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Scene
Stealer
PAGE 2 OF 7
RW: It was just video.
GS: It seems you've gotten more mileage out of Romeo Must Die than from most of your other movies.
RW: I guess so. I haven't been in many other mainstream movies when you think about it. There's only been a couple, like Joy Luck Club. I got a lot of mileage from that. Romeo Must Die appealed to more general audience. It was a crossover between not just martial arts but hiphop and action.
Russell Wong married successful Hong Kong fashion designer Flora Cheong-leen at the end of September. They had met each other 20 years ago on an acting job in Hong Kong.
GS: Your portrayal of Kai was very stylish. What part of that character came from your interpretation and what part came from the director and the script?
RW: I had a friend who had a lot of stories about mafia guys. It's a combination of things. That was partly the story, partly taking an attitude of &ldquoGot nothing to lose.&rdquo Sometimes you use an attitude as a layer, you use some of the story as another layer. That's kind of the essence of this particular character. He has nothing to lose. And he has a kind of carefree lightness in what he does. It was kind of fun.
GS: Many people have remarked on his sex appeal. Was that something you consciously put into that character?
RW: No, it just kinda came out that way. The styling of the clothes, the photography -- they create the image of a very romantic bad guy. The dark lighting, the moody lighting, the sunglasses, all that.
GS: In some ways you stole the movie from Jet Li.
RW: I've read a couple reviews, like the one in the New York Post. They said that character stole every scene he was in. But all the credit goes to Aaliyah and Jet because they're the leads in the movie.
GS: How did you happen to get cast in that movie?
RW: I had done the Vanishing Son series and [producer] Joel [Silver] was aware of guys that can do action films [who are] Asian. I was doing something with Miramax, so I just had a meeting with Joel and one of the directors, a different director at the time. Then I auditioned with fight choreographer Corey Yuen whom I had met when I first went to Hong Kong twenty years ago.
GS: It seems magnanimous of Jet Li to cast an Asian actor who is younger, taller and better looking.
RW: Looking back, it was rather magnanimous of him. I'm not sure what the thinking was behind that. Or whether it was his decison or not. I think I've thanked him a few times in my interviews.
GS: Another role that had a lot of sex appeal was Danyael in Prophecy II.
RW: The erotic angel. [laughs]
CONTINUED BELOW
GS: Did you get much press for that one?
RW: Not really. That movie went straight to video. But people saw it because [it has] a following.
GS: There seems to be a female cult following largely because of your role in that movie.
RW: It didn't get a whole lot of press. It was good to work with Chris Walken and Jennifer Beals. I think Jennifer Beals is a great actress, really puts 150% into what she does. And Chris Walken's one of my favorite actors, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with him.
GS: How did you happen to land the Danyael role? It didn't seem to specify an Asian.
RW: After Vanishing Son I got a two-picture deal with Miramax/Dimension. they wanted to do action films but we didn't have any action material at the time. This thing with Christopher Walken came along and I wanted to work with Christopher Walken. It may not have been the direction Dimension wanted to go but it was what it was. They also wanted to do Charlie Chan or do a remake of Charlie Chan and make him like an action hero.
GS: Is that the same thing that Lucy Liu is talking about doing?
RW: Yeah.
GS: Why didn't you do it?
RW: I think my manager at the time got a little bit too in the way.
GS: Who was your manager?
RW: I'm not with her any more. I'm with a diffferent manager. My manager was Denise Leong until just last year.
GS: For people who aren't familiar with the industry, what's the difference between a manager and an agent?
RW: A manager is more personal. They can help you with finding accounants, investing, that kind o thing. Getting the right agent, publicist, attorney that kind of thing. The agent can do the same but they're more focused on getting you material, getting auditions and getting you into rooms with the studio execs -- stuff like that
GS: If you had a different agent, might you have gotten better parts?
RW: I don't know. After Romeo Must Die I think maybe I was too picky. I should have maybe just gone with some offers that came my way.
GS: What kind of things were you rejecting?
RW: Like the kung-fu teacher action guy.
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| “After Romeo Must Die I think maybe I was too picky. I should have maybe just gone with some offers that came my way.” |