LISA CHENG INTERVIEW: HONG KONG SPIDER GIRL

Known as the “Hong Kong Spider Girl”, world champion rock climber Lisa Cheng (鄭麗莎) is also an accomplished gymnast, martial artist, successful bodybuilder, and for the last four years has been the reigning queen of the Miss BodyFitness event at the Hong Kong Bodybuilding Championships.

Lisa’s extraordinary physical abilities and multiple athletic activities have led her into a career as actress, stuntwoman and fitness model, as well as sports broadcaster for the Chinese TV program Now Sports. Action Queens is proud to present Lisa Cheng’s first-ever interview in English! Enjoy...

Frédéric Ambroisine: Your real name is Lisa Cheng, but you’re also known as Lisa Sa. How did you choose this name?

Lisa Cheng: Actually, my real name is Cheng Lai Sho Lisa. I used Lisa Sa just for fun on FaceBook and it became really popular. Then people started to call me Sa-Sa, and I liked it (laughs)! That's why I am Lisa Sa.

FA: Does Sa-Sa have a meaning in English?

LC: No, it doesn’t. It’s just a short form of Lisa: Sa or Sa-Sa. I’m fine with people calling me by any name…

FA: You are involved in a lot of sports activities like climbing, bodybuilding, Thai boxing, gymnastics etc... When did you start practicing these sports?

LC: I have ten years experience climbing and four years in body fitness. I think climbing is my strength; I am “Spider Girl”! I started climbing in 1998, started body fitness in 2005, gymnastics and boxing in 2006, and Muay Thai in 2007. I’ve been a member of the Hong Kong Elite Sport Climbing Team since 2002, the Hong Kong Elite Body Building & Fitness Team since 2006, and I was on the Hong Kong Elite Aerobic Gymnastics Team in 2006 and 2007.

Lisa Cheng's daily routine: Working out, jumping and climbing!

FA: Have you ever used your climbing skills in real life for any reason?

LC: Um…. Climbing trees and catching a ball a few times, haha …Actually, I’ll climb anywhere if I think it’s not dangerous. It usually isn’t too high, and it’s just for fun.

FA: Why did you quit the Aerobic Gymnastics Team?

LC: The main reason I quit is because I broke my knee and incurred ligament injuries while training in 2006. I had surgery in 2007. Also, to be a member of the team I had to pay a training fee every month, which was quite expensive. So, right now I choose to do my gymnastics training in China. It’s cheaper than Hong Kong, more extensive, and very, very good.

Lisa Cheng: gymnastics training

FA: What contests have you won so far?

LC: I won the 2006 World Cup Championship in the World Speed Climbing Competition. In body fitness, I was the 2006 Miss East Asian Fitness Champion, and I also won the 2008 East Asian Championship. For the last six years I have won first place in the Hong Kong Women’s Speed Climbing Competition, and for the last four years I have consistently won the Hong Kong Body Fitness Championship.

Lisa Cheng: competing for Miss Fitness at the East Asian Bodybuilding and
Body Fitness Championships (Mongolia 2008/Singapore 2006). Guess who won?

FA: You're also a model, stuntwoman, personal trainer and actress. How do you manage your time?

LC: Right now I’m living in Guangzhou, China and am focusing 100% on training for the August 2009 Asian Body Fitness and Miss Fitness Championships in Thailand (1). I am also preparing to compete in the December 2009 East Asian Games in Hong Kong. I currently work and train full time Monday through Friday: three hours of belly dancing and modeling in the morning, two hours of gymnastics in the afternoon, and two hours of body fitness workout at the the gym in the evening. I’ll probably keep up this work pace until December 2009. On Saturdays and Sundays I sometimes go back to Hong Kong to do some personal training at the gym, visit my family or do other activities.

Lisa Cheng in 2009: strong is beautiful!

FA: Tell me about your action movie role!

LC: I played a hit woman in the 2008 movie “Mutant Cop” (<變種警察> or <狙击黑白森林>) [unreleased movie starring Simon Yam and Michael Miu]. I’m sorry I don’t know the English title!! I was a stuntwoman for this movie, so I used a gun and other weapons to kill a few guys... In the end, their friends shot me back and I died (laughs)! Actually, being an action actress has been my dream since childhood. Now that I am getting older and can afford to obtain more training, I really want to keep learning different skills and continue to improve myself. I want to be ready and able to handle all the different requirements of any job opportunity I might get!

FA: Who are your favorite actors and actresses?

LC: 100% Angelina and her man! I like her character in “Tomb Raider”. She’s elegant, special, beautiful, healthy and sexy. As far as Hong Kong actors, I like Michelle Yeoh and Andy Lau.


