[Once again thanks goes to the incomparable Diva Velez, for the following interview - one which was edited down from an hour long conversation... oh, to have been there, fan boys...]
The Lady Miz Diva: Mr. Yam, you started your acting career under contract with the Hong Kong television network TVB...
The Lady Miz Diva: Mr. Yam, you started your acting career under contract with the Hong Kong television network TVB...
Simon Yam: Ah,
it was a long time ago!
LMD: Yes, but so many well-known
actors like yourself have come from TVB.
SY: Yes,
right, including many famous directors and actors and actresses all
come from TVB.
LMD: What did you take away from your time there?
What did you learn then that you use today?
SY: Being
on time! Actually, I didn't, I learned being on time from
my father, who was a policeman. They're always on time.
I learned manners from TVB. And how to be
energetic; cos in the old days we'd shoot today and then we're dubbing
and then we're editing and then the third day, we do this again. This
was the routine of before. This was horrible. So
when you are sick, you need to do the work. When you have
a fever, you can't rest, you need to come back to TV, you need to work.
I learned motivation from TVB.
LMD: There
was a long period in your career where you were starring in an average
of one film per month. How is that even possible?
SY: Actually,
it was a movie every two months, but sometimes we would make two or
three movies at the same time. There was a period around
1989-1994; normally we'd make 5 movies at the same time. And
in a 3 month period, you'd need to finish like 4 movies. For
example, January through March, you'd make 4 movies, then for March
you'd finish 2 movies, then in May through July you'd work in 3 movies
and then you'd finish 2 or 3 movies then 3 more movies through the end
of the year.
LMD: No wonder you're so slim. How
were you able to transition between the different characters you had to
play?
SY:
I had no choice, because at that period there were a lot of
gangster and triads, they want you to make movies. I don't
know if you saw the protests on the street in 1994 against the triads
on the news? I had no choice, I needed to work. But
the point is I really enjoy my acting; that is the most important thing
in every single different kind of role I act. But in that
period there were pattern movies, like there is a fight first, then a
love story in the middle, then another fight, then again a love story or
a brotherhood story then last another fight.
LMD: It was a formula.
SY: Yes,
it was a formula, but after 1997, I loved it. After 1997,
the money crisis made every single country drop Hong Kong films.
The economy was going down. So after 1997 Simon
Yam was so happy, because it meant no more formula movies. No
more formula movies means you have to get a good director to make a
good movie by himself to survive. So they would need good
actors and actresses who can cooperate together to make some good
movies.
LMD: One thing that separates your acting from
others is the intensity level you bring to your roles. How
deeply do you invest yourself in your characters? Many
actors like to stay in character the whole time they are filming.
SY:
I think the most important thing is I do a lot of research.
I always say that I'm not going to act. When you
are acting, you're all wrong. It needs to be as big as
life and then that life has to be something that could happen in your
neighbourhood. You have to let the audience get into your
character. When you are always acting, you must say,
'This is not my life,' otherwise you are overacting.
LMD: How do you pull back from
playing such intense characters?
SY: I go
home and have dinner with my wife. I leave the character
at the set. I always have sport shoes a gym and table
tennis and I pack it into my truck and I drive. It's very
easy to drive in Hong Kong, so it's very easy to go to the gym. When
I'm finished {shooting}, I must go for exercise. Then
I have a portable DVD in my car and a handphone for the news channel.
Every news channel, I need to watch it, because those people
from the news I can say, 'This is the dictator.' So I get
all the research and then I think 'Why do they do like that?' And
then how the why can fit Simon Yam? Why I can play Echoes
of the Rainbow? Why I can play Night and Fog? Why
I can be a good cop and why I can be a bad cop? Why I can
be a dictator of the Storm Warriors? Lots of why.
LMD: You did so many films in
that late 80's early 90's period, then you did John Woo's Bullet in the
Head in 1990. Did that change things for you?
SY: No.
Everybody was talking about John Woo, but at the same time after
John Woo's movies, they love the character. Filmmakers,
they wanted Simon Yam to be like the John Woo movies. They
typecast me, "Why do you make different movies?" So it
made me very upset. I said. "I am an actor. I
want to play like in the John Woo movies, a very classic guy, but I'm
an actor. I want to be the best actor in Hong Kong.
Why do you limit my acting?"
LMD: Besides Bullet in the Head, I
think a lot of international audiences have recently come to know you
from your 2005 hit, Election. Can you tell us about your
work with director Johnnie To?
SY: Well,
Johnnie and I help each other. He had things very bad in
1997 because of the money crisis; there were no more films for him.
