Airtimes:
Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Taipei
Wednesday, May 19 at 2030
Thursday, May 20 at 1130
Saturday, May 22 at 1900
Sunday, May 23 at 0330 & 1630
Monday, May 24 at 0900 Bangkok and Jakarta Wednesday, May 19 at 1930
Thursday, May 20 at 1030
Saturday, May 22 at 1800
Sunday, May 23 at 0230 & 1530
Monday, May 24 at 0800 Daniel Wu is one of Hong Kong's most multi-talented actors, someone who has taken on a wide variety of roles in more than 50 movies over twelve years. His repertoire has included a gay police officer, a gangster villain, a dorky engineer alongside Kevin Spacey and a band member in his directorial debut "The Heavenly Kings". On this week's Talk Asia, the award-winning director and actor joins CNN's Anjali Rao in a wide-ranging interview to talk about his career, his family and his recent very private wedding in South Africa. On a trip to witness the Hong Kong handover in 1997, the U.S-born Chinese ventured into modeling to earn more travel money. Wu recalls the struggle posing in front of the camera: "It was difficult for me...I always thought of myself as an intellectual and thought modeling was a little low for me, but I needed money...I was coming to Asia to backpack for three years...but I went to Japan first and the yen was a really high rate at that time, so I spent all my money there..." It turned out to be more than just quick money for Wu when a director spotted his advertisement and cast him in his first movie. Even his childhood idol Jackie Chan signed him up into his management company and later co-starred in a movie with Wu. But Wu's dad was not pleased at his decision: "He kept calling me and asking me when I was going to come home and get a real job. But I just fell in love with it...I was really working hard for it. My Dad came to the set one day on my sixth or seventh movie and realized it wasn't all fun and games...and he came to respect it a bit more." Initially, an inability to speak Mandarin or Cantonese posed a challenge for Wu. He recalls how he created his own phonetic system to memorize the script. "I have to have my assistant read the whole script to me and I write the whole thing down in my own language. It's weird. I'm 36 years old and I feel like I'm an illiterate because I can't read," says Wu. Wu is now a household name in the Chinese community and has moved into directing, artist management and collaboration with a clothing brand. His personal life has also generated much publicity of its own. In a surprise announcement on his blog recently, he shared the news of his secret marriage to Monaco-born model Lisa Selesner in South Africa. After an eight-year relationship, he says: "We were surrounded by this hundred year old tree and you're in this big forest. It was better than a scene in a movie...You could feel the love from everyone around."
He also commented on the negative coverage generated when he offered his wedding pictures to only one publication: "The other newspapers and magazines were very upset that I didn't share it with them either and didn't tell them beforehand, so that they could go down there and ruin it by taking pictures and climbing all over the place and damaging the environment...I guess they couldn't understand why I wanted it that private...so I'm being criticized again. Oh well, that's my life." Wu's interview with TALK ASIA will be available online at www.cnn.com/talkasia after the first airing. For more information, please visit www.CNNPressroomAsia.com. Airtimes are subject to change
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Related links:
Talk Asia official site
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