StudioLA's Wendy Chan interviews Tony Leung Star of In the Mood for Love

Wendy chats with Tony Leung about his role in In the Mood for Love

AC Team's Wendy Chan was invited to interview the stars of "In the Mood for Love," at a round table discussion at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. Tony Leung is the winner of the Best Actor award at the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival. This movie marks Tony's fifth collaboration with director Wong Kar-wai.

Q: Can you tell us how you prepared for this role. I know that [director] Wong Kar-wai doesn't seem to have a real script.

Leung: So, we don't prepare! (Laughter) We have nothing to prepare. Because at the verybeginning, the only thing I know is I'm doing a story about a love affair with Maggie and my characterI am called Chow. My occupation is a columnist for the newspaper, and that's all I know. And so, we can't prepare anything. That's the Wong Kar-wai way of making movies.

What I can do is I started to develop my character through the exterior first. We have to get used to the costume, and the hair cream, and I think that really helps, the body language and the movie. Because after you put on that tight suit, it somehow restricted your body movement. And the hair cream, [it] really fed me up! (Laughter) It's the same hair cream that they used in the '60s. It's really, really greasy. And it takes about 3 days to take that stuff off. I tried different kinds of washing detergents, even dishwashing detergentcan't remove that greasy stuff!

So actually, we developed everything on the set. We developed it through shootings; and the character changed a lot.

Because at first, the character seems to be a very decent guy, an ordinary working class [person] in the '60sSo, I try to imagine how my father or my relatives look like in the '60s. At that time, the economy is not doing very good, everybody is working very hard for their living. So, it's just an ordinary peopleAnd in the middle of the movie, Kar-wai said "Why don't' you try to play a bad guy?" You just do it for revenge. Actually a revenge movie, because of the hatred of Maggie's husband, you are doing it for revenge. Although it sounds stupid, at least I have something to get hold of for the character. And it really helps for me to get around the character.

Q: When I see your movie, I didn't see your revenge.

Leung: Yes, yes. He cut all the obvious scenes. You know, this time I think he's trying to do something more simple by telling the story in a more simple way, more subtle than any of his previous ones. So why not? Revenge and you don't have to know about them. When you see his movie, I think he leaves a lot of space for the audience to imagine what's going on with this guy. What's his motivation of what he's trying [to do] with this woman.

Q: How many times have you seen the movie? Just once?

Leung: No, no I saw it twice in Canada, Toronto, and Hong Kong. And then I saw it once in New York. Five or six times.

Q: Do you like the role you play?

Leung: Yes, yes, very much.

Q: Is this your most romantic role?

Leung: Most difficult! (Laughter)

Q: Can you compare another movie that you did with director Wong Kar-wai, "Happy Together."

Leung: "Happy Together" seems to be much more simple, the character. And the character seems to be much more straight forward. It's very different. It's not as complicated as this one. So, we don't need to spend too much time to think about how to develop that character. Because Wong Kar-wai is used to shooting a lotactually you can develop through shooting different scenes, although a lot of those scenes will be cut out. But you still have time to understand your character through shootings. At this time, it seems to be a little different, because the character seems to be a lot more complicated than the one in "Happy Together."

Q: Also can you compare, this is obviously very different, or I am assuming it's a different way of working from when you are in action films... Is working this way without a real script more fun? More exhausting? Or frustrating? Or better or worse in different ways?

Leung: For me, it's good to work without a script. I think for an experience, as an actor who's been working in this field for over 18 years, [otherwise] you might have something very stereotyped.

So if you prepare too much, you somehow restrict your performance in some ways. And working with no script is very suitable for me, I think. I really enjoy that kind of working, and you don't have much chance to work that wayAnd you can do it by instinct... there's no boundary, you can do whatever you want, because nothing is right, and nothing is wrong.

Q: I read that during the filming you went away to make another film and then came back to the character. I am wondering if that contributed something to the development of the character?

Leung: Yes. Besides [doing] a lot of projects before I made "In the Mood for Love," I didn't know "In the Mood for Love" would last that long. It's good to take a break when you encounter a lot of difficulties in the process of making that movie.

You cannot solve the problems when you are making that movie, so, after taking a break, I don't know, somehow I think like I'm glad to be back. And I'm ready. And seems like, yes, this is the wayI don't know, the first day when I went back to work with Kar-wai, I just felt like, "Wow, this is how it should be made, this is really serious." And I was very aggressive at that day, I don't know why. But Kar-wai said I looked really good that day and why? I said, "I don't know."

Q: Do you think your footage [shot] after you came back, is better work?

Leung: I think so. Maybe after the break, that helped.

Q: How many films have you made with Wong Kar-wai?

Leung: Wong Kar-wai, this is the fifth one.

Q: The final scene, which was almost impromptu on the way it was shothas a scene of you whispering in the hole. What did you whisper in the hole?

Leung: We didn't have any lines. And Kar-wai just let me do it by myself. I just told my little secret inside that hole ?a lot of my guilt for that woman, of which, Maggie didn't know, too. Because it's not only the secrets between us, it's the little secret of me. And I don't think I can carry that for the rest of my life, and yes, that's what I tell in the hole ?I cheated with a woman, which is quite stupid to do.

Q: Looking back 10 years, in "Hard Boiled" [a John Woo movie] you are supposed to be ablack-mailing, killer, evil guy, they shut down and rewrote the whole thing. Did "Hard Boiled" start shooting your stuffwas there a script?

Leung: "Hard Boiled?" Yes, we had a script, a very complete one. And you know [director] John Woo, he's always well-prepared. Yes, we did a lot of preparation.

Q: In general, in your more commercial Hong Kong movies, do you get to do the kind of preparation that you domaybe preparation is the wrong word. In developing the character, when you get the script, what's locked down? Is that [when]you go in there, shoot it, and [don't] have as much of the creative input into the character? As with director Wong Kar-wai, where you get this extra freedom.

Leung: Ah, no, we also have a lot of freedom in doing some other movies, like in the "Mack of Knife." Although we have a real script, we still improvised at the set. Sometimes, we changed something too; or the way of how this character looks or speaks.

AC Team: You make so many good Hong Kong movies, do you plan to make any American movies or get into Hollywood, like Chow Yun-Fat?

Leung: Actually I never planned to establish my career in the States. And I think it doesn't really matter where you make the movies, no matter it's the States or anywhere in the world. But the most important thing is the team, or the project, or the person who you are going to work with, I think that's the most important. I do have a lot of offers, but I haven't found an interesting role yet. I think the most important thing is the people, not which country, or where.

Q: Since you have been working in the film industry for over 18 years, do you have any [thoughts] that you will direct a film, instead of acting?

Leung: I plan to produce my movie next year. Because I think that as an actor, everything is far beyond my control. It's time for me to get control of something. If I do have a new idea coming up, or suddenly or one day I see something that I feel very interesting, why not just make it a movie in my own style? And of course, I will be the actor. (Laughter) I will try to work out the script with the script writer, and I'll decide the style of what kind of style I want to put in this movie, and I can arrange everything. So, I think it [will be] more fun.