By Carl Wakamoto and Jason Yang
An exclusive look at Asia's biggest star...with a little help from his friends.
Called the "best actor in Hong Kong" by no less an authority than Quentin Tarantino, 43-year-old Stephen chow is no longer just Asia's premier action star -- he's become a trademark, a brand name as ubiquitous as Nike or Starbucks. Except instead of promising kicks that improve your vertical leap or more bang-for-your-mocha-latte-buck, Chow guarantees gut-busting laughs, spot-on social commentary and come-fly-with-me martial artistry that'll leave you with your mouth agape. His previous feature, the zany, surprisingly Zen-referencing Shaolin Soccer became Hong Kong's highest grossing Chinese film ever -- only to be eclipsed by his current sensation, Kung Fu Hustle. A true renaissance man, Chow wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this critical and commercial darling. The film received an amazing 12 awards, including "Best Film," at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards on March 27, 2005, and unlike its predecessor (badly mishandled by Miramax, who mistakenly thought that by dubbing the film -- thereby introducing an entirely new form of parody to Chow's ouevre: the unintentional kind -- American audiences would come a-flocking) is enjoying the kind of Stateside success that to date, only Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can boast about.
In addition to our interview with the man himself, our video features coverage of the film's March 29 premiere at the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood. Among the illuminaries turning out for Chow and Kung Fu Hustle were Roger Fan, Shin Koyamada, Michelle Krusiec, Julia Nickson, Leonardo Nam, Eugenia Yuan, Angie Ruiz and James Hong, among others.
-- Jason Yang and Chi Tung
Play interview in Windows Media Player
Interview with Stephen Chow
Interviewed by Carl Wakamoto
Interviews with Roger Fan, Shin Koyamada, Michelle Krusiec, Julia Nickson, Leonardo Nam, Eugenia Yuan, Angie Ruiz, James Hong, Huck Botko
Interviewed by Jason Yang
Videography and video editing by Carl Wakamoto
Click here for a review of Kung Fu Hustle
Click here to see an interview with Roger Fan
Click here to see an interview with Leonardo Nam
Click here to see an interview with Eugenia Yuan
Published: Thursday, June 9, 2005
