In slightly over a year, Daniel Wu has married a top model, established his own production company and starred opposite both Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey. The actor gets candid about maturing with age – and the awkwardness of being handsome. Interview by Edmund Lee. Portraits by Calvin Sit.

There’s no scientific proof to support the claim that Daniel Wu is the hottest man in town, although the odd dissenting remarks – his lips are too thin and the middle of his ears clumsily curve outward – look to be lost causes judging by the swathes of swooning girls who appear wherever he turns up.

When Wu made his acting debut in Yonfan’s arthouse gay romance, Bishonen (1998), some 14 years ago, he was very broke and very handsome. Despite being barely able to speak Cantonese – and always reliant on his director’s housemaid to cook dinner for him – the part-time model from California soon abandoned his backpack for a leading role that was initially intended for Andy Lau. “Once I did that movie, I definitely thought that it’s going to be my last movie, because I know Hong Kong is very conservative, right?” Wu asks while looking at me, even if his question now sounds more rhetorical than ever. “If you play a gay role, you get pigeonholed into being that gay actor or whatever.”

The actor, who’s turning 37 next month, didn’t just make another movie. After starring in more than 50 films, he is here to promote his latest, Overheard 2, a thrilling if unrelated sequel to the critically acclaimed blockbuster, 2009’s Overheard. As a former Singaporean military communications officer who’s out to avenge the death of his father against the ‘Landlord Club’ – a clandestine group of Hong Kong business tycoons controlling much of our society – Wu’s character offers the film’s writer-directors, Alan Mak and Felix Chong, a unique opportunity to examine the finance-orientated nature of our city. (Wu turns film journalist and interviews the duo for Time Out here.) On a more personal level, Overheard 2 also reunites the actor with Kenneth Tsang Kong (who plays his father in Bishonen and his nemesis here) and Chiao Chiao (who plays his mother in both films).

And the Bishonen connection doesn’t end there. Earlier this year, Wu set up film production company Diversion Pictures – and his partner is none other than Stephen Fung, his lover in that fateful 1998 film. (The company’s first project, a two-part martial arts comedy respectively called Tai Chi Zero and Tai Chi Hero, has already begun filming; while its second, a CGI-oriented fantasy noir ‘like Sin City’, will follow later this year). Against that exciting development backstage, it’s a testament to Wu’s prominence as an actor that it is his upcoming onscreen presences that will tickle most viewers’ fancies. Having recently completed his part in the China-produced Inseparable opposite Kevin Spacey, as well as a small role alongside Russell Crowe in the RZA-directed The Man with the Iron Fists (which co-writer Eli Roth has described in The Guardian as ‘a kung fu Star Wars movie’), Wu is currently filming The Last Supper, a Qin Dynasty-set historical drama by the eclectic director Lu Chuan (City of Life and Death).

As if his filmmaking career isn’t enough to envy, Wu wed his long-time girlfriend Lisa S last year – and it’s apparent, even to innocent bystanders, how content he’s feeling. When I last met Wu in a professional capacity, during the poster shoot of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart earlier this year, he was oblivious to the jarring presence of the wedding ring on his finger. Several minutes into the shoot at which Wu romantically wraps his hands around actress Gao Yuanyuan – for a movie whose title transliterates as Single Men and Women, no less – a voice called out from the back of the set: “Daniel, you’ve forgotten about your ring. The photos have to be taken again.” Wu laughed. Not everyone could hide their annoyance in such circumstances, but in that particular one, nobody had the heart to admonish the delightful expression on the actor’s face.

And when we sat down again for this profile interview one hot summer afternoon late last month, there was only one way to begin our conversation: with the blatantly obvious.

Daniel, here’s a question that I must get out of the way first – do you feel restricted by your striking good looks?
Yeah, I get asked this all the time. [Chuckles] Your look definitely restricts the roles you play – for sure, whether you’re good-looking or not. Um, if someone’s not necessarily good-looking and they have to play very romantic roles, maybe it’d be harder for them, you know? But also, vice-versa, if you’re very good-looking and you have to play a very tough role… I don’t think it’s about looks. I think it’s about [the fact that] each human has his own individual characteristics. It doesn’t matter what you look like. There’re good-looking people who have ugly souls, you know? And that could be a really great character. You have to figure out that combination and make that cocktail out of what you have.

I’d like to tell you an observation I’ve made. I’ve seen you at different events maybe a dozen times now, and every time – and I really mean every time – you walked past the young women in my vicinity at least one of them remarked about how handsome you are. Do you feel that kind of female attention?
I guess I, uh, I mean, obviously you do feel attention when it’s focused on you. And it’s kind of uncomfortable for me, because I’m the kind of person who likes to watch other people, and I don’t necessarily like to be watched. It’s kind of a weird thing being an actor. But I guess what people don’t understand is, if you’re a movie actor, you’re really only acting to a very small group of people. So it’s very difficult for me to understand the concept of, like, going out there to be recognised by a lot of people – even though I’ve been doing this for 14 years, you know? Still, I’m not used to it. I guess I’m aware of it, but not totally used to it. And the other thing is, I’m always [going] out and I never really think about myself. So once the focus has turned on me, I become self-aware; then I become embarrassed; and then I want to leave. [Laughs]

I recently watched your movie Beginning of the Great Revival (2011). One thing that really struck me is when your character Hu Shih first appeared onstage in an assembly hall, the camera quickly turns to the giggling school girls in the audi…
… ah, yeah. I didn’t really like that. The director added that scene… I mean, [Hu Shih] was actually kind of a good-looking guy… for a teacher, and I guess there are female students that fall in love with their teachers, right? But I just think that was a little bit over the top. [Laughs]

... When I was watching that scene, I thought: ‘Holy fuck! Daniel Wu has even managed to get girls giggling in a Chinese communist propaganda movie!’
Yeah, yeah! [Laughs] I don’t think I agree with that [scene], because I just don’t feel that it’s historically accurate – but it could be, you know? Yeah, when [the director] set up that shot, I was kind of laughing. I was like: “Are you sure you want to do that? Why do you want to do that?” And his explanation was like: “Oh, all girls fall in love with their teachers.” But I was like, “No, that’s not right.” [Laughs]

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