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Here's looking at you Tony--March 25, 2001

 
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mu99le



Joined: 27 Jan 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 10:43 pm    Post subject: Here's looking at you Tony--March 25, 2001

Here's looking at you Tony.

By ADAM ZWAR.
615 words
25 March 2001
Sunday Herald Sun
89
English
(c) 2001 Herald and Weekly Times Limited

HE is a mega-star of the Hong Kong and Chinese film industries, stalked wherever he goes by camera-clutching fans and his private life is fodder for supermarket magazines.

His name is Tony Leung Chiu-wai - romantic leading man, comedic sidekick, action hero and martial arts star.

Hollywood has tried to seduce him several times but he is not happy with the roles it offers Asian actors.

And just because he has more than a billion fans - never compare him with Tom Cruise.

"I like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino much more," he says at the end of a mammoth publicity tour for his new film, the subtly erotic In The Mood For Love.

"They were my idols. Pacino in The Godfather and De Niro in Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. I grew up with Hollywood movies."

In his latest role he plays Chow Mo-Wan, a chain-smoking newspaper editor who has an affair with his next door neighbour (Maggie Cheung). And their situation is mirrored with the neighbour's husband sleeping with Mo-Wan's wife.

Throughout the film, director Wong Kar-wai shoots close-ups of a squinting Leung Chiu-wai walking in dark alleys on cold and rainy nights. Indeed, there is a hint of Humphrey Bogart in the 38-year-old's performance - particularly when he smokes.

"I don't know why Wong wants me to smoke every time I'm in his movies," he says.

"Maybe he thinks my smoking is good. But I don't want to encourage this.

"It's really horrible if you smoke in a movie because sometimes you have to finish a pack for just one shot and that makes you feel sick."

Sitting in Melbourne's Park Hyatt hotel while a dozen fans armed with cameras and autograph books wait in the lobby, Leung Chiu-wai says he started acting when he saw a television commercial asking for new talent.

He studied for a year and found the practice released him - albeit momentarily - from angst and shyness.

"I find it hard to express myself in front of others without feeling shy," he says.

"Acting is therapy for me. I feel relief after being on a set all day. I am a very shy person. I'm very good at hiding my own emotions. With acting, I can release all my emotion. It's great. I love it."

Leung Chiu-Wai has appeared in more than 50 television shows and movies since 1983 and last year won the best actor award for In The Mood For Love at the Cannes Film Festival.

Despite the accolades, he seems exhausted by the film which has taken up more two years of his life - including a 15-month shoot and the last year hitting the publicity trail in 30 countries.

The marathon involvement is due in part to director Kar-wai. He would constantly change the script during the lengthy shoot.

"Wong did six versions of the film," he says. "That's five other stories from the one that has been released."

So far In The Mood For Love has opened to acclaim in 10 countries. It serves to further boost Leung Chiu-wai's growing international profile and cement him as one of the biggest stars in Asia.

When he returns to Hong Kong next week, he starts work on a television sit-com and after that, another martial arts film.

"I think it's every Chinese director and actor's dream to make martial arts movies," he said. "It's part of our culture."

`In The Mood For Love' opens on Friday, March 29.
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