'Every day is different for an actor; that is what makes it exciting. It's not like a nine-to-five job, where you pretty much do the same thing [every day]. We never know what will happen. I'm spontaneous and I like this kind of life. I wake up about 7am. I work out every morning. At home in Los Angeles, I have built an open wooden deck at the back of my house to practise tai chi. I'm very much into tai chi and qigong, so I practise them every morning. The workout takes about an hour and then I have breakfast. I always eat the same boring thing: cereal, such as muesli, with fruit and soy milk. Then my day begins. I've just finished making a film with [filmmaker/producer] Norbert [Meisel], my other half, and now we are going into editing. Because I'm the producer on the film and star in it, there's a lot of work. The film is called Ray of Sunshine. It is a beautiful story about a young girl who comes to Los Angeles to look for her father. She has had a pretty turbulent life with her mother; she witnessed her mother getting killed by a powerful person, a judge. She discovers I'm her real mother, but I had to give her away for whatever reasons. It is an interesting, complex story - not just one dimensional. I meditate to relax. It helps to centre me and I need that because there is so much going on. I believe you always need time to yourself; it is very important. Sometimes I paint to relax. I like to paint in oil and dabble in watercolours. When I'm on vacation, I like detective or spy novels. But at home, I read a lot of scripts. When I'm not making a film, I'm writing a screenplay, working with someone else on something or bumming around with my girlfriends. You know, the usual things we do: trying not to work, just lazing about. I try to keep a balance in my life to keep it interesting. The World of Suzie Wong was a film I made many years ago. It's not that I'm tired of it; it is just in the past. A lot of people who write on my website mention Suzie Wong or Flower Drum Song, so I guess they must have affected whoever saw those films for them to think about them years later. Suzie Wong was many years ago - 1960 - and Hong Kong has changed a lot since then. There are certain things I will always miss about Hong Kong because I was born here. I have great memories of when I was growing up in Hong Kong; it was in an idyllic, laidback fishing village. Those were wonderful days; you could run anywhere and nobody bothered you. There is always a place in my heart for Hong Kong. It is my home town. Somebody once asked me if, because I was Eurasian, I thought more Chinese or more western, but I am a bit of both. It's a good time to be Eurasian, to use your east and west. That is the way I was born and brought up. A documentary of my life is being made now. We are shooting some of it on this trip to Hong Kong. It is being made by Brian Jameson; he's been with Warner Brothers for 30 years. He will go back to my childhood, look at the family I came from, the reflection of my past and end with where I am today. We are incorporating the documentary with [Hong Kong Ballet production] Suzie Wong the Ballet, such as arriving at the gala performance. I've not had any input in the ballet. We asked them what it was about and they said it was loosely based on the movie. I think it should be interesting and I can't wait to see it. I'm not a big lunch eater, so I have something light. Either we have lunch meetings or eat at home, but it is usually fast. People in the film business always eat quickly. I tend to gulp my food instead of enjoying it as I should do. But that is because we might only have half an hour. I'll eat either a piece of toast, some soup or cup noodles. In the afternoons, I might have a meeting or audition. If not, then I'll meet a friend or just hang around. Evening time is when we come home and try to have a decent meal together and exchange ideas. I'm not a very good cook, but I've had to learn. In Hong Kong, we had somebody to cook for us. I like to cook when I have time and I'm relaxed. I enjoy it because it is therapeutic and you can concentrate on what you are doing. If it's Academy Awards judging time, we spend a lot of evenings viewing all the movies [that have been nominated] because [as members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] we vote for them. This starts from November onwards and you watch a lot of movies. Otherwise, we go out to dinner or have family time, watch television at home or read a book. I normally go to bed about 11pm. If I have an early start for filming, I go to bed earlier. My life is not complex or exciting. I guess it is a simple life. We enjoy making films and I always say if you enjoy what you do, it is wonderful. You shouldn't be doing it if you don't enjoy it. For us, there's no such thing as retirement. You just fade away, as they say.'
