Thursday, October 25, 2007

Takeshi Kaneshiro joins the Asian promotional tour for The Warlords

The production company of The Warlords has confirmed that Takeshi Kaneshiro will make a rare appearance in the film’s promotional tour throughout Asia to meet his fans.
Kaneshiro disagrees with earlier reports about the “atypical performances that will stop at nothing” by himself and his co-stars including Jet Li, Andy Lau and Xu Jinglei. In his opinion, the toughness and masculinity men display in the battle field can be very moving. Except for growing a beard for the earlier part of the film, there has been no significant change in his overall appearance. He considers the change more intrinsic.

Hong Kong director Peter Chan Ho-sun is particularly pleased with Kaneshiro’s brilliant work in the re-dubs for the film done recently in Beijing. According to Chan, “When I offered Takeshi the role of Jiang Wu-yang, I called on him repeatedly. He was convinced he was nothing like the character. He was used to playing more subdued characters and not hero types. We had repeated discussions before he finally accepted the role. True to the name of the character “Wu-yang”, meaning midday sun, he gave a brilliant, unrestrained portrayal while keeping his usual sense of purity and integrity.”

Judging from the official photos released by the film company, Kaneshiro’s unusual appearance is definitely an eye-opener. Undoubtedly, this is Kaneshiro’s most outstanding performance to date. What’s even harder to come by is that he’s willing to sacrifice his beautiful long hair to become a “baldie”. In principle, Kaneshiro has agreed to shave his head for the film, thereby creating an enormous challenge for his agent in maintaining his image. Hence, special effects have been counter proposed to create the bald look. Regardless of how this was achieved, one thing for sure is that Kaneshiro’s fans will not be disappointed with his new look set against the Qing Dynasty.
Kaneshiro himself certainly takes The Warlords seriously. Rather than keeping his low profile, he has taken the unprecedented step to participate in the Asia tour to promote the film. Word on the street is that his fans from around the world will not miss this close encounter with their idol.

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