hong kong actors all going home

[pete]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-09-09-chinese-actors_x.htm?csp=27

Hong Kong actors, directors leave Hollywood
HONG KONG (AP) — After making their name in Hong Kong, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat and John Woo all made the leap to Hollywood.
But Hong Kong's top actors and directors are now either returning home for projects or seeking inspiration from their cultural roots, with some citing creative restrictions and cultural differences in the U.S.

Chan has been prolific in the U.S. but he still films movies in Hong Kong. Chow is slated to appear in the upcoming Ann Hui film My Aunt's Postmodern Life and plans to collaborate with famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou in an adaptation of a Chinese play.

Woo is planning Battle of Red Cliff, a joint Sino-U.S. production about an ancient Chinese battle. Li's upcoming movie Fearless tells the story of Chinese kung fu master Huo Yuanjia.

Chan said he's well-paid but artistically unfulfilled in Hollywood.

"I make a lot of money in the U.S., but I can't make films I like," he said during a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Hollywood movies are so costly that they seldom take creative risks, and that's why his U.S. films are so similar in genre, he explained.

Chan's Hollywood movies haven't veered from the formula of interracial action comedy, a genre he's excelled in with Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour series and with Owen Wilson in the 2000 Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights in 2003.

But his Hong Kong productions are more diverse. He plays a tragic hero in New Police Story in 2004. Chan's new film The Myth, tracks the journey of man who seeks his lost love from a previous life.

The same trend is seen in other Hong Kong talents who moved on to Hollywood.

Chow has reprised the role of gun-toting hero repeatedly, in U.S. movies like The Replacement Killers in 1998 and The Corruptor in 1999. But before he left for Hollywood his body of work included romance and comedy.

Chan noted that Hong Kong actors' roles are inherently limited because of their poor English.

"Today when our actors go to the U.S., what movies can they make? Can they appear in Titanic? Could they do Kramer vs. Kramer ? No. No actor could do it," Chan said.

Veteran Hong Kong director Tsui Hark says Chinese actors simply aren't convincing in Western roles.

"They can't be viewed as Americans," he said.

But Tsui thinks Hong Kong's entertainers have already surpassed expectations in Hollywood.

"Be it Chow Yun-fat, Jet Li or Jackie Chan, the proportion of dialogue and drama in their movies is heavy. They use their dialogue to show their acting skills a lot," Tsui said.

Indeed, the Hong Kong actors have broken new cinematic ground, especially when it comes to interracial collaboration.

Other than the Chan-Tucker and Chan-Wilson comedy duos, Jet Li and late pop singer Aaliyah starred in 2000's Romeo Must Die, a modern telling of Romeo and Juliet. He also appeared in Cradle 2 the Grave in 2003 with hip-hop star DMX.

Chow's roles haven't all been one-dimensional. In the 1999 remake Anna and the King, he played an authoritative Thai king who grew fond of his children's private tutor, played by Jodie Foster.

And Chow's biggest U.S. hit by far is a kung fu movie in 2000 directed by Taiwan's Ang Lee. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon netted four Oscars and became the most popular foreign film in U.S. history.

While Hollywood's Hong Kong stars are signing up for projects back home, they aren't abandoning their U.S. careers altogether.

Chan has maintained his profile in America with a steady stream of U.S. movies. Woo's production company Lion Rock Productions is based in Los Angeles. Chow will start work on the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean later this year.

Director Stanley Tong is a rarity in that he relocated back to Hong Kong after a brief stint in Hollywood, where he shot the 1997 comedy Mr. Magoo and the TV series Martial Law.

While the prestige of working in Hollywood is tempting, Tong said he likes working in his own culture better.

"I don't like living abroad and I really like my own Chinese culture," he said.


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Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[The Perineum Falcon]

Isn't Tony Leung coming to Hollywood?

....probably as a Chinatown Officer....

[NEON MERCURY]

thsi is kind of odd.

come to think of it i cant think of any good dramatic oriental actors that are males doing american/hollywood films.  my oriental hereos have all been typecast actors.  like data from the goonies, my miyagi from karate kid, and thats it.  

"Today when our actors go to the U.S., what movies can they make? Can they appear in Titanic? Could they do Kramer vs. Kramer ? No. No actor could do it," Chan said.

thats a good point.  its kind of wierd but i think that majority of americans that are yoru hot dog eatign, baseball watching, slightly overweigth filmgoer wont understand or take seriously a chinese actor in a male role.  coudl you see um, jet li or that dude from crouchign tiger playing sean penns role in i am sam?  i get the feelign that most americans think that if an oriental person was in that role the film woudl eb considred a comedy rather than a drama if penn was in it...peopel that i've talk to when they think of oriental actor in a starrign role, they think of karate, or really big teeth/smiles,   and funny souindign english.  the fact that these actors are leaving hollywood it feels liek the cliched "hollywood used me up" thing... they came searchign for fame and respect but instead they got cheesy buddy action flicks and typecasted garbage...its sad.  it would be neat to see an oriental actor rival penn, hanks, oldman, etc.........

[RegularKarate]

Seriously Neon, are you trying to be ironic with the "Oriental" thing?

[NEON MERCURY]

Seriously Neon, are you trying to be ironic with the "Oriental" thing?

[polkablues]

The only person I know who still uses the term "Oriental", and is not referring to carpets or cooking ingredients, is my friend's creepy grandmother.  She also refers to Black people as "Jigaboos".  

But as for good, dramatic, male Asian actors working in Hollywood, how about Ken Watanabe?

[Ravi]

Black actors have a hard time getting decent roles and films, and they've been in America for centuries.  Even if they do get good roles, they're not seen as having box office potential outside the black audience anyways.  Its no surprise when other races have a harder time being cast in roles that aren't stereotypes.

Unless the main character is a white guy, people say, "no, thanks.

[modage]

this thread has given me much laughter.

[cron]

why is the term oriental offensive? is it offensive?

[Pubrick]

why is the term oriental offensive? is it offensive?

i thought it was like calling black ppl "colored", not really offensive but an archaic term from an ignorant time.

[Pas]

Unless the main character is a white guy, people say, "no, thanks.

That statement is untrue.

[NEON MERCURY]

Unless the main character is a white guy, people say, "no, thanks.

That statement is untrue.

yeah, gotta agree with pas. there are numerous blacks doing talented, profitable, and artistic shit that "joe cracker" can enjoy.  you got denzel who is fucking talented,  does quality films plus his share of hollywood silver screen bullshit type stuff.  training day, hurricane, x, glory, the manchurian candidate, ________ blah, blah.  then you halle berry.  shes' a good actress but as a person i find her annoying but she does good work thats universal.  such as monsters ball,  um, i am actually drawing a blank...someone nees to help me...how about danny glover?  that guy from amistad and in  america, dijimon hunsou?  i am losing my arguement now......s..orry......but i still agree w/pas.  i am just not smart enough to back it up.