Rob-B-Hood Co-star Michael Hui
(Interviewed by Fibe Ma at Rob-B-Hood Promotion, Shenzhen)

1)  It’s been quite a while since you made your last movie; we understand that you’ve been taking a break from film. What made you decide to join the cast of Jackie Chan’s new movie, Rob-B-Hood?
First of all, I think the movie is pretty interesting. Not only is it an action movie, but it also explores how each of the three men solves his own difficulties by having the experience of taking care of a baby.  For instance, “Landlord,” the character that I play in the movie, long ago had a dispute with his wife which caused the death of their child and resulted in his wife becoming infertile and developing a mental instability.  She wanted to have a child so much that she even held a doll in her arms as her son every single day, and Landlord felt very guilty about it.  Out of feelings of guilt and because of the fact that his life savings had been stolen, Landlord decided to kidnap a baby. One result would be to get money; the other would be to eliminate the terrible feeling of losing a child. However, he has conflicting feelings in his heart. In my opinion, it is quite interesting to have a movie about the reasons and contradictions that the three characters have for kidnapping a baby.
Obviously, most of the movies by Jackie Chan are action movies, and it is unique for a JC production to have three male protagonists perform in depth. This is also one of the points that attracted me to play the role of Landlord.

2)  You have many similarities with Jackie Chan, such as being a director as well as an actor. During the filming process, did the two of you exchange opinions or create any chemistry?
Yes.  Jackie Chan is an open-minded person who is willing to accept different opinions from others. Therefore, we did exchange opinions. He even made some changes to the story line and dialogue in order to make me feel more comfortable with it.  Since both of us would like this movie to be good, and because we have the same objective - to make the audience laugh their heads off - we added in some more funny issues to the ordinary scenes, and strengthened the parts that were already funny. Both the performers and the audience feel happiness while acting and watching the movie respectively, and that is what Jackie and I would like to achieve.
3)  This is your first time working with Jackie Chan since “Cannonball Run” and “Cannonball Run 2.” What do you think about it?
Jackie and I have always been able to communicate with each other without using any words. This ability was established many years ago when we were shooting for “Cannonball Run” in Las Vegas.  Neither of us had much shooting in that movie, but we stayed together there for the entire month, and we experienced all the joys and sorrows together, such as dinner together and losing some money in a casino together. We were pretty close with each other thereafter.
4)  How do you feel about playing the role of a villain?
Haha! The three of us are thieves, but we are only small potatoes, not those bad kinds who commit murder or arson.  However, I think the most special thing is that none of us had ever played a role as thief before, and coincidently, we act as thieves together this time.  In addition, it was very interesting and fresh for me to be leader of the thieves, so that while performing I put a lot of effort into shaping the image of the thief in order to make the role unique and to attract the audience.

Postscript:
        At this point in the interview, Director Benny Chan urged Michael Hui to attend another press conference, and we were forced to stop. We hope that everyone doesn’t mind such a short interview!
        During the interview, it was obvious that Michael Hui loves the Rob-B-Hood movie very much, and that he put a lot of time and effort into shaping the character that he played. He certainly spent as much time and effort as the director and Jackie did.  Although Michael Hui had been away from movies for quite some time, his acting skills and humor still flowed naturally in the film, just as they did during the interview.  You will not be disappointed in Rob-B-Hood – especially if you’re a Michael Hui fan!

Photo and text ©2006 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

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