Ethan Ung Sheung-wai is muttering to himself, trying to commit to memory a bit of dialogue. If he makes an impression at his audition, the local model and actor could become the leading man in a film remake of the 1970s US television series Kung Fu.
It's no small matter that Hollywood has come here to look for its star. Although Hong Kong is the birthplace of kung fu movies, the TV series, starring David Carradine, came to embody martial arts for a generation of westerners. The talent search is all the more ironic since Bruce Lee was passed over for the lead role in favour of Carradine. 'It's like kung fu is coming home,' says 25-year-old Ung.
The producer of the remake, Dalbag Khaira, and director Max Makowski largely agree. Their quest is for a man aged between 20 and 35, who speaks fluent English and is a handsome mix of east and west. Martial arts skills are an advantage but not required.
The two men had held auditions in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Singapore and Hawaii; Hong Kong was their final stop. Over two days of casting this week, they saw about 60 actors who responded to internet advertisements and news reports.
Cattle calls, as such auditions are known in the industry, are impersonal affairs. An assistant hands you a couple of script pages and asks you to take a seat. You may have a few minutes or hours to read it over and decide, based on a few lines of dialogue, who your character is and why he says things that don't make sense: 'Lying is when you believe it's true,' is the candidates' final line. 'If you already know it's a lie, then it's not lying.'
The call comes without warning. Then it's a short, nerve-wracking walk to the audition room where you shake hands with the director and producer and are handed a whiteboard written with your name.
