Title contenders

[summertime]

Wednesday October 24, 2007


Title contenders

Ask any Tony Leung Chiu Wai fan which actor can fit into his role as Mr Yee in Lust, Caution – or take his place in any role on the big screen – and you will most likely be greeted with silence. To many, the actor is irreplaceable.

We rate five leading men from Asia and wonder: Is there really no one who can do a Tony Leung?

Chang Chen, 30

Taiwanese actor who made his film debut in Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day when he was 14. His other most memorable role was in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in which he played a prince of the desert who stole Zhang Ziyi’s heart.

Why he he’s good: Arguably one of the best actors to have emerged from Taiwan in the past decade, he specialises in playing sensitive, brooding characters. His understated, reserved style is reminiscent of a younger Leung.

Thanks to him, flicks like last year’s horror movie Silk – which he fronted because Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro both turned down the special agent role – are spared from mediocrity.

Why he’s not: He does not have Leung’s electrifying screen presence nor his box-office appeal to make it big.


Takeshi Kaneshiro, 33

The actor, who is of Japanese-Taiwanese parentage, hails from Taiwan and is regarded as one of the sexiest men in Chinese showbiz.

Why he’s good: Famously reclusive, he is even more mysterious – and some would say more fascinating – than Leung. He plays that air of elusiveness to his advantage when he is cast in lonesome, conflicted roles, such as the ex-cop fighting his inner demons in Confession of Pain.

Why he’s not: Too young. The Mr Yee role calls for a certain worldliness that comes with maturity, which Leung has. Give Kaneshiro a few more years to harden himself and he may be able to deliver.

Aaron Kwok, 41


Dancer-turned-actor from Hong Kong who made it big as a pop singer.

Why he’s good: No one can doubt his ambition to be a serious actor after his back-to-back Golden Horse wins for Best Actor in After This Our Exile (2006) and Divergence (2005). Who would have thought that the pretty boy could portray a good-for-nothing father and a macho cop so convincingly?

Why he’s not: He still suffers from being too pretty. Kwok has admitted that it is hard for him to shed his pop idol image.

Andy Lau, 46


Singer-actor who started his career in Hong Kong in the 1980s. He has since made more than 100 films and was crowned Golden Horse Best Actor in 2004 for his role in Infernal Affairs III.

Why he’s good: No one in the industry is as hardworking or tries as hard to improve. His love for commercial flicks has resulted in him taking a longer time to gain recognition for his acting chops, but he does have talent. He would not be out of his element playing a bad guy role like Mr Yee. He has already proved he can play conniving characters – as a triad mole in the Infernal Affairs instalments and a drug lord in Protégé.

Why he’s not: His acting skills lack the subtlety and grace that Leung has patented. That is what separates great actors from the merely good.


Daniel Wu, 33

American-born model-turned-actor who broke into the Hong Kong movie scene playing a homosexual cod in Bishonen.

Why he’s good: He has street-cred tackling baddie roles – he was crowned best supporting actor in the Golden Horse Awards in 2005 for portraying a terrorist in New Police Story. He has the right connections too. Superstar Jackie Chan regards him as his son, and has praised him for being “pretty good” and “obedient”.

Why he’s not: Like Aaron Kwok, he is cursed with a pretty face and can’t play tortured or soulful roles. – The Sunday Times, Singapore/ Asia News Network

http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/24/movies/19214704&sec=movies