Left: Lisa Cheng & Angelina Jolie (montage) - Right: ready for Halloween! (2008)

FA: You also had a role in the movie “Blood Money”. When was that?

LC: The shooting of “Blood Money” took place in December 2008. It’s an Australian action thriller directed by Greg McQualter. They shot it in Hong Kong, China and Australia, so there were three different production crews: one for each country. The action directors came from different countries as well. I knew one of them, Zheng Liu from Beijing. As far as I remember, the story is about a drug dealer who kills somebody’s parents so their son comes back to seek revenge…

FA: What role did you play?

LC: Actually, I just played a pretty chick in this movie….I didn’t have any action! Haha! But I found a lot of guns on the set and wanted to show them some action. So I held a gun, played with my friends, and took some pictures. I love action! I hope to show it in front of the camera, not behind. Haha!

FA: You recently had a role in the comedy “All's Well Ends Well 2009”. Tell me about it.

LC: I play one of Ronald Cheng’s unlucky girlfriends. We shot it in May 2008. I spent nine hours working on my stunt, but it only appears in the movie for a couple seconds! Basically, I get hit by a carpet being carried in a passing car, and get carried away by the carpet! I personally knew a lot of the people involved with the film, and the director Vincent Kok took good care of me because the scene was a little dangerous. But I had so much fun filming that I didn’t consider it as work at all!

Ronald Cheng and Lisa Cheng in “All's Well Ends Well 2009”

FA: What kind of characters would you like to play in the future?

LC: I would like to try all different kinds of roles, but I think I'd be better at doing action movies.

Lisa Cheng: photoshoot for the August 2009 edition of Sportsoho (#7)

FA: When did you do your first TV or movie work?

LC: Let’s see… if I remember right, it was in 2006. Once I had won the World Cup in the World Speed Climbing Competition, more people started to notice me. This has enabled me to begin working in TV and movies.

FA: Do you have a manager or managing company who takes care of all your work, or are you your own manager?

LC: I handle everything myself!

FA: What have you had to do as a stuntwoman? Do you think stunt work is a tough or dangerous job?

LC: I actually don’t have very much stunt experience; just a couple times… but I used to play around just for fun. I feel that being a stunt woman is quite a dangerous job. However, if I am not confident that I can safely perform the required action, I will not take the risk. I have seen quite a lot of people get hurt. I want be an actress more than a stunt woman. I haven’t done much film work but I want to do more in the future. I don’t think my stunt experiences have been very dangerous. I thought it was all good fun: jumping into the sea, getting hit by a car a little bit, getting shot and dying, shooting people, stabbing people with a knife, fighting, climbing... I don’t think this is too dangerous. It’s so much fun! I have never had any stunt training for movies and I have never gotten hurt. But I have been injured during my regular training.

Lisa Cheng: Just some regular “Spider Girl” training!

FA: What happened?

LC: I tore my right knee ligament when I was practicing a high-to-low flip with a rotating landing. I tore my ACL ligament. So sad…

FA: For which TV and movie companies have you worked?

LC: I have worked freelance for different companies, but have spent most of my time at Now TV doing work for their sports program Now Sports.

Lisa Cheng with the Now Sports team

FA: You seem to feel comfortable talking in front of the camera for your TV interviews. Is this natural for you or did you have to gradually learn how to do it?

LC: I feel very natural in front of the camera because I just talk about my real life. I have no special training but I do have a little bit of experience. I have been interviewed by many different sport medias since I was a child.

Edcon Gabriel and Lisa Cheng preparing for an episode for Now Sports (June 2008)

FA: When were you contacted by the TV channel Now Sports to be a TV broadcaster?

LC: I’ve been working for Now Sports since January 2008. When I started, I did voice-over behind the screen once or twice a week for about three months. After that, Now Sports wanted me to sign a contract with them as full-time staff but I didn’t want to work under contract so I refused. Instead I have been doing freelance work for them.

FA: What are the easy parts, or difficult parts, about this job?

LC: I think I can communicate easily with everybody. I have discovered that many people enjoy talking with me and dialoguing. I think that the difficult part of this job is when I’m expected to talk about the rules of a sport I am not familiar with. I need to study the game and memorize all the rules in a very short period of time.

FA: How long do you spend preparing for one episode of the TV program?

LC: The truth is that I never really have much time to prepare. I work under a research team; they give me the information I need right before the deadline, or face to face on the actual day of shooting. So sometimes I need to do some extra research myself.

Lisa Cheng revising before a monologue for Now Sports (July 2008)

FA: Are the episodes scripted or improvised?

LC: They provide me with voice-over scripts for each episode. And they also provide me with recommended questions and reference materials when I interview somebody.

