[INTERVIEW] Gong Li says has tried to be good only at acting

Actress Gong Li [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

Hollywood actor John Cusack, who worked with actress Gong Li on film "Shanghai" praised the Chinese star as being like Mona Lisa, saying he exclaims automatically at the sight of her walking to him. Meeting and talking to that very actress in person was an experience that lacked reality, as if meeting Mona Lisa who just walked out of the Louvre Museum. It would not be an overstatement to say it was as if she had just popped out of a noted film in how she overwhelmed her surroundings with her presence. From how she expressed her gratitude to a staff member who handed her black tea, to how she encompassed even the interviewer and translator during her dialogue with us, she set forth the air of a confident and elegant woman born and raised on mainland China. Gong Li has been the name that has represented China ever since the world's artistic movie trend turned its eyes to the country. She spoke of being a woman and Asian in Hollywood as well as the actors she had admired before she became an actress. To hear her speaking of falling in love with someone else's acting when she herself is the role model to numerous actresses in her time -- that in itself was a peculiar experience.

10: This is your first official visit to Korea but it seems to be quite a late one compared to how you are regarded almost the symbol of Asian actors. (laugh)
Gong Li: I had actually visited several times unofficially including to look for locations to shoot "Shanghai." It was a shame we only got to shoot in London and Thailand but I had always wanted to visit Korea officially. I know how famous and important the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) is in particular so I'd like to take part in it with my film in competition. (laugh)

10: From "Memoirs of a Geisha" to "The Curse of the Golden Flower" and now "Shanghai," about China's upheaval following World War 2, you're recent work has been focused mostly on historical dramas.
Gong Li: When I'm choosing movies, I look at the scripts and take on the ones that have good subject matter and characters. I've been handed many modern-day scripts as well but most of the characters have been simple -- up till "What Women Want" which is due out in China soon. I think "What Women Want" will be a modern day film that many young people will like. (laugh) But I will continue to take on movies depending on how good the script is. The reason I was drawn to "Shanghai" too was because it told of the emotions Chinese people felt during the war but I also wanted to work director Mikael Hafstrom and actors John Cusack, Chow Yun-fat and Ken Watanabe. They're all actors that I respect greatly and I'm close to Chow Yun-fat because I worked on "The Curse of the Golden Flower" with him and with Ken Watanabe for "Memoirs of a Geisha." Working with John Cusack was a new experience for me because I had never worked with him before.

10: "Shanghai" deals with the attack on Pearl Harbor which led to World War 2 and as much as it was an incident which affected all of Asia including China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, you must've felt a different sort of determination taking part in the film.
Gong Li: I'm sure Korea has a lot of thoughts on this movie as well having been a country that has experienced the war. As much as this movie is a major production made in Hollywood, it can't help being about Asia and China as seen in their eyes but the film itself it actually extremely realistic. The writer wrote it over a period of nine years while living in China, writing it while looking at the situation from those times with an unbiased perspective. I played the role of a Chinese in the film so I had to be sincere -- I played the role with the responsibility as a Chinese. There were actually a lot of women studying overseas back in those days who returned to their home countries during wartimes to take part in the resistance. The role Anna I played was such a woman I well and I was happy to get to show a strong, wise and mysterious character. I was moved in the end in particular when Anna says she will return to Shanghai to do what she needs to someday and stays true to her words -- I felt a strong national consciousness or ethnicity in that scene. My friends liked my role after seeing that as well, saying that I've finally taken on the role of a good person instead of evil one. (laugh)

Actress Gong Li [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: In historical dramas or large productions, the woman usually chases after her love while the man pursues a great cause but it is the men around your character Anna that are rather weak when it comes to love while she works for the great cause of saving her country.
Gong Li: I think it could be because a Westerner wrote the script -- because he felt that Chinese women are extremely strong, patient and honorable. (laugh) It's usually men that protect the women in other movies but here, while men are at the core of the story, Anna is the character that stands out the most. The story moves forward after she appears and I too was drawn to that.

