William Chan has mixed emotions

Special Feature: Long Interview

The 2008 William Chan carved a spot for himself in the music industry by establishing himself as the new dancing king. In 2009, he switched lanes and began to act in films like crazy, participating in 8 films in one year, subsequently becoming a well-respected newbie in the filming industry. This year, he returned to the music industry and released a new album, and apart from resuming his dancing, he also started singing ballads, using music to remember a long-extinct relationship.

Leaving confusion

Everyone says that the second year is very important to an up and coming singer, even if your path in the first year was very smooth, if you can't maintain popularity in the second year, you will be in a deep spiral down. In 2008, William left the Sun Boyz to pursue a solo career, becoming a dance king in the process. However, in 2009 he quieted down, and other than a new album that was released at the beginning of the year, he seemed to have disappeared. Obviously, the truth was a completely different story. William had been quietly switching lanes to the film industry, and with 8 films in one year, apart from singing, he seems to have made progress in his new job.

"At the beginning of 2009, after attending all the awards concerts, I felt very lost, because although I had many good results, I didn't know what i could do to maintain my track record. At that time, I wasn't aware of films and other jobs, and only knew how to sing a good song and dance well. Afterwards, my company organized acting opportunities for me, and gave me a feeling of stability. Last year, I was able to work with many famous directors and actors, which I had never been able to do before. To be honest, even if I sing better, I never dreamed of the opportunity to be able to work with them. They taught me how to act, and shared their experiences on the job with me, so I realized what I should do, in order to become a real artist. This year, aside from acting and singing, there will be movies airing in Mainland China, so I will be busy promoting."

William, reborn

From last year until now, William has participated in 8 films, including "Overheard", "Seven 2 One", "Trick or Cheat", "Split Second Murders", "Beauty on Duty", "Sad Movie", "Leisurely Fried Rice" and "Ex". With this many films, he is definitely in a rare situation on the filming market.

"When I was still in Sun Boyz, no one asked me to act, but at the end of 2008, everyone was asking me to, even right now there are some that are in the talks, I feel like the new William has appeared!"

The old William never thought of acting before, because he never had to go for auditions. "I felt that directors would never choose me, so when my company asked me to audition, I would decline. Now so many people are asking for my part in acting, maybe because of the variety of my roles. I can act as a perverted boy, a famous celebrity, or in a sex scene."

No sleep for 60 hours

The entertainment circle is a place of much work, but also much reward. Actors can be very carefree, or they can be very hardworking. Luckily, William belongs to the latter group, and has acted in two movies plus recorded a song in one time period. He's so busy that he doesn't even have time for a tea break. This type of lifestyle can be very burdening to a newbie, and can cause them to lose focus again.

"Mid last year, I had an average of 2 hours of sleep every day, and once i went 60 hours without sleep. Filming for "Sad Movie", I also had to work on "Beauty on Duty", and I felt like my senses were splitting apart. At that time, I would start filming "Sad Movie" at night, then at around noon I would wrap up for that movie, then rush to the radio station for singing activities. At night I would act in "Beauty on Duty", until the early hours could I rest, and then immediately head to start filming "Sad Movie" again. Those couple months were super painful, but I didn't even have time to complain to someone. I've tried hiding in a corner to cry, because I didn't know what I was doing, and didn't know who I was. If I was a singer, I definitely did not have enough sleep, so I didn't sing well at all. If I was an actor, I also didn't have enough rest, so I couldn't act well. Now that I'm mature, I know how to control my emotions, know how to grit my teeth and bare it. I'm allowing myself 3 years of nonstop work, and am willing to do anything. Maybe in three years I will finally have a spot, and can choose what I want to do."

Learning a professional attitude

One year of nonstop work has helped William improve his acting skills, and has matured his way of thinking.

"When I was filming, I had to think all the time to delve into different personas. For example, I had to pretend to fall in love with my step mother, but like two other girls at the same time. Morning, noon and night I would be having sex with different girls, haha! I've never tried that before. I thought a lot, and learned a lot more about myself. Working with all the other people, I also matured. For example, look at Louis Koo and Ching Wan Lau, before starting they will be sitting quietly, thinking about their character. I won't be loud and noisy either, and will learn their professionalism. Working with Sandra Ng, I learned the way of succeeding in the business. My character in "Sad Movie" is a boy that falls in love with his step mother, and have to act out many perverted acts, such as stealing her slippers with my foot during dinner time and massaging it to feel the warmth left by her foot. Sometimes I will get Eric Tsang to practice with me, and then take the photos. Before I started filming, I spent one month thinking about my character, and looked at many videos about my co-star Vivian, and watched all her MVs to fall in love with her. To sum it all up, although I was quite tired in 2009, I also gained a lot of experience."

Returning to music

2010's William has decided to spend more time on music, now that he has developed new skills in the movie business. This month, he will release a new album with a theme based on outer space.

