GETTING CHRISTY LOVE : Beijing fun with the divine Ms. Chung.
It was a great loss to Hong Kong’s babe factor when Christy Chung decamped for Beijing. The Vietnamese beauty had been a luminous staple of the local industry for several years before relocating with husband Jon and daughter Yasmine for the Chinese capital. It was a real pleasure to catch up with her today, especially as Dragon Dynasty is prepping our DVD release of Bodyguard From Beijing, in which she stars with the formidable Jet Li.
Christy has long been the sleek spokesperson for the Marie France Bodyline slimming company, and, disconcertingly, the wall outside the restaurant where we meet has a massive poster of a reclining Chung, showing off those dangerous curves.
I first met Christy back in 1994 at the press conference for the aforementioned Bodyguard From Beijing. Before approaching her, I enquired of her assistant if she spoke English. The girl looked at me like I was demented. It was well-known that Ms. Chung spoke English, French and Vietnamese, to which she would later add Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai and Tibetan. The film industry has no more cunning linguist than Christy. With her charmant Canadian French accent, she regaled me with tales of working with the Jetster. Even today, years later, she still recalls the experience fondly, and remembers how everyone was in tears when the production finally wrapped.
The next time we met was when Christy was cast in the film Gen-Y Cops as a bubby police commander. I was a writer on the film, along with Infernal Affairs scribe Felix Chong. Christy was a joy to work with. One of my enduring memories of the production is the image of her on the airport tarmac, cheer-leading a bunch of cops, including stars Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Edison Chen. She wore black leather boots, they were clad in matching Fist Of Fury uniforms. Behind her, Maggie Q and Paul Rudd marched in front of a giant tin can, containing a giant killer robot. Only in Hong Kong…
Unlike a lot of pretty women, Christy has a big heart and a raucous sense of humour. During the Gen-Y shoot, she would return with presents for me (and everyone else) from her various trips abroad. (I still have a Nepalese rug she turned up with from somewhere.) She could also be a disconcerting presence. Co-star Mark Hicks prided himself on being a real pro, word perfect on every take. It took him 8 to nail a scene with Christy. It’s those big eyes of hers, man, he muttered, those eyes…
After Gen-Y wrapped, Christy and I maintained our friendship. Her daughter is the same age as my eldest son Ryan, and they would have play dates at Chung’s home at Discovery Bay. After I joined Emperor to make The Medallion, director Gordon Chan and I were discussing possible candidates to play Lee Evans’ wife in the film. By my recollection, I suggested Christy, and the next thing I knew she was on the location in Ireland. (Coincidence being what it is, our 1st AD, Nick Laws, had worked with her before, on Pan Nalin’s luminous drama Samsara.)
I have warm memories of our shooting a dialogue scene between Jackie and Christy in the garden of a wonderful Irish country house. Being of Celtic descent, it was amazing to see them playing out a scene that I had written on something close to my native turf. (The scene did not make it to the final cut of The Medallion. Luckily, I kept a tape of the director’s cut, and so I am able to give Christy, belatedly, her deleted scenes as souvenirs.)
There was a lengthy break in the production of Medallion, and we later regrouped in Thailand. The interior of the aforementioned Irish country house had been recreated, with surprising accuracy, inside a Bangkok soundstage. It was on this set that Christy got to show her stuff. It was a plot point that Lee Evans’ character, Watson, keeps the fact that he’s a secret agent secret even from his wife. As a twist, we reveal that Christy is herself a spy, and comes out blasting with a shotgun and spin-kicking like all fury to defend her home. (We should have done a spin-off film starring Lee and Christy, and beaten Mr and Mrs Smith to the punch.) There’s a great ad lib at the end of the scene where Jackie leaves Lee, then comes back into frame and says “Your wife… Phew!” (Jon Yen says he gets this all the time in real life.)
Christy is now one-third of Goddess, the Beijing version of Destiny’s Child (I think it’s safe to say she’s Beyonce). I visited Jon’s studio with Anya Wu (she of Naked Weapon fame), Dustin Nguyen (star of the forthcoming Dragon Dynasty release The Rebel) and Beijing production powerhouse Lily Ma (of www.lilyma.com). Jon himself is an awesome musician. For his recent birthday, Christy commissioned a huge portrait of him rocking out on his guitar. It was too big to go anywhere except behind his desk, to Jon’s ongoing embarrassment.
It was a pleasure to touch base with la belle Chung, and we will be catching up with her in greater depth for the Dragon Dynasty Bodyguard From Beijing DVD.
Comments
- Tina Pham, LA, California | 2007-09-09 08:48:07
- john smith, USA | 2007-09-14 10:46:39
- Dave Thomas, Hemel Hempstead, England | 2007-10-25 06:19:08
- Mingjai, St. Paul | 2007-10-30 18:00:52
- Tigerstyles, UK | 2007-09-08 01:26:45