Article abt Tony in Life Singapore

[Lil]

Sound of Mr Hush Hush
Newly-crowned Golden Horse Best Actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai may not have any airs about him but he remains elusive, jealously guarding his private world

By Mak Mun San

TO SAY that Tony Leung Chiu Wai is an enigma would be an understatement.


OOZING CHARM: Taking it easy at the interview with Life! Leung says he yearns to be just a normal person. -- ENRIQUE SORIANO
Even the man himself is proud of the fact that he has perfected the art of saying a lot yet revealing very little.

When asked to describe the characteristics which set him apart from his peers, the newly-crowned Golden Horse Best Actor says in Cantonese: 'I'm moody, melancholic and I keep a lot of things to myself.

'It's not easy for you to fully understand me. I'm very mysterious, elusive, shy.'

His reply rolls off his tongue so effortlessly it seems almost as if he is talking about someone else.

Flashing a boyish grin, he adds teasingly: 'That's why people find me intriguing. They want to know more.'

The irony is, despite his mysterious personality, interviewing the Hong Kong actor is hardly a tedious affair.

In town on Monday to promote his latest movie, Sound Of Colors, Leung is polite and obliging.

Indeed it is difficult not to be charmed by the 41-year-old.

Entering the Fullerton Hotel suite wearing a bashful smile, he does not have the airs of a celebrity even though he is very much one.

It is 7.35pm and he has had a long day attending publicity events, which included him taking the MRT from Marina South to Bishan for a public press meet at Junction 8, which attracted hundreds of screaming fans.

But if he is tired and hungry, he does not show it. Instead, he walks over and gives you a warm handshake.

During the photo shoot, he oozes charm simply by lazing on an armchair, head tilting casually to his right.

And then there are those eyes.


LEUNG has this canny ability to spout platitudes and get away with it.

When he tells you in his soft, dreamy voice that 'money can't buy happiness', you almost find yourself nodding in agreement.

In Sound Of Colors, which is based on Taiwanese author Jimmy Liao's illustrated book MTR, Leung plays a matchmaker opposite Hong Kong singer-actress Miriam Yeung.

The 1.75m-tall actor says he is a fan of the cartoonist as he can identify with the lonely characters often featured in Liao's books.

'I'm a loner. I live in my own world. Sometimes, I feel as if I've nothing to do with the rest of the world.'

Alarming words, coming from someone who has been in a serious relationship with actress girlfriend Carina Lau Kar Ling, 39, for more than 14 years.

Is there anyone who can enter his jealously-guarded inner world?

There is a long pause as he ponders this question.

Then, he murmurs: 'Very... very... very few. Only those who are very, very close to me, like Lau Kar Ling, my mother, my younger sister and a few buddies.'

He pauses again. 'Sometimes, I don't even know if I've really let them in. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that it's become a habit. I'm too used to protecting myself.'

Born in Hong Kong in 1962, he had an unhappy childhood after his father walked out on the family when he was eight.

It is perhaps no coincidence, then, that he portrays withdrawn, brooding characters so convincingly on the big screen - characters like the lonesome journalist opposite Maggie Cheung in In The Mood For Love or the conflicted undercover cop in Infernal Affairs.

'After acting for so many years, I'm confused as to who I really am. So I tell myself: Forget it, let it be. I don't want to know the real me. So what if I know?'

Before you can pose the next question, he suddenly blurts out: 'It's actually very tough for me.

'To the public, we're like superstars. But this life I'm leading is unreal, you know, fake. Why don't I have to queue at restaurants? Why do shops reserve the nicest clothes for me? Regular folks don't live like that.'

The actor, who prefers walking and taking the subway when he is abroad, says he yearns to be just a normal person.

'You can't expect me to wear a bow tie, with my hair nicely gelled, when I am shopping at the supermarket or eating a bowl of noodles at a roadside stall, right?' he says, chuckling.

'Actors are always saying: You must experience the real life to be a good actor. But how can you do that? Once you walk out there, you're not treated as a normal person.'

When you suggest that he can consider retiring from showbiz one day to lead the kind of normal life he wants, he dismisses the idea with a slight shake of the head.

'I believe that is now impossible. Once I am Leung Chiu Wai, I will always have to be Leung Chiu Wai. Besides, I don't think I can ever walk away from movies.'

Many will be glad to hear that.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/story/0,4386,225977,00.html?

[Lil]

I just think it's so sad when he doesn't think he knows who is the real him and that he yearns sooo much to be normal.
All that yearning to be normal actually keeps his feet on earth and his head stable - unlike other stars who think the world must kiss the floor they walk on. That's the charm of Tony - so down to earth despite his "godly" status.

[Guest]

pic:




p.s: has anybody bought print version? is there additional pics?

[Tony Grrl]

Nice report and I think the reporter was a bit smitten. I take it that it was a she reporting
Nice to hear that he is not thinking of leaving the profession. Better to wait until the profession gives him up I suppose. Though I can't see that happening for a long while yet.

Super picture what a dream eh?

[Guest]

wee...nice little pic Sheila!