While I was in Singapore in September our friends at Sinema Old School helped arrange an interview with Chinese language magazine "Nu You" ("Girlfriend"):


Here is the text, English translation is below:



English Translation by
Machiato:
Do you know who
he is? He is one of Hong Kong’s “Four Heavenly Kings”, and at one stage
caused a bit of an uproar with the locals. If you don’t know who he is,
then you must be living a life in vain……
Acting the Villain Because He’s Lazy
Fortunately,
when I learned that I was going to interview Terence Yin, a rough image
of his handsome face instantly appeared in my mind; I knew who he was
and I could remember his films.
You
might not be able to remember the name of a guy like this and you might
not be able to clearly remember the characters he’s played in films,
but his charming looks with a slight hint of evil expressed on his face
tends to direct him in playing the villain of a film. I think the image
of him playing the bad guy has left a lasting impression on the minds
of a lot of people. This was our first meeting so I just cut straight
to the point and asked him this question.
What do you think your popularity status is like here?
Hah, I actually
don’t know and I don’t really care. I’ve been here a few times before
to do promotional work for movies. I’ve also been here a few times for
personal reasons. I don’t feel that my popularity status is great but
people recognize me at the airport. Does that count? Hah.
You’ve tried
doing a lot of different things – music, theatre, film, even being an
MC, and it looks like that there hasn’t been an outstanding film or a
piece of work representative of you because you’re always playing the
villain. Do you think there is any more room for you to develop further
in the film industry?
I think that
with whatever work you do, it’s all about luck. You have to see if the
film you come across and the character you play, gives you the
opportunity for you to develop further. Ever since I entered the
industry, I’ve been very lucky and have been able to act many different
roles.
A lot
of people have asked me before, why do I always play the villain. And I
would always answer, because I’m lazy – so acting to be myself is the
best! As an actor, I have no control over this decision (of playing the
villain). Initially I wanted to start off by playing a villain, and
this is the impression I have left on the viewers. Maybe the directors
have the same impression as well. They are the first to have a say on
who plays what for a film so naturally, when they decide on who plays
the villain, they tend to think of me. As an actor, my responsibility
is not to be picky with what role to play. My responsibility is to act
and try to capture the essence of the character. It’s like the very
first film that I made, “Mei Shiao Nan Zhi Lian”, the character I had
to play was a gay guy. I’ve never had anything against it. Of course, I
like girls, but I’ve never been afraid or embarrassed about this
particular topic because I feel that there is no difference between a
homosexual relationship or a heterosexual relationship when it comes to
love between two people.
The New Heavenly King Terence Yin
He is Alive Not Dead
Although this
guy who usually plays the villain in Hong Kong films isn’t super
popular, but his persistence and self-confidence his led him to walk
his own road. Because of a documentary style film, The Heavenly Kings,
Terence has even more tasks that he needs to complete and Xiao He has
allowed him to nakedly express himself.
Is there a particular character that you’d really like to try to act?
Maybe because
I’ve already got quite a bit of experience under my belt at the moment
so what I’d like to try is to play a complex character, one that has
layers of different depth. The one I’d like to try the most is the
character in “Living Las Vagas” played by Nicholas Cage. He loves to
drink, just like me, hah hah……I really like this film, even though it’s
a tragic story, it’s still very romantic. Performances by both the male
and female leads were just wonderful.
Being Blacklisted by Reporters
What is “The Heavenly Kings”?
It’s a film directed by Daniel Wu, starring Daniel Wu, Terence Yin,
Andre Lin and Conroy Chan. Four well known and establish Hong Kong
actors teamed up to form a boy-band called ALIVE, creating a statement
in Hong Kong.
In
the film “The Heavenly Kings”, the four actors express their viewpoints
and interview many artists in the Hong Kong entertainment industry,
openly revealing all the secrets behind the workings of a Hong Kong
movie star. This film was made using a zero-distance technique and to a
certain extent, it captured all the ups and downs of the ALIVE band.
Everything recorded during the process of making this film is shown.
Even some of the “made-up stories” that were created during the film
which resulted in offending some local media is also revealed in the
movie.
Throughout the process of making of “The Heavenly Kings”, from
pre-production to filming to releasing, there has been a lot of
controversy and was even boycotted by the media, which ultimately led
to ALIVE disbanding. At one stage, director Daniel Wu changed his
statement and said that this (film) is not a documentary; it is a movie.
Is “The Heavenly Kings” a movie or a documentary?
It’s a movie.
We’ve just used the technique similar to filming a documentary,
included some truth and actual events to present the plot of the film.
For example, there are parts in the movie where we interview artists
from Hong Kong’s entertainment industry; that’s all real. Forming ALIVE
was just like a backbone for the whole film. There was a lot of room
within the film that allowed us to be very creative. The main reason
for this was to allow us to express our views towards the current
unhealthy situation that we can see happening with Hong Kong’s
entertainment industry.
Does “The Heavenly Kings” have any special meaning to you?
