Why some stars won't strip for action

When Tony Leung Kar-fai did it in The Lover, it was art and he became an overnight sensation; when a local actor does it for a local production he may quickly be tagged 'cheap' and plumb the depths of ignominy. Leung's feat was, of course, baring his derriere for all the world to see in the Jean Jacques Annaud film. 'I am a professional actor and what I can offer or sell to the director and the audience is my image, my body and my acting skill . . . if it is necessary, then I will [appear naked] without hesitation because it is my job,' the actor said at the time. Others have gone that way in Hong Kong, of course, but few have ever managed to claw their way out of the third-grade rut to become 'respectable actors'. The exposed male bum is taboo, in traditional Hong Kong. Not unlike the way some current Hollywood stars appeared in pornographic movies while waiting for their big break, Hong Kong actors who considered nude roles were usually seen as those who were down-and-out and needed something drastic to jump-start their career. Money, although necessary, was not always the chief consideration. TVB actor Michael To Tai-yu is currently experiencing the highest popularity of his career, but six years ago To was seduced into two such films in the hope of hitting pay-dirt. 'It wasn't because of the money. When I filmed the first one, I was only paid $70,000,' he explained. 'But, at that time, I was looked down on by many people and was ignored by the company, so I deliberately shot these films to attract attention.' He did not regret it, he said, but was nevertheless 'grateful that the audience has forgiven [me] for them'. Not all cases turn out as well as To's, of course. At one time, Lawrence Ng Kai-wah was enjoying quite a smooth ride playing villains on TVB drama series. But when his contract terminated, he took a role in Sex And Zen, starring opposite bombshell Amy Yip Chi-mei. The film was a surprise box office hit, but Ng's career has never quite recovered from the ridicule of playing a lusty scholar who had had a horse's penis transplanted on to himself, even if he never appeared nude in the film. Little wonder then that established actors have preferred to keep their boxers on in front of the cameras, and directors have been lamenting the difficulty in getting male leads for more daring pictures. This week, however, cameras started rolling for award-winning director Derek Yee Tung-shing's new film, his first category III effort. The film, named Lustful Men and Women in Chinese, will push the edge of the envelope where the love scenes are concerned. The film is about a group of out-of-luck actors and a director who are forced to turn to category III to survive. The male lead? Farewell To My Concubine star, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, who will be dropping his designer togs for a romp around the film set. 'Leslie has always been a daring actor; [the nude scenes] were not an issue,' said Yee. Indeed, at a press conference earlier in the week, Cheung had cheerfully brushed aside questions about his unveiling. 'Yes, I will show my buttocks,' he said. 'But I've got nice buttocks anyway; no scars and no marks!' Cheung and Lover-boy Leung may well be the few exceptions, because it was a different story when Yee tried to cast the part of an over-the-hill actor who gets drawn into the seamy category III world. 'Seven or eight' actors turned down the role before Yee settled on Tsui Kam-kong, of Sex and Zen fame, even though he was too young for the forty-something role. 'Getting an actor to disrobe is certainly more difficult than actresses,' Yee said. 'If an actor is not comfortable undressing in front of the camera, it makes the director's job very difficult. And there really are not that many choices.' Director Peter Chan Ho-sun, who has not directed a category III movie but served as producer for the category III hit Twenty Something, agreed with Yee. 'Although I haven't actually directed one of these films, generally I do know that it is more difficult to cast male leads in such cases,' Chan said. 'Twenty Something was a little different because we used mainly new actors,' he added. Singer Jordan Chan Siu-chun, one of the male leads in the movie, admitted that that had been a 'great gamble' for him. '[But] considering the other male roles, I got off easily because I didn't have to bare my buttocks or be in the more explicit scenes. I was really very embarrassed,' said the actor who eventually won an acting award for his role. Yee does not really understand why men are more embarrassed about showing their bottoms. 'Maybe it is because men are not as confident about their bodies. Women seem to be naturally born with good figures whereas men have to work very hard at it,' he said. 'For Tsui's role also, I was looking for someone in their middle age and usually these actors are married and have families. The pressure of going home and facing their wife and children is a consequence they'd rather not have to deal with.' When the brouhaha broke over his nude scenes in The Lover, Leung was quick to say that his wife had been extremely understanding. Naturally, not all wives can be expected to react with the same support. 'I would not allow my husband to take such a role at any cost,' declared one actor's wife. 'I don't want every woman in town looking at his body! Besides, how are the children going to face the sniggering of their friends and teachers in school?' Peter Chan feels that peer pressure among the actors was also an important factor. The risks are big, but the returns are not always in proportion, he felt. 'The young starlets who are hoping for publicity probably have nothing to lose, but I don't think any actors think that making a category III movie is actually going to make them rich and famous,' he said. Experienced actor Simon Yam Tat-wah may have left an impression amongst cinema-goers as a category III actor, playing resident Hong Kong psychopaths, but even he says no to baring his bottom on screen. 'There isn't any such need,' said Yam, who will be playing criminal Yip Kai-foon in a new movie about the murderer. 'The category III movies I have been in were mainly rated because of violence; that is OK with me. I don't mind steamy love scenes but wouldn't want to bare my bottom for a movie.' The glut of sleazy category III films that has hit Hong Kong in the groin in recent years, and tales of bad sheep directors 'selling out' actors keeping scenes that were supposed to have been edited, have not helped the image. The Final Option director Gordon Chan Ka-sheung feels that it was not only established actors who were hesitant about such roles but actresses as well. 'Even those who would like to take some tasteful nude roles are afraid to do so because of our society's attitude towards these films. 'But you can see a very different attitude in other Chinese artists such as Joan Chen and Gong Li . They are not bothered by some nudity. If done right, the body isn't such a shameful thing.' Chen appeared nude in sizzling love scenes with Taiwan's Wu Hsing-kuo in Clara Law Cheuk-yiu's Temptation of a Monk. 'It boils down to trust between the actors and the director,' Yee added.