Chow Yun Fat's the charming villain
By Jeanine Tan in Los Angeles, TODAY Posted: 25 May 2007
How does an actor charm a roomful of international journalists, most of whom have only a vague idea that he’s supposed to be very, very famous in Asia? Why, make everyone take a photo with him, of course. That’s how Chow Yun Fat went from being “that guy from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, to the Asian superstar that few would forget anytime soon. And he also knows how to make you, the lone Singaporean journalist of the bunch, feel right at home, despite being smack in Southern California, thousands of miles away from our little island. The location is the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles, in the thick of the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End press junket. In At World’s End, the third instalment of the mega-successful Pirates franchise that finally ties up all the loose ends left flapping like a ship's sails in the second film, Chow plays Sao Feng, the captain of the Singapore pirates. Sao Feng is more Davy Jones than Jack Sparrow, which means he’s more prone to evil deeds than last minute heroics.
Pirates fans might recall that in part two, Sparrow was swallowed by the Kraken when he decided to throw cowardice to the wind and return to save his crew. In At World’s End, Sao Feng, who certainly looks the part of the baddie with his tattooed head and scarred face, gets tangled up with Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner and the now revived Captain Barbossa — and double-crosses them — when they try to steal his magical map in order to find Sparrow. As the story goes, the East India Company now has control of Davy Jones and his ship, and is forcing Jones to rid the sea of pirates. Sparrow must be found so the nine pirate lords can gather to stop the destruction of their kind.
For Singaporean audiences, At World’s End might have special meaning. After all, the passing mention of Singapore in the first two films comes full circle in the third. There’s Chow as Sao Feng, of course, and we all know that in real life, his wife Jasmine is Singaporean. Singapore is also the setting of a major action scene that sets the tone for the rest of the film. Never mind if the 17th century Singapore of the film was really a meticulously constructed movie set in Los Angeles: Painted prostitutes and fearsome pirates roaming the dank, steamy streets of a city that looks like the bastard child of the seediest Asian cities is just the kind of fantasy we need.
A PEKING OPERA CHARACTER In the flesh, Chow looks nothing like Sao Feng, which is unsurprising. What is surprising, however, is that he also looks trim and youthful in a cream coloured sweater and blue jeans. After all, he did seem a little puffy in the face — and gut — in his last screen outing as the Emperor in Curse of the Golden Flower.
The day of the interview also happens to be his 52nd birthday, and when you wish him happy birthday, with the other journalists following suit, he mock-attempts to give everyone a kiss on the cheek to thank them for remembering. One happy female Swedish journalist gets kissed on the hand. Score number one. But after that smooth launch, the sea begins to get a little choppy. When Chow was last in Singapore, in December last year, to promote Curse of the Golden Flower, he could field questions in Mandarin, but here in Hollywood, it’s got to be in English, and clearly it’s a language he has never mastered, despite having moved to Los Angeles in 1998. Take, for instance, his reason for why he liked the role of Sao Feng: “At that time, the white man ruled the world. But here, you see the white man asking an Asian for help, that’s impossible! But the script and the director gave me the authorisation to control the white man … I am the Captain, I can say no hanky-panky, this is my kingdom.” That’s actually kind of funny in a rather politically incorrect way, but delivered in such garbled English, the joke somehow loses its punch. But never mind his mangled English, he’s got the respect of his fellow actors. Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush, who plays Barbossa, said in a separate interview: “He was a real master class.
On set, Yun Fat would experiment with his character on a level I’ve never seen before. He was like a character from a Peking Opera come to life. “And he was working in a second language, but the writers never let him have it easy. ‘Nine pirate lords’ is very hard for someone from Hong Kong to get their tongue around.”
MAKING THE SINGAPORE CONNECTION Chow’s most recent foray into the headlines was not for At World’s End, but when he pulled out of John Woo’s upcoming Chinese period epic Red Cliff, saying that he received the script too late for him to learn his lines properly. A round of bad publicity followed, including hints of his exorbitant demands, but the latest news is that Chow has agreed to be in Red Cliff again. But hearing Chow talk, he seems to be all about Asian humility. “As an actor, you go on set and obey the director. You say the lines and leave,” he said, when asked if he had any input on his character, since he’s presumably more familiar with Singapore than the screenwriters. Chow also let on that he tries to return to Lamma island, where he was born, every year during the Qing Ming festival in April of the Lunar calendar.
“I don’t need people there to expect me. I feel very uncomfortable. Ordinary people want to be mobbed, but I panic at mobs,” he said. Too soon, the signal for the last question came, and you ask if he has anything to say to Singaporeans. After all, if an early preview screening was anything to go by, the audience here had more of a reaction to Chow’s Captain Sao Feng than Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards’ much touted cameo. “I hope Singaporeans treat me like a friend. Please give me your comments about the movie, don’t hesitate, because then you would see that Sao Feng is a good guy, not a bad guy!” he said with a big grin.
As the interview rounded to a close, a Malaysian journalist asked if she could snap a photo with him — the junket had the usual ‘no photos with the talent’ clause — and Chow more than gladly obliged. “Everyone take a photo with me. It’s my birthday!” beamed the charming one. “Singapore and Malaysia first!” So, in a situation quite unheard of in press junkets, each and every journalist got their photo taken with the star. Noticing you standing around, he banters with you in between taking photos, and the words flow much easier in Mandarin. Meanwhile, he leaves enchanted women and bewildered men in his photo-taking wake. “He’s crazy,” said a bemused Irish journalist, male of course.
Later, you meet Chow again at the hallway outside and he surprises you with a big hug. He asks about your flight home, and complains that he’s still got the Tokyo premiere to attend. Flashing another trademark grin, he said conspiratorially by way of a parting shot, “I’ve been sitting on planes until my butt itches!” The Singapore connection in At World’s End is strong, indeed. - TODAY/fa
