Tony Leung on his career, his relationship with Wong Kar-Wai and why he felt “lost” before working with the director – Tokyo Film Festival

Veteran actor Tony Leung from Hong Kong attended the Tokyo Film Festival this afternoon, where he attended a screening of ” 2046his sixth collaboration with filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai.

Leung’s appearance on stage was short but compact. The actor mostly covered the early beginnings of his career and how he first came into contact with Wong Kar-Wai, with whom he has since made seven feature films.

“When I first met Wong Kar-wai, I was hooked. “I didn’t know what to do because my acting didn’t get better,” Leung told the packed audience at Tokyo’s Hulic Hall.

Leung said at the time that he worked with Wong Kar-Wai on the 1990 film Days full of wildernessbut he struggled to establish his character.

“I worked with Maggie Cheung. And Wong Kar-Wai looked at my acting and knew what wasn’t great about it,” Leung said. “Maggie could complete a scene in two to three takes, while it took me dozens of retakes. I thought I might not be good at acting, but Wong Kar-Wai told me that I have a lot of techniques in my acting that I don’t need. That’s why he told me to dissect the things I know.”

Leung said this when he saw the final version Days full of wildernessFor the first time he was able to realize his full potential as an actor.

“Wong Kar-Wai is a wonderful director. He can get something out of actors, so I decided to work with this director, and it has been twenty years now.

Leung described Wong Kar-Wai’s working style as “unique” and explained that the director often hides his entire scripts from his artists.

“Wong Kar-Wai has a script, but he doesn’t show it to us,” Leung said. “All the actors are aware of the story and understand their characters, and Wong Kar-Wai gives very clear instructions on what to prepare, but we don’t get any instructions on how the story will develop.”

Leung added that Wong Kar-Wai’s unusual way of assembling his projects always made filming feel like an “adventure” into the unknown.

“He wants to create a lot of leeway on set. He goes on set, sees every person and the cameras and can make a change depending on the circumstances. That is why he wants that space,” Leung said. “As actors, when we get too much information, we start preparing, and Wong Kar-Wai doesn’t want that to happen.”

Over his decades-long career, Leung has appeared in more than 100 feature films in Asia and, more recently, in the United States. When asked what he wants to do next, he replied: “Next year I’m working on a European film in Germany. I prepared for eight months. I have a lot of books to read and a lot of research to do, so I’m looking forward to this film.”

The Tokyo Film Festival runs until November 1st.