Action star gets a kick out of storytelling

Beyond his exploits as an actor, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and TV chef, Nicholas Tse is a storyteller. "I've always had a lot of input in my previous action films, like choreography, the camera angles or the editing, so basically, I'm still doing the same thing," Tse tells China Daily in New York. "For me, the most important part is the storytelling."

Tse, who made his debut as an action choreographer to international audiences on July 17 in New York, was honored with this year's Screen International Star Asia Award at the New York Asian Film Festival held July 12-28.

The festival also featured the North American premiere of his latest film Customs Frontline, an action-packed movie that follows Hong Kong customs officers as they uncover illegal weapons on a cargo ship, leading them on a thrilling international adventure. Tse is the film's action choreographer.

"I'm not trying to do the action because it looks cool. That's doing the action for the action. I'm doing the action for the storytelling. So, I think that blends in very significantly to not lose the vision in terms of — 'Oh, I'm gonna throw that kick because it looks cool'. You can't really do that because you should only do a movement if it portrays the emotions of that character at the moment."

Tse says that body language is crucial in acting, as it helps audiences better understand the plot conveyed through Mandarin or Cantonese dialogue.

"Body language actually transcends more and breaks all barriers," Tse says. "It's also the true identity of action movies."

Hong Kong action movies are popular overseas, gaining a large audience base since the days of Bruce Lee in the 1970s, due to their unique style.

Tse, 43, believes that one of the strengths of the films is the choreography and insists on performing his own stunts, despite the physical strain.

"I've done my own stunts since I was 19," Tse recalls. "All the explosions, all the gunfights, all the hits, and all the falls are real. When the actors are pushing themselves to the edge and feeling the pressure, feeling the danger, that's really how to make the audience be on edge as well."

Tse says he also believes it is his responsibility to take care of other actors in different scenes, such as the stunts in traditional Hong Kong action movies.

Tse, who has studied martial arts for the screen with Jackie Chan and is a practitioner of Wing Chun, a form of kung fu, says that kung fu attracts international audiences, which is what Hong Kong action movies should take advantage of.

"It's very important that we keep the advantage, especially Hong Kong action movies; we've really reached so much of the Western world," he says, having witnessed his Western classmates' passion for kung fu during his years at boarding school in Vancouver, Canada.

"That (kung fu) gives us the advantage. If we lose the tradition now and give in to AI or CG (computer generation), we won't practice this art anymore. I think it's a very, very big loss for action movies."

With the popularity of new emerging entertainment, Hong Kong action movies aren't as popular as they were in the past. As of now, Tse doesn't plan to introduce Customs Frontline to Hollywood. While he is open to more collaborations, he wants to get more young people involved in Hong Kong's filmmaking industry.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York hosted a welcome reception for Tse before the premiere of his new film on July 17.

The director of the office Maisie Ho and the film festival's executive director Samuel Jamier delivered speeches at the premiere, congratulating Tse on the award and praising his contributions to Hong Kong cinema.

In March, Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group released the "Hong Kong Cultural and Art Industry Revitalization Program", in which it will invest no less than HK$5 billion ($640 million) in the next five years in four major fields of Hong Kong's entertainment industry — TV series, movies, performances and training young talent — to further promote the region's industry with the Chinese mainland and the world.

"Nothing will stay popular forever," Tse says. "But if we don't spend time to rejuvenate or reintroduce action movies, or how we do action movies to the younger audience, no one's going to participate, no one's going to train that way, no one's going to do it."