity. Even with Western music, you won't find a lot of examples," Jen adds. "I'm getting some practice in by directing some of my own music videos and I have learnt a lot about work behind the scenes from director Jingle Ma Cho-sing, who I worked with on Fly Me To Polaris and Summer Holiday. He's been a huge influence on me."

The Hubei native says he does not fear the inevitable day his popularity will wane. "I think I could be a very good actor or director then. You have to make adjustments at every stage of your life. New blood takes over all the time. Before the Four Heavenly Kings, there were Leslie Cheung and Alan Tam, and before them, there was Sam Hui", he says. "And when it is time, there will be new faces to take over from the Four Kings. I just hope people will view me as someone who has been able to maintain consistent quality in his work."

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