FA: Why did you choose to learn boxing and Muay Thai?

LC: I started boxing because I have a friend in gymnastics who is also a boxer. So it was easy for me to begin. A few months after I started regular training, I had an accident - my knee injury - so I couldn’t train anymore. But I didn’t want to give up on it, so I took a boxing coach course to learn about the theory. At that time I had a friend who was a Hong Kong boxing team committee coach. The Hong Kong team were about to enter a Muay Thai competition in Thailand. I wanted to travel and I wanted to watch fights so I bought a ticket and followed them. I found that Muay Thai is more skilled, more useful and more dynamic than boxing. And I found out that Muay Thai training in Thailand is cheap and professional: very systematic training programs are the norm there. So I started to come to Thailand by myself. I go back from time to time….

Lisa Cheng: Muay Thai Action Queen! (Thailand 2008)

FA: Did you choose to train in Muay Thai in order to attend a Mixed Martial Arts competition?

LC: I worked as a K-1 commentator for Now Sports and have also often watched MMA fights. Doing these things was motivation for me to want to train in fighting. I think Muay Thai is the most harmful fighting in the MMA (laughs)!!

Lisa Cheng & Master Noi: Muay Thai training in Bangkok (2008)

FA: Have you ever fought in real life?

LC: The last time I really fought was when I was a kid… haha! No more after that… I think I changed my attitude after I got into the sports field. It’s been a long time since I have even argued with anyone.

FA: And have you fought in a martial arts competition before?

LC: I have not yet entered a fight competition but I think I will someday. I want to win, so I want to be well prepared.

FA: Women with too much muscle are not really...“feminine”, right? I assume there are different categories and different kinds of training for female bodybuilders. Can you explain a little bit about your bodybuilding training?

LC: I agree that women should not have too much muscle. I’m in the Body Fitness and Miss Fitness categories, which are different from the Bodybuilding category. So I don’t need to build up too much muscle. I need to be more feminine, pretty, sexy, and have a healthy muscle style for the Body Fitness category. So I usually just put a lot of energy into training at the gym: five days a week, two hours per session. Concerning Miss Fitness, we are judged on the level of the physical ability of our bodies. There is a 90-second aerobic session in which you have to show off your physical skills onstage. That’s why I’m learning gymnastics right now. (2)

FA: Is there any female bodybuilder that you like?

LC: Yes! Roongtawan “Sing” Jindasing. She’s a Body Fitness, Bodybuilding and Miss Fitness champion. She’s from Thailand and was my idol when I started out in the field. On top of her multiple championships, I really like her face…and her heart.

FA: Which category do you prefer: Body Fitness or Miss Fitness?

LC: The goal of Body Fitness is to have a perfect body, and Miss Fitness is for showing off physical skills. I like the Miss Fitness category more, but Body Fitness is actually easier for me to win. I hope that more hard work will help me have better results in both categories.

Lisa Cheng:Miss Fitness event, 2008 Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships

FA: I noticed that most of the magazines about Hong Kong movie stars primarily gossip about their private lives. But it seems that magazines about sports celebrities are more serious and respectful. Am I right or wrong?

LC: Absolutely right!! I think everybody in Hong Kong, not just magazines, has respect for athletes. I like my image because I represent Hong Kong when I compete with other countries. On the other hand, regarding movie stars, this is just the way Hong Kong is… Everybody likes to talk about the stars so the media likes to follow them around and expose their private lives.

FA: For which magazines have you modeled? Was it only for Fitness magazines? Or for fashion magazines too? Any other sports magazines?

LC: I have been interviewed by almost all the Hong Kong magazines and newspapers but the interviews were mostly about my life. Occasionally they ask me to do a bit of fashion modeling, which I am happy to do. I have mostly appeared in teen and sport magazines. I have also done photo shoots for catalogues, posters and things like that for different sports companies like Nike, High Peak, Sport Direction, Exxtasy, Orca and SSI.

FA: What commercial and/or fitness videos have you shot recently?

LC: I recently shot an instructional video on how to use the fitness facilities in the Hong Kong Police fitness rooms. It was a project for the Police sponsored by the Hong Kong Government.

FA: How do you feel about the July 2009 cancellation of the Bodybuilding events by the East Asian Games Association?(3)

LC: It was unbelievable! When I heard that the Bodybuilding events were suddenly cancelled, my heart was totally broken! I had been excited and looking forward to joining the competition for an entire year. The East Asian Games Association had decided to host the Bodybuilding events and they were to take place in my home town, Hong Kong. I had East Asian competitor experience and I believed that I would be very successful and do well if I just worked hard. I decided to give up my job and even paid to go all by myself to China to do some hard training. I still feel really sad and disappointed. Now I will attend a different tournament in China. I usually use the China competition to warm up for the East Asian Games, but now I will put all my heart into the upcoming China tournament. I will actually compete in the several Miss China Fitness competitions held throughout China in September and November 2009.

