They are calling him the 'Tom Cruise of the East' and the sexiest action star of the year, but Chow Yun-fat's eyes take on a devilish glint when asked what he thinks of such analogies.
'Tom Cruise of the East?' he asks, with a laugh. 'I think that should be Andy Lau [Tak-wah]. I'm Chow Yun-fat of the East!' And Chow Yun-fat of the West too, his agents and fans hope, now that Anna And The King has opened to right royal reviews for him especially. 'He is a supremely charismatic (and did we say dreamy?) specimen of manhood,' gushed one American critic.
Another went: 'Chow is a revelation: masculine, tender and gently amusing.' Hong Kong's most respected acting export to Hollywood is certainly in a class of his own in Hong Kong. It is no secret the film industry here lacked actors of his calibre until Chow came along. Three Hollywood films later, he has finally made his mark - not as an action star but as a dramatic hero - and he could not be happier.
Anna And The King is his first Hollywood outing in which he does not come out with guns blazing; the Magnums and Colts have been traded in for a sword and pretty frocks. Interestingly enough, it is the first time he has played a monarch despite a career encompassing more than 70 films.
'Finally, I don't need to hold a gun to make a living. Holding a sword is OK, it's different; it's more debonair and brings a new feel,' he jokes. 'I'm very happy and it feels very comfortable. I've been dying for it to happen for a long, long time.
'I had not been an action hero at all until 1986, when I met John Woo and did A Better Tomorrow. After that movie nobody would hire me in any dramatic roles, they always wanted me to be holding two guns as the action hero, again and again and again.
