Daniel Wu

QUICK FACTS

• born in Berkeley, California
• parents immigrated from Shanghai and met in the US
• has been a student of kungfu since age 5
• studied architecture at University of Ohio
• upon friends'/sisters' suggestion began modeling, thus beginning his career in Asia
• first movie role was in an HK gay romance Bishonen alongside Stephen Fung and Shu Qi in 1998
• has since starred in more than 40 movies
• is signed onto Jackie Chan's company
• has been nominated for the Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Awards
• won best new director at Hong Kong Film Awards for his mockumentary The Heavenly Kings
• has homes in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing
• married to VJ and model Lisa Selesner

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"Shanghai is my hometown."

"When I'm in the United States, they do not think of me as an American. In Hong Kong, Hong Kong people do not feel that I am Chinese. So I would always tell myself, I am a citizen of the world"

-- Daniel Wu, Shanghai Times interview



Young Daniel Wu trained in kungfu as his Shanghainese parents reminded him to never forget that he was Chinese. After graduating from college, he went backpacking in Asia to feel connected to his roots. Then he became a model in Hong Kong:


Note: This is actually a 2009 Men's Vogue cover and not from his early modeling days.

And now, he lives in China making his career as an actor, a director, and--more recently--as a producer.

This is really impressive given that he has been in the industry for 12 years and continues to learn both Cantonese and Mandarin. To make sure that he is pronouncing his lines right, he writes down the pinyin. Originally, he began living in Hong Kong with no prior background in Cantonese and would learn scripts without knowing completely what he was saying.

That is tough. Daniel Wu talks about being treated like a foreigner in Hong Kong and being given a fork instead of chopsticks at restaurants. (He is pro at chopsticks, OK? OMG so racist.) And, since he is not able to read very much Chinese, newspapers, TV, signs, and everything is pretty foreign to him--every day. Daniel says, At least he doesn't know what the tabloids are saying about him!



What makes him stick it out? (Hahaha, chopsticks--get it?) Why not try to make it in the American movie industry where he would be 50,000 times more comfortable?

Here is part of Wu's answer:

"[in Hollywood] it is actually an obstacle to have no distinct Chinese accent. Hollywood likes Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and one of the reasons is that they speak English with an accent that Americans find very interesting. For Around the World in 80 Days, the director asked me not to talk in a 'good American-English' accent."

Personally, I think he should try his luck in Hollywood. I do not know if he realizes that doing Around the World in 80 Days with Jackie Chan just meant having to play a stereotype. (After all, the novel was written in the 1800s by a French dood.) Maybe he hasn't seen enough American film & television since becoming an expat to see how Asian American actors have taken on a variety of roles (see The Tour Guide's blog).



In the meantime, Daniel has worked hard to prove his merits as an actor and to battle the industry's tendency to turn him into an idol.

And in spite of the language barrier, he has REALLY SUCCEEDED!

While like his mentor Jackie Chan he has starred in action films such as Purple Storm and New Police Story and would love to direct a wuxia movie, it seems that he wants to maintain a special focus on dramatic roles at this point his career.

One of his latest films is called Like A Dream, which he totally also produced. His character, Alex, is an ABC dood who falls in love with a woman (or two?) in China. Daniel explains, however, that it "isn’t a love story. It’s about two people 'searching for their path.' In this movie, my character and Yuan Quan’s character are both searching." This is something that he especially identifies with, and when it comes to choosing film scripts, he insists that he does not pay attention to what would be commercially successful but rather searches for stories that intrigue him.



Another interesting movie of Daniel's which earned him a lot of criticism and acclaim is The Heavenly Kings, which he first announced as a singing group that he was forming with Conroy Chan, Andrew Lin, and Terence Yin.



People believed the news until the film was released. It turned out to be a good-natured comedy poking fun at the boy band business in the Chinese pop world. The Heavenly King's official band website "Alive Not Dead" has since been converted into a forum for actors, musicians, and other artists looking to share their work and contact info and to connect with fans. (On the site you can also find Daniel's official blog, which he updates very regularly.)



It looks like Daniel Wu will continue to have unique achievements in the world of Hong Kong film. He seems to be finding a place where he is comfortable and starting to take on creative projects of his own.

As one fan, estellabrandybck, on IMDb comments:

"I just finished watching Blood Brothers. Not the greatest film I've ever seen, but I was struck by how far Daniel has come since his first films. When he first started, the critics weren't very kind, bashing him for wooden acting and bad Cantonese. But he has turned into a great actor, watchable and believable. He's come miles and miles, and I look forward to watching him grow even more with every role. Bravo, Daniel, and carry on."

He even advertises for L'Oreal:



And further evidence of his settling in in Hong Kong is that

HE JUST GOT MARRIED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE CHILDRENS!

(Check out his blog post. Seriously moves me to tears. JK. But it's beautiful.)

To conclude (for now), here is Daniel intelligently discussing his role as a villain in a movie with his hero Jackie Chan, The Shinjuku Incident. What does it mean to be an outsider? How does he approach acting and becoming a character? OMG WATCH THIS VIDEO



He says that China is "one of his favorite countries."

It warms my heart.

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