Lisa Cheng - Hong Kong - September 2009

FA: Any other projects?

LC: I tutor school fitness courses because I want to save money for travelling, training and other goals! I also plan to begin preparing to do more work in commercial jobs. I’ll tell you something: I don’t know why, but I have a special feeling that something is coming up for me soon. I really hope so! Haha!

Interview conducted by Frédéric Ambroisine July-September 2009. Edited for ActionQueens.com by Sylvia Rorem and Patty Keung (Gig Creations). Photos: Lisa Cheng's personnal collection. Research for ActionQueens.com: Victor Gee, Adeline C. Kayee, Michael Ortega and dleedlee (HKMDB forum). Mega-thanks to Lisa Cheng for her kindness and patience!

(1) This section of the interview was done in early July 2009. Since then, Lisa Cheng won both the August 2009 Asian Body Fitness and Miss Fitness Championships in Thailand.
(2) Additional comment by Lisa Cheng: “Since the cancellation of the Bodybuilding events at the 2009 East Asian Games, I am now training at the gym seven days a week, two hours or more per session.”
(3) Read more about the cancellation here Bodybuilding muscled out of 2009 EAG (China Daily) and
here Lisa Cheng feels lost at Bodybuildong contest being cu (Ta Kung Pao) (Chinese only)

Translation of above article - Ta Kung Pao - July 22nd, 2009: Hong Kong athlete Lisa Cheng is in Guangzhou preparing for the East Asian Games. She feels very shocked and disappointed that the Bodybuilding events have been cut. When asked to comment regarding the incident, she said, “I was only informed by a friend this afternoon. I feel hurt and almost unable to accept this reality. I’ve only just pulled myself together. Ever since I found out that there would be Bodybuilding events at this year’s East Asian Games I have been practicing diligently. In fact, I am training with China’s Guangzhou body building team right now. I have a lot of advantage in this contest and am very confident I could win a medal. Now that I know the contest has been cut, I feel lost and very upset. Originally I intended to use the East Asian Games as a warm up before I entered the national contest in Thailand. Now I can only focus on the Thailand contest.” There is a rumor that there are conflicts between the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) and the Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (ABBF). The IFBB has apparently tried to block the official capacity of the ABBF. About this, Lisa comments, “I have heard before that there were conflicts between the two federations, but as an athlete, not everything is under my control. I can only do my best within my own arena.”

Lisa Cheng's Official Website - Lisa's blog on Alive Not Dead
Lisa's videos on Youtube - Lisa Cheng on ThaiBody.com

MAGGIE Q: THE "NAKED WEAPON" INTERVIEW

While “Naked Weapon” may not be the greatest movie ever made, it nevertheless made a deep impression on Hong Kong audiences and, perhaps more importantly, gave Maggie Q her first major acting role. Directed by Ching Siu-Tung (“A Chinese Ghost Story”, “Swordsman II”) and produced/written by Wong Jing (“Naked Killer”), “Naked Weapon” mixes Hollywood high-tech blockbuster with Hong Kong style exploitaction and is the movie that showcased Maggie Q’s talent and kickstarted her international career.

This is the second part of a pre-Hollywood Maggie Q interview done in 2004, two years after the Hong Kong theatrical release of “Naked Weapon”. Parts of the following interview can be found on the “Naked Weapon” French CTV International DVD (the 20-minute documentary entitled “Maggie Q & A” - in English with French subtitles) released since June 2007 (1). The full “Naked Weapon” interview with Maggie Q is now published for the first time on the Action Queens website! Enjoy...

Frédéric Ambroisine : How did you get involved in “Naked Weapon”?

Maggie Q: Hmm, it was actually Wong Jing who first came to me with the script. I didn’t like the script when I got it. I hated it, I literally felt like, “It’s out the window.” And then what happened was, I didn’t want to work on a project that included the kind of content that it had at that time. So Wong Jing went to Media Asia and said “Look, we want to do this movie; you guys should produce it.” Media Asia agreed to do it. And because I signed with them as a company, it was a very smart move on Wong Jing’s part (laughs). I had a certain amount of films I had to complete for my contract, and I told Media Asia what I thought of the script: “Look, I don’t like it, and I know I have to do films for you but I don’t like the script, and unless it’s gonna change, I’m not doing it.” They said, “Okay, let’s talk.” I have to tell you, it wasn’t really fighting, but there was a lot of discussion before I would actually take the film. I felt that the premise of the film was really good, but it went off on certain tangents that were unnecessary. So we went through a lot of negotiation and months of changing the script, rewriting and redoing the concept, and when it was done I finally agreed to take the script annd we ending up doing it. In the end, I’m really happy I did it because I have a lot of respect for the director. We got on really well, and he pushed me really far. He pushed me further than a lot of people have done. It was difficult, but at the end of the day you’re very pleased that it happened.

