Author: Li Xiaotian
casually answered a question on Zhihu. The reading volume is not bad, it has easily passed 100,000+, so I will post it here.
asked: Is Chow Yun-fat a failure in Hollywood?
Strictly speaking, Chow Yun-fat has only made 4 movies in Hollywood.
Two of them recovered their costs, and the two were losses.
They were basically drama themes.
Here is my answer:
Hollywood is also a circle, and you don’t just have to blend in if you want. Blended in casually.
The most handsome boy in Northern Europe, Mads Mikkelsen, is a Dane and is a national treasure in Denmark. In his hometown, he only stomps his feet, making the entire Jutland Peninsula and Scandinavia tremble. In Hollywood, he could only play supporting roles and villains. It was not easy for him to get a starring role in "Hannibal".
Spain’s most handsome boy, Javier Bardem, is an absolute winner in life in the entire Iberian Peninsula. He married Penélope Cruz, won awards, and was so generous that he could only play supporting roles in Hollywood.
Anthony Banderas, the most handsome guy in Latin America, is also an absolute big shot in Latin America, but his status in Hollywood is very embarrassing. He has to rely on authentic Spanish films to win the Best Actor in Cannes.
Mads Mikkelsen, Javier Bardem, and Anthony Banderas are still white people after all. They are also famous in Hollywood and can hold their own. They are definitely not doing poorly, but they No matter how hard I try, I can't integrate into the absolute core of Hollywood.
Hollywood is a circle. Oscar-winning actor Brendan Fraser just offended the inner circle and was deposed for n years.
It is enough for Chow Yun-fat to leave his own works in Hollywood and play the male lead.
To put it bluntly, Hollywood is a circle, and not everyone can blend in if they want to. Only actors from the "Five Eyes Alliance" can be better accepted in Hollywood. Even actors from France and Germany are not welcome. Of course, this also has to be brought about by a smaller circle. The UK seems to be very close to the United States, but many British actors are powerless in Hollywood, such as Colin Firth, Jude Law, Authentic British handsome guys such as Hugh Grant and Colin Farrell can only be popular in Hollywood for a few years. If they want to be the protagonist, they have to return to the UK. Australian actors do well in the United States because they are good at teaming up and have formed an Australian faction. From investors to directors to actors, they are all Australians/New Zealanders, helping each other, supporting each other, and feeding each other. As for Italy, there is an Italian gang, and the core boss is of Italian descent. Therefore, Italians who are not from the Five Eyes Alliance, please note that they are not Italians, generally get along well. The importance of circles is evident.
Then there is Japan. Japan has a good relationship with the United States. As a protectorate of the United States, Japanese actors generally do not do well in the United States. Japanese handsome man Ken Watanabe, who has starred in "The Last Samurai", "Inception", "Transformers", "Godzilla", "Batman", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "The Last Day", "Letters from Iwo Jima"... ..There are a lot of movies produced by Hollywood, who dares to say that he has integrated into Hollywood?
There are also Tony Jaa, the number one male in Southeast Asia, and Indonesian handsome boy Iko Uwais. They also have works in Hollywood. Are they considered successful? Have you integrated into Hollywood?
Chinese people, or Chinese/Chinese people, how can they have any circles? The most powerful Chinese person in Hollywood should be Ang Lee. He can mobilize a lot of resources on his own strength, but that's all. In addition to promoting Zhang Ziyi to become an international star, Ang Lee has basically no support for other actors.
As for Michelle Yeoh, who won the Oscar, she also achieved it through personal efforts. As for "Crazy Rich Asians", which attracted many Chinese actors, it only brought them together through this movie, and it did not form a Chinese influence.How can
be considered successful? In fact, Chow Yun-fat has become an idol of Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin and others with his Hong Kong movies, which is already a huge success.
By the time Fa Ge started to break into Hollywood, in fact, the golden period of his career had passed, and the films such as "The Replacement Killer", "The Edge Again", "Bulletproof Monk" and "Children of Yellowstone" were not A-level productions. It is one of many B-level films. There are three to five hundred such films produced in Hollywood every year. It is very difficult to stand out. Compared with similar films of the same period, these films are pretty good. You have to compare it with film and television classics, which is unfair to Fa Ge.
Relatively speaking, "The Spy Who" and "Dragon Ball" are close to A-level productions. In the end, they lost both reputation and box office, so they can be regarded as failures.
"Anna and the King" is a literary film. It also received two Oscar nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. It has been recognized for its literary and artistic qualities. Fa Ge's performance is also quite good. It is not a failure and the box office is not insufficient. To measure the value of the film.
And there is a glorious "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that will last forever. Chow Yun-fat, as the absolute male lead, performed Li Mubai, a simple martial artist, with an elegant and bookish style. This is a temperament that the original protagonist Jet Li could not interpret. With this work, Fa Ge's journey to Hollywood is a huge success, with no regrets and no blame.
In addition, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" in which Fa Ge played a supporting role was also a super hit. This is also the only top-level production on Chow Yun-fat's Hollywood tour. Although Fat Brother is only a supporting role, his performance is definitely not embarrassing, but quite eye-catching, adding a lot of points to the film.
Therefore, being able to have two starring films, "Anna and the King" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", as well as a supporting role in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", Fa Ge's journey to Hollywood is by no means a failure, but rather a success.
From the beginning of "The Replacement" in 2008 to the end of "The Spy" in 2010, it was exactly 12 years of reincarnation. Fa Ge was like a meteor in Hollywood, streaking across the sky and leaving his own traces. It’s impossible to say how successful it has been. But I can definitely say with no shame that he did not fail.
It can be said that he is the most successful Chinese actor besides Jackie Chan. As for Jet Li, he is far behind. As for Bruce Lee, he was a standard American. As for Tony Leung, his reputation is limited to the Chinese circle.
As for Jackie Chan, he actually became the most famous Chinese actor not by his acting skills, but by the type of films he made. In terms of acting alone, Chow Yun-fat is one of the most successful Chinese actors in history.
