In Conversation
with Russell Wong
Tx Date: 11 Jan 2001

Editor's Note:
This is an edited transcript of the interview.

Often cast as the romantic lead, the 38-year-old Russell has received plenty of press that zeroes in on his good looks, muscular physique, and magnetic appeal to women. But he's gone beyond the superficial.

In 1994, he was honored with two awards in recognition of his outstanding work in the entertainment industry as well as for being an exceptional role model for Asian Americans.

Recently, he was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Romeo Must Die in the First Annual AMMY Awards, joining the company of celebrated Asian and Asian-American actors like Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li and Keanu Reeves. Last year he was given the Bridge Builder Award for his outstanding leadership and for being a role model for youths.

Shankar: Well, you know, today you are an idol, an icon for Asian Americans. How do you feel about that?

Russell: I don't know about idols and icons. But I have been having some success. You know, it's been up and down. It's been up and down for everybody in any kind of business.

Shankar: What do you do to make sure that you have your feet firmly planted on the ground?

Russell: Ya, friends around me do so. You know, just don't get too corky. But it's been okay, can't complain.

Shankar: As an Asian-American actor and someone who inspires others, to sort of, follow him the way he did things, what would you have to say is difficult about being an Asian-American successful actor in Hollywood?

Russell: I would say it has its challenges, you know. I look at it in different ways. It's like supply and demand. As a business perspective, it's supply and demand business. Do something far out, people want to see it and then there's a business for it and, great! Martial arts has a genre. People want to see it and it's a business but as far as Asian-Americans stories there are a few of those. Then there are Ang Lee's films, Wayne Wang's films. So if you look at it, each part of it is.

Shankar: Do you sometimes feel straight-jacketed where people just see you as an Asian-American, starting off with kung-fu, stuff like that?

Russell: It's like you almost have to go through that. Not all of them but I guess because going through it has given me a recognition, as that's just a popular genre, the martial arts.

Shankar: You studied the martial arts, too?

Russell: Yes, I had started dancing and am taking acting class. I was invited over to a screen test for Cinema City, a Hong Kong film production and had a deal with them. They put me in kung fu class, judo and tae-wan-do. So over the years it's been kind of studying all these.

Shankar: Did you pick these up deliberately, as in let's do martial arts, let me pick up dancing because all this is going to become useful for film?

Russell: Exactly, exactly. When I first started taking acting classes, you know, what kind of actor it is you want to become? And you want to gravitate to those kinds of actors and what do they do to be successful. Who are the more successful actors? What kind of training do they have? So you want to, try to get that kind of training. My training was kind of a piecemeal where I sometimes go to New York, where I would take acting class or workshop and take voice class and martial arts. It's kind of a cumulative effect; always different kinds of training which I kind of base my career on.

Shankar: So, are you taking up some training now?

Russell: Ya, I'm always with my acting coach, martial arts coach, or my voice coach, to keep tuned up.

Shankar: I believe you're also doing something at New York University?

Russell: That was a while ago. I did that a film production workshop, a six-week seminar in basic film production. I took a few classes, and I took part in photography.

Shankar: So is directing going to be a future sort of role for you?

Russell: It may, you know, I don't wanna say: "I don't like to say it and never going to do it".

Shankar: Are you superstitious?

Russell: I don't know, maybe a little bit. But I have interest in that, directing.

Shankar: So you think there may be a time that you might do that, but you don't want to talk about it.

Russell: There may be a time. I definitely have the interest in it.

Shankar: Well, let's talk about your movies, then. You'll feel more comfortable, right? Which did you enjoy doing the most so far?

Russell: I had a lot of fun doing "Taipan". It was the first time going to China. So it was like 'Wow!'

Shankar: You haven't travelled to China before?

Russell: I haven't travelled to China before so that was very memorable and there was a crew from like 7 or 8 different countries. It was a big production. The experience of it was a lot of fun. Most satisfying will be "Joy Luck Club" because of the writing and the cast and the directing and the story was very satisfying.

Shankar: And the watermelon scene?

Russell: Yeah. You know, they had a paramedic standing by with the ambulance and a bucketful of watermelons there and paramedic there. And they had this butcher knife which was very, very sharp. Ah, I get it. 'If I happened to have my fingers in the way, he can rush me to the hospital so I made sure my hand was not on the way'.

Shankar: Well, what about the challenges of "Monkey King"? Has it been really challenging to this work, as compared to, let's say, "Joy Luck Club"?

Russell: Yeah, "Monkey King". There's a lot of productions which have been done so you follow the footsteps of other actors who have done Monkey King. You want your monkey to be interesting. So the challenges of finding monkey-isms and monkey mannerisms that are not over the top and that kind of fits in with the character who's half human half monkey. You want to make them your own. Then feeling comfortable with the way, with the hair piece, feeling comfortable in it as the character was challenging.

Shankar: What sort of character roles interest you, excites you, inspires you and makes you say "I love this role and I want to do this"?

Russell: Hmm, first thing that comes to my mind is the Rob Roy character-Liam Neeson.

Shankar: Uh-huh?

Russell: I don't know why it popped into my mind. It's a period piece where it was like kind of an underdog warrior and heroine type, a family man.

Shankar: A good guy.

Russell: A good guy who wants to fight against the oppresse, you know. Simple kind of I guess that's the first thing that popped in my mind.

Find out what are some of Russell's skills and hobbies >>