Word: lau
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...That's an oddly belated revelation for a man who has logged more than 120 films in 22 years in the business, all the while maintaining a singing career that has kept him at the top of Hong Kong's fickle Canto-pop world. But at age 42, Lau is only just beginning to savor the challenges of his acting vocation. He is reshaping his career without the safely rounded edges of his leading-man persona, taking on riskier and more complex character roles such as the tightly wound triad spy he played in the hit Infernal Affairs trilogy...
...Lau's more serious approach helps to explain why Zhang cast him for the role of an imperial guard with a serious Machiavellian streak, in his latest movie, House of Flying Daggers, which is scheduled for release this summer. Shot on a budget of about $20 million, Daggers is set in China's Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) and follows the loves, loyalties and betrayals between imperial rulers and members of an underground martial-arts society. Expectations are high: Zhang's 2002 film Hero earned an Oscar nomination and broke mainland box-office records for a Chinese movie by raking...
...Daggers adds something new to Zhang's successful formula: Canto-pop star power, courtesy of Lau. For a highbrow director like Zhang?who is racing to complete the film in time for Cannes next month?casting a pinup icon seems out of character. But he and Lau had been talking for a long time about working together. "Andy's a great actor," says Zhang. "He can cry on cue five takes in a row, which isn't easy?and he's improving...
...Daggers, Lau appears alongside a number of other formidable stars, including the waifish Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and one of the region's hottest properties, Taiwanese-Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro (Turn Left, Turn Right). But Lau, one of four Hong Kong entertainers known as the "heavenly Kings," has been around the longest and easily commands the most attention in Asia. During shooting at Tea Mountain in Chongqing in January, scores of fans from the nearby town assembled outside the lobby of the mountainside hotel. "They're waiting for Wah-Jai," said a blushing girl behind the front desk...
...Still, in Daggers Lau's character plays second fiddle to Zhang Ziyi's blind brothel singer, whose affections he competes for against Kaneshiro in a bitter love triangle riddled with Shakespearean twists and aerial spin kicks. Lau was willing to accept less-than-top billing for a chance to work in a major mainland production?it's his first?with one of Asia's most honored directors. "In Hong Kong the camera is always moving," says Lau. The cinematic trick can distract an audience, providing cover for weak or halfhearted acting. "Zhang Yimou will put the camera...