10: You are much of the reason that Anna having such a strong image could be convincing. She is strong yet has the femininity one could fall for at first sight while also being mysterious -- the stereotypical image of Asian women.
Gong Li: There actually aren't a wide range of roles you can choose to play in Hollywood as an Asian actor because you're the one that usually gets chosen. What's important then is that the script and director are good and good directors think and observe for a very long time about what actor they need when they need Asian actors for their movies. They think about which actors will be able to do a good job of expressing the story they want to make. And as a result of that, with some movies you end up noticing only the directors and with others, only the actors. Of course, there are all instances you'll notice both. But while noticing just the director may be considered meaningful, if only the actors get noticed, that's one miserable movie. The best would be when people say the actors did a good job of expressing what the director intended on delivering. And those are the sort of movies I try to work on.

10: You've worked with a lot of distinguished directors. Is there a director in particular that is memorable?
Gong Li: To start with, I couldn't leave out director Zhang Yimou. I've worked on a total eight films with him starting with "Red Sorghum" which is when I first started my career as an actress. I learned so much from him. It's been a great honor to have worked with the best directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige in the earlier years of my career. I was also lucky to have worked with recent Oscar award-winner Rob Marshall for "Memoirs of a Geisha." To think that I had worked with such a great director for my first film in New York. (laugh) And while shooting "Miami Vice," I felt that Michael Mann is so great that you needn't say more about him. He was great at expressing what even women think and I was surprised everytime at how exquisitely he expressed strength versus softness.

Actress Gong Li [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: You're considered the main Asian actress who has expanded her career into Hollywood. And you worked with main Asian actors Chow Yun-fat and Watanabe Ken for this film so I think it must've made you think anew of how you're working with the world as your stage although you're an Asian actor.
Gong Li: Actors are not limited by region. They do not work in a single location but can go wherever projects are made. Going to another country, coming in touch with its culture and living the life there is a great experience. And all cultures are connected so there are roles to play wherever we go. I think that's probably the difference between us actors and ordinary people and the opportunities for us to expand our perception and learn. I too have been able to broaden my perspective while working in Hollywood and come in touch with various cultures. I'm also happy that I've been able to show that through my movies. I'm hoping that many actors will be given the chance to work in different places. A lot of Korean actors have been expanding their careers into Hollywood recently as well so I'm hoping they'll create new cultures while experiencing new things.

10: You're an actress but have also served as a judge for many international film festivals. You're known to be a sharp and merciless judge. (laugh)
Gong Li: That's right. (laugh) I become a scary judge at film festivals. When an actor is asked to be a judge, it's because he or she is an actor but not just any actor. An actor knows well of the overall process of filmmaking as well as take an impartial stance on the films themselves. I too will look at a movie cool-headedly if I don't immerse myself in it from the very start but not be able to judge accurately once I do become immersed with a film. Actors are sensitive and emotional to start with. At the same time, we're also very rational. We may have to act out emotions but we have to remember to stay rational, counting the number of footsteps we need to take or the direction we need to move. That's why I think I become more precise when I'm watching movies.

10: For a long time now, many promising or already recognized actresses in Korea and throughout Asia consider you as the actress they want to emulate. Did you have an actor you wanted to become like as well?
Gong Li: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. (laugh) They don't say that many lines nor move much either in "The Godfather" in particular but showed what their characters are thinking through their eyes. I watched "The Godfather" for the first time during class in college as an acting major and I learned a lot through it. Male actors usually look at how other actors act while actresses study other actresses but I learned how to act through actors. (laugh)

10: 'Li' from your name in Chinese characters means 'wise.' I'm curious whether you think you've lived your life wisely when you look back on your life as an actress.
Gong Li: I've never been the type who works too much after I've become an actress. Some will be busy promoting their work or turn their eyes to directing but I've tried to be good at acting only since taking on this career. That's the only thing I focus on and try to maintain even today. I've also chosen to take on roles depending on what I think of them. I've never done anything that I don't want to do or others force me to do. I know I haven't been successful with all my attempts but I made my choices because I want to and I will continue to play characters that I like and think are good. I may be taking risks but I will always think I'm going on the right path as long as I'm okay with it.

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Reporter : Lee Ji-Hye seven@
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@