One on One with Maggie Cheung Celebrating the special artistry of Maggie Cheung as part of the Cinevisionary Tribute at the 28th Asian American International Film festival, Asian CineVision and The Film Society of Lincoln Center sponsored a special evening with the renowned actress. Awarded Best Actress for her work in Olivier Assayas's Clean at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Maggie Cheung has appeared in over 80 films and has worked with directors such as Jackie Chan, Wong Kar Wai, Johnny To, Ann Hui, Stanley Kwan, and Olivier Assayas. Clips of some of her most memorable performances were screened during this discussion with Film Society's Kent Jones. Asia Society presents video highlights and text excerpts from this interview. Watch and meet the artist and woman behind these incredible works.

Asian CineVision / Eugene Kuo * Video Clips * Text Interview * Filmography To view streaming video, must have Real Player and for download videos must have Quicktime

Text Excerpts

KJ: Now, you said that you weren’t trained as an actress. I am sure almost everyone in the audience probably knows a lot of details about your career, but how did you start and how did you get interested in acting?

MC: How I got started and how I got interested in acting are two different things and many years apart. Actually I started modeling in ‘82 and I was “the new kid in town” because I just came back from England and suddenly was quite popular in that world. I was a new face at the young tender age of 17. So I was getting a lot of commercials to do and by the end of the year I had done too many. I was overly exposed on TV. I would have three commercials on the TV coming back to back, doing different products, and I could see that my career as a model was ending already after one year. So it was either I go back to England to carry on my studies or do something else like find a job.

At that time my modeling agency gave me forms for the next Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant and they said that I had a great chance and they could sponsor me. So I spoke to my mom and it was a one shot thing. Either it is going to work or I am going to go back because I wasn’t going to hang around in Hong Kong to model. I just felt it was time to move on. So I entered the pageant and was first runner up and right after that a film director called me, Wong Jing, to be in his film. And I said, “Yeah sure.” Then I did three or four years working like that, not really caring what I was doing. It was a lot of fun - a good excuse not go to University yet and a good excuse to hang out. I was earning money all of sudden. I just carried on and made more and more films and I didn’t know how to say “no” to people and didn’t know what I wanted as an actress. I didn’t see myself as an actress, so I just did it. It went up to As Tears Go By, Wong Kar Wai’s first film, and that is where I thought “acting is kind of fun.” Wong Kar Wai was asking something from me that I didn’t think I could do and I didn’t think anyone would ask that of me.

KJ: What was that?

MC: I remember there was an emotional scene where I was saying good-bye to Andy Lau at a bus stop. We had to retake that scene the next day because I was not very good. I thought I had been good because I had been crying and crying, but Wong Kar Wai said, “It is not about that. It is not about how many tears drop out of your eyes or how emotional you are.” I said, “No? But you ask me to cry and I am crying, why am I doing it wrong?” He said, “But when you cry you should try to hold back. Nobody cries just like that. The minute you feel the sting in your eyes your first reaction should be ‘I don’t want to cry,’ and to hold it back.” These are layers of acting and at that point I was beginning to be in touch with it. Because acting is acting, but when you are playing a part that is human, we have many dimensions and layers that are not that straightforward.

KJ: It is not just about reviewing emotions moving in a straight line.

MC: Yes, whereas at that time I thought it was. When I was playing in Jackie Chan films, he said, “Be in pain because I just kick you down the stairs.” So I would be literally in pain. It’s not just that. You are sad, you are in pain, and you’re frustrated. There are many things when someone kicks you down the stairs. You are not just in pain.

KJ: Except with Jackie Chan, right? How many movies did you make with Jackie Chan?

MC: Five. Three Police Stories and there is one called Double Dragon and Project A2.

KJ: You had a lot of fun.

MC: We did. Fun, yes because also I was not demanding anything of myself so I was much more relaxed and more ready to have fun. It was what it was all about for me.

KJ: You were not trained in stunts and martial arts. You have said you haven’t enjoyed it very much, is that right?

MC: I am scared of dying all the time. No, I didn’t use to be scared of it, but then I had this big serious accident on Police Story Part 2 and they had to cut my head open. I had 17 stitches on top of my head. Since that accident I have always been scared of doing action films. It was such a stupid accident and it shouldn’t have happened. But when I was lying in the hospital for a month, because it was so sensitive the doctor didn’t want any chance of any germs on to there, they had to shave all my head in the front. So they said if I ever got an allergy, my hair wouldn’t grow back. So I said, “I am not leaving the hospital. I am staying until it grows!” During that time lying there doing nothing I thought, “God no one can really help when you are hurt.” When you are on set there are hundreds of people helping you, but once an accident happens and you are there, you are really alone. So since then I haven’t been fond of action.