Maggie Q in "Naked Weapon" (2002)

FA: What was it like working with Ching Siu-tung?

MQ: If you know anything about Hong Kong films, you know he has a reputation as the toughest action director in Asia. It was very tough on the set. He was always very tough on me. It was difficult for me to ever back down because I knew there were things that were not possible for me to do. But it’s almost as if he believed in me more than I believed in myself. And because he did, I was able to do things that I never though I would accomplish in an action film. And I’m happy about that. I’m so grateful to him.

Tony Ching Siu-tung & Maggie Q on the set of "Naked Weapon"

FA: What about the things in the script that you didn’t like and that you wanted changed?

MQ: We changed a lot of things that I didn’t like. There was only one thing that they kept that I did not like. You can’t win them all, I have to say. I would say I got 80% of what I wanted removed from the script, and I had to compromise on the other 20%. Which I understand. I’m not completely happy with the film. There are things I wish they would have re-edited. But as far as the action goes, and as far as the drama goes… it’s always difficult to put drama into an action film. It’s a very fine line. Sometimes it can be very tacky; sometimes it can be very good. It really depends on being able to balance it correctly. I think Ching Siu-tung did a good job; he’s not used to directing drama and action together, so it was okay!

FA: Did you practice martial arts before you made this movie?

MQ: The funny thing about Hong Kong movies is that there are two things we don’t have: time and money (laughs). So when a production is going to go, they’re gonna go right away, they don’t want to waste any more money. Which is smart, but it’s difficult for us actors sometimes. Because, I mean, you need time; there is a process. Especially with action: you’re gonna need time to go over it with the choregraphers, and I never got that time. I mean, when I took the film we started production a week later, and that same week I was finishing up another project. And boom, I just went right into working with the toughest action director in Asia and doing some of the toughest sequences I’ve ever done in my life! It was very difficult, I have to tell you. On my down time, when I was not onscreen, I was working it out, trying to get it down, going through it with the action choreographer and my stuntwomen, and all those kinds of things. It was completely exhausting; I never had a moment to rest because I was always worried about my action on screen. Ching Siu-tung never wanted doubles to jump in front of me because I was the star of the film. He’d say, “I want to show your face. I want to show people that this is you, this is what you’re doing, and this is what we’ve turned you into. That’s gonna make me proud. I don’t want doubles, I want Maggie.” And I was like, “Jesus!” (She laughes and makes the sign of the cross). It was an honor for me that he thought I was so capable, but for me it was terrifying. I really wish I had time to do more training. If I did, it would probably have been even better. But I think, considering the limited amount of time and money we had, and the lack of experience and all these things, it came out really well.

Ching Siu-tung's "Naked Weapon" (2002)

FA: Did you discover that you had any special skills during your training for “Naked Weapon”?

MQ: I did actually. To be honest, before I started training in this way, I was the most inflexible person you could ever meet in your life. I was an athlete, so I was strong. I was a runner and a swimmer, and did things like that. Normally when you’re strong, you’re not usually flexible. You’re either one or the other. If you’re both, you’re pretty special! (laughs) I wasn’t. It is hard to pinpoint what you are good at. Ching Siu-tung told me that normally, smaller movements make women look a lot better onscreen. But we found out when I was filming that bigger movements and very dramatic moves for some reason made me look better as a woman. So he started training me with the men instead of with the women. He wanted me to get the male techniques down instead of the female techniques because it was visually better for me. That was very strange because men are tougher (laughs). So it was quite a ride. There was not a night I went home when I wasn’t bruised from head to toe, or bleeding, or had lumps somewhere. It was like five months of boot camp!

Ching Siu-tung's "Naked Weapon" (2002)

FA: Did you watch any previous Ching Siu-tung movies before or during the shooting?

MQ: Ching Siu-tung actually started out as an actor. He was an action actor for the Shaw Brothers back in the day. He did two movies which were very old and very funny. My friend, who is one of the Shaw’s sons, dug them out of the archives for me. I actually brought them to the set and played them for everybody, and he was so mad at me because he’s very shy about being known as an actor! He didn’t want anybody to know. He’s amazing; he is able to tell stories with his action. I love that.

