Maggie Cheung comes 'clean' on filmmaking

Kenny Santana, Contributor, Cannes

For her role as a drug addict in Clean (to be shown at this year's French Film Festival in Indonesia), Maggie Cheung took the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress nod last year.

In a frank interview in the afternoon before she won the award, Cheung, looking as beautiful as on the silver screen, was cheerful, talkative and very friendly. She was at ease talking about being in Clean, directed by her ex-husband, and using Courtney Love as a role model.

Question: What sort of research did you do on heroin for Clean?

Cheung: I didn't. But Olivier (Assayas, the director) and I have a lot of close friends in this situation. They've been though it all. In fact, they're everywhere. With these friends, you could observe them in different stages (of addiction). You see differences in these people.

Did you smell it on yourself when you were playing the role?

No, I didn't smell so bad (laughs). Maybe I should have done. I had these images about how they carry themselves when they're high or when they need it. I saw their behavior more clearly.

What attracted you to this film?

Olivier and I always thought about making another film together. During the marriage, it didn't feel normal. Then one day he said, "I have a subject for us to make a film together". From that point I was committed. I didn't know what I was getting myself into but I knew that I wanted to make a film with Olivier.

Because it's him and because he wrote it for me, I didn't have any doubts about playing in it. I knew I wanted to be there, to be the real me for him.

Were you nervous working with Olivier since you had been married before?

Slightly. I did have worries -- like whether we'd scream at each other (laughs). What would happen? Actually, nothing happened. I just had to get over few things, like he was nicer to other actors than to me. He was more polite. He said "please" and "excuse me" to other actors, but not to me (laughs). But it didn't affect anything.

You mentioned Courtney Love as a model for the role in Clean.

She's the obvious choice. Because she's been through this kind of situation, I wouldn't say the same, although it's similar to Emily (her role in Clean). I don't know enough of Courtney. As far as I remember, the idea for this film came from a newspaper article. It's about everyday occurrences

What about singing in the film?

It was in the script. It wasn't my decision. I was very scared, shy, intimidated, because I didn't want to do something that I was very bad at. I didn't know whether I could do it or not?

Was it recorded live?

No, I did it the night before, and the next day we shot that scene.

Were you involved in choosing the other actors in the film?

Not at all. From day one, when Olivier told me he found the subject to the time I got the script was a year. Between those two dates, just once he talked about the project because I begged him to tell me what it was all about. Olivier said it was about a woman and her boyfriend who died of an overdose and how she managed after that. I said, "That's enough. OK, keep writing."

Was it difficult to speak three languages in the film?

English and Chinese are normal for me, but French is not, because it's my third language. I don't speak French that well. French actors speak very fast. Many times I didn't know that they'd finished their lines. They also changed lines. In my language, I do it too: You don't want to say exactly the same thing in every take. It's hard, though, for a foreigner who's not used to the same language.

Olivier said that you're a woman torn between two cultures

"Torn" would be a strong word. There are days when I feel torn. But it's not like that every day. There are days, also, when I'm lucky to be in these two worlds. I get the best of both. It's true that I'm between the two; I think I'm very Chinese but with very Westernized thinking that doesn't work in Asia. My friends often don't understand me.

Like what?

Making a film with one's ex-husband. (laughs)

Do you have a French or English perspective?

Not a French perspective. I'm beginning to understand what French people are like. But no, I don't have that. But English yes. I think what did more to give me a Westernized approach was my childhood in England, the nine years that I spent there.

(This article was first published in Vietnamese in Nguoi-Viet Daily News.)

Clean will be screened at the French Film Festival, which starts on May 27. Log on to www.sinemaperancis.com