Karen Mok is a unique talent in Hong Kong. Not only is she a well respected and well known singer on the canto-pop circuit but she is also just as successful and admired within the Hong Kong movie industry.

Karen started out in the movie business in 1993 and after a couple of small roles in minor productions she was offered a substantial part in a project directed by the legendary Wong Kar-wai and from here her fame and movie credit list began getting bigger and bigger.

Western Hong Kong Movie fans would recognise Karen mostly for her work in several Steven Chow films including the hilarious Shaolin Soccer as well as appearing alongside Jackie Chan in The Twins Effect.

Up to date, and to be released in the summer of 2004, Karen has finished work on her first Hollywood production, Around the World in 80 Days, starring the aforementioned Jackie Chan, and Hong Kong side – she has a role in her boyfriend’s directorial debut, Stephen Fung’s, Enter the Phoenix…

2004 may well be Karen’s year in regards to Western success and with a talent such as hers as well as being one of the most friendliest and down to earth people I have interviewed – she more than deserves it.

Anyway, here’s what we chatted about on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany, on set of Walden Media’s US$100 Million Dollar Hollywood Action Adventure Comedy – Around the World in 80 Days…

Jade Screen: Karen, can you give the readers some biographical details about yourself?

Karen Mok: Sure, I was born in Hong Kong. I studied in London for four years and I also studied Italian literature for two years in Italy when I was 17. I love all things Italian and I love Italy. My grandfather was Welsh, so my father’s half-Welsh, half-Chinese. My mum’s also a mix. Her father is half-Persian, half-German, and her mother is Chinese. So if you break it down evenly, I would still be half Chinese—and the rest is just a mish-mash (Laughing).

JS: Being a UK Magazine I’m curious to know how you found life in London?

KM: I think because the two years in Italy previously were so wonderful, at first, I didn’t like it at all in London. The University in London was so much bigger, with about 2,000 students, and, I guess it was not exactly what I was expecting. I remember on the second or third day waking up and thinking, ‘God, I’ve got years of this!’

JS: Quite a contrast to London, you are now based in Hong Kong, where you divide your career between acting and singing.

KM: Yeah, but I don’t like Hong Kong either (Laughing).

JS: You don’t like Hong Kong?

KM: No, I’m only there because of the work. When that finishes I’ll leave. I won’t look back at all…I’ll leave and retire…

JS: Retire? Where is your ideal place of retirement?

KM: France or Italy… I want to have cats and dogs and have a vineyard.

JS: Do you speak Italian?

KM: Yes, I speak Italian as well as Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and, of course, English.

JS: Tell the readers how your career started off in Hong Kong?

KM: Well it started off quite by accident really. I was still a student in London back in around 1993/94 and somehow I started singing and having some fun and I sent some demo tapes off for some friends back in Hong Kong. Then the next thing I know I was offered a recording contract from a Hong Kong Record Company. So when I got back to Hong Kong after London I started singing and then about a year later on I was offered a few movie roles and so I begin doing some movies too.

JS: On the subject of your signing and owing to the fact that you speak English fluently do you plan to release an English-language album in Asia?

KM: I do plan to record an album in English. Not just yet, but it will happen one day.

JS: Do you feel confined a little by Hong Kong’s Canto-pop music?

KM: I do sometimes, yes. It’s just a vicious cycle. The record companies churn out the same thing because people are used to that. They’re certainly not used to churning out innovative music because they’re not willing to take the risk. So it’s probably going to remain the same way for the next 50 years…

JS: Do you write your own songs too?

KM: Yes, but I haven’t recorded any of them yet. I have written a few songs but the stuff I write is not terribly suited to singing in Chinese, so on the English album I’ll have a couple of songs of my own.

JS: Have you sung in a movie yet?

KM: No, I have a sung a few theme songs for some of the movies that I have appeared in, but I haven’t sung in a movie yet. I have sung in commercials though. A few years ago I did a TV commercial for Shiseido, I don’t know if you have heard of them, it’s a famous brand of cosmetics in Asia. We had some campaign theme songs for the commercial and I wrote a few songs for that.

JS: How do you manage your time, being an actress doing movies and also holding down a singing career in the same time?

KM: (Laughing) You just have to find the time to do as much as possible, and you don’t sleep a lot! For me it’s like having a good balance between everything. It’s nice to do a bit of this and a bit of that because for me, personally, I can’t stay completely concentrated for so long on one particular thing. And, I think, if I had to do the same thing forever I would eventually lose my interest completely. So, for me, it’s so nice to be able to have this sort of change.

JS: Your first film was Tigers – The Legend of Canton. You had a small role in that film which starred Alan Tam and Kenny Bee and you went on to have similar small role in Family Affair that starred Kenny Ho then you suddenly got a big break in Fallen Angels directed by Wong Kar-wai.

KM: That was very strange as well as a big surprise! Because I only just started acting and it like I was famous or anything like that. I got a phone call from Wong Kar-wai’s company asking me if I would be interested in appearing in a movie that would be directed by him. I couldn’t believe I was actually hearing any of this. Of course, I said yes. At that time there was a slight problem because my hair happened to be red, as red as what you can see in the finished movie. I told them beforehand on the phone, “Hey, you know, I’ve got dyed hair! It’s red!â€? (Laughing) I didn’t know whether it was suitable for the movie or anything – anyway, they said they needed to look at it first and they did and they loved it! It was perfect for the character.

JS: Wong Kar-wai is known to change a lot the scripts whilst he shoots a movie. Did you experience any of this working with him?

KM: You never know what will happen each time Kar-wai comes to the set. The stories appear while we shoot. I think that’ s one way of conceiving movies too and it works… It’s very stimulating. It’s kind of like, he doesn’t have an outlined story when he starts shooting. But, sometimes I work with Hong Kong directors who completely stick to the script and you can’t even change a word. As for Wong Kar-wai, he does whatever comes into mind on the day of the shoot or at the time of a particular scene. It’s good for actors, in a way. The style of Wong Kar-wai is good because sometimes an actor might do something that comes naturally and if the director sees that it could work on screen then he could develop it further or take it to another angle.

by Richard Cooper.

For the rest of the interview please see JADE SCREEN VOL. 2, ISSUE 5

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