Saturday December 22, 2007
He loves a challenge
Filming a movie that revolves around drugs has affected Daniel Wu in many ways.
“Working on this movie, I learned how drugs and drug addiction are not only damaging to the user, but to those around him and society as a whole. You can see through this film that drugs can affect all levels of society in very adverse ways,” he said in an e-mail interview.
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Daniel Wu plays an undercover narcotics agent in Protégé. |
“This was a very difficult role to play because he is a very lonely character. Although he has people around him all the time, he can only trust and rely on himself.”
In the movie, Wu becomes protégé to Andy Lau’s character, Banker.
What did he learn from Lau in reality?
“Andy Lau is a great actor and entertainer. He works so hard at everything and always has so much energy. It’s amazing.
“From watching his performance in Protégé, I got to see him settle into the role and become the character. It was very inspiring,” explained Wu.
In the movie, the 33-year-old had many scenes with Zhang Jing Chu, and he was deeply impressed with the mainland Chinese actress.
“She is a great actress who puts 100% of herself into her role. She spends a lot of time trying to understand the character and the environment in which she lives in. She pushes herself very hard and you can see it in her work.
“She put herself in many very uncomfortable situations for this movie and I respect her very much for that.”
What was most difficult about playing Nick?
“The hardest part was to show without showing. He has no one to express his true feelings towards and that is his frustration.
“He has no one to talk to about his problems and no one to complain to, so I must show all these emotions without words.
“Showing his inner world without being too obvious was the critical part about playing this role,” said Wu.
To the Hong Kong-based, American-born actor, the most memorable scene in the movie was at the end.
“I think the scene in the end when Andy’s character kills himself was a very intense one. Everything felt so real and dangerous.”
In 2005, Wu won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in New Police Story. After almost 10 years in the industry, he has starred in close to 50 movies, yet he is still seeking new challenges.
“There are many roles I have yet to try. Maybe comedy?”
In April this year, he was named the Best New Director at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards for his directorial début The Heavenly Kings (2006), described by some as a mockumentary on the Hong Kong music industry.
Does he have any plans to direct another movie?
“Winning Best New Director was, of course, a nice surprise. However, it’s now given me pressure to make an even better second film. I think more people will be interested in what I can do the second time around. But, I must do things at my own pace and do a project that I truly have passion for.
“I have a few ideas and am working on a couple of scripts but nothing solid yet. Whatever I choose, it will definitely be something strange, original and off-beat.”
Wu revealed that he has begun filming his latest movie which tells of how Chinese immigrants live in Japan.
“I am currently working with Derek Yee for the fourth time on Shinjuku Incident. I will be also working alongside Jackie Chan again. We will be filming almost entirely in Japan so it should be extra exciting!” – By Seto Kit Yan
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