KJ: And yet you still do it.

MC: When I have to, yes.

KJ: Is it something you are physically not comfortable doing?

MC: I don’t think I am that talented with it in the first place. I am not like Michelle [Kwon]. She really has the rhythm and the dance background. She is very light and quick in her reaction. I am kind of slow, when I see a sword coming I think, “Which hand should I use to defend!” I don’t have the instincts to do it. For Michelle, it is really like a dance sequence. The more it is not right, the more I get scared. You have to be very relaxed and trust your instincts.

KJ: But do you find yourself trusting the director because it usually turns out looking good?

MC: Because the stunts are really good. As long as you can do a few things on your own, they can cheat the whole thing really well. You have to do at least the beginning, the end, and the middle. [Audience laughs] Otherwise I don’t even need to go to set.

KJ: I wonder if that kind of work that you did actually contributed somehow to what you learned as an actress?

MC: You mean the action side? Yes, I think it helps also with your physical appearance, even if it is not an action film. Even with walking, you are a bit more aware of your body. For me actually when I get into a part, I very often use the physical side first. I work on the body language before anything else. It is a strange way, but once I have that it takes me there. Once I walk or move in her way then it takes me into the character.

KJ: When you say you work on the body language, it is also a way of gesturing and a way of comporting yourself in general?

MC: It’s a bit of designing, but without a huge effort. It is the idea. For instance, I imagine a character would be moving very smooth, and once you have a start, the rest just comes.

KJ: In terms of something different like the clip that we saw before from Actress, did you find that for yourself through the movies that you watched or did you have to find it your own way?

MC: Actually this is where it started for me, the physical thing. I remember Stanley said to me, “Watch her, watch her. I wouldn’t say she is the most beautiful woman or the best actress, but watch her body language. She is amazing.” So I started watching and I didn’t even know what body language was, and then I watched her and yes she does have a presence, which is more than her beauty. I found myself hypnotized by the way she moved more than what was on her face because also these were silent films and you are really looking for every sign of the body of what it is trying to tell. When it comes from there, I’ve learned and developed my own thing and realized how important that is in a film.

KJ: I would imagine it is especially important in Wong Kar Wai films. It seems to be the way he works with the actress.

MC: It is something that he especially likes. He likes [pause] beautiful women. He particularly likes to see how they move.

KJ: He seems to build mosaics out of movement and that is something that is very important to him.

MC: For In the Mood for Love (2000), we shot for six months. We didn’t even know what we were shooting. He didn’t either. It is the scene where I am walking to get take away - that walk they did in slow motion. That was the first slow motion we did. When we saw the dailies he just said, “This is it, this is it.” So he made me watch it 50 times and then I said, “Okay, I know this is it, but what more? This can’t just be it!” [laughs] But that is how it developed. We found the first thing in common to go for.

KJ: Do you like doing comedy?

MC: Yes, but then I haven’t done them in so long that I am really dying to do one. I don’t think I have done one since having this “improved mind” of acting. When I did my last comedy, more than 10 years ago, I had a different way of acting, a different understanding. I think I was trying to be funny all the time and I was not funny. So now I would love to do another one without trying to be funny. Hopefully I will be funny. I want to give it one more shot before I say I am not funny.

KJ: I have always thought you were pretty funny. Would not Irma Vep (1996) be a comedy?

MC: Yes, but it is more a black comedy. It is not the same kind of comedy. Comedy for me is like Steven Chow. They are funny. I don’t know if they are popular here.

KJ: Yes, they are now, but probably not as much as they should be. But Kung Fu Hustle is very popular.

MC: People are going to watch his older works. They are really funny, really seriously!

KJ: Do you feel you have a nice rapport with Leon Lai? It seems like it when you watch this film.

MC: Yes, we got on really well.

KJ: You had mentioned before that Irma Vep was another transition movie for you. I was wondering what you meant.

MC: It was almost a restart, a stage two. During the two years break that I had, I wasn’t sure if I was going to act again, or whether I would go on to do something else, move somewhere, get married, or have kids. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just knew that I did too much and I was repeating my work and I was fed up. I didn’t look forward to going to set. I felt it is time to maybe stop. So I just did my own stuff for two years. I found a life and found more friends. And then Olivier came along, and then Soong Sisters and this one.

KJ: To speak about Irma Vep, what was it like playing someone who is suppose to be you but isn’t you in a way too? I would imagine that would be a really interesting process to go through.

