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'Not Too Beefy, Not Too Cheesy'
Actor Russell Wong on moviemaking, Hong Kong and men in tights
By STEPHEN SHORT

Russell Wong is midway through shooting a television version of the movie Monkey King with actress Bai Ling. The talented and sexy actor, who recently starred in Romeo Must Die alongside Jet Li, met recently with TIME Asia reporter Stephen Short. Excerpts from the interview:

Vince Bucci/AFP Sexy and talented: Wong

TIME: So, you've been method acting your way into the Monkey King part?
Russell Wong: Yeah...I've been to the zoo and studied them. Some of those monkeys are very Zen. They sit there and check you out, and they're very intelligent.

TIME: You're working with Bai Ling. How is that?
Wong: We did an episode of Touched By An Angel for U.S. television recently. I'm getting to know her better this time. She's really cute and funny. She can be very serious too.

TIME: She's become part of the U.S. media machine don't you think? I'm not quite sure who or what the real Bai Ling is now?
Wong: She obviously has a draw...and gets reasonable projects. She's a survivor, she's tough. I think she can tackle Hollywood without a problem.

TIME: How much do you keep up with Chinese cinema?
Wong: Not that much. I mean, I read it in the New York Times and stuff like that, but you can get a little burnt-out following everything.

TIME: What's the best scene you've been in?
Wong: My favorite is a scene in The Joy Luck Club where I come back home late with a prostitute and have to confront my wife. It impacted me.

TIME: How do you feel now about the film Romeo Must Die? One big stereotype?
Wong: Jet Li was a big draw of course. And I had fun with the role. Because it's a studio picture, it sparked a lot of interest. It's a bit stereotypical, but hey, why not just ham it up.

TIME: That's healthy, otherwise surely you'd just get bitter as hell over there?
Wong: Yeah...I've been through some very bitter stages.

TIME: Does maturity make it any easier?
Wong: Not really, but you've just got to let it go. At least now I get stories that aren't just martial arts--there's a story, with a humane side. Stereotypical movies are unfortunately a means to an end.

TIME: Hong Kong women seem to think you're a real hunk. You've got this 'babe- magnet' persona, does that bother you these days when you want to be taken more seriously?
Wong: You know...you've got to use what you have. I used to think I wanted to be a serious actor, but no...it works for me, always has, always will, so I guess I just don't resist it anymore.

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TIME: You've now got a website, Russellwong.com. Tell us about that.
Wong: Yeah. In fact, I just won an award for my website. Apparently it won celebrity site of the day recently, whatever that means.

TIME: That's an eternity on the Net. What's your involvement?
Wong: Total. I pay a designer, I give him the pictures, I say this is the look, the feel that I want. I had wanted to put something official up because someone had my domain name, but finally they let it go.

TIME: How much did it cost to get back?
Wong: I don't know. I think we were able to just talk the guy into it. I got 7,000 hits on the site in one day. That's the busiest it got.

TIME: Are there lots of scantily clad pictures of yourself?
Wong: No. There's not really enough pictures. I'm real picky about which pictures they put up--not too beefy, not too cheesy. I asked my friends if they liked certain pictures of me...

TIME: Male or female?
Wong: Both. I needed to get realistic feedback.

TIME: When you're back in Hong Kong what do you do? Wong: Play golf. My handicap is 14.

TIME: Very respectable.
Wong: Yeah. There's a public course that just opened at Sai Kung and we played it two weeks ago.

TIME: Sounds like you miss Hong Kong?
Wong: I love it. I want to move back here, or at least have a place here. Hong Kong's special. I have good friends here, genuine people I can connect with. They are Chinese, educated in the West like me, so I identify with them. The U.S. feels so insular, so small and I'm experiencing that more and more. I live right next to Chinatown because at least I feel a little connected there. I'm from upstate New York and I've lived in California but I don't feel a sense of belonging to those communities. Chinatown feels right.

TIME: Do you really want to carry on acting? Don't you sometimes think...stuff it?
Wong: Yeah, quite often, but I don't know which direction I'd take. I've got some interest in design and I've done some courses, including photography courses. I suppose directing is a possibility.

TIME: Dotcom king? How 'bout that?
Wong: It's possible. My website's somewhat popular. It's getting the hits anyway. Don't know what I'll do with that though.

TIME: What about choreographic stuff? You used to dance didn't you?
Wong: Wow, that was a very long time ago. I always wanted to learn classical dance, ballet. There's a certain strength and grace about it which I thought was really cool. Trouble is I played football a lot and kept getting hit. When you dance you don't get hit so hard.

TIME: You get hit on instead?
Wong: Well, most of the guys are gay, which leaves a lot of available women. That was my theory on dancing.

TIME: And did that theory work?
Wong: Kind of. But yeah, practically every male dancer I've ever met was gay. There's only a few straight ones.

TIME: But those tights!?
Wong: I know, I felt so uncomfortable. Everyone looks at you in those things.

TIME: Kinda sexy feeling though isn't it?
Wong: Not when it's the guys looking at you.