Post by MissCarlos on May 15, 2008 11:18:36 GMT -5
HIS is truly a million-dollar face.
We're talking about Japanese-Taiwanese heart-throb Takeshi Kaneshiro, whose face was reportedly insured for almost NT100 million ($4.4m) recently for a skincare commercial that required him to pose with his cheeks just inches away from a highly-heated light box.
After all, his chiselled good looks are arguably his best assets.
Earlier, while filming Hong Kong director John Woo's upcoming epic Battle Of The Red Cliff, the 35-year-old actor was already said to be playing the most handsome Zhuge Liang ever.
Zhuge Liang is the greatest (but not the most good looking) military strategist of the Three Kingdoms period in China.
Now, Takeshi will go down in Asian cinema history as the most gorgeous God Of Death, in his new Japanese film Accuracy Of Death.
Based on a best-selling novel by Kotaro Isaka, it opens here tomorrow.
He plays Shinigami (God Of Death) Chiba, whose job is to assess a chosen person's life for seven days to decide if he or she should die unexpectedly.
Think of Takeshi as the Asian version of Brad Pitt's Angel Of Death character in Meet Joe Black.
Except that this time, Takeshi would rather you focus on his comic timing than his good looks.
The suave actor told First Magazine: 'I always think about how funny scenes in a movie can be made even more humorous, so I can surprise everyone by saying or doing things that aren't necessarily in the script.
'I'm happy if people watch the film and think I've got a good sense of humour.'
For one thing, Takeshi's character in the film - Chiba - often miscommunicates with humans.
When his first subject, an office lady played by Manami Konishi (Udon, Tenshi No Tamago), laments that 'I know I'm not easy on the eye', he leans forward and squints.
Then, he concludes: 'No, it's not difficult to look at you.'
Chiba also has a cute way of smiling as he rocks his head to music, which he calls humanity's greatest invention.
He is followed wherever he goes by heavy rain and a black dog.
LASTING IMPRESSION
Both left lasting impressions on Takeshi.
In an interview transcript provided by the film's distributor Golden Village, he recalled waiting in vain for the rain to fall, even though the director had deliberately picked the rainy months of April and May for filming last year.
'There were scenes which we tried out artificial rain, but for those times we needed natural rain, we were kept waiting and we hoped that the weather would help us out.'
As for his animal co-star - a female flat-coated retriever named Deere - Takeshi praised her for being well-trained and 'exceptionally' intelligent, cute and obedient.
He added that he tried to bond with her through 'constant touching and hugging'.
Not that she needed any coaxing though. When she first met Takeshi, she reportedly liked him so much that she licked his whole face.
More than just a pretty face though, Takeshi is known to be a devoted actor.
Director Masaya Kakehi, 31, praised the actor's 'incredible dedication' to his craft. Accuracy of Death is the TV director's first movie.
He told First magazine that Takeshi was always ready to get his hands dirty to help set up the rain machines.
The actor also helped pick pop songs from the '80s for first one-third of the film set in 1985.
'He's very detailed and focused, and he's always ready to help out the crew,' said Masaya.
'Personally, I learnt a lot from his advice... He doesn't have any stereotypes about how to approach a film. All he wants to know is what kind of mood the movie is trying to achieve.
'Once he understands that, he'll make suggestions to develop the film along those lines. We didn't use all of his ideas, but I appreciate his input.'
Actress Manami, 30, also raved over how Takeshi was 'very committed' to his role and came up with his own ideas to beef up the story line.
She said: 'Takeshi is very gentlemanly and yet surprisingly humorous.... I was very excited and happy to work with him.'
The good news for Takeshi fans is that you will be seeing a lot more of him in months to come.
RECLUSIVE TO PROLIFIC
Once the most reclusive star in Asia, Takeshi has in recent years become one of the most prolific actors here, churning out one big project after another.
China's main broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television) recently named him the hottest male lead in Asia's movie scene.
Just last December, he was in the war epic Warlords with Andy Lau and Jet Li.
Now there's Accuracy Of Death, which marks his return to Japan's silver screen after six years. His last Japanese film was the sci-fi action flick Returner in 2002.
Then, there is the highly anticipated Battle Of The Red Cliff, which opens here in July.
Come December, Takeshi will transform into Japan's Robin Hood in the movie K-20: Kaijin Niju Menso Den (Fiend with 20 Faces). It co-stars the beautiful Takako Matsu (Hero), who plays a rich man's daughter.
The two stars were seen filming in China's Hengdian and Shanghai last month, but the set was tightly guarded to keep the media out.
Also in the pipeline for Takeshi is the romantic film Waiting. Adapted from a Ha Jin novel, it is about the love story between a married doctor and a young nurse, which takes 18 long years to bear fruit.
No wonder then, he was unable to join his Battle Of The Red Cliff co-stars on their trip to the 61st Cannes International Film Festival, which begins today in southern France.
His manager told reporters that he was busy with work, but did not give details.
Despite his back-to-back filming schedule - which is so packed that he reportedly had no time to spare for the movie version of the popular PlayStation game Onimusha
We're talking about Japanese-Taiwanese heart-throb Takeshi Kaneshiro, whose face was reportedly insured for almost NT100 million ($4.4m) recently for a skincare commercial that required him to pose with his cheeks just inches away from a highly-heated light box.
