Issued on: 06/10/2022 – 09:22Modified: 06/10/2022 – 09:21
Busan (South Korea) (AFP) – Legendary Hong Kong movie star Tony Leung mentioned that after 40 years within the enterprise, he is having more enjoyable than ever taking part in various roles — although he is nonetheless hoping to be forged as a serial killer.
Leung, who was awarded the “Asian Cineaste of the Year” prize on Thursday at South Korea’s Busan International Festival, is greatest identified for his work with famed director Wong Kar-wai.
Half a dozen of his movies, together with Wong’s “In the Mood for Love” (2000) and “Happy Together” (1997), can be screened on the pageant, which is Asia’s largest and runs till October 14.
The 60-year-previous actor, who made his debut on tv in 1981, advised reporters in Busan that he cherished complicated roles that made him assume — and mentioned he has had more probabilities to play them later in his profession.
“I think the first 20 years were about learning, and the second 20 years were about showing what you have learned,” Leung mentioned.
He mentioned he was “at a point where I can enjoy being an actor without being stressed. It’s a lot of fun as I can now play more diverse roles, and characters I can act as I get older.”
Some of Leung’s greatest-identified roles embrace a ruthless Chinese politician collaborating with the invading Japanese in Ang Lee’s 2007 interval drama “Lust, Caution”, and an undercover policeman in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s “Infernal Affairs” sequence.
He made his Hollywood debut in 2021 by taking part in a effectively-layered supervillain in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, a superhero movie primarily based on Marvel Comics.
“Personally, I would like to try playing a serial killer,” he mentioned, including he is additionally inquisitive about returning to tv, which is experiencing one thing of a golden age because of streaming cash.
‘Masterpieces’
Busan Film Festival director and acclaimed movie critic Huh Moon-young mentioned Leung is incomparable with different actors of his technology.
Among Leung’s works are “many masterpieces that will long remain in the history of world cinema”, Huh advised reporters.
Leung has lengthy been a effectively-favored determine in South Korea — the place Hong Kong cinema loved peak recognition within the early 1990s — and first appeared on the Busan pageant in 1997.
Since then, South Korea has cemented its standing as a world cultural powerhouse, thanks partially to the explosive success of the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite” and the Netflix sequence “Squid Game”.
Leung has lengthy been a effectively-favored determine in South Korea and first appeared on the Busan pageant in 1997 Jung Yeon-je AFP
Leung mentioned the pageant has come a good distance since his first expertise in Busan.
“When I first visited the Busan festival, the opening ceremony was held after the organisers set up a small stage on a narrow road,” Leung mentioned, including that he misplaced a shoe throughout the chaos.
“It seems like things have been changed as I got to see such a grand opening ceremony yesterday. It was very nice to see.”
Leung mentioned he want to work with two of South Korea’s prime stars — actor Song Kang-ho of “Parasite” fame, and actress Jeon Do-yeon.
“I’m willing to go anywhere, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, as long as things are meant to be,” he mentioned.
“It’s the connections and timing that make projects appear.”
© 2022 AFP
