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The Inquisition: Taiwanese art-house actor Lee Kang-sheng

The Taiwanese actor has established himself at the forefront of the international art house scene

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Edmund Lee

The impact of that award was actually quite substantial, because it introduced a lot of people to us [Lee and Tsai] and our films. I've been in this business for 22 years and I'm a bit like the character I played in Stray Dogs: a human billboard standing on the street and advertising real estate. That's exactly how I feel about my position in the film industry. The films Tsai and I make are more on the art house and non-mainstream front — not many people watch them.

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Even in Taiwan, indeed. So when I acted in that film, I very much shared my character's feelings.

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Actually, he was physically unwell at that time. When we shot Stray Dogs he had also taken on other projects and he was extremely busy. Once he called me in the middle of the night and said he felt really unwell. I had to take him to hospital on two other occasions, because his blood pressure got too high. He was facing immense pressure and feeling negative about his body, and that's why he thought about retiring. But I think he's recovered quite a bit since.

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