THE TEENAGE SCHOOLGIRLS lining up at UA Cityplaza's popcorn counter are all looking pleased with themselves, secure in the knowledge that a rainy afternoon in Taikoo has been swapped for a couple of comfortable hours at the cinema.
Simple pleasures indeed; and yet sitting only a few feet away is someone who could throw the whole plan out of whack. Popcorn would end up all over the floor, a salvo of text messages would be launched, and, ultimately, an entire shopping mall would bulge with hysterical, screaming girls who suddenly couldn't give a hoot about Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Dangerous.
But then, Chang Chen simply has one of those faces. Luckily for everyone concerned here today, one of Asia's hottest cinematic properties is allowed to sit behind a partition in relative obscurity, sipping his lemon tea while the rest of the world slips by in the queue for refreshments.
'Five years ago I'd just finished my military service in Taiwan,' muses the 28-year-old actor, reflecting on a rise to fame that has accelerated since he finished his mandatory duties as a Taiwanese. 'When that finished, acting was a new start, with the pressure of a new job. Back then I couldn't really enjoy being in films.'
And then director Ang Lee came knocking in 2000 with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in which Cheng's unwashed, straggly haired Dark Cloud risked his life for Zhang Ziyi's comb and, ultimately, her heart. From that point on Cheng took on a universal magnetism: women wanted him, while men wanted to be the guy who could get that close to Zhang Ziyi - even if it was all 'just acting'.
Either way, Chang's star was gilded the instant he rode horseback through the Gobi desert, an Asian anti-hero fit to rival the likes of Butch Cassidy.
