Chow Yun-fat sheds the pounds for epic
2006-09-23

People Hui Ann Lin Chiling John Woo Zhang Yimou Tony CW Leung Chow Yun-fat Movie Curse of the Golden Flower Battle of Red Cliff

Chow Yun-fat says he slimmed down and rode horses to prepare for his role in the upcoming John Woo historical epic, "The Battle of Red Cliff."

The battle of Red Cliff is a key war in 208 A.D. that determined the geography of the "Three Kingdoms" period, when China had three separate rulers. Chow said he expects to arrive in Beijing by late February for shooting.

"To prepare for this movie, I lost weight ... and rode horses. I did a lot by way of preparation," the 51-year-old Hong Kong actor said Friday at a news conference to promote a short film contest in Hong Kong.

The cast also includes Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Taiwanese model Lin Chi-ling.

Chow recently filmed Chinese director Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower" and Hong Kong director Ann Hui's "The Postmodern Life of My Aunt."

Asked if he plans to spend more time making Chinese movies, Chow, who has focused on his Hollywood career in recent years, said, "If there's a good script, it doesn't matter what language it's in."

But he noted there appears to be a growing trend of making movies in mainland China because it offers better backdrops.

"It's a big country. The sets and venues look more impressive ... if filmmakers feel that filming in China allows for greater creativity, I think more and more filmmakers will go back to shoot movies," Chow said.