Bedroom Pinup TIME talks to Hong Kong
actor/singer boy Leslie Cheung BY STEPHEN SHORT
Printable Version Forever Leslie: Teasing his audiences with a seductive style that both flirts and forbids, durable Leslie Cheung?ctor, singer, pop idol?s Hong Kong's great phantom lover Thursday, May. 3, 2001 Leslie Cheung is Hong Kong's great male diva. The flamboyant singer and actor talks candidly with TIME's Stephen Short about movies, fame and growing up.
Edited excerpts:
TIME: You are sometimes called one-take Leslie, because directors get what they want immediately. Is that so?
Cheung: The longest scene I ever shot was with Wong Kar-wai in "Days of Being Wild." Maggie Cheung and I are having a conversation in bed about her cousin or something like that. Anyway, it took two days and 39 takes to shoot. Wong did not give us a clue as to what role he wanted us to play. Even when Maggie and I asked what was wrong with the previous 38 takes, he wouldn't tell us.
TIME: Have you ever turned down a project from Kar-wai?
Cheung: I'm usually Kar-wai's first pick. I'm his favorite. Even for "Chungking Express" he approached me first, before Tony Leung. But as you know I was so busy at that time. I was doing "Shanghai Grand." I was working with Peter Chan on "He's a Woman, She's a Man." So Kar-wai calls me up and says, 'Leslie, I've got this great story. Would you like to try doing a film with Faye Wong?' At that time I had some reservations. I said to him, 'Kar-wai, can she really act?' I told him it would be delightful to work with him, but sadly not at that time, as I was too busy. So then he approached Tony Leung. He also asked me to do "Fallen Angels," for which Leon Lai got picked. Later Kar-wai called me up for "Happy Together." Andy Lau originally wanted to be in the movie, but I'm not sure what happened to that. I was doing "Viva Erotica" at the time. So I spoke with Kar-wai again and thought his offer was quite reasonable, though I took some convincing. We talked schedules, terms, deadlines... Kar-wai's a very clever guy. He knows how to handle things.
TIME: Everybody I talk to wants to work with you. Who do you want to work with?
Cheung: I'm hoping to work with (Chinese actress) Zhang Ziyi next year. I think (singer) Karen Mok and her would be brilliant in a film. I'll have to pull some strings. The movie would be similar to "Beaches," the Bette Midler film. Interesting. Don't you think so?
actor/singer boy Leslie Cheung BY STEPHEN SHORT
Printable Version Forever Leslie: Teasing his audiences with a seductive style that both flirts and forbids, durable Leslie Cheung?ctor, singer, pop idol?s Hong Kong's great phantom lover Thursday, May. 3, 2001 Leslie Cheung is Hong Kong's great male diva. The flamboyant singer and actor talks candidly with TIME's Stephen Short about movies, fame and growing up.
Edited excerpts:
TIME: You are sometimes called one-take Leslie, because directors get what they want immediately. Is that so?
Cheung: The longest scene I ever shot was with Wong Kar-wai in "Days of Being Wild." Maggie Cheung and I are having a conversation in bed about her cousin or something like that. Anyway, it took two days and 39 takes to shoot. Wong did not give us a clue as to what role he wanted us to play. Even when Maggie and I asked what was wrong with the previous 38 takes, he wouldn't tell us.
TIME: Have you ever turned down a project from Kar-wai?
Cheung: I'm usually Kar-wai's first pick. I'm his favorite. Even for "Chungking Express" he approached me first, before Tony Leung. But as you know I was so busy at that time. I was doing "Shanghai Grand." I was working with Peter Chan on "He's a Woman, She's a Man." So Kar-wai calls me up and says, 'Leslie, I've got this great story. Would you like to try doing a film with Faye Wong?' At that time I had some reservations. I said to him, 'Kar-wai, can she really act?' I told him it would be delightful to work with him, but sadly not at that time, as I was too busy. So then he approached Tony Leung. He also asked me to do "Fallen Angels," for which Leon Lai got picked. Later Kar-wai called me up for "Happy Together." Andy Lau originally wanted to be in the movie, but I'm not sure what happened to that. I was doing "Viva Erotica" at the time. So I spoke with Kar-wai again and thought his offer was quite reasonable, though I took some convincing. We talked schedules, terms, deadlines... Kar-wai's a very clever guy. He knows how to handle things.
TIME: Everybody I talk to wants to work with you. Who do you want to work with?
Cheung: I'm hoping to work with (Chinese actress) Zhang Ziyi next year. I think (singer) Karen Mok and her would be brilliant in a film. I'll have to pull some strings. The movie would be similar to "Beaches," the Bette Midler film. Interesting. Don't you think so?