Tony Ching Siu-tung & Maggie Q on the set of "Naked Weapon"

If you look at Hong Kong movies from 20-30 years ago, that’s what we were doing at that time: we were telling stories with movement. It was a very physical kind of storytelling. Hollywood is just now starting to catch on to that. And now everybody says “Oh it’s so special, look at “The Matrix”, look at this and that.” But in Hong Kong we were saying, “That’s not special. We’ve been doing that forever!” (laughs) I find it very interesting that people who have been around for so long, like Ching-Siu-tung, are still able to reinvent themselves and tell new stories, modern stories. The kind of movies we make now are what they were making back then. It’s just a transition in their lives. It makes me really proud to be able to work with them because I’m working with a piece of history.

Maggie Q on the set of "Naked Weapon"

FA: What was this movie with Ching Siu-tung that you found?

MQ: It’s called “Monkey Kung-Fu”! (laughs) Oh, if you could get a hold of this movie! He actually looked a bit like Jackie when he was young. He’s a small guy and he moves very well. It was unbelievable. It was so nice to see that he’s been in front of the camera as well, so he knows how I feel. Even though he’s tough he knows how to empathize with actors. So I finally learned where that empathy came from.

FA: Ching Siu-tung was also in the Shaw Brothers movie “Come Drink With Me” with Cheng Pei-pei, who plays your mother in “Naked Weapon”...

MQ: Yeah! But she didn’t get to do any action in “Naked Weapon”, which is really unfortunate, because she’s the best! She was so mad at Ching Siu-tung on the set. She said, “Next time we work together, I’d better be fighting!” And he said “Okay, I promise, I promise!” (laughs). She was great in “Naked Weapon”; I really liked her.

Cheng Pei-pei in "Naked Weapon" (2002)

FA: Have you seen any of Cheng Pei-pei’s movies?

MQ: Absolutely. I didn’t know who she was before “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” because I was not a Hong Kong film buff. When I saw “Crouching Tiger” I asked, “Who is this woman?!” They told me she is from Hong Kong and she has daughters who are martial artists and I said, “Oh my goodness!!” I asked a friend of mine who is a producer to dig up her old stuff. He edited a bunch of stuff together for me to see. This woman blows my mind! The way she moves! She’s not a small woman: she’s tall and she’s substantial. It’s amazing, amazing. She’s great!

FA: Most of the dialogue in “Naked Weapon” are in English. I guess this is for the international market? Who made this decision?

MQ: It was Media Asia. This thing [exploitaction] was sort of catching on in the west, and they wanted to use new generation actors. You know, British-born Chinese, American-born Chinese, Canadian-born Chinese. All those people who are coming back to Hong Kong and are bilingual. They wanted to make a film that showed the international audience that we have talent here, and that we can also speak English, do action, and that we’re not confined to one genre. There is an eclectic mix of people that live in Hong Kong, and we’re able to make these sort of movies on a Western level without any budget. I mean, if you look at what we did with “Naked Weapon” with the budget we had… people in the West would die if they knew how much we spent on that movie! It looks like a bigger movie because we made it look like a bigger movie. But it’s not a big movie (laughs). It’s amazing. I’m really proud of what we do in Hong Kong because we don’t have much, but we still get it done. And when you’ve worked in an industry like that, you can work anywhere.

FA: What about the eroticism in the movie? Did you have any problems with the “hot” scenes?

MQ: I didn’t have any problems with the love scenes or things like that because falling in love and being with people in that way is a natural part of life. So that wasn’t a very big problem, except logistically with what you can and cannot show. I did have a problem with some of the violation scenes. I knew what they were trying to do with it. I knew they were trying to prove what these girls had been through. But I thought the execution was not right. It really could have been edited out. Because if you don’t it execute it right, it doesn’t mean anything to the audience. It’s just gratuitous violence and sex. And that’s what I felt about it. I’ve never had too much of a problem with love scenes because I think love is a big big part of life, and it comes up in every single movie all the time. That wasn’t a big problem. The other stuff was very difficult for me.

Daniel Wu & Maggie Q in "Naked Weapon" (2002)

FA: What was your reaction when you saw “Naked Weapon” on the big screen?

MQ: I hated seeing the entire movie onscreen! I went to the premiere and… I find myself sometimes looking away whenever I see myself onscreen. Because it’s very odd. And in addition to it being odd, you’re always your worse critic. In whatever business you do, you’re always the one that is hardest on yourself. You think, “maybe I should have done that, or maybe that wasn’t right…” But, when I saw it I thought, “You know, honestly, being in the movie and knowing the conditions we worked under, we really belted it out, didn’t we!” I was really surprised how it turned out because I knew how difficult it was to make. And when you watch it on screen, it doesn’t seem that way. I think that’s the magic of movie making: that we are fooling you guys (laughs). I think we were able to do that, and I was really happy. To be honest, I was most pleased with the action. The action is, to me, the highlight of the film and the thing I’m most proud of.

