Recently, a short video was shared on Andy Lau’s official fan club Weibo account, showing him on a Taiwanese talk show discussing his failed attempts to break into Hollywood. In the video, Lau explained why he couldn’t follow in the footsteps of fellow actors like Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li, who successfully entered Hollywood.
Lau mentioned, “I actually signed a management contract with a Hollywood agent back in 1991, but most of the roles offered to me didn’t align with what I had in mind.”
For example, he was considered for a part in David Cronenberg’s “M. Butterfly” (1993), starring Jeremy Irons and John Lone. He said, “I had the opportunity to join this film, but I couldn’t get past a scene where a foreign man licks another man’s legs, so I turned it down.”
John Lone, famous for “The Last Emperor” (1987), also appeared in Jet Li’s Hollywood film “War” (2007).
Martial arts were another obstacle to his Hollywood aspirations. Lau recalled, “Once, I auditioned for a film about Bruce Lee, but they asked me to perform martial arts. I told them I couldn’t, and the judges just shook their heads.”
The actor also revealed, “I had a chance to play the Sandman role played by Thomas Haden Church (61) in the 2007 film ‘Spider-Man 3,’ but it fell through,” adding, “In many ways, Hollywood is not a world that suits me.”
Since his debut in 1981 on Hong Kong TV, Andy Lau has worked primarily in the Chinese-speaking world, never fully pursuing Hollywood. Over the years, he has repeatedly stated that he doesn’t see Hollywood as superior to the Asian film industry and has no interest in entering it.
In a 2004 interview, Lau expressed dissatisfaction with the way Chinese films were treated in Hollywood. In 2006, he reiterated that Hollywood offered nothing better than the Asian market and remained skeptical of entering it. In 2008, he even advised Korean actors to maintain their cultural traditions while pursuing opportunities in Hollywood.
Source: Daum