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HK Magazine

He also recently wed Lisa S., his longtime girlfriend. Doretta Lau talks to the actor about passion, architecture, acting and depression.
Growing up, I wanted to be everything, from the first Chinese-American President to a fireman.
In high school, I wanted to get into the arts. But I knew my parents wouldn’t let me study arts so I chose to major in architecture.
I wanted to find something that I was passionate about that would really drive me through my career, instead of just getting a job because that’s what makes ends meet.
I came to Hong Kong with the idea that I could work as an art director. I never thought of acting as I am more introverted than extroverted.
Yonfan saw me in a print ad and cast me for “Bishonen.”
I thought that after that, because it was a gay film, Hong Kong would pigeonhole me as that gay actor and I’d not get any more work. But it had the reverse effect. It got a lot of directors to notice that this young kid was willing to try to do something that’s not mainstream.
I kept getting other work. And it just never stopped. So I was just extremely lucky. A lot of people who try to get into the business for years and years and years never get anywhere, and I just fell into it.
Preparing for a role is really intensely personal I think. The process starts with the script. Whether I like the story or the character, something has to touch me.
Why is it now that singers don’t really have to sing? We made the mockumentary “The Heavenly Kings” because we had a lot of complaints about the music industry.
When it was released, the local media felt like we had been lying to them for a year and half. They didn’t get it. I was blacklisted for a year afterward.
Architecture school was really good for me because it helped me formulate a creative process of how to start from an idea and make that a reality.
I use architectural principles to design clothing. That’s probably why Jil Sander is my favorite designer, because she was an architect before.
The mainland audience is more sophisticated than the typical Hong Kong audience. They were repressed for so many years that once things opened up they just wanted to see everything.
Lisa S. is in a totally different field, modeling, so our worlds don’t really collide. If she were also an actress, it would be a lot harder.
What I like about our relationship now is that we come home and we don’t talk about work.
There is more pressure having a public relationship because whenever you do an interview, everyone wants to talk about that. Unfortunately that kind of tabloid media has gotten into people’s psyche.
I very rarely read a script all the way through—I go get something to eat, I fall asleep and then the next day I pick it up again. I burned through the whole script of “Like a Dream” right away. Something in it in kept pulling me along.
Making “Like a Dream” is the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done. Physically, I had to lose fifteen pounds. I was very weak while making the film. I was in a fragile state.
It took me a couple of months after finishing the film to return to normal because it just drained so much out of me, and it made me depressed for a long time.
This is the first time I’ve ever gotten to this point with a character, where I was able to really make his story my story.
You can’t get stuck with one idea, or one way of doing things. Because if you do and it doesn’t work, then you’re screwed. You have to be really open to change and spontaneity and possibility.
Anyone can have a great idea, but if you don’t know how to execute it, nor have the drive to push it through, then it just disappears. The world’s greatest ideas come from the people who have the drive to fight and struggle and push to get it done.
I would never write a script for myself. I’m not that narcissistic.


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Interview with actor Daniel Wu

Magazines

Daniel Wu stars in Clara Law’s latest film, “Like a Dream,” a project he believed in so much that he also signed on as an associate producer. 
