PUBLISHED ONFebruary 18, 2025 9:50 AMByYeo Shu HuiVeteran Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat recently showcased his impressive English skills in the Chinese comedy Detective Chinatown 1900 as American immigrant Bai Xuanling.
In one of the climatic scenes, the character represents himself in the courtroom among the Americans, delivering a long impassioned monologue in English about the mistreatment of Chinese immigrants in America despite them playing a crucial role in the country's development.
Speaking to reporters recently while promoting the movie in Hong Kong, the 69-year-old star was asked if he found the English lines challenging.
Yun Fat said: "Yes, it was definitely a challenge but it was also a very thrilling encouragement. After filming so many shows in Hollywood, I've never had such long lines before. It was written very well. After receiving the script, I fine-tuned the lines and practiced speaking it until it became natural."
He added that he had time to prepare for his lines and thought about it every day before filming the scene.
Yun Fat had previously spoken English in Hollywood films including The Replacement Killers (1998), Anna and the King (1999) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) where he uttered the famous line, "Welcome to Singapore".
Detective Chinatown 1900 tells the story of Chinese-Native American hunter Ah Gui (Wang Baoqiang) who teams up with traditional Chinese medicine physician Qin Fu (Liu Haoran) in Chinatown, San Francisco, as they solve a series of murders involving young white American women while trying to prove the innocence of Bai Zhenbang (Zhang Xincheng), who is the son of Xuanling, the leader of Chinatown's Xiesheng Hall.
Yun Fat was also asked during the interview if his wife, Singaporean Jasmine Tan, had helped him practise his lines.
"No she can't, she taught me Singlish instead, 'Okay lah', 'No problem lah'... we can't have that," he laughed.
Based on a behind-the-scenes video that was released, Yun Fat's performance in that scene earned him a round of applause from the other 300 actors on set.
He waved and thanked them, adding: "Everybody made me a star, thank you for coming."
Detective Chinatown 1900 is now showing in Singapore cinemas.
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