MC: It was, and also it was kind of a relief because I thought I didn’t have to do anything. Not in a lazy way this time, but more that I don’t have to pretend or design anything. I was quite happy to think that someone will take me as I am. I also liked the idea of being anonymous in France. Yes, it is great to be on set in Hong Kong when you have 20 people serving you, dressing you. They can all be working on you at the same time. One could be fixing your hair, one’s on make up, one’s doing your buttons, one’s fixing your shoes, one’s handing you tea and wiping your face. I just felt isolated from the crew. People respected you a bit too much and I was kind of lonely on set. I was not hanging out with the crew anymore, but that’s how it became. So that is why I liked going on the set for Irma Vep when the French didn’t have any idea who I was and they chatted with me all the time and let me sit on the floor and eat my lunch without offering me a chair. But all that was a breath of fresh air. I liked it. I enjoyed being part of the crew more than the actress and that made me enjoy being on a film set again. I think also from then on I knew how I would handle myself on a film set. I would make the distance less even if they were setting it. I think some people will feel intimidated when they are with someone famous so they try to keep their distance because of shyness. I know I have to be the one to break the ice, to go and speak to them; otherwise they would never come to me.

KJ: And that film is what did that for you. You said you didn’t have to design anything for it and yet it is not you, it is a character Maggie Cheung. There must have been a certain design involved?

MC: No, Olivier really told me do whatever I wanted. So I didn’t have any pressure to deliver anything. It was really up to me. So I really didn’t think about what I was going to do. Actually that film caught one magic moment and it is still one of the biggest magic moments of my experience in films. It is that I managed to blush on screen, and I think that is so hard to come by unless it is real. It is one thing I still don’t think a very good actor can do easily. You can act shy and do all that it is to be shy in a role, but to really see the red coming up is not easy. I think in Irma Vep I had that one magic moment and I still remember it.

KJ: In the party scene?

MC: Yes, when Bulle says Nathalie is in love with me. I was just laughing and then blushing. It was because Olivier said to do what you want and I didn’t have to think about what am I doing in the next shot. This is why I got this magic moment. I think they’re precious.

KJ: The experience of shooting [2046] must have been a great adventure. To be finding the movie and character and the story with the director as you’re going must have been a really wonderful adventure in your life and your career.

MC: It is now that it is over. It was 15 months and it was difficult at the time and I had just got married and I was taken away from my home for 15 months. Whereas when I packed to go it was suppose to be three months, and then became five months, and then seven months. It just added up all this time that I was away from Olivier. I also had to deal with the part. The hair and makeup were a pain. It was five hours everyday. I wouldn’t say it was enjoyable, but now looking back it was an amazing experience.

KJ: How different is it to be finding a character in this way, in an organic experience like that? Aside from the time difference, how does it compare to an experience like Actress or even Comrades where you are approaching a character and in your words “designing it.” It must be vastly different mentally.

MC: Yes, and it also took so long. It is partially my fault as well. After 6 months I didn’t know what I was doing. Kar Wai just kept shooting and he wanted to see what we could give him, and I was holding back because I thought, “Well if you aren’t going to give me anything to do than I am not going to do anything,” until he wore me out that I didn’t care about it anymore. I went on set and just did it. That is when it all came, so in a way I should thank him for giving me all that time. It took me six months to open up to him. I was a little shy to just give when there is nothing on the paper. You have to be quite confident to do that and I don’t think I am that confident on set. I am quite vulnerable sometimes and like to be led. Once I found that direction then I can go on my own imagination but in the beginning I didn’t want to make the first move. I didn’t feel like I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted him to give me something and I would build it with him. In the end, I couldn’t wait anymore and so I just did it.  Otherwise it would have lasted forever - him waiting for him and I waiting for him.

KJ: You would still be shooting.

MC: I would still be shooting, and 2046 would not have happened yet.

KJ: Did you feel prepared for that kind of experience from your previous experiences with him [Wong Kar Wai]. I know As Tears Go By was a different kind of movie, but with Days of Being Wild or Ashes of Time?

MC: I think he just got more and more like that with every single film. For As Tears Go By we finished on time. We were just a few days over. For Days of Being Wild we were three months over, and for Ashes of Time we were six months over. And then he did an incredible thing. He did Chung King Express (1994) in it about 3 weeks, without me   though! Fallen Angels  (1995) was quite quick. It took thee months, without me. Happy Together (1997) he took a while. And then for In the Mood for Love we broke all the records - 15 months. 2046 from start to end was a long period, but he was not constantly on that project. We did In the Mood for Love in between. 2046 started before In the Mood for Love. Then In the Mood for Love started and stopped and then he went to 2046 and then he finished In the Mood for Love. The two films were kind of together. That is why 2046 ended up lasting for four years.