I remember he wanted to make The Mission {1997}, I said
"Why not, we can make it low-budget and I'll bring in all the costumes,
I'll bring everything. Don't talk about money." I'm not
the guy who's looking for money. This is my advantage.
Money is not the object. Friendship is more
important for me. That's why when Johnnie was like, "1997
is too bad," I said, "Forget about money. If you want to
give me a salary, please give it to the crew." Johnnie is
just a talented director. I admire him. His spirit is
good, everything is good, that's why I love Johnnie. The
same thing with Ringo Lam, they are good friends. We have
dinner all the time, that's why we can make such good movies after that.
LMD: Do
you find you work best with a director who will listen to your
suggestions?
SY: With some directors, I just
trust them. I'm the guy that very seldom watches the
playback, I never look at the playback. When the director
says cut I say, "Okay," I just go on. I believe in you,
Ringo. I believe in you, Johnnie. I believe
in you, Ann Hui. The point is if you're always looking at
the playback, it becomes easy to act yourself. It makes
you doubt. Sometime when I finish, this is the real
person, this is the real character then in that world, not yourself.
LMD: As the name Simon Yam is so
synonymous with Hong Kong film, what do you think the future of the
industry will be? Last year I asked that of screenwriter
Ivy Ho and she felt that in 20 years there would be no films made in
Cantonese. Do you agree with that?
SY: Ivy
Ho! She worked at TVB before. Wow, her
script fee is so expensive! I love her work. No,
I don't agree, because there needs to be some pattern movies for the
whole world, but sometimes there needs to be some localised films for
the culture. I love Hong Kong films, because it represents
the history of the culture of that period. I will not
give up the Hong Kong film. I will not give it up!
This is the culture of Hong Kong, like the culture of Manhattan.
There needs to be some formula movies like Avatar, but like
Manhattan's movies, like Woody Allen's Manhattan, you need to be like
that. In the film industry, you need to give some good
choices to the audience. Woody Allen's film gives you a
history of Manhattan, so after 100 or 200 years, you can watch that film
in a library -- all the kids who want to be a director or an actor --
they can watch Woody Allen in whatever year and know that was the spirit
of Manhattan! That's from the movies. That's
why Simon Yam insists. So I disagree!
China has
released a lot of films, but they are formula movies, pattern movies.
Some of the scripts don't have the creativity. But
now they are changing already because the Guangdong provinces, they are
allowing us to release films in Cantonese. That's
interesting! So of 33 provinces, of course China is huge, a
lot of people speak Mandarin; you have to make some good Mandarin
movies for the 32 provinces. But still, Guangdong has a
huge population, they are very close to Hong Kong and it is very easy
for them to trust each other. That's why, even if you have
a cut-down budget, in that budget, if you make some localised Cantonese
films only for Guangdong and Hong Kong can make you survive.
LMD: You've produced a film in
the past {2008's Ocean Flame} and you have a wonderful eye for
photography which would make me think of directing to put your visions
on film. Is acting enough for you? Have you
ever wanted to write or direct?
SY: Ah! You're so clever. I'm
gonna show you two things; one is my painting, one is when I was doing
Echoes of the Rainbow, a short film directed by me called "Masterpiece
by Simon Yam."
{Yam presents his Iphone and plays the five
minute clip} I shot it by myself and chose the music by myself,
everything by myself. I used a 5D Canon camera Mark 2;
this was the first day with the camera. This represents
the 1960's. The movie takes place in the 60's. This
is the first one for me to direct, the second one will be a movie. {Shows
a series of what appear to be abstract paintings} It's all
photography work. Those are all flowers.
LMD: Before
we finish, I must congratulate you on winning the Star Asia award at
the New York Asian Film Festival. Are you surprised
about the great reception from fans here considering most of your films
have never been seen in US cinemas?
SY: Give
me kung-fu. I'm so sorry. This is normal. In
America, when you have a lot of kung-fu, then you can put it in a big
theatre. When it's not kung-fu, please put it in a small
theatre. This is normal all over the world. This
is why I make a film like Tomb Raider 2 and I fight. It
doesn't matter for me.
LMD: So, success in the US isn't your primary
goal?
SY:
No, it's not my first choice.
LMD: The other person you've won
the award with is Sammo Hung, who is an old friend you've worked with
before.
SY:
He is lovely. He is one of my really big brothers.
He has such a good heart, so generous. I have a
lot of Dai Goh {big brothers} in Hong Kong. I
always say that Sammo Hung is the only one Dai Goh, because he's got a
very, very good heart. The other Dai Goh, I'm sorry.
~ The Lady
Miz Diva