hankyoreh

What could be a bigger compliment than “irreplaceable”? It’s a word used to describe people who have a talent or uniqueness that cannot be imitated. Tony Leung is an actor who embodies that word like no other.

Many actors can act, but Tony Leung’s gaze is a much-valued, unique weapon in the film industry. His gaze perfected a range of characters, from Wen-ching, a deaf-mute character who could only express himself through his facial expressions and body language in “A City of Sadness”; the poet who forces his beloved into prostitution while living as a gigolo in “Cyclo”; and Mr. Yee in “Lust, Caution,” a movie that captures the exact moment in which desire turns into love.

No matter the character he plays, every viewer is beguiled and won over by his gaze — even when he’s a villain.

Younger generations are not immune to his charms. When the Marvel movie “Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was released last September, movie-goers in their 20s and 30s came out of the theater saying that they’d come to see Shang-chi but ended up falling in love with Shang-chi’s father and main villain, Wenwu, portrayed by Leung.

Fans in their 20s and 30s formed crowds and showered Leung with adulation wherever he went during his visit to the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which kicked off on Oct. 5. While in Korea to accept the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award, Leung came face to face with fans at a variety of events in Busan, such as the “In the Mood for Tony Leung” open talk, the hand-printing ceremony, and conversations with audiences at screenings. Every venue he went to reverberated with his fans’ cheers.

Every small hand gesture, smile, the slight twitch of his lips that he tends to make when abashed, and even a hole in his jeans were all praised as “adorable.” Without any hesitation, I joined Leung’s fans and followed the storied actor to all his official appearances over the span of three days.

The suggestion that changed the famous scene of “Infernal Affairs”

Leung, whose full name is Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, personally selected the six films screened at this year's BIFF special exhibition, “In the Mood for Tony Leung.” After the screenings of “2046” (screened Oct. 6), the sequel to “In the Mood for Love,” and “Infernal Affairs” (screened Oct. 7), the noir film that is said to have started a revival of Hong Kong cinema, Leung took part in conversations with the audiences.

In “2046,” Leung plays Chow Mo-wan, a writer who finds it hard to settle down, caught up in his longing for a past love he had lost in Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung). The clean-cut, well-mannered Chow that appears in “In the Mood for Love” is nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a playboy stuck in the past and incapable of forging meaningful relationships with other women. If you remember Chow as the romantic who, after parting ways with his lover, quietly sealed his love in a hole in the wall of an Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, the character’s transformation can be startling.

“Director Wong Kar-wai wanted me to act in a different way in ‘2046,’ which made things a little difficult,” Leung professed, saying that he overcame the difficulty by suggesting that Chow don a mustache in “2046.”

“Chow had already become such a well-known character through ‘In the Mood for Love,’ so I thought a lot about how I could make him into a different character. I thought of Chow in ‘2046’ as a character who wanted to put his past behind him and live a life as a new person. So, I asked [to add] a mustache. The mustache was like a mask, so I was able to convince myself that I was playing a completely different character.”

During a guest visit at a screening of “Infernal Affairs” that took place the next day, Leung said that he actively gave feedback during the film’s production, going so far as to tweak the script.

The scene where Chan Wing-yan (Tony Leung), an undercover cop in a triad organized crime syndicate, and Lau Kin-ming (Andy Lau), the triad spy planted in the police force, meet on a hotel roof and draw guns at one another originally involved hand-to-hand combat. However, Leung thought that it was strange that the two would engage in close physical combat when they both had guns, and mentioned this to the director before filming. In the end, the script was revised so that the two actors exchange lines instead of blows.

“Tony Leung’s Cinematic Universe,” built on sheer grit

Leung is known for the effort he puts into character building. He said that whenever he gets a script, he first imagines what that character would’ve been like as a child.

“All the experiences you go through as well as the education you received as a child all influence your personality as an adult. That’s how I approach the characters. I think about what kind of family they were born into and what kind of friends they made. With this approach, you can become any character that you need to become.”

He also said that it takes him around three months to prepare, as he needs to read relevant reference books as well as observe and imitate people around him who may share the qualities of the character. The wide range of his acting that can be seen in all of his films is the product of intense effort.

Despite having worked tirelessly for 40 years since his acting debut, Leung expressed no signs of exhaustion and instead said that many new challenges await him. His risk-taking spirit can be seen in the films that Leung chose for the film fest’s special exhibition. All of the works chosen were films that depict his ever-changing, diverse range as an actor, as can be seen in the two versions of Chow he plays in “In the Mood for Love” and “2046,” the different cops he plays in “Infernal Affairs” and “The Longest Nite,” as well as the LGBT film “Happy Together” and the utterly ridiculous “The Eagle Shooting Heroes.”

