Hong Kong former soft porn actor Charlie Cho: I once auditioned 30 pretty and nude Korean actresses

The stuff he's saying seems like a plot from a porn film. But Hong Kong former actor Charlie Cho would tell you it's all true.

The 70-year-old recently attended the filming for the show Action 77 hosted by his good friend Kingdom Yuen, where he recounted his days being Kong Hong's top soft porn star in the 1990s.

He told reporters that he once travelled to South Korea with director Li Han-hsiang to attend the auditions for female talents vying for a role as a palace maid in the 1991 Category III film, The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire. Charlie played a lecherous emperor.

The director wanted the women to be fully nude for the auditions, and Charlie recalled he met 20 to 30 women that day, adding: "They were all pretty."

A cheeky reporter then asked if he had obtained any 'benefits' during the filming of the movie.

Charlie replied candidly: "The weather in South Korea dipped below zero degrees Celsius. It was so cold (my penis) shrank and I couldn't even pee! I couldn't possibly stand next to a heater and wait for it to 'swell' up."

Erm. After 30 years, we hope the audition processes in the industry have improved with changing social mindsets.

Special tours

Back in his heyday, due to his popularity in this niche movie genre, he also made arrangements to work with a travel agency to bring tour groups to Japan to meet AV stars.

They placed advertisements in newspapers and also held a registration event at a hotel, which attracted throngs of people, Charlie said.

Then the authorities came knocking on his door.

Charlie recalled: "People from the tourism bureau told me, 'I'm warning you, Mr Cho. You are now participating in illegal prostitution. You are not leading a tour group, you are bringing people to look for prostitutes.'"

Luckily for him, he was later let off the hook because he hadn't received payment for his services.

ALSO READ: Veteran Hong Kong actor Charlie Cho says he acted in Category III movies out of spite for Eric Tsang

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com