- "They were all pirates in reality, and betrayal was normal. Therefore, Sao Feng treats it as a business transaction. There is no good or evil in the pirate world, and Sao Feng is neither a good person nor a villain. They are all pirates, and that's how pirates are."
- ―Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-fat (born May 18, 1955), also credited as Chow-Yun-Fat and previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He exploded into international stardom after more than a decade as Hong Kong's most popular leading man in a memorable series of portrayals that included director John Woo's now-classic films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Once a Thief and Hard Boiled. Chow has also starred in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Anna and the King and Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower.
Chow Yun-Fat portrayed Captain Sao Feng in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Chow Yun-Fat grew up in a farming community on Lamma Island, a small fishing village off of Hong Kong. His family moved to the city on the big island when he was ten. At the age of seventeen he quit school to pursue a career in acting, and at the suggestion of a friend, he applied and was accepted into a local Hong Kong television station's actor trainee program. After the year-long program, he was quickly signed to the station as a contract player, which lasted fourteen years.
Having done over one hundred and twenty-eight episodes of the popular television series Hotel, Chow was considered a sex symbol and popular leading man in Hong Kong. The immense popularity of his next television series, The Bund, made him a household name in all of Southeast Asia. His first big break in films came when new-age director Ann Hui approached him to star in The Story of Woo Viet, which gained him critical acclaim for a role in a serious and commercially successful film when Hong Kong was still mass producing kung fu action films.
From there, his career skyrocketed, as he received a number of Best Actor awards for his roles and even made twelve films in 1986—a record for a Hong Kong actor. John Woo then cast him in the role of Mark for the internationally acclaimed film A Better Tomorrow. Chow reached megastar status in Asia with his now trademarked trench coat, sunglasses and blazing Berettas. After a series of romantic comedies and dramas, the determined Chow would later collaborate with John on The Killer and Hard-boiled—two movies that perked the interests of a growing international fan base. A new genre of films was produced in Hong Kong with Chow at the forefront. These stories were reminiscent of the gangster films staring Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, now with Chow playing the tragic hero. Hong Kong director Ringo Lam's City on Fire was the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, which won Chow another Best Actor award for his role.
Having conquered Asia with over 68 movies, Chow set out to Hollywood in 1996 for his first English-speaking role in The Replacement Killers directed by Antoine Fuqua. He then starred in the police drama The Corrupter helmed by director James Foley. Fox's studio epic Anna and the King with Jodie Foster was said to have rivaled Gone With The Wind in production size, with Chow starring as the King. It wasn't until Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that Chow became a recognizable face in the United States, after its box-office and Oscar successes. After making Bulletproof Monk, Chow worked on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and united again with Ann Hui on The Postmodern Life of my Aunt. Chow was last seen starring in Curse of the Golden Flower; he then returned to work with John Woo in the video game Stranglehold.
The man the Los Angeles Times declared "The Coolest Actor in the World" and whom People Magazine voted one of "50 Most Beautiful People" continues to live in Hong Kong where he is known to his fans as Big Brother. Chow spends his spare time photographing landscapes and plans to sell them to raise money for the number of local and international charities he is involved with.
