[2014.07.26] CHOW YUN FAT INJURES HIMSELF ON A DURIAN SPIKE

Chow Yun Fat's injury does not dampen his spirit

Dangers abound on the durian vehicle

Fat Soh is concerned about Fat Gor's injury

Both Best Actors do not mind taking a seat on the ground

Ka Fai and Fat Gor are held at knife point

Chow Yun Fat takes a selfie with Poyd

Poyd jumps at the chance to work with two Best Actors
courtesy of on.cc

Next year's Lunar New Year blockbuster FROM VEGAS TO MACAU 2 (DOH SING FUNG WON 2) is heating up in production. Lately the firepower has been focused in Thailand as many major scenes were shot. When two Best Actors Chow Yun Fat and Nick Cheung Ka Fai crossed paths, sparks flew as their performance was professional. Earlier during the chase scene shoot, Fat Gor was too focused to notice that his hand was injured.

In the story Fat Gor had to chase down Cheung Ka Fai, who hid a criminal organization's accounting books. Ka Fai escaped to Thailand with his daughter Angela Wang Shiling. In an underground gambling parlor, Ka Fai and the parlor host Poyd had a dispute and was held at knife point with Fat Gor by a dozen or so thugs. Ka Fai's daughter was taken away. In order to save her, Ka Fai and Fat Gor jumped on a durian filled vehicle. Because in the story they had to shoo away bees on the moving vehicle, Fat Gor during the performance hit a durian spike. His left thumb and index finger bled, but the wounds after treatment were fine! Fat Gor also did not pay any attention to the injury, as he chatted and laughed with the team and the visiting Bona film company boss Yu Dong.

Although Ka Fai did not hit any spike, he still had "a date" with durian. Producer Andrew Lau Wai Keung wanted to put a durian under Ka Fai's hip. Seeing the durian was right under "Little Ka Fai", Ka Fai could not help but joke with Lau Wai Keung, "Be careful, if you break it and it leaks, can you afford the compensation!"

Although the shoot has been filled with danger, it was finally completed smoothly and the progress was ideal. The team was able to take two days off. Thus when the team finished the final shoot of the day, they happily posed for a group photo. Best Actors Fat Gor and Ka Fai did not want to steal the spotlight from each other and declined to sit in the middle. After some struggling Fat Gor decided to sit on the ground and Ka Fai sat right by his side. Ka Fai said that working with Fat Gor has been very stressful. He had difficulty sleeping almost every night. Thus after the shoot he must properly sleep. The team next week will continue to shoot in Phattaya.

One of the FROM VEGAS TO MACAU 2 "guest stars" was Thai transgender Poyd. Her addition was completely due to her THE WHITE STORM (SO DUK)'s co-star Cheung Ka Fai. Ka Fai said, "Director Wong Jing originally wanted Miss Thailand for this character, but I felt Poyd would be even more suitable. So I made the suggestion to Wong Jing." Poyd did not disappoint Ka Fai as her performance pleased the team. Fat Gor also chatted and laughed with Poyd. When Poyd finished her scenes and was about to leave, Fat Gor who has always taken care of the younger folks asked Poyd to come over and chat with the press. Poyd praised Fat Gor, "You are handsome guy!" Fat Gor humorously replied, "I don't live in Sun Gai (the New Territories)!" The nonsense answer cracked up everyone! Fat Gor's humor also affected Ka Fai. When Ka Fai was asked about the reason that he recommended Poyd, he joked, "I tried her out for the entire film, since I felt she was good of course I had to benefit the elder!" Fat Gor joked, "Then next time we can ask Mrs. Chow to give it a try!"

With such a strong cast, Poyd stated that she really wanted to take the role. For this chance she turned down jobs to accommodate the shoot. After the shoot she rushed back to Hong Kong to continue her other jobs.

Although Cheung Ka Fai was working in Thailand, he would still pay attention to his directing debut HUNGRY GHOST RITUALS (YU LAN SUN GUNG)'s box office even if he was busier. He said about the film passing the HK$10 million mark at the box office, "Lau Sum Yau (Annie Liu) did very well, of course I am happy to have such a good response." Despite the good box office performance, the always demanding of himself Ka Fai still felt that something was lacking and would have "take two"! He said, "I thought about what else was lacking and felt that I had room for improvement, so I have decided to make another horror film."

Ka Fai stated that because HUNGRY could not be released in the Mainland, he did not take a director salary. Luckily the cast helped and was willing to take a discount on their salaries, the film was shot successfully. Thus he hoped "take two" would be even better and felt that the new film will have even more room for development.

The film FROM VEGAS TO MACAU 2 shot many location scenes in Thailand. Coincidentally the Louis Koo Tin Lok starred SPL II (SAT POR LONG II) was also heating up in production in Thailand. Since "compatriots" were in Thailand, earlier the teams met for dinner so Cheung Ka Fai who has worked with Koo Tin Lok did not have to go back and forth. That night Koo Tin Lok, Chow Yun Fat and his wife, Cheung Ka Fai, Wong Jing, Lau Wai Keung and FROM 2 investor Bona chief Yu Dong attended!