Maggie Q in "Naked Weapon" (2002)

FA: Do you have something to say to readers about to discover “Naked Weapon” and Maggie Q?

MQ: Oh, my Goodness!!! (laughs) Oh God, I hate being put on the spot! Simply, I hope they will enjoy it. I really do. It was a tough film to make. It’s not the best, but look out for me! I’ll be coming out with bigger and better stuff soon!

Interview conducted in 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine at The Drop (Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong). Edited in September 2009 by Sylvia Rorem for ActionQueens.com
Thanks to Antony Szeto, Colette Koo, Bey Logan, Laurence Ambroisine & Maggie Q.

(1) The French DVD of “Naked Weapon” will be re-released in October 2009. The movie is also available in UK (Hong Kong Legends), Germany (Ascot Elite) and of course, Hong Kong (Mega Star)

• “Naked Weapon” UK trailer (1:47)
• “Naked Weapon” Hong Kong trailer – English version (3:16)
• “Naked Weapon” Hong Kong trailer – Cantonese version (2:22)

Maggie Q Pre-Hollywood Interview (Part 1)

ASIAN MOVIE QUEEN IVY LING PO ON “THE 14 AMAZONS”

Born in China in the early 40’s, Ivy Ling Po 凌波 was THE most popular Hong Kong actress and singer of Huangmei diao genre – to make it short, it’s a mix between musical and historical drama inspired by Chinese Opera - in the 60’s, with classics produced by Shaw Brothers studios, from “The Love Eterne 梁山伯與祝英台” (1963 – she received a special award for it at the Golden Horse in Taiwan) to “The Three Smiles 三笑” (1969).

In the second half of the 60’s, martial arts were becoming more and more popular in Hong Kong, and Ling Po tried this genre as well in some swordplay movies like “Temple of the Red Lotus 江湖奇俠” (1965) or “The Sword an the Lute 琴劍恩仇” (1967), where she doesn’t do much (physically speaking).

But in 1970, she started the shooting of her most intense movie, “The 14 Amazons 十四女英豪”, one of the biggest and craziest martial art epic ever produced by Shaw Brothers, where she played a warrior princess and tactician from the Nothern Sung’s dynasty, Mu Kuei-ying 穆桂英, who led hundreds of female warriors to avenge her husband (and most of the males of the Yang family) and defended the country against the invaders from the Western Xia.

Released for the first time in Hong Kong on July 27th, 1972, “The 14 Amazons” was screened in its restored version 34 years later, first in Hong Kong on January 5th, 2006, for a screening hold by Celestial Pictures and Women In Film and Television International (WIFTI) - Hong Kong Chapter. Then, “The 14 Amazons” was ‘officially’ screened in France for the first time (there were some unofficial screenings in the 80’s in a Chinatown theather in Paris) at the Cannes Film Festival (in the Cannes Classics section) in May 2006, before its official French theatrical release on June 7th, 2006.

The following 2006 interview of Asian Movie Queen Ivy Ling Po was previously used (in French), for “The 14 Amazons” French press-kit and an article for the magazine Kumite. It's published for the first time in English here on Action Queens. Enjoy...

Frédéric Ambroisine: The shooting of “The 14 Amazons” was announced by Sir Run Run Shaw in Hong Kong, on October 7th, 1970 at the Miramar Hotel during a press conference. You were wearing the outfit of your “Finger of Doom” character that day. Did you have to interrupt your shooting to attend this event?

Ivy Ling Po: Not really, because as a Shaw Brothers actress, the compagny was arranging all my schedules. I didn’t have to worry about anything. I was shooting Pao Hsueh-li's “Finger of Doom” indeed, and when the time for the press conference arrived, they arranged a car for me to go to the Miramar, and when it’s finished, they brought me back on the set. Usually on a movie, you take a break between each scene, when the technical crew is preparing the next one. So, this press conference was like taking a longer break. It didn’t affect my work at all.

FA: Officially, the shooting of “The 14 Amazons” took two years. But you were working on other Shaw Brothers movies at the same time, right?

ILP: Yes, I worked on other Shaw Brothers movies simultaneously during those two years. The shooting of “The 14 Amazons” took a long time because it was a very big production. There were so many people involved in the cast and crew. One day of change would affect a lot of things. That’s why it took a long time to coordinate the necessary ingredients. And sometimes, director Cheng Kang would make changes, like a lot of directors would, but for this movie, each change required a lot of coordination.

