Director Tsui Hark Says Joey Wong Wasn’t His First Choice To Play Nie Xiaoqian In A Chinese Ghost Story
She wasn’t even his second choice.
For fans of Hongkong cinema, the 1987 classic, A Chinese Ghost Story, which was directed by auteur Tsui Hark, remains beloved even till today. It was also responsible for catapulting its leads, the late Leslie Cheung and Taiwanese actress Joey Wong, who played the beautiful ghost, Nie Xiaoqian, to fame. Even after countless remakes (including one starring Quan Yifeng's daughter Eleanor Lee), Joey is still widely recognised as the “only Nie Xiaoqian that matters”.
However, Tsui Hark recently revealed in an interview that Joey wasn’t his first choice for the role. In fact, she wasn’t even his second choice.
Say what?
The poster for A Chinese Ghost Story
According to the director, he had envisioned Xiaoqian as "a mix between an angel and a devil", which was why his very first choice was popular Japanese singer-actress Akina Nakamori, who at that time was known for her "sweet yet provocative image".
Japanese actress Akina Nakamori
To Tsui Hark’s disappointment, however, Akina did not take up the role due to the language barrier. Additionally, A Chinese Ghost Story is based off a short story written by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, making it hard for Akina to fully understand her character.
A young May Lo
Undeterred, Tsui Hark continued with his search for the perfect Xiaoqian. His next candidate was Hongkong actress May Lo, who would eventually marry Heavenly King Jacky Cheung. However, May’s career was booming then, and she simply could not find time in her schedule to film the movie.
Joey and Leslie
Therefore, Tsui Hark had to continue with his search for his lead actress. At that point in time, Joey had approached Tsui Hark’s wife, film producer Nansun Shi, to see if she could set up an audition for her.
But Tsui Hark and Nansun reportedly felt that Joey was too tall, and looked too “modern" to play Xiaoqian. It didn’t help that Joey was often portrayed as being super cheery in the media, and that didn’t fit Xiaoqian’s personality at all.
Can you even imagine someone else playing Nie Xiaoqian?
However, Joey pushed for an audition. It helped that she had worked with Tsui Hark on the film Working Class and she had left a good impression on the director, who eventually acceded to her request to audition for the movie.
And the instant Joey stepped out in Xiaoqian’s costume and make-up, Tsui Hark’s initial assessment of the actress changed immediately. And he realised that she was the perfect person for the role.
Photos: Joey Wong/Instagram, IMDb, Weibo
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