BEIJING : Hollywood is usually the place to see and be seen, but for Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou, star of the smash hit "The Green Hornet," Tinseltown offers a welcome break from the paparazzi in Asia.
"As an artist, I need a lot of space which I cannot really get in many places in Asia," Chou told reporters Monday ahead of the Chinese premiere of the superhero flick, which co-stars Seth Rogen.
"It felt like I was having a vacation in the United States - I took my mother to the production, and it felt really good to have some time for myself. I didn't have that feeling of people surreptitiously taking my picture."
"The Green Hornet" - the tale of a young playboy businessman who becomes a crime fighter - topped the box office in its opening weekend in North America, taking in US$34 million, according to industry data.
Chou, largely unknown in the United States but hugely popular in Asia, plays the role of Kato, sidekick to the Green Hornet played by Rogen.
French director Michel Gondry confessed to not knowing how famous Chou was when he started considering him for the part of Kato, adding he and Rogen - who wrote the screenplay - later hesitated about casting a pop star.
"We had a conference on Skype where Seth was reading with Jay and we felt there was already chemistry, even though it was with a 10-second delay, and we liked him for his acting," Gondry said.
Rogen has since declared himself a fan of Chou's music, and he and Gondry joked that the Taiwanese singer would "force" them to listen to some of his tracks.
"Jay many times took us in his car with his bodyguard and forced us to listen to his music very loud, and if we didn't like it, he would beat us up," Gondry joked.
Chou had to learn English for the part, and acknowledged the language barrier would be a challenge for any future work in Hollywood. But Rogen praised his co-star for his quick mastery of the language.
"He knew very little (English) when we started filming and a few weeks in, he could improvise his own dialogue and come up with his own jokes, which was very frustrating because that took me years to learn how to do," he said.
Channel News Asia
Showing posts with label jay chou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jay chou. Show all posts
Jay Chou's 'Pandamen' tanks in Taiwan
Source: Channel News Asia
TAIPEI: Singer Jay Chou's maiden attempt at directing a television drama suffered poor ratings after it debuted on Friday in Taiwan.
"Pandaman", which Chou had earlier described as "cool", is a science fiction action drama about two superheroes from differing backgrounds who share a fascination with pandas.
The 30-year-old singer-director even expressed that he was confident the 110 million Taiwan dollars (about S$5.5million) production would be a success. However, the show's poor ratings indicate his confidence may have been misplaced.
"Pandamen", which aired on CTS, one of the four major television stations in Taiwan, attracted the least number of viewers among television shows in the same 10 pm timeslot. Chou's "Pandamen" only managed to garner 0.77 in ratings, compared to shows like the talent contest "One Million Star" (2.18) and idol dramas "K.O. 3an Guo" (1.53) and "Lucky Days" (0.79).
Viewers complained that "Pandamen" had a childish, convoluted plot that was hard to follow and pointed out that the show seemed to cater specifically for Mainland audiences as the cast often delivered their lines in Mainland-accented Mandarin.
Chou, who recently appeared in the film "The Treasure Hunter", brushed off these complaints and wrote on his official website that he "did not need high ratings". He insisted that the show was a success as "it represents a new generation of heroes" and "was a historic moment".
CTS officials also backed him and pointed out that "Pandamen" was the highest-rated show on its 10 pm slot in nearly a year.
The drama's poor showing in Taiwan was preceded by its dismal results when it first aired in Guangzhou, China. "Pandamen" was shown for three days on Guangzhou Television in late January.
Guangzhou Television reportedly paid an astronomical sum for the broadcast rights to the show, but "Pandamen" only managed to attract about 5,000 viewers on its third day, making it the lowest-rated show in the station's history.
At that time, many believed that complaints of a messy plot were due to heavy-handed Chinese censors cutting out crucial scenes for depicting gunplay.
However, "Pandamen" aired completely uncut in Taiwan.
Chou, who plays a police commissioner and appears for just two and a half minutes on the show, will reportedly attend a meet-the-fans session at Huashan Cultural Park on February 27, in an attempt to resuscitate the flat-lining show.
- CNA/ha
Jay Chou holds hands with Cameron Diaz in 'The Green Hornet'; hero rescuing damsel in distress
Source: Sina
Translation: Sarah @ http://asianfanatics.net
On the 5th of September, the beautiful Cameron Diaz & Taiwan’s heavenly king Jay Chou were filming ‘The Green Hornet’ together in Los Angeles. That day, Cameron was wearing a long blue dress, which showed off her figure. However, when she was walking, she lost her balance and almost tripped over, but Jay rescued her just in time. The 2 were pulling and dragging each other; they looked very close and did not avoid arousing suspicion.
During filming, Cameron even took off her shoes, carried them in her hands, and walked barefoot. And infront of the Hollywood beauty, Jay looked very handsome in his suit and tie.
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