The Accidental Movie Star

Since the release of his first album Jay ten years ago, Jay Chou has taken the Chinese music industry by storm with his original brand of pop, which has come to be termed “Chou style” – a novel fusion of accentuated traditional Chinese musical styles, R&B and rap, topped off with a distinctively relaxed enunciation.

In the ensuing years of continuous reinvention, Chou has not only become an unparalleled trendsetter in the Chinese music scene, he’s also made the bold leap from the sonic sphere to the silver screen. Reader’s Digests speaks with Chou in Taiwan to talk about his hit movie, The Green Hornet.

RD: As a newcomer many years ago, your original compositions and style of music rocked the music industry and shook up people’s preconceptions of Chinese pop music. How have you managed to persist with your own brand of music?

Chou: Actually, I don’t see my composition as a matter of persistence – I was merely following my own feelings in creating music. There was indeed some difference between Taiwan’s mainstream pop and my own music when my first album was launched, which was why I was a little taken by surprise when it was so warmly received.

Is there a particular experience or event that suddenly made you realise how popular you are?

Shortly after the launch of my first album Jay, I was scheduled for an autograph session at the Shihlin district in Taipei. The venue was literally jam-packed with people. When it was time for me to leave, they had to escort me by forcefully pushing through the crowd – it was like we were fleeing refugees! This incident made me realise that my music was really well-received by the public.

You’ve made the crossover from music to the movies. What did you do to prepare yourself for this?

Since filming Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower in 2006, I’ve been practising kung fu. Because I play a role that has many fight scenes in The Green Hornet, I was also scheduled for kung fu training classes. The more difficult part in the process of filming the movie, however, has got to be speaking my lines in English.

The Green Hornet is a remake of a 1940 classic Hollywood film. What’s your impression of the Hollywood movie industry while filming the movie?

To be perfectly honest, apart from some difficult and dangerous scenes, the process of filming The Green Hornet really felt like a vacation. (Laughs) For instance, filming locations come complete with premium meal vans, and there’s always plenty of food and drinks around. Hollywood accords a high pretty high standard of welfare for actors.

Going forward, do you have any plans in the next ten years?

I hope that I can continue to create music and make movies in the next decade. My biggest goal as an artiste is to actually be relevant across different eras and generations. My wish is for my musical works to one day become timeless.

To read the complete Jay Chou interview, pick up a copy of the February 2011 issue of Reader’s Digest Asia.