KJ: At the end of the process of In the Mood for Love, was it a satisfying experience?

MC: You mean at the wrap? Yes, it was satisfying. It was also sad. But we were also going to Cannes the next week. So it was a very contradictory feeling. So you are sad for one minute and the next you are thinking, “What am I going to wear?” We were dubbing and then I was taking the flight that night to go to Cannes. And Kar Wai was saying, “I am coming tomorrow,” and he ended up taken a few more days to come because he had to reedit, but it was a crazy moment. Really crazy… fun.

KJ: You were saying that the makeup and hair were really involved, and the dresses too.  I would imagine this really helped to find that woman.

MC: Physically yes. But then it was hard because it was mostly night shoots, from 6am to 6pm. We would all go home and it would take me about 2 hours to wash out the hairspray and knots. I would go to bed by 10pm and then get up by 1am to start for hair and makeup to be ready by 6am. It was like that constantly and it was not enjoyable at the time, but then once I was in it all,  I just had to look at it and say, “Okay I know what to do now.”

KJ: I know you have a great working relationship with Tony Leung, but there must have been an incredible level of trust based on what you see on the screen.

MC: Funnily enough everyone thinks we have worked together so many times but I worked with him when I was 19 years old for a TV drama. We were both working for television at the time, but since then I had not worked with him again. We have been in the same films together but not the same scene. So actually In the Mood for Love was our first movie.

KJ: But am I correct is saying that there is a level of trust between the two of you and there is a really interesting chemistry?

MC: Sure, I think because we were kids when we met and we were acting on a very different level and then we separately and went our ways. We both developed our own skills and learned our own things a long the way and to get together again after all these years was wonderful because he was just how I imagined him to be. In a way we haven’t changed since all those years, but we have just gotten better at what we are doing, at least I hope. At least a little bit better.

KJ: Before we go to the next clip, I wanted to go back to what you were saying before about how you feel now at this moment that you have arrived at a new level of understanding about acting. What is that for you?

MC: To completely let go and not to be nervous anymore when you hear, “Roll the camera!” It is very natural to have this feeling when you hear that because you know that thing, what ever that may be, will last forever. I never imagined we would be watching these clips. Now we know film will last forever. It’s going digital and it is going to last. But 10 or 15 years ago the idea that film is going to last forever was new and then at some point you realize that it is going to last forever now with video tapes and everything. People are going to watch these films after 50 years. I think I have always had this nervous thing about when they roll the camera, but now I am quite relaxed. I am completely the same before you roll and after you roll.  Before I was like, “Okay, let’s do it.” There was a lot more going on in getting ready. But now I just know, “Okay, just go into it and just get into it.” Now I don’t even think about when am I going take a sip of water, when am I going to look that way, I just know if I react properly and if I focus, it will come. I don’t need to plan it.

KJ: Did you feel that way while making Clean (2004)?

MC: Yes, definitely. It was the first try-out of this method for me. This was a method that I wanted to try but I didn’t know if I could do it. Clean was the first chance because it was the right opponent. Olivier can do that with me. Whereas with Zhang Yimou of Hero (2002), maybe I was already trying but it didn’t work with that film. It is not what he is looking for and you can’t force it. And In the Mood for Love was not about that either. I haven’t done so many contemporary films.

KJ: So when you were making Clean you were feeling this new technique of working? How did it feel in relation to this movie and this character? You have never really played a character like this before.

KJ: Did it feel right away that it was happening for you the way you wanted?

MC: Yes, because we did the film in sequence so it started out in Canada and I was “the bitch,” that hysterical woman. And then she calmed down and tried to get clean. So it helped a lot that we were doing it in sequence and to feel the whole thing building up and what she has been going through and where it has taking her. It really helps the character.

KJ: It is interesting because what you say about junkies in movies is true. You keep seeing the same story of people lifting themselves up and taking pride in themselves and that is part of her character and yet at the same time at the end she is a different human being but it is not because she has redeemed herself it is just that changes happened.

MC: It is for real. In real life we can change in a year. Something major happens to you and that can suddenly make you a different person. Not differently completely but the way to see things or react to things.

KJ: Yes, it as if she is different in the end but almost not knowing quite how she got there.

KJ: Is there a project that is coming up?

MC: Yes or no, I don’t know. I am interested in something but I don’t know if is happening so I am kind of waiting for something to happen.

KJ: We are hoping it is a comedy.

MC: I hope it is a comedy. I am sure that will come if I say it enough in front of journalists and if it is written enough then maybe people well say, “Oh let’s give her a comedy.”

KJ: Spread the word folks. Maggie Cheung wants to do a comedy.

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