Friday June 18, 2010
Strange but true
By SETO KIT YAN
skyseto@thestar.com.my
Credit: THE STAR
The Haunting Lover tackles the tale of a schizophrenic who gets romantically entangled with two girls.
With a title like The Haunting Lover, one could be forgiven for thinking that the movie would be a supernatural romance, but its leading man Vanness Wu said otherwise.
“To me, it’s actually more of a comedy,” he said in English during a phone interview from Taiwan on Tuesday. An American-born Taiwanese, the serious-sounding Wu was more comfortable speaking in English compared to Mandarin, hence was comparably chattier than an earlier interview (though far from being verbose).
“I was in essence playing two different characters. One’s a guy who applies for a job at a medicine plant. The other is the Third Master, whom he supposedly looks like,” he explained about his schizophrenic character, who gets romantically involved with two girls and finds himself unable to distinguish one from the other.
Bizarre love triangle: Vanness Wu and Beijing-born Li Xiaolu in The Haunting Lover, based on a true story in the 1940s.
Based on a true story in the 1940s, The Haunting Lover (Mandarin title Deng Zhe Ni Hui Lai) revolves around a large medicinal manufacturing plant in Guangzhou called Kwong Cheong Tong, which puts out a vacancy.
Wu plays Leung Kwong, the lucky man who gets the job. Unknown to him, Leung was hired due to his resemblance to the Third Master, who has been missing for 10 years. But he soon finds out as strange incidents occur to him while he is at work.
During one such incident, a mysterious young woman named Fu Yung (Li Xiaolu) saves Leung and claims he is the Third Master. Leung then travels to Singapore with his girlfriend, Hsiao Chen, to get to the bottom of the mystery. However, he finds himself falling deeper into the persona of the Third Master.
Getting into the psyche of a 1940s gentleman did not pose much of a problem for Wu who likes to research his roles.
“Just being on the set surrounded by everyone in costume and all the props was enough to put you in the right frame of mind and transport you to that era,” explained Wu, who added that he had an enjoyable experience working with the cast and crew of Hong Kong filmmaker Yip Wing Kin’s latest film.
The dashing actor-singer got his break when he got picked to play one of the members of four-man band F4 (now known as JVKV due to copyright-related issues) in Meteor Garden (2001), the hit Taiwanese adaptation of a Japanese manga titled Hana Yori Dango. The four have since gone on to carve out successful solo careers.
Filming the movie a year ago in China, Wu recalled that his most unforgettable incident while on the set of The Haunting Lover involved uncomfortable encounters with tiny little bugs.
“There was this stunt I had to do where I had to pull back and land on the ground. What happened next was my whole neck became swollen as it was bitten by beetles or some other insect,” shared Wu about that unfortunate incident.
He praised his co-stars Ai Kago and Li Xiaolu as being very hardworking, and fun and easy to work with. The cast also includes Law Lan, Wong Tak Bin, Lan Kwan Tin, Yuen Cheong Yan, Lam Tze Chung.
After making his small screen debut in 2001, Wu went on to work on eight other television projects, the latest being Year Of The Rain (2010) for which he took on the role of producer.
Wu made his film debut in 2003, playing a boxer in Star Runner, for which he was nominated for best new performer at the 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards. He has since starred in seven other films from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States. These include Mandarin period actioner Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon (2008), Cantonese comedy Kung Fu Chefs (2009), and being the voice of scientist Dr Grisworld in English anime LamB (2009).
Vanness Wu and Japanese actress Ai Kago star in the Yip Wing Kinhelmed The Haunting Lover.
At present, Wu is still mulling over some Taiwanese TV drama scripts and has not decided on his next acting project yet. But he looks forward to taking on one that presents a new challenge.
So, what is the most challenging role he has played thus far?
“I’d say the one in Autumn Concerto (2009). It was interesting because I got to explore so many facets of the character as he went from playboy to law student, then underwent brain surgery and suffered amnesia before getting his memory back.”
The Taiwanese TV series (also known in Mandarin as Xia Yi Zhan, Xing Fu) went on to become a hit and is said to have broken the records of The Prince Who Turns Into A Frog (an idol drama) and even lodged itself as the second highest rating Taiwanese idol drama (the highest being Fated To Love You).
Currently in negotiations with his record company for his next project, Wu’s versatility and linguistic ability has seen him recording songs and cutting albums and singles in English, Mandarin, Korean and Japanese. The personable chap has also had musical collaborations with Korean singer Kangta (Scandal, 2006), Hong Kong-born singer Coco Lee, and American singer Beyoncé Knowles (Crazy in Love, 2004).
Wu has also released photobooks with the rest of his band members and has performed in group and solo concerts in the United States, Japan, China and many other parts of Asia.
Given a choice, Wu said he would much prefer to return to the United States and work as his parents are living there. Jetting home to be with his family whenever his schedule permits, Wu, who is the second of four children, has an older sister, a younger brother and a younger sister.
■ The Haunting Lover, distributed by RAM Entertainment, is playing in cinemas now.
