Leehom Wang is not an unfamiliar name to many people throughout Southeast Asia. He was born in America and exhibited an exceptionally high standard of musical talent ever since he was a young boy. He grew up in a free and happy learning environment that was like a gift from nature, and progressively developed his musical abilities. He is a Chinese pop musician, a record producer, a singer, and an excellent actor.

Jackie once talked about Leehom in his diary and said that the gods above were very unfair because they gave Leehom more than his fair share of blessings. Not only is Leehom Wang handsome, tall, and well built, he can also sing, compose songs, arrange music, write lyrics, and play many different types of instruments. Furthermore, he practices kung fu and can speak fluent English and Mandarin. The Leehom Wang that Jackie speaks of is the very rare kind of guy who not only looks great on the outside but also has the skills and artistic talent of a quality musician. Recently he’s been taking part in Jackie’s new movie, Dabing Xiaojiang (tentative English title: Big Soldier), acting as a young soldier. This is his first time cooperating with Jackie. Here's what Leehom had to say:

Hello friends and fans of Jackie Chan! I’m Leehom Wang. First of all, I think Jackie speaks too highly of me. I honestly don’t deserve it. Receiving this kind of praise from Jackie truly humbles me. I dare not say that I’m proud of myself. Instead, I push myself to try even harder. I don’t want to disappoint the people who support me and appreciate my work.

I’ve actually known Jackie for over ten years already. Even before I started working with Jackie, I’ve always thought of him as a really nice person, very friendly and very interesting. He’s the type who loves bustle and excitement, and he really likes to meet new friends. Now that I’m working with him on a movie, I’ve actually seen another side of Jackie. When we’re filming, he’s very solemn and serious, and he brings together acting, directing, action choreography, cinematography, and many other skills into one body. I’m not saying that he’s taking on all the different responsibilities, but when he’s on the set shooting the movie he often makes constructive suggestions to the director and cinematographer for them to consider. He also puts together some action sequences with his JC stunt team, and he’s an actor. Apart from this, he’s also concerned for and takes good care of other actors and crew members. I guess you can say that he’s an all around multi-talented film maker. His knowledge of film is extremely comprehensive. Before I started working with Jackie, I never imagined him to be such a well-rounded person. Now, I have truly met the Dai Goh (big brother) of film making; a talented person with a vast knowledge about film.


While working with Jackie, I have learned teamwork. Normally, we music makers spend a lot of our time fighting a lonely battle. We lock ourselves away to write a piece of music or to find inspiration; we go to the recording studio and work on some musical arrangements. I guess you can call it as working behind closed doors. There are very few opportunities to work with a lot of other people. But making a movie is totally different because there are always groups of people involved, sometimes there are several hundred people working together. Getting so many people to work together requires everyone to be united so we can double our results using half the effort and things can be done more efficiently. Jackie is the type of person who can take up the role as a leader, uniting the whole of the production team, connecting everyone with a common goal, working as a group towards making a good movie, and encouraging everyone to do the best at their jobs. I saw how Jackie acted like a leader; I thought he was great and I felt very touched because I could sense that Jackie was willing to teach and share his knowledge. He knew that I was a junior and he took good care of me. He taught me a lot of things about film making and he shared many of his experiences.

Previously I’ve cooperate with director Ang Lee, now I’m working with Jackie. They’re both totally different from one another and they each have their own style. Ang Lee is the academic type; the people working around him are usually graduates from well known universities. Some even have a PhD degree. Jackie is the well-rounded type and most of the people working around him are able to speak many different languages, sing, dance, act, and perform action sequences. I guess you can say that they’re multi-talented people. I think I’m very lucky because I’ve had the opportunity to cooperate with two of the greatest and most popular people around. Furthermore, they are both my idols whom I admire. I am so lucky to be able to work with these two great masters.

So, I’ve learned how to be united. Hopefully in the future within my company, whether we’re making music, holding a concert, or working with different musicians and artists from other regions, we’re all united together as one. With cooperation, we can do things better and make things more outstanding. I think that in the entertainment industry, there are a lot of visible and invisible things that happen around us, such as competitiveness and comparisons. I’ve always hoped for more collaboration between artists and musicians. Making music is something that is recognized internationally because music is an international language. Music is a tool that quickly shortens the distance between different people. In my latest album, I asked Jane Zhang Liangying, a female singer from China, to sing a duet with me. Because of the current situation between China and Taiwan, there are very few opportunities where Chinese and Taiwanese artists can sing together. Of course, I hope that the relationship between China and Taiwan improves over time. Music can be used to assist the process in a good way; it’s a very good medium for cultural exchange. This year, China and Taiwan have had a lot of changes including the three direct links policy. This type of cultural exchange will definitely make some good progress.

Apart from being my first time cooperating with Jackie, it is also my first time making a film wearing ancient costumes, and it’s my first time wearing a wig. It’s a very novel and strange feeling. I’ve also noticed that the appearance, manner, speech, and expressions of a person from the ancient period are different from those in the modern day. The director gave me a lot of homework to study and research for the part. I want to do a good job of portraying this character and I ate a lot of things, worked out at the gym, and put on a lot of weight because the director wanted me to look stronger and slightly more well built.

The character I play in Dabing Xiaojiang (Big Soldier) is a little different from the Leehom Wang you usually see. This is a breakthrough, and for me it’s a challenge. I think it’s very exciting and fun. Each day after work, I have dinner together with Jackie and we always talk about the scenes in the movie. We discuss and exchange our ideas, stirring up some chemical reactions and creating a few sparks here and there.

