My first movie with Tony Leung Kar Fai

    Back in 2004, I received news from my company that I will star in a movie with Tony Leung Kar Fai.  When I first heard my agent said Tony Leung, I didn't know if my mind was playing tricks on me.  So I asked my homie Andy On who was sitting next to me...

"Who did she just say?" 

Before I could get an answer from Onimal, I was already thinking to myself...

"Hey, it doesn't matter which Tony Leung it was, it was my first movie role and it was an opportunity to work with one of the Tony's. "

 When the Onimal replied in mandarin,

" Lian Jia Hui!"

I almost shitted in my pants.  Personally, I've always like Tony Leung Kar Fai over Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Lust, Caution).  Not only is he a great dramatic actor, he is also a great comedian. I was so excited that I  had to asked the Onimal,

 "Tony from the Lover ?"

Onimal replied in his usual sexy demeanor,

"Yes."

From that moment on , I played it cool so my agent and the Onimal wouldn't think that I was a tool.  But inside, I felt like Jerry McGuire when he signed Kush.

About a month later, I received the script titled 這個阿爸真爆炸 (Papa Loves You).  Like most of you when you first read it, I was like WTF???  I soon overlooked the title and continued reading. When I got to my part, I almost shitted in my pants again. Aside from the usual one liners, there was a 3 page monologue !!  So I immediately called my agent and asked,

"They want me to do this in mandarin right? Cuz there's no way I can do this in Cantonese after being in HK for only 8 months."

As usual, my agent said,

"Nope. It's a HK movie so you have to do it in cantonese."

I was overwhelmed. No. Overwhelmed was an understatement. I was scared out of my mind. It was my first movie and I have to duke it out with Tony Leung! There's no way I am screwing this up. So over the next month before they started shooting, I tried to memorize the monologue the best I can. From what I could remember, I was regurgitating my monologue when I was eating,drinking, walking, running, driving, brushing my teeth, and even in my sleep.

A month later, my company called and told me that the director, Mr. Herman Yau(also an AnD member) wanted to rehearse the scene with me.  So I met the man.  I did my rehearsal and he said to me,

"Ok Johnny, I want you to do the scene 1/3 in Manadarin, 1/3 in Cantonese, and 1/3 in English."

To make a long story short, I was able to deliver what he wanted.

If it wasn't for Tony's trust and patience, there's no way I could have finished the scene in style.

Oh! One more thing.......since the production was wrapped in such a rush, I never got the opportunity to thank the man.  

"Thank you Mr. Leung!!"

Here's the end product....Enjoy!! (BTW, tried embedding the clip from Tudou but it's not working. Please click at your convenience)

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Ty-n3C43PQI