Cecilia Cheung not in Johnnie To’s list of movie cast
HONG KONG: Director Johnnie To was brutally honest in pointing out that he does not want to cast Cecilia Cheung in his movies because of her complicated personal life and negative gossip. He admitted that there is an overall shortage of Hong Kong actresses over 30 years old he preferred to cast.
While promoting Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2, Johnnie explained why Mainland actress Gao Yuanyuan has become a recent casting favourite. Filled with praise for the 35-year-old actress, Johnnie nevertheless cast Yuanyuan as a superficial love interest in 2013’s Blind Detective. Johnnie said, “It was especially hard to find someone who can get Andy Lau to fall in love with her, so I asked Yuanyuan to help out, and it worked.”
Johnnie admitted that Hong Kong film actresses have many limitations, “When Hong Kong cinema was at its best, there weren’t many leading actresses over 30 years old. It’s not like overseas, where actresses over 40 are still leading. The only one who could do it in Hong Kong was Brigitte Lin, who is still very beautiful. Besides her, it is really rare to find someone over 30 years old. Almost none.”
Pointing out that Cecilia Cheung, who starred in Johnnie’s Running on Karma is a qualified actress over 30, Johnnie said, “Yes, she is also pretty good. Unfortunately, she got herself into some messy issues. She’s also divorced. Who wants to use her (now)?”
In a unrelated news, recently a list of the top 21 paid actresses from China was leaked, with Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, and Vicki Zhao emerging as the top earners.
Zhang Ziyi not only maintains a solid presence overseas as an international film star due to her popular movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour 2, and Memoirs of a Geisha, but Ziyi was given the opportunity to star in some of China’s most high-profile films in recent years, including The Grandmaster which helped her win multiple Best Actress awards across Asia, as well as John Woo’s The Crossing. It is no surprise that Ziyi’s is Mainland’s highest paid actresses at 15 million yuan per movie.
Tying in first place with Zhang Ziyi are Zhou Xun and Vicki Zhao who also command 15 million yuan per film.