Recently, the Chinese Government gave Jackie a patriotic song to sing; the song is called “Country.” I was the producer and Lang Lang played the piano. Although Jackie frequently says that he doesn’t consider himself a professional singer and that he just likes to sing songs, after cooperating with him I think that he has the natural feel for music. Even though he’s never studied music before, he has the artistic talent for music. I hope in the future, I’ll have more opportunities to work with Jackie in this area. And I also hope that everyone will enjoy the movie when Dabing Xiaojiang (Big Soldier) starts showing in the theatres. Thank you!

Jan 16（星期一）

 

访问王力宏：

 

          王力宏这个名字对东南亚的朋友来说应该不会陌生，他出生于美国，自小就展现极高的音乐天赋，得天独厚地在一个自由快乐的学习环境中，逐步发展其音乐才能。他是华语流行歌曲男歌手及唱片制作人，更唱而优则演。

          在成龙大哥的日记里就曾经提及王力宏，觉得上天实在太不公平了，王力宏不独样子长得好看，身材高大，能唱歌、作曲、编曲、填词和演奏不同的乐器，而且还懂功夫，又能说得一口流俐的英语、国语等。大哥口中的王力宏看来是一个不可多得，既有外貌，又有内涵和才华的音乐人。他最近就参与了成龙大哥的新戏《大兵小将》饰演一位小将，这是他第一次跟成龙大哥合作，就让我们听听他对大哥有什么看法？

          我是王力宏，成龙大哥的影迷朋友，您们好！

          首先，我觉得大哥太夸奖我了，真的不敢当。能够得到大哥这么高的评价，我不敢骄傲，反而鞭策我要更加努力，不要让欣赏和支持我的人失望。

          我跟大哥其实已经认识十年了，还没有跟大哥一起工作之前，我觉得他为人很好、很友善，也很有趣，是一个爱热闹的人，非常喜欢交朋结友。现在我和他一起拍戏，我看到另一面的成龙大哥。在拍戏的时候，他非常严肃、认真，集演、导、武指、摄影多个角色于一身。我不是说他身兼所有的职责，而是他在现场拍戏的时候，经常提出意见让导演、摄影师参考，又与成家班一起设计动作场面，又要做演员。此外，他还关心和照顾到其他演员和工作人员，他可以说是一个电影全能者，对电影的认识非常全面。在跟他合作之前，我完全没有想到他是一个这么全面的人，我现在真正认识到一个在电影上有全面才华的大哥。

          与大哥一起工作，我学会了‘团结’。我们做音乐的，很多时候都是孤军作战，自己躲起来作曲，找灵感，或是跑到录音室里编曲，可以说是‘闭关’工作的，很少机会牵涉到那么多工作人员。可是拍戏就不一样了，动辄就好几十人，甚至好几百人一起工作，要跟这么多人一起工作，是需要大家团结，才能事半功倍，事情才会做得好。大哥就能当起一个带领者的角色，把整组人团结起来，把一群志同道合的人连结起来，同心合力把戏拍好，把自己的工作做到最好。我看到大哥做领导者这个角色做得很好，我很感动。因为我觉得大哥愿意教学和分享他的知识，他知道我是晚辈，很照顾我，教晓了我很多电影知识，跟我分享了很多他的经验。

          之前跟李安导演合作，到现在跟大哥合作，他们两个人完全不一样，他们各有不同的风格。李安是书院派的，他身边的人都是从一些著名大学毕业的，也有博士级的人才；大哥是一个全面的人，他身边的人很多都是精通多国语言，能歌善舞，能演能打，可以说是多才多艺的。我很幸运可以跟这两位那么好和出名的人合作，而且他们都是我崇拜的偶像。能够与两位大师合作，我真的很幸运。

          我学会了团结，希望日后在公司里不论是做音乐，或是开演唱会，或是跟其他不同地域的音乐人、歌星都可以团结一起，合作做得更好，更出色。我觉得娱乐圈有很多有形和无形的竞争和比较，我一直希望艺人与艺人之间有更多的合作机会。做音乐是一件国际化的事情，因为音乐是国际语言，是最快把人与人之间的距离拉近的工具。这一次我的新专辑，我找来国内女歌星张靓颖与我合唱，因为台湾和中国大陆的关系，很少有台湾和中国歌手合唱的机会，我当然希望中台关系会越来越好，音乐也可以起了一个好的帮助，它是一个很好的文化交流。今年中台都有了很多改变，有了三通直航，这样对文化交流肯定有很好的改进。

          除了第一次跟大哥合作，我是第一次拍古装片，还有第一次戴头套，感觉很新鲜。而且，古装人的样子、气质、语言和表情等等都跟时装电影不同，所以导演给了很多功课我参考和准备。为了演好这一个角色，我吃了很多东西，也有健身，人也重了很多，因为导演希望我看起来比较壮一点儿。

          《大兵小将》里的角色跟大家所见的王力宏很不一样，这一次是一个突破。对我来讲是一个挑战，我觉得很刺激，很好玩。每天收工以后，我都跟大哥一起吃饭，我们都有谈到戏里的剧情，大家都有交流意见，都激起了化学作用，产生了不少火花。

          最近，中国政府有一首爱国歌曲叫‘中国’给大哥唱，我做监制，郎朗弹琴。虽然大哥经常说自己不是歌星，他只是喜欢唱歌，可是跟他合作以后，尽管他没有学过音乐，我觉得他有音乐的触角，有音乐才华。我希望日后有更多机会跟大哥在多方面合作，也希望《大兵小将》上映的时候，大家会喜欢这部戏，谢谢大家！

         

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