In her signature child-woman manner, star of Innocently GuiltyAnita Yuen jests about her filming habits, her ‘phobia’ of Singapore and co-star Yvonne Lim’s figure!
by Ang Ling Ling
Anita with her Singaporean co-stars Terence Cao, Edmund Chen, Chen Shucheng & Yvonne Lim
I feel like I’ve been zapped into the movie He’s A Woman, She’s A Man that made her famous. There she is, the wafer-thin 31-year-old staring at you with her plate-size orbs at the press conference for Singapore-Hong Kong collaboration Innocently Guilty, wearing her signature short mop and jeans. We act quickly to find out more about Anita Yuen other than her gender-bending ability for we know the former Miss Hong Kong 1990 doesn’t mince her words...
Nice to look at, but once she’s pissed, back off!
When it comes to co-stars who don’t have the habit of reading up their scripts beforehand and people who don’t turn off their mobile phones during filming, Anita does not show any mercy. “If we’re shooting a serious or emotional scene, and your phone rings, I’ll be the 1st to come after you with a chopper!”
Latecomers irk the professional actress too, who just wants “everyone to respect their work”. Sarcasm appears to be her preferred way of making her displeasure known for she once mouthed these acerbic words – “ Didn’t know your contract says you can be late, If I knew, I would sign the same contract too!”
You have been warned.
She’s dead serious about her profession.
Sob, boyfriend Chi Lam (Julian Cheung) hasn't proposed to me!
Besides mooting the fine system for every errant phone ring on all her filming sets (HK$ 100 per ring) so she can concentrate better on her craft, Anita is also particular about how her directors take to her acting. “Especially in Innocently where I had a lot of emotional scenes, I’d always look and study the director’s expression after each scene and if he nodded, I’d feel very good.”
Despite having to cry a lot, the once Best Actress (He’s A Woman, She’s A Man) had an enjoyable time working with everyone in Innocently. “I think in future when I get lousy scripts or meet lousy cast, I’ll just think of this experience.” Still, her parts could not be worse than co-star Tian Niu’s (who plays her mother) who had to be bitten by a dog and beaten up.
She likes Edmund Chen...
Although viewers will not be seeing Anita puckering up with homegrown Mr Pinky-cheeks, she assures us that they look convincing as lovers. “I feel that you don’t really have to have intimate scenes to tell the whole world this is a couple. We didn’t know each other before but I think we act very well like a couple!”
The chemistry they share is largely due to Edmund’s humility and friendliness (And maybe those cheeks that scream ‘love me!’). “He gave me a very good 1st impression so when you already like someone, you won’t have much difficulty playing lovers. And he’s always making me laugh on the set by saying something totally ‘wu liao’ (nonsensical)!”
Perhaps the fact that his frequent talk about his family strikes the right chords too. “He’ll always tell me about his wife and children so when I see him with other women, I’ll tell these women that he’s taken! So he jokingly says I’m spoiling his chances. I think I should meet his wife, after all, I help her keep an eye on her husband! Ha...”
...And loves Yvonne Lim
Don't worry about me, I've the toilet rolls for company tonight!
Gosh, what time can we go off for dinner?
Anita rolls her eyes when asked why she could hit it off so well with the sweetie-pie Yvonne, who plays her good friend. “I don’t know either! But we were all deceived by her demure looks initially; she’s actually quite loud! She’s also not the kind to lick people’s boots so I like that. And she can be very ‘san ba’ (gossipy) like me; she would even come tell me stuff about the part-timers! But from that, I know that she’s not the scheming type.”
Could insisting that Yvonne speak Cantonese on the set be making all the difference? “I feel that since her co-stars all speak Cantonese and all their reaction will in turn be faster, it’ll be better for her to also use Cantonese because the effect will be better. And indeed, I was just telling Yvonne that some people in HK have already asked me who she is. They say she did a good job.”
She’s ‘bigger’ than Yvonne...
So do the Hong Kongers think Yvonne is pretty too? “She? Yes, but I’ve edited it!” (Laugh) You 2 are like sisters, so who’s the younger one here? “Of course it’s Yvonne! She’s also got smaller figure...ha, ha! (Yvonne vehemently: “which part are you referring to?”) Let me tell you, I’ve met quite a few Singaporean girls and they all have very good figures. I really wonder if Yvonne’s really Singaporean! And she’s so fair; she can’t be local!”
Sorry folks, we cannot verify that but we do know that Yvonne has a bigger appetite. “Yvonne made me eat so much in my 3 weeks stay here that I almost had a phobia of Singapore! I thought I could “take revenge” when she came over to HK, but she couldn’t be found! I think she has more friends than I have in HK!”
She digs durians and cereal prawns...
Despite complaints that her “few days” stay here “already made her felt that her face was getting rounder”, 2 local dishes never fail to make her forget about her non-existent double chins! “I love the durians here because in HK we usually buy them home but here, you can eat them at the roadside stalls. That feeling is very good! And those cereal prawns, they’re delicious!”
Finger-licking grubs aside, there are certain “laws” that leng leng (Anita’s nick which means pretty in Cantonese) feels she would not be suitable for Singapore. “Someone told me I can’t talk too loudly in Singapore. (When told she won’t get a fine for that) Then I’ll get the rotan? They also told me I can’t consume chewing gum and can’t smoke. Frankly speaking, I’d definitely be the 1st one to get caught!”
Innocently Guilty will start airing this Dec. 30th at 9pm on Mediacorp ( Channel 8 )
Posted on Dec 25, 2002, 9:44 AM from IP address 66.27.242.235