Pirates of the Caribbean[]
At World's End[]
In addition to the stars already established in the first two Pirates of the Caribbean films by Disney, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski brought some special new faces aboard for the third film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, most notably international superstar Chow Yun-Fat, cast as the smart if duplicitous Chinese pirate, Captain Sao Feng. "You want to hire enormously talented actors who are at the top of their game," said Bruckheimer, "and that's the definition of Chow Yun-Fat. He's a masterful actor, an international star, and a perfect addition to the trilogy." "They were all pirates in reality, and betrayal was normal," notes Chow of his character. "Therefore, Sao Feng treats it as a business transaction. There is no good or evil in the pirate world, and Sao Feng is neither a good person nor a villain. They are all pirates, and that's how pirates are." In terms of the films' international appeal, Chow explains, "I think everyone has a fantasy to do things that cannot be controlled by parents or the authorities. Pirates are rebels, so especially in the minds of young people, the movie has global appeal."[1]
Among the actors who got the full treatment from make-up artist Ve Neill was Chow Yun-Fat, whose handsome, world-famous visage was completely altered into a shaven-head, scarred scoundrel of the seas for Sao Feng. "Chow was a lot of fun. We shaved him, and he grew his own mustache and beard, which we then augmented. He also has a fabulous tattoo, which was designed by Ken Diaz, who runs background makeup and is a master tattoo artist." Costume designer Penny Rose also designed an astonishing costume for Chow Yun-Fat, which weighed a grand total of 35 pounds in its entirety. "Yun-Fat is the Laurence Olivier of the East, and it took less than 10 minutes of the fitting to know that this fellow really knows his stuff," says Rose. "YunFat knows how to envelope himself into the character, he knew we were here to give him the visual, and he did everything possible to help us. It very quickly evolved into a joint decision-making process about what's happening in that mirror, how we could progress and make it a bigger and better work. Chow Yun-Fat has a powerful presence in person, but we needed this Chinese pirate captain to be terrifying."[1]
With the lion's share of filming during this period going to Dead Man's Chest, followed by a summer hiatus while the huge open studio tank was being constructed on Grand Bahama Island, the next scene to be filmed for the film wouldn't be until August 31, 2005, with Chow Yun-Fat joining the cast as Captain Sao Feng for scenes shot on a bathhouse set, designed by production designer Rick Heinrichs, the stage for an early and crucial sequence in At World's End, in which Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Hector Barbossa go to Singapore in search for secret charts which could lead them to Davy Jones' Locker—and therefore to Captain Jack Sparrow, who was sent there at the finale of Dead Man's Chest by the Kraken—from Singapore Pirate Lord Captain Sao Feng. Chow Yun-Fat, who had already performed several scenes on Grand Bahama Island, was a major attraction on the Singapore set, especially to those members of the company who had followed him for years as he ascended the ranks of superstardom in Asian and U.S. cinema. "He always said that he was honored to be there," recalls Reggie Lee, who portrays Tai Huang, Captain Sao Feng’s aide-de-camp. "Here’s a megastar who we all idolize, who in fact is so humble and friendly to everyone. Yun-Fat's work is spectacular, he has a great work ethic, and having a chance to act with him was just spectacular."[1]
Much of At World's End was set on the sea, and among the ships designed for the film by production designer Rick Heinrichs was the Empress, the elaborately decorated flagship of Captain Sao Feng. "For the Empress, we were taking off on the idea of Captain Sao Feng as something of a peacock," explains Heinrichs, "so there are design elements which reflect that, such as the long arc of its shape which seems to almost swoop up into a tail on the rear of the ship. There are sail extensions on the sides of the ship which are almost like feathers that help to drive the ship forward." Sao Feng's elaborate cabin on the Empress was separately constructed on a Walt Disney Studios soundstage, layered with sensual fabrics, a multitude of burning candles which created atmospheric lighting, and a moon gate entrance. "It really takes great craftsmanship to make a ship like the Empress," says Chow Yun-Fat. "The only problem was that because I was born into a family of farmers, I never went on ships. So when I was on the Empress I got seasick after I went on board! So although the ship was beautiful, I didn't have any feelings because I was too dizzy!"[1]
Regarding his experiences while filming At World's End, Chow Yun-Fat confessed, "Because I am a fan of the first and second 'Pirate' movies, working with Johnny, Geoffrey, Keira and Orlando was just like a little child walking in dreams. Working with them gave me great pleasure, and I was very, very happy."[1]
Appearances[]
External links[]
Chow Yun-Fat on Wikipedia- Chow Yun-Fat at the Internet Movie Database
- Chow Yun-fat at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
- 周润发 on the Baidu Encyclopedia (A simplified Chinese website similar to Wikipedia)