by Katharine Schroeder
On a cool January afternoon, my colleague Fibe and I headed back to the Shing Fung Studios in Sai Kung where the filming of Jackie's latest movie (tentatively titled "Project BB") continues. Jackie had called earlier and said that there would be a lot of interesting people on the set that day, so he thought it would be a good time for us to come by.
After successfully maneuvering up the treacherous one lane, two-way road to the studio we walked across the parking lot and were greeted by 15 or 20 people sitting anywhere and everywhere having lunch. Jackie was sitting at a small folding table with director Benny Chan, Louis Koo, and a few others. The stuntmen (and there were a lot of stuntmen there!) sat in a circle on the ground nearby.
There was also a number of dogs hanging around looking for their share of lunch. These dogs are tame, although not overly friendly, and they live on the studio lot. By the time lunch was over, they'd gotten plenty to eat from the generous cast and crew.
After saying hello to everyone I walked across to where baby Matthew was sitting in his stroller. He was looking a little tired, but seemed pretty happy. His mom was there along with his sister Ganne and his cousin Megan.
Megan, who is 14, was born in Colombia and has lived in Australia and China. She is fluent in English and Spanish, and the two of us sang a Spanish nursery song to Matthew together. He seemed to enjoy it, or so we thought. When his eyes abruptly began filling with tears I figured it was time to stop singing. And as soon as we did, Matthew's face lit up in a big smile. Best to stick to reporting, I thought to myself.
Jackie, now done with lunch, leaped out of his seat and raced over to see the baby. After nuzzling Matthew nose-to-nose, Jackie began singing to him.
"Don't cry for me Argentina! The truth is I never left you."
Noting the disapproval on Matthew's face, I suggested Willie Nelson. After listening to Jackie sing a few rounds of "You Are Always on My Mind" Matthew seemed content. No Broadway showtunes for Matthew. He was obviously a country music fan.
Jackie plucked Matthew out of his stroller and took him over to watch the dogs eating lunch. Like most babies, Matthew was entranced at the sight of animals. His cooing, bubbling, and burbling noises had Jackie laughing out loud and grinning ear to ear. It's obvious that Jackie adores Matthew and loves to take him around showing him things and watching his reactions. He talks, sings, nuzzles, tickles, rocks, and coos constantly to the baby. Matthew was really enjoying their visit with the dogs and Jackie was delighting in Matthew's reactions which, for a change, did not include crying.
I left Jackie to amuse Matthew and headed over to building number one where the filming was taking place. The crew was setting up the next shot which left all the actors to do whatever they liked. I peeked into the hair/make-up area and noticed Ronald, Jackie's hair stylist, giving Matthew's big sister Ganne a quick trim. Ken Low was having the tattoo on his head touched up by the make-up artist. Ganne told me that she wasn't in the movie; she was just visiting. "And Matthew is my brother!" she declared proudly. We talked for a few minutes and then I left to go see what Jackie and Matthew were up to.
I went back over to where they were standing and visited with them for a while. Matthew was making a few attempts to drink some water out of a large cup and was getting about half of it in his mouth. The other half landed on their clothes. Jackie chuckled as he watched the baby chewing on the cup. "Will you look at this? Amazing!" Jackie is positively smitten with Matthew.
Soon it was time for Jackie to go back onto the set, and somehow I ended up holding Matthew. He had that woozy look in his eyes, so I walked him around for a few minutes and soon he was fast asleep. After handing him over to his mother, I headed inside to have a look at the action.
Jackie was shooting a scene with old friend and Opera School classmate Yuen Biao. The scene involved - oops, I can't tell you that. You'll have to wait until the movie is released to find out! Anyway, despite the fact that there were what seemed like a hundred people crammed into this tight area, I managed to get by without stepping on anyone or knocking anyone (or anything) over. The microphone, hanging from a "boom" above our heads, swung threateningly back and forth as the technician adjusted its placement. I ducked as it swung past my head and snapped a photo of Jackie preparing to begin the next scene.
I should tell you that every time I am in the studio with my camera and they shout "Action!" I am nearly overcome with fear that the flash on my camera is suddely going to go off on its own, ruining the scene. I know not to take photos while the camera is rolling - the flash can ruin the shot. So I don't shoot at all while they're filming and I keep the flash turned off. Despite that, I am constantly checking while they're rolling, holding my camera down and pointing it away from the set. I have this fear that the flash is going to somehow turn itself on, release itself from my death grip, and fire while they're filming, causing everyone to turn to me in unison and start yelling. Of course this is a ridiculous fear and even if I did accidentally, say, trip and knock down a shelf full of aluminum pots, I am quite sure no one would yell at me. I don't imagine everyone would smile at me fondly, but I'm quite sure they wouldn't yell.
Once the scene was shot we all went back outside where there was more space and less chance of knocking into anything. Jackie took up where he had left off wtih Matthew and I took a few more photos. Despite the fact that I've mentioned to you in the past that Jackie doesn't seem to mind having his photo taken, I couldn't resist asking him again how he felt about it (since I'm usually the one sticking the camera in his face).
"May I ask you something?" I began.
"Sure," replied Jackie.
"Does it bother you that I'm constantly taking your picture?"
"No. Why would it bother me?"
"Well, I guess I think it might bother you because it would bother me."
"But it doesn't bother me."
"Well, would you tell me if it did? Would you give me a signal or something?"
Jackie just smiled. (I'm still trying to figure out what that smile meant.)
So there you have it. Jackie really doesn't mind having his photo taken. I believe him, I really do. But I'll probably have to ask him again in a few weeks. Just to make sure.
Photos ©2006 The JC Group