There are certain expectations one has when meeting Taiwanese actor Chang Chen. The hunk-of-choice for acclaimed Chinese directors Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai and Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chang, 29, is becoming one of the most recognised Chinese actors in Asia and, increasingly, the west. Above all, he's known as the guy who delivers the best love scenes.
Fan sites dedicated to Chang can't seem to stop talking about them. There is his memorable portrayal of Zhang Ziyi's bandit lover in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and, before that, he played Tony Leung Chiu-wai's homosexual one-night stand in Wong's Happy Together. And then there is Wong's The Hand, one of a trilogy of short films released earlier this year under the title Eros. (The other two were directed by Steven Soderbergh and Michel-angelo Antonioni.) Set in 1960s Hong Kong, Chang portrays a tailor who is secretly in love with a call girl, played by Gong Li. Although the film wasn't a commercial success, a subtle, erotic masturbation scene between Chang and Li guaranteed it a place in art-house history.
His amorous adventures continue in Three Times, directed by Hou, in which he stars opposite Shu Qi in a film of three parts, the common theme being love. Screened in May at the Cannes Film Festival and last month at the New York Film Festival, Three Times will be released in Hong Kong this week.
There is so much anticipation surrounding this movie idol that, when we meet - at a modest hotel in Yau Ma Tei (not the type in which Wong filmed In the Mood for Love), with no romantic lighting or exotic background music - it is an anti-climax. He's dressed casually in baggy jeans and a pink rugby shirt, and he has a slight hunch when he walks, making him appear shorter than his 170cm frame. He comes across as an average guy rather than a larger-than-life movie star.
Settling down on a sofa after having been manhandled by a pack of eager photographers, Chang takes out a packet of Taiwanese cigarettes and asks for permission to smoke. When asked why he doesn't smoke a more sophisticated brand or something macho, Chang laughs and says his cigarettes are cheaper. His frugal tastes are further satisfied by Taipei street food, he reveals. 'Pork meatballs, Taiwanese-style beef noodles; that's what I love.' Chang's true colours are showing. He is not first and foremost a celebrity or an artist; he is a young man who just happens to earn his living as an actor.
Ten minutes into the interview and Chang's charms are beginning to surface. He isn't poster-boy gorgeous but his deep-set eyes and high nose bridge and cheek bones are made for the camera. His deep voice makes his often drawn-out film dialogue mesmerising. It's becoming obvious why Chang has experienced such a meteoric rise to stardom, not only in the Greater China market, but also amid the severe reckoning of Cannes and Berlin.