At an official press conference that took place on Oct. 6, Leung said that he wanted to give playing a serial killer a shot, as well as expressing interest in making an appearance in an American TV series. Leung never ceases to challenge himself.

“Gen MZ” fans rave over “adorable” Leung at 60

“Oh, he’s so cute. How can a 60-year-old guy be that adorable?”

An open talk event with Leung was held at 5 pm on Oct. 7. The outdoor theater at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae was thronged with fans who saw the actor flashing his trademark bashful smile in the cameras and raved at how “adorable” he looked. Forty years on from his debut, Leung is a world-famous movie star, but he still shows a boyish awkwardness in the spotlight.

Thanks to the release of “Shang-Chi” last year and a recent retro craze among Koreans in their 20s and 30s, a fast-growing number of younger fans are rediscovering Tony Leung.

In his younger days, Leung didn’t enjoy the same kind of fan attention as fellow Hong Kong actor Andy Lau. But at this BIFF event, he was definitely the top draw.

Younger fans holding up handmade signs and banners followed the actor on his three-day visit schedule, roaring with delight at every gesture and subtle look in his eyes. The bashful smiles that Leung replied with only fueled the fire among fans.

How did members of Korea’s younger generation become so enamored of an actor who celebrated his 60th birthday this year? The fans that the Hankyoreh spoke to in Busan said they were as much in love with Leung as a person as they were with him as an actor.

A 29-year-old company employee surnamed Kwon said she had seen a lot of Leung’s movies in the past, but was truly won over after seeing him in “Shang-Chi.”

“Tony Leung still has that innocent smile no matter how old he gets,” she said. “He has those beautiful eyes, like he’s harboring the heartbreak of a love for a lifetime.”

“It was so cute seeing him brightly soaking in the younger fans’ attention,” she continued, adding, “I feel like I want to be his daughter.”

A 24-year-old university student surnamed Park said she fell for Leung after watching Wong Kar-wai movies as part of the retro kick.

“It’s rare these days to see a young actor who is good-looking and can act too,” she explained. “I think young people love Tony Leung because he combines those two qualities in his own unique way.”

“He’s an actor who is prolifically active and enormously respected, but he’s also the kind of person who evokes that desire for a ‘place you’ve never been and could never go,’” she added.

A 40-year film career built on making the most out of every day

Leung’s Korea visit offered living proof of why he is such a beloved figure. Many of his fans name his attitude as one of the reasons they admire him. He listened attentively to every question asked by a reporter or audience member and sincerely reflected before offering a thoughtful reply.

Throughout the process — as the questions were asked in Korean, answered in Cantonese, and interpreted — he glanced over at the questioner’s eyes. Those moments offered a glimpse at his attitude toward the world: a warmth that transcends language barriers.

Fans also saw evidence of his tidy and warm-hearted nature in the smaller things, including the ways in which he never let his posture slip during the event or poured water for his interpreter as a gesture of consideration.

In his movies, Leung’s characters are always under the spell of the past and memories. The actor himself, however, is someone who remains very much in the present, taking no moment of his life for granted.

When asked when he had experienced a “most beautiful moment” (the literal translation of the original title for “In the Mood for Love”) of his own, Leung’s reply seemed to encapsulate his attitude toward life: “I think there are ‘most beautiful moments’ in all stages of life. People like to think about the past, but it’s only by forgetting the past and living for today that we can discover and enjoy the ‘most beautiful moments.’”

While fans were focusing on his character’s narrative in a sad and aching film, Leung laughed and urged them to find their “most beautiful moment” today.

During the event, the actor was wide-eyed and astonished at the popularity he enjoyed among the younger attendees. Over a brief three-day stay, he sealed off the exits for Korean fans who were suffering from “Tony Leung fever.” That explained the “grumbles” about him not making a point of returning to Korea every year.

Toward the end of the event, the actor drew an analogy between cinema and life.

“You end up ‘acting’ as a matter of course as you approach the script you’re given from day to day. I think our lives are similar to that,” he explained. “You live a good life when you make the most out of every day.”

For someone who approaches each new day in such a genuine way, a 40-year film career seems to have made Tony Leung into someone who is resolute yet soft, dignified yet unpretentious. Those qualities may be what Korea’s younger generations are looking toward the “veterans” of the past to discover.

By Lee Ji-hye, staff reporter; Shin Min-jung, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]