After all, his chiselled good looks are arguably his best assets.
Earlier, while filming Hong Kong director John Woo's upcoming epic Battle Of The Red Cliff, the 35-year-old actor was already said to be playing the most handsome Zhuge Liang ever.
Zhuge Liang is the greatest (but not the most good looking) military strategist of the Three Kingdoms period in China.
Now, Takeshi will go down in Asian cinema history as the most gorgeous God Of Death, in his new Japanese film Accuracy Of Death.
Based on a best-selling novel by Kotaro Isaka, it opens here tomorrow.
He plays Shinigami (God Of Death) Chiba, whose job is to assess a chosen person's life for seven days to decide if he or she should die unexpectedly.
Think of Takeshi as the Asian version of Brad Pitt's Angel Of Death character in Meet Joe Black.
Except that this time, Takeshi would rather you focus on his comic timing than his good looks.
The suave actor told First Magazine: 'I always think about how funny scenes in a movie can be made even more humorous, so I can surprise everyone by saying or doing things that aren't necessarily in the script.
'I'm happy if people watch the film and think I've got a good sense of humour.'
For one thing, Takeshi's character in the film - Chiba - often miscommunicates with humans.
When his first subject, an office lady played by Manami Konishi (Udon, Tenshi No Tamago), laments that 'I know I'm not easy on the eye', he leans forward and squints.
Then, he concludes: 'No, it's not difficult to look at you.'
Chiba also has a cute way of smiling as he rocks his head to music, which he calls humanity's greatest invention.
He is followed wherever he goes by heavy rain and a black dog.
LASTING IMPRESSION
Both left lasting impressions on Takeshi.
In an interview transcript provided by the film's distributor Golden Village, he recalled waiting in vain for the rain to fall, even though the director had deliberately picked the rainy months of April and May for filming last year.
'There were scenes which we tried out artificial rain, but for those times we needed natural rain, we were kept waiting and we hoped that the weather would help us out.'
As for his animal co-star - a female flat-coated retriever named Deere - Takeshi praised her for being well-trained and 'exceptionally' intelligent, cute and obedient.
He added that he tried to bond with her through 'constant touching and hugging'.
Not that she needed any coaxing though. When she first met Takeshi, she reportedly liked him so much that she licked his whole face.
More than just a pretty face though, Takeshi is known to be a devoted actor.
Director Masaya Kakehi, 31, praised the actor's 'incredible dedication' to his craft. Accuracy of Death is the TV director's first movie.
He told First magazine that Takeshi was always ready to get his hands dirty to help set up the rain machines.
The actor also helped pick pop songs from the '80s for first one-third of the film set in 1985.
'He's very detailed and focused, and he's always ready to help out the crew,' said Masaya.
'Personally, I learnt a lot from his advice... He doesn't have any stereotypes about how to approach a film. All he wants to know is what kind of mood the movie is trying to achieve.
'Once he understands that, he'll make suggestions to develop the film along those lines. We didn't use all of his ideas, but I appreciate his input.'
Actress Manami, 30, also raved over how Takeshi was 'very committed' to his role and came up with his own ideas to beef up the story line.
She said: 'Takeshi is very gentlemanly and yet surprisingly humorous.... I was very excited and happy to work with him.'
The good news for Takeshi fans is that you will be seeing a lot more of him in months to come.
RECLUSIVE TO PROLIFIC
Once the most reclusive star in Asia, Takeshi has in recent years become one of the most prolific actors here, churning out one big project after another.
China's main broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television) recently named him the hottest male lead in Asia's movie scene.
Just last December, he was in the war epic Warlords with Andy Lau and Jet Li.
Now there's Accuracy Of Death, which marks his return to Japan's silver screen after six years. His last Japanese film was the sci-fi action flick Returner in 2002.
Then, there is the highly anticipated Battle Of The Red Cliff, which opens here in July.
Come December, Takeshi will transform into Japan's Robin Hood in the movie K-20: Kaijin Niju Menso Den (Fiend with 20 Faces). It co-stars the beautiful Takako Matsu (Hero), who plays a rich man's daughter.
The two stars were seen filming in China's Hengdian and Shanghai last month, but the set was tightly guarded to keep the media out.
Also in the pipeline for Takeshi is the romantic film Waiting. Adapted from a Ha Jin novel, it is about the love story between a married doctor and a young nurse, which takes 18 long years to bear fruit.
No wonder then, he was unable to join his Battle Of The Red Cliff co-stars on their trip to the 61st Cannes International Film Festival, which begins today in southern France.
His manager told reporters that he was busy with work, but did not give details.
Despite his back-to-back filming schedule - which is so packed that he reportedly had no time to spare for the movie version of the popular PlayStation game Onimusha
He told Taiwan's TVBS station earlier this year: 'I keep thinking about retiring from movies, not that I'm sick and tired of this job, but rather, I feel like learning something new.
'So what if I become the most famous star by the time I'm 50 or 60 years old? What does that mean? As a person, I feel I should enjoy the meaning of life.'
But while he is working in showbiz, he hopes to establish his own individualistic style.
'I have my own way of doing things, and that's something I'll never forsake. Maybe I'm not as good as others in terms of acting and performing, but I can win them over with my unique views and opinion.
'I hope to be different from the rest.'[/QUOTE]
Taken from here.