FA: Physically, “The 14 Amazons” was problably your most dificult shooting compared to your previous martial arts movies directed by Chui Chang-wan 徐增宏? (“Temple of the Red Lotus”, “The Sword and the Lute”)

ILP: There was more fantasy in the Chui Chang-wan movies. In his movies I usually play a great martial arts master who would just had to raise a finger to make somebody dies. So of course, I didn’t need to do a lot of physical work for those movies. Comparatively, the shooting of “The 14 Amazons” was harder, because I’m playing a normal person and the action scenes are more realistic. My character has to use a lot of courage to fight. Preparing those scenes required a lot of physical work. I wasn't known as a martial arts actress, so I was not expected to do too difficult martial arts scenes. Usually, for the action scenes, there’s an action director who trains you on the set. You just do it a few times before the shooting of the scene. Then you start to shoot until the director is satisfied.

FA: Director Cheng Kang was apparently under a lot of pressure during the the shooting of “The 14 Amazons”?

ILP: I think he was. Handling a big budget movie means that you’ll have pressure. Cheng Kang had to satisfy everybody. For example, Li Ching probably didn’t have a lot of dialogue originally, but since she was a big star, the director had to add more dialogue for her. I heard that Cheng Kang cried a few times on the set during the shooting and that Yueh Hua consoled him. So I believe he had a lot of pressure.

FA: How was your relationship with your actresses partners?

ILP: I had fond memories of the shooting of “The 14 Amazons”. Lisa Lu, who plays the Grand matriarch in the movie, came from Hollywood, so she had special care from the Shaw Studios, and we could all benefit from that as well. Also, most of the crew would eat usually at the Shaw canteen, but since Lily Ho’s mom lived very close by the Shaw studios, she would do some homecook meal for all of us and bring it on the set. The food at the canteen was so-so. Homecook meal was better. So we could all benefit from that as well...

...During the shooting of an outdoor scene, Li Ching and I were gambling. She challenged me “if you can eat ten eggs, I give you thirty dollars!”. And eventually, I ate eleven eggs! After than Chin Han told me “Are you crazy, you know you can die?! If you eat so much eggs, your inside will burst”. I was young and never thought of those things. Even half-way, after about 7 eggs, Lily Ho’s mother couldn’t bear it. “Aya! Ling Po! Don’t eat! I give you the 30 dollars!” and I said “No, no, no! I don’t cheat! I lose or I win”. And I carried on eating until the eleventh.

FA: What were the most difficult things that you had to do during the shooting of “The 14 Amazons”?

ILP: I was actually really scared to do the horse riding scene. There were previous cases of people riding horses in other movies who had terrible accidents. So I was very scared. But for the movie, I had to look very brave, and ride it. Once, the horse didn’t want to stop, and it scared the hell out of me. Eventually when I could stop the course, I cried for a long time. I was frightened.... Another scary moment was during the scene of the human bridge. I think I was on the top. I don’t remember exactly. I had to get up very high.

FA: “The 14 Amazons” will finally be released in the French theaters. What do you think about that?

ILP: I’m extremely delighted that this movie made almost 40 years ago, will meet a young French audience. I’m verry happy about that. Even if it was made a long time ago, the spirit of courage remains. It is something that will last forever. In the old days, there were women with courage. And it has not changed since. And I hope the French audience will carry on and support Hong Kong films.

(A big thanks to Patty Keung and Kenneth Bi for this interview)

Check out also: The 14 Amazons fan site - Ivy Ling Po filmography (HKMDB) - Yvy Ling Po: Gender Bender

MACHINE GUN ARM : DEJA VU?

Released in the United States in June 2008 (2 months before Japan), the Japanese action/horror comedy "The Machine Girl 片腕マシンガール", written and directed by Noboru Iguchi 井口昇 ("Sukeban Boy") and starring Minase Yashiro 八代みなせ, got ripped-off a few months later by a bunch of young American indie DIY filmmakers for their Halloween Super Test Film: "Machine Gun Arm".

The plot is more or less the same as “The Machine Girl”: A Ninja Yakuza gang cuts off the arm of a young girl – stand up comedian & (jew)elry designer Carlen Altman – and kills her best friend (a Tamagochi). So she builds a gatling gun arm attachment to seek revenge. Check out the full short below...

And here is a very cool behind the scenes featurette, also from Indy Mogul, showing how they did the special effects with an extra limited budget..

Some links: About Indy Mogul - Carlen Altman's Blog - The Machine Girl review (Twitch) - "Shyness Machine Girl" trailer (Spin-off)