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Web-only Exclusives November 30, 2000 From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead Bad news for the Philippines - and some others From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights? |
CINEMA
The Ice Man Cometh
Chow's cool image and cover-guy looks have already earned him a following in the U.S.
CHINESE FILM STARS HAVE always been given short shrift by Hollywood. Although Anna May Wong was appearing in American movies as far back as the 1930s ("Lips like lotus petals, a heart that yearns for love," ran the publicity for her Daughter of the Dragon), only Joan Chen and John Lone have managed to really establish themselves in recent years.
That may be all about to change with the release of super-cool Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat's first Hollywood effort. Best known internationally for his leading roles in John Woo's The Killer and Hard-Boiled, Chow hits American screens in February with The Replacement Killers.
The 42-year-old star has received high-profile media coverage in the U.S., and industry insiders say the signs are he should have no trouble establishing himself as a leading man. Hip fans already ape his cool personae in the Woo films and women seem to find his cover-guy good looks irresistible. Chow, who lives in Los Angeles with wife Jasmine, also has the benefit of a manager who knows how to work the Hollywood machine: Terence Chang, who has guided the careers of Michelle Yeoh and John Woo.
Chang is reportedly trying to steer Chow away from movies that portray him simply as a gun-toting, violent cop. That way, he hopes, Hollywood's newest leading man will develop into a lasting one. His advantage is that while his Hong Kong films are sometimes violent, he generally eschews sex scenes and bad language.
In The Replacement Killers, Chow plays a hit man who prevents the assassination he has been hired to perform. He will follow this with the police drama The Corrupter, starring alongside "Marky" Mark Wahlberg. His third U.S. film will be the action comedy King's Ransom, which will reunite him with director Woo.
-- By Richard James Havis
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