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Tse finds his inner beast

In his latest film, Beast Stalker, actor-singer Nicholas Tse Ting-fung finally found a script he could get his teeth into. Unlike the 'superhuman' roles in which he has been previously cast, Tse plays a more authentic cop in Dante Lam Chiu-yin's new action drama, which opens next week.

I'm still playing a cop, but I'm not a super, invincible cop,' 28-year-old Tse (above) says. 'In the past four to five years, people have typecast me as an action hero - I'm not sure why because I started my career as a singer.

'Perhaps it has something to do with my role in New Police Story (2004) which I starred in with Jackie Chan. After that I did a lot of action films such as Dragon Tiger Gates (2006) and Invisible Target (2007). These films gave audiences the impression that I would lead the next generation of fighting heroes, but that wasn't my intention - I'm not even a trained fighter,' says Tse.

In Beast Stalker, Tse plays police sergeant Tong Fei, who accidentally causes the death of a little girl. When her twin sister is kidnapped, Tong is determined to make up for his mistake and sets about chasing down the kidnapper (played by Nick Cheung Ka-fai).

Tse describes the film as one of the most stressful projects he's taken part in. 'It was mentally exhausting because of the stress my character Tong is under, and the guilt he feels over the little girl's death. After the first scene, I ended up hating myself. At times I felt quite insane. Even off set, I would rush home after work with blood and pieces of glass still on my face. Some of the people who bumped into me on the street were scared out of their pants.'

Tse's ultimate childhood hero was kung fu actor Bruce Lee, and like the martial arts hero, Tse prefers to do his own stunts. For past films he's taken on a number of risky moves, such as jumping off the Convention and Exhibition Centre (New Police Story), and hopping from one moving vehicle to another without a safety harness.

Tse regards doing his own stunts as a risk he has to take. 'If I were a theatre-goer watching Bruce Lee doing a stunt but realised it was being done by a body double, I would be very disappointed.'

But like most fathers Tse isn't keen for his son, Lucas, to follow such a dangerous career, and his wife actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi, feels the same way.

To put Lucas off the idea, Tse made a video for his first birthday featuring five of his most dangerous stunts, including that leap from the Convention Centre. Lucas' reaction to the video is unknown, but the clip can viewed on Tse's blog at: alivenotdead.com/nicholastse.

However, Tse says with a laugh that he made the video for Lucas to watch when he is older.

'It's really for when he grows up. I want him to do well in life and climb high - as long as he doesn't have to fall to make a living,' says Tse.

However, Tse hopes that one day he'll be able to take his son to the Convention Centre to see where he made the famous jump. 'I would tell him, 'There are only two people who ever made it up there, one is your dad and the other is Jackie Chan.''

Tse was born into a celebrity family - his father is producer, screenwriter and director Patrick Tse Yin, who was one of the highest-paid actors of the 1960s and 70s. Despite his initial shyness and reluctance to appear on camera, Tse has spent most of his life in the limelight.

Tse's wife, Cheung, has suggested sending Lucas overseas to avoid the attention of the press, but Tse is not convinced. 'Where is it safe? When I was 13 and at boarding school in Vancouver, the tabloids reported that I was the head of a triad.'

Tse says it was hard growing up in the spotlight with millions of people watching him, but if his son decided to follow the same career he wouldn't hold him back as long as he was happy.

Beast Stalker opens on Nov 27

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