Athena Chu Yan isn't used to people not noticing her. The actress, dubbed 'sexy goddess' for the sometimes racy roles she's played in movies, has always found attention easy to get throughout her nearly 20-year career. But when she went out in a wheelchair to prepare for one of her latest films, in which she plays a disabled woman, she found that passersby wouldn't look her in the eye.
'They didn't want to meet my eyes or focus on me,' says Chu, sipping an orange juice at the Grand Hyatt hotel, four days before her 40th birthday on October 25. 'They may be gentle and kind in what they say but there is no eye contact. They feel sorry for you.'
The experience paid off: playing the inspirational woman who overcomes the odds in the RTHK-produced A Wall-less World, Chu has become the first Chinese actress to be nominated for an Emmy award, for best actress in an international production. The acclaim is down to hard work, the star says, but it still surprised her.
When her manager called to tell her the news, 'at first I thought it was a joke', she says. After reading an e-mail confirming it, she called longtime boyfriend Paul Wong Koon-chung, the former member of the band Beyond, and finally burst into tears.
'I'm very happy,' says Chu, wearing a cream blouse and short-sleeved black jacket over black trousers and boots. 'Because of my looks, I must work harder than others to show that I'm not just a pretty girl.' It was her first major nomination since she was shortlisted for a Golden Horse Award in 1999 for playing a junkie in The Boss Up There. It seems challenging roles bring out the best in Chu. When she heard about the Golden Horse nomination she was recording a TV series on the mainland and cried tears of joy.
'This time,' she says, beaming an almost ever-present smile, 'it's even more emotional. It was totally unexpected. For me this is something that's really far away. I mean, I watch CSI, Criminal Minds and many foreign TV series. There are so many actors and actresses that I admire who will be there. It's like a dream for me.'