Tragic mum role took its toll on Leung
Canto-pop star Gigi Leung Wing-kei says playing a tragic mother in Barbara Wong Chun-chun's new film, Wonder Woman, was an upsetting experience.
The movie is an adaptation of Anita Leung Fung-yee's novel about a career woman during the 10 years after the handover. It recalls the financial turmoil of job loss, her son's death from Sars, and her husband's disappearance.
'If I were her, I would have gone mad a lot earlier,' Leung (below) said of her character Jessie Sing.
Leung was relieved when filming ended because she found it difficult to separate herself from the role.
'The character was very upsetting. I remember during the first three weeks of shooting, I didn't even want to go out with my friends,' Leung said.
She was also challenged by playing a mother for the first time. 'I'm not a mother, so I kept telling myself how great a mother's love is and how I would feel seeing my son suffering from Sars.'
Leung also wrote a song for the film. 'When I was writing the song, I put myself in the character's shoes, but when I was recording it, I was being Leung Wing-kei.'
Off screen, Leung had her own problems: she recently broke up with singer-actor Ekin Cheng Yee-kin, and has been reluctant to talk about it.
In Wonder Woman, Jessie gives up her family for a career, but Leung says of her own situation: 'People reach a certain stage when they need a relationship, but I'm over that now. People make decisions and you can't guarantee what you might be losing. It's just a gamble.'
Wonder Woman opens on July 5