"2009 has been an unhappy year for me. Although I filmed many movies, the roles haven't been very deep, and combined with lack of sleep and filming of multiple movies at the same time, my feelings were very complicated. I was very unhappy while filming 'Ex', and with the new rumours being spread around, I really wanted to head to outer space myself! Choosing outer space as my theme, is to let everyone know that the new me will be coming back in 2010!"

Recording "Grand Canyon" healed his hurt feelings

William's debut song is "Do You Wanna Dance", and his second hit song is called "Grand Canyon", although he hasn't admitted his relationship with Angelababy, but become close friends after barely knowing one another, is an undeniable truth. William describes "Grand Canyon" as a song to heal himself, and wants to tell everybody, "Breaking up is not a happy event, we are allowed to scream and cry. In this world, it's not impossible not to lose someone, like one of the lines in the song."

Cries while recording

William revealed that he was the initiator to ask the songwriter to compose a heartbreakingly sad song, hoping to heal himself through the song, and hoping to heal any broken hearts that his listeners may have. "After receiving the lyrics, I felt that Lum Yeuk Ning hit the target, and while recording it I was crying."

Working with Louis on "Overheard"

"Louis taught me how to maintain my beautiful face everyday, since we usually start work at 6 am, he will get up at 4 am to jog, and then relax in the sauna before tanning. I didn't know that naturally beautiful people have to work to keep their looks. Louis' bubbly personality, warmth and dark skin were attained after much work. I don't have the money to build a sauna room at home, so I bought a tent, and then started the humidifier inside to act as a sauna; and because the tent was pink, my mom would laugh at me everytime I did it, saying I was like a missie. I gave up after a few weeks, and only retained the habit of jogging."

Many happy memories

Through working with many different people, William gained many things, and still remembers many funny things that happened with those people.

Charlene Choi, working on "Beauty on Duty"

"I had a scene with Charlene that was quite suggestive, and it was my first time filming such scenes. We were good friends, so it wasn't too embarassing at first. The director said we had to twine together, and Ah Sa had to be the more aggressive one, sitting on my body. Afterwards, Ah Sa sat by herself in the corner and didn't say a word, but her face was super red! I said to her, you've filmed kiss scenes with Andy Lau, Louis Koo and Lau Ching Wun, but she replied that she was embarassed because she had to initiate the contact. I was very surprised yet embarassed when I saw her like this."

Ann Hui, working on "Leisurely Fried Rice"

"I learned many things from Director Ann, she didn't teach me how to act through words, and wouldn't tell me what to do or not to do. In the whole film, she never questioned any of my actions, only guided me. She made me comfortable while acting, and let me find things out myself. Her relaxed attitude made me act naturally as well. In all of my films, I think that this one is the best. The director would also ask me if I was comfortable filming with Sandra Ng and Vivian Chow, and asked me to speak up about better ways to make it more natural."

Sandra Ng, working on "Leisurely Fried Rice"

"Wu Jin Ru talked to me a lot, and told me a lot about her old stories. She also gave me tips about what I should do in the future, she told me that I should keep acting forefront, but not neglect singing either. She said I should grit my teeth and wait out these years. She reminded me not to start or be embroiled in any rumours, and don't give others the impression that I was messing around."

Eric Tsang, working on "Sad Movie"

"I have come in contact with Eric numerous times; the first time, he was very nice to me and told me how to act. I learned to be honest and to take things seriously from him, and when he doesn't need to be filming he'll be sleeping. But once he's on set, he's very animated, and clear-headed as well. I won't try to learn that, because I won't be able to for sure."

Vivian Chow, working on "Leisurely Fried Rice"

"I personally really like Vivian, and collected her flash cards, so working with her was like a dream come true. The director told me that I would have a bed scene with her, and I would even get her pregnant, with me initiating the gestures. Waa! She is an experienced veteran, so I was very scared. However, she was very nice, and told me not to think of her as Vivian Chow. But, she is so pretty, how can i think of her as anything else but?"

Herman Yau, working on "Split Second Murders"

"Director Herman is a really good person! He never seems to get tired, after filming other actors' parts late at night for a couple days, it was my turn to do an overnight filming, but he was still very animated for us, and is very passionate about filmmaking!"

Alan Mak, working on "Overheard"

"Director Alan taught me the basics in the business, I had never acted before, and really didn't know anything about it. He gave me many examples."

Chapman To, working on "Ex"

"Working with Producer Chapman was a very happy time, he takes care of every actor individually, and often plays around. from him, I learned how to be humorous, because he is a constantly funny person."

Final Thoughts

William Chan is a very professional artist, although 2009 may have been a very busy and unhappy year, everytime he is in public, he is always jovial. Good luck!

Source: mingpao
Translation: casablanca-- @ AsianFanatics