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AsianConnections: You wore a wig when you shaved your head? Did you keep it? Bai Ling: Yeah, I have it! Bai Ling: At one time, I remember it was sunny and I wore it because Louis told me I have these cosmetics people to meet, so I must be wearing my wig! You're bald, and you'll never get a commercial! During the whole meeting, I did not know what I was talking about. The entire thing, I was looking at the guy. You could tell. Maybe I was behaving strangely. I had this terrible imagination about what if I came in and he didn't know! It's really awful. So I said, I can't do this, I'm going to take it off. AsianConnections: Are you mistaken for other people a lot? Photo: Andrew Cooper - Bai Ling: No, I think in general, when a play a part, I look completely different. Nobody really recognizes, like who is this? Even in "Red Corner," they said, which one did you play? I said, which one did I play?! They couldn't recognize me somehow. I think my first movie was "The Crow." That was a while ago. It was so exciting because it was my first American movie and I went to the movie theater to see myself, I was sitting there with this anticipation that someone would recognizing me. [Laughs] I was in the ladies room, and no one recognized me! [Laughs] Not even my friend. She called me, and she said, "Oh Bai Ling, I did not recognize you in the entire movie, but I saw your name." But it's really a good thing, and it confuses people, but somehow when you do a lot of work, sometimes it's part of you. Well it's what I've done. I think until now it's really been my character. I play different characters that look completely different. I think it's a good thing. AsianConnections: You're settling in the United States. Do you have family here or are you by yourself? Bai Ling: I'm by myself, but I have family. They are with me. I call my grandmother every weekend. They are very close to me. AsianConnections: Are you making your home in Los Angeles or New York? Bai Ling: I'm in Los Angeles. AsianConnections: But you went to New York University for a while? Bai Ling: Right. I lived in New York. I like New York a lot, because there's lots of life there. And chaos. I like those things. There's a lot of culture there, and people from different places. Here, sometimes I feel like in Los Angeles, sometimes when I'm driving, I feel like I'm the only one who lives here. I don't see people. I feel like maybe there's an underground and everybody lives there. And in the evening, everybody emerges in their cars. Where do all these people come from? Nobody's there. It's a strange place. You don't see them. AsianConnections: What's up next? Bai Ling: Actually, I'm reading a lot of scripts. And I think I have a lot of surprises coming. I like to surprise. And a lot of surprises for you, but currently it's just like? yesterday. Today I'm still shooting this TV show, and they created this cool character for me. And?if you look at her you feel like she is stepping out of a comic book. She is a powerful leader, and she is very dangerous, and she kicks [butt]. She takes charge and fights, and very sexy, very smart. I'm just doing a guest star in one episode for now for February called "Shi." It's kind of like the "Matrix." I like to do something more advanced, more futuristic. Different from "Anna and the King," period! AsianConnections: Do you have a routine? How do you stay in such great shape? Do you have any skin tips? What do you eat? Bai Ling: I eat a lot, sleep a lot, no exercise. I really don't do any exercise. AsianConnections: Do you watch the foods that you eat? Bai Ling: I eat a lot of fruit. I like fruit. And I started liking cheesecake, which is dangerous! [Laugher] But sometimes I swim, just for fun. I don't like exercise. I don't know why. It's tiring to do exercise. I did it once, and I was hurting everywhere. It hurts! And it's so boring in the exercise room. I said why am I doing this?! AsianConnections: We have a fan section?do you have a favorite color, do you have other favorite actors that you like? Bai Ling: You know, my color depends on my mood. It changes depending on where I am and which mood I'm in. It's like, in my character, this character that I'm playing, if I'm aroused, then they have this card on my back, they have this?singular word which [is] pink. [Laugher] I'm just kidding! And I think it depends on my mood, actually. If I'm in a peaceful mood, and somehow I like the white of sunlight, the blue sky is beautiful. And sometimes when I am depressed, I like kind of a dark blue or purple even. So it depends on my mood. AsianConnections: Any hobbies? Bai Ling: Writing. I'm writing my novel, about my experience in acting. It takes a long time, and somehow that's something I must do. And sometimes I'm lazy. Sometimes I just basically sit there watching the sun. I have a terrace in my house, and sometimes I just sit there watching the sunlight creating all the sculptures on my terrace. It's beautiful. Nature gives you all this gift. All this art. Sometimes you don't see it. They are not there for you to see, they are there for their existence at that moment. Sometimes it is the shape of a butterfly, a mountain, a boat, [or] a chair, and the next hour it changes. So sometimes I just watch them. AsianConnections: What is your favorite music? Bai Ling: I like classical music. It's good, like here you have to drive, and I always put on the classical music station and just listen, because you're sitting in a car for a long long time. AsianConnections: I understand that Chow Yun-Fat's wife helped him with his English. Bai Ling: So I don't have a wife to help me. [Laugher] I do have lots of friends. Like basically all my friends, my working friends, are American. My intention from the beginning was to stay away from Chinese, because otherwise I'll never learn English. You know, you have this laziness, you hang out with [Americans], it's much easier. Somehow I changed myself to learn English in a different way. Even if I don't understand it I try to make a lot of American friends. And in this way I get to learn their culture too. I learn basically in life, not in school. And sometimes I embarrass myself when I do interviews with the Chinese press and newspapers, and I speak Chinese but I use English words, which is really bad. But I do not know how to translate into Chinese because I learned in English. And some words you cannot directly translate. I was so embarrassed. I said, I don't know this word! And seemingly not right in Chinese, because the mindset is different. AsianConnections: Well, your English is perfect. Bai Ling: Ask my coach! [Laugher] -- AC Team previous page - END -
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