Hong Kong actors straddle two worlds
    Winnie Chung Hollywood Reporter

    September 20 2005HONG KONG -- When John Woo signed on to direct Jean-Claude Van Damme's
    "Hard Target" in 1993, he probably could not have foreseen the floodgate he would open. In the five
    years after that, his achievements with such subsequent movies as "Broken Arrow" and "Face/Off"
    drummed up significant Hollywood attention toward Hong Kong talent.  And so they came: Peter Ho-
    sun Chan, Stanley Tong, Kirk Wong, Ronny Yu, Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li,
    Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li.

    Most of them have set up homes in Los Angeles at various times to pursue Hollywood careers.  But,
    as opportunities and conditions open up in China, there has been a trend of reverse exodus as Hong
    Kong talent -- mostly the men -- have found Chinese-language projects to work on in Hong Kong or
    China.  Peter Chan and Tong have been the earliest to return to set up base in the East -- Chan, with
    his dream of an "Asian powerhouse," set up Applause Pictures, which has since produced the best-
    selling "Three" and "The Eye." He has also recently directed the first Chinese musical in 30 years,
    "Perhaps Love," which recently closed the Venice International Film Festival. Tong, on the other hand,
    worked on bridging East and West by bringing such Hollywood talent as Coolio and Mark Dacascos
    to work on his movie "China Strike Force." He has also recently directed (Jackie) Chan in his latest
    Asian project for Emperor Motion Pictures, "The Myth," set to open in Asia at the end of the month.  Yu
    is currently in Shanghai working with Jet Li on Bill Kong's ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") martial
    arts drama "The Fearless" (Huo Yuanjia), while Chow is scheduled to start work on Ann Hui's "The
    Aunt's Postmodern Life" after he finishes up on "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and then with John Woo
    on "The War of the Red Cliff" next year.  On the other hand, the women have been working their way
    more and more toward the West, with Gong Li having signed up for "Miami Vice" and the fourth sequel
    to "The Silence of the Lambs." Yeoh is in the thick of location shooting for Danny Boyle's sci-fi
    "Sunshine" in London. Both actresses star in DreamWorks' "Memoirs of a Geisha," scheduled for a
    December release.  

    Actors like Chow -- probably the most established in Hollywood as a character actor -- say they are not
    bothered by where they film as long as they like the script. "We're very selective about the script and
    the role he is asked to perform. As long as the script is adequate and the role is suitable, it is
    immaterial whether the production takes place in China, Hong Kong or the U.S.," Chow's wife and
    manager, Jasmine Chow, says.But with Hong Kong's ability to get projects off the ground sooner,
    being back home is a more attractive option than sticking around in Los Angeles for a couple of years
    waiting on a project. "You have to remember, in Hong Kong you can do three projects a year, but in
    Hollywood, it may take that long to just get one project off the ground.

    I don't think the actors have that much choice," says Yeoh, who spent the past seven years exercising
    creative control over such local projects as "The Touch" and "Silver Hawk" after "Tomorrow Never
    Dies." Yeoh says finding roles for Asians in Hollywood is difficult but she says things seem to be
    changing and adds that she has been lucky to receive a "more balanced" selection of roles. In
    "Sunshine," she plays a botanist who gets very little chance to kick ass. "I'm lucky that my own acting
    has grown and the audience has grown. In the past, they might just have looked at action roles for us,
    but that's no longer the case now," she says.

    Others, however, tend to enjoy the freedom and the control of the less rigid Asian filmmaking system.
    Chan has consistently told media that he will not give up Asian films because they allow him more
    creative control. "In Asia, I can do anything I want. I can make films such as (romantic comedy)
    'Gorgeous' or 'Crime Story,'" he says. In Hollywood, it has been almost impossible to break out of the
    action mold.

    "Even a big director like John Woo cannot always do the films he wants to do in Hollywood. But in
    China, he can have a lot more control over his own projects," says Woo's manager and partner
    Terence Chang. "Red Cliff" will be Woo's first project in Asia in 12 years.

    Yeoh credits Ang Lee's groundbreaking "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for opening up more
    producers' eyes to the viability of Chinese-language projects. The Chinese market has also enjoyed a
    tremendous boom in the past few years: Production costs are cheap and the standards have risen.

    "'Red Cliff' is something John has wanted to do for a long time," Chang says. "I guess the timing is
    right for him to do that next year, since the market is ripe for this kind of historical action films, and the
    CG technology is sophisticated enough to enable us to do so. The Chinese market, in particular, has
    grown significantly for event movies like this, with the building of multiplexes all over the country."

    And, with Hong Kong now opting to make fewer but bigger-budgeted films of a higher quality, the
    opportunities are obviously growing in Greater China. For the first time, Hong Kong talent might
    actually start enjoying the best of both worlds.