SUPERSTAR Tom Cruise may just be working on a new career: saving damsels in distress. Readers might recall that nice guy Cruise once saved the victim of a hit-and-run accident in Santa Monica, California - and even paid the woman's US$7,000 (HK$54,500) hospital bill. He also saved his London neighbour from muggers by rushing to her aid with his bodyguards. Now an even stronger heroic halo has been cast. At Tokyo's gala premiere of M:i-2, near- hysterical fans pushed and shoved to get to him. During the melee, one female fan fell against a Roman pillar used to decorate the venue, injuring herself. Eyewitnesses reported that Cruise jumped forward to offer her a hand up. To console the tearful fan, he gave her an autographed picture and had pictures taken with her, delaying his premiere arrival by 10 minutes.
For the love of Lau ANOTHER are-they-aren't-they mystery on the Canto-pop love scene. A young lass calling herself Amy Tang has popped out of the woodwork, claiming to be heart-throb Andy Lau Tak-wah's off-on girlfriend for 15 years. This has caused a bit of a kerfuffle naturally since Lau has been linked to a Malaysian woman for the better part of the past decade. Tang told reporters she met Lau at a disco in Hong Kong in 1986 when she was still a student and the two started going out. The romance fizzled when she left to study in Australia, she said. But on her return in 1995, Lau contacted her, and Cupid struck again. She now claims she has keys to his house and that his parents have asked her to move in with them. Lau, in China for a series of concerts, vehemently denied knowing Tang. So have his parents.
The Cheung and Chan show WHILE the mystery is building around the Lau-Tang 'romance', singers Daniel Chan Hiu-tung and Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi seem to be more comfortable with media speculation about their supposed budding romance. From their initial 'we-don't-want-to-talk-about-it' attitude, Cheung and Chan are now taking the light-hearted way out by joking with the press when asked about their relationship - although both coyly stop at admitting there is a relationship. 'All I can say is that we're very natural. There is no pressure on me,' Cheung says. As for Chan, 'All I can say is that she is a good friend. In my books, there is one 'good friend' and 'wife' - nothing in-between.' Is he hinting at marriage now? Deric's dicey lawsuit FORMER TVB actor Deric Wan Siu-lun hasn't been very active in the Hong Kong acting scene in the past few years, concentrating instead on first the Southeast Asian and now the mainland market. However, Wan may just find himself blackballed since he and his actress wife, Miao Hung, have filed suit in Beijing against the Guangxi Film Studio and a private Guangzhou film company for breach of contract. The actor claims they were never offered a proper contract and were unfairly dropped from the production when he protested. The production company has countered that the pair missed filming and 'disappeared' on the pretext of illness.
Hung seals lips AFTER Hung Chiu-fung's acrimonious and highly dramatic break-up with socialite Teresa Po Wing-kum last year, the media are obviously still getting used to the new, subdued Hung. Some might remember the ugly details the former disc jockey bandied about when he was trying to get what 'was rightfully his' back from Po. Of course, everyone has been shocked that Po actually announced a reconciliation with Hung last month despite everything and revealed he was suffering from manic depression. Since then, Hung disappeared from sight, but last week was spotted at the airport, returning from Beijing, where he was being treated for his illness. When questioned by reporters, his reply was an uncharacteristic 'no comment' before he headed off in a taxi back to Po's luxury apartment.