It has a lot of
different meanings. Through the process of making this movie, the four
of us consolidated our friendship. We’ve been working in Hong Kong for
so many years so naturally we care about the Hong Kong entertainment
industry and our working environment. Andrew noticed how there are some
places in Hong Kong where the working environment was not very healthy.
Because of this, we wanted to let viewers see the reality of our
workplace and how unfair it can be. We hope to allow everyone gain a
better understanding of the rules in this industry, make it open for
discussion.
This is very important for us. We should cherish and value the things around us and do something to reflect it.
When you
decided to make this film, revealing the dark secrets of the
entertainment industry, being brave enough to express yourself and
presenting the raw truth to everyone, did you have any hesitations at
the time?
Hah. Well, we
actually expected this film would cause a heated response. We wanted
people to be aware and discuss these issues about media. It’s just that
when we released this film in cinemas, the media became very sensitive
about it and because we revealed the rules of how to play the game with
the media, a lot of journalists and reporters in Hong Kong blacklisted
us. On a personal level, we thought it was quite funny because we
initially didn’t have that intention. They just did what they were
supposed to do and then they felt as though their rights were violated.
The reality is, we didn’t lead the audience to think about these
issues. We just threw some open ideas in the air and created a space
for thought, and then the audience could come up with their own
conclusions.
What are
your thoughts towards our local cinema, Sinema, showing this
controversial piece of work which was boycotted by the media?
Very lucky, I
never thought that after such a long period of time, this film is still
attracting cinemas to show it. I think that where ever you go,
independent films still needs a lot of support. This kind of film
festival type events is very important for the film industry.
Especially since Sinema is quite similar to us – apart from wanting to
promote some non-mainstream feature films, they also care about the
society of this industry and they also hope that the media will be
responsible for the things they report our society.
The Masculine Organ is the Man
This year
you’ve performed in a stage play “Pussycat Theatre” where your
character is a particular male organ. Why did you agree to play this
part? Did you ever think about why they asked you to do it?
A friend of
mine came looking for me and said that they needed a male actor. I was
interested and then asked what role I was playing. She said penis. I
asked, what? And then I said okay, it sounded quite fun! I believe that
I would have been their number one choice. I guess they would have
said, hey, we need a real dick, that’s got to be Terence! Hah hah......
Do you think that this well known scriptwriter Crystal Kwok “voiced” this masculine organ fairly?
Oh, I actually
wrote my own lines for this play, which was to illustrate the uses of
this “masculine organ”. It’s taken from a male point of view and used
to counteract with a female point of view so that it allows women to
understand where they misunderstand men with certain things. When I
wrote the script, there are times where it’s very superficial,
sometimes deep and complex, and sometimes very thoughtful. I hope to
try and bring out an emotional side of men and fully express it.
The
viewpoints of men and women are honestly very different. This play
talks about women and the problems they face with old age, and my part
is just adding my own ideas to the play. Basically, a lot of the time
when women divorce or are dumped by their partner, they think that all
men are criminals. Generally a lot of people think that men tend to
like younger women and are very superficial when it comes to
communicating with them; men don’t have that in depth feeling. But in
fact, this kind of generalization is wrong. It’s just an issue about
making the right choice. At the moment, in this kind of sophisticated
society, men would place elements of their livelihoods in first place,
and then seek a partner based around this viewpoint. That is why women
always think that they’re never in first place in a man’s heart.
What do you think a man’s masculine organ represents to you?
Wah, that’s a difficult question. What else is a man’s masculine organ used for?
Since you’re familiar with philosophy, why not answer it in a philosophical way?
Hm......although you can’t make a direct comparison of a man and his masculine organ, however, the masculine organ is the man.
ALIVE NOT DEAD
These four guys
also established a website called Alive Not Dead. Over the past few
years, it has been well received by various industries. You’ll also
find trails of quite a few international stars such as Jet Li on the
site.
What kind of website is Alive Not Dead?
Basically, it’s
an online community created by artists for artists. Our main purpose is
very simple – we hope that through this online community for artists,
we can help as many artists as possible through the internet, first
starting in Hong Kong and then expanding into different countries
around the world, helping the local creative community.
Actually, when we were filming “The Heavenly Kings”, we came in contact
with many independent artists. They’re actually going through some
really times. Traditional media don’t take much notice of them and they
don’t assist them in any way. Everywhere around us, there are a lot of
very good artists and workers out there. Our website is like providing
a support system for them, allowing them to help each other out and
support each other.
The
internet is going to be a very important type of media in the future.
We’re just using this point to connect Hong Kong artists with other
international artists, creating a community so that no matter if
they’re online or offline, they’ll be able to assist each other in some
way. It’s also a place where you’ll find casting opportunities and even
sponsors.
Why is it called Alive Not Dead?
There is a
reason behind the name Alive Not Dead. It reflects the current
environment in Hong Kong and we all have the same feeling towards it.
That is, the Hong Kong film industry has been dying down for many years
but what we want to say to everyone is that we’re still alive.
Thanks to Sharon from Sinema for sending it over!