2001 News [2]

4/14/2001, on location for "Live-in Friends," Tony and Sammie Cheng were both under the weather. They had caught a cold earlier in the week. Cold weather on the set, both are wearing heavy jacket before stand in for the camera. Tony has never paired up with Sammie prior to "Live-in friends." A few weeks into the filming, Tony complimented his co-star saying Sammie is a natural actor. She is very easy to work with. The film is expected to screen around early Summer, perhaps in the late June.

4/10/2001, Tony is the featured actor at the 25th Hong Kong Internation Film Festival. The festival presents 12 selected films covering 18 years of his career. More than hundreds Chinese and foreign media attended the opening press conference. Asked which one of the films is his personal favorite? Tony said,"Every single one of them. It's a learning progress. I wouldn't be where I am today without the experience of each film." Asked what's the key to his sucess. He offered this simple reason,"I never pursued my career aggressively. Never thought of becoming someone famous and successful. But I love doing what I do. I enjoy acting, and it's this love and enjoyment that continues to carry me."

Besides working on "Living-in Friends," Tony keeps in touch with Director Zhang Yimou. The martial arts epic "Hero" will start filming around July. Tony is worried about his Mandarin. He plans to take some quick lessons to improve his Mandarin. "Hero" includes such worldly acclaimed actors, Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Jiang Wen and the latest addition - Zhang Ziyi, the rising star of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Zhang Ziyi once told the reporters she was a big fan of Maggie and Tony. She said she was going to follow them around like a fan. A reporter joked Zhang Ziyi might offer massage and water bottle to Tony. (Now Tony is single and available again, we know these jokes are due to come.) Tony cracked,"No, I don't want to share water bottle." (A reference to the latest Jackie Chan & Zhang Ziyi rumor. They were photographed drinking the same Champaign bottle on Jackie's birthday. Tony must be reading the news, isn't he!)

4/2/2001, a glowing, smiley-face Tony poses for photos on film location. Our good friend, Fox, visited him on location yesterday and took home these exclusive images of Tony. Happy Sharing everyone - and a big thanks goes out to Fox. Click on the links to view the images - Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3.

4/1/2001, on location for "Live-in Friends," a loose and relaxed Tony chatted with the reporters. Asked if he knew about Carina's latest boyfriend, he just smiled, "I said long ago I won't talk about it. You guys shouldn't ask me over and over again." Margie Tsang, one of his ex-girlfriends revealed just days ago that she was the one who dumped Tony, not the other way around as it's been rumored for years. (What a good timing!) Again, Tony responded nonchalantly, "It's no use to drill down who dumps whom. That was so long ago. The only thing I remember is the happy days."

Sammie Cheng, his co-star of "Live-in Friends," had been showing up late for shooting, except takes involving Tony. Has Tony noticed the tardiness? No, Tony tiptoed around the rumor, said she was a good actress to work with.

3/25/2001, coming back from Australia, Tony immediately returned to work - pairing up w/ Sammie Cheng in "Live-in Friends"(translated literally). The shooting is expected to complete within two weeks, and for two weeks of work, he and Sammie are rumored receiving half of the 30 Mil (HK dollar) budget of the film. (Looks like he's getting an awesome raise, nearly doubling what he used to make if the rumor proves to be true.)

More gossips: Tony laughed off the latest rumors of his new Taiwanese girlfriend, and no comments whatsoever on his breakup with Carina Lau. For the record, there were just so many improbable and dubious rumors surrounding Tony and Carina at the moment. Almost daily, there are new reports of a new Carina lover coming out. It's quite apparent their relationship is in a cooling off period, but these insane accusation needs some ground to back it up. (I kind of wish Tony would address some of these matters to the public. It's definitely not a wise decision to hold his tongue and let the reporters running the show for him. Who knows how far they would go. He is the only one who can put a lid to stop it. If he decides to keep the matter to himself, and let the wild horses run, it's going to get more disgusting to read - it's approaching to that unwanted territory. Well, that's my two cents.)