Shanghai'S Formula One race track was seething with excitement and screams Sunday afternoon when the whistles of dozens of Formula One racing cars kicked off the press conference of the much anticipated car racing movie Initial D.

Based on a popular namesake Japanese manga, Initial D is a star-studded project with the participation of the most glamorous stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Led by directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, Jay Chow, Ann Suzuki, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Anthony Wong and Chapman To showed up before tens of thousands of screaming fans at the conference.

It is the debut film of Taiwan pop king Jay Chow whose songs couldn't be more familiar to youngsters in China. Without any acting experience, he was cast as the leading man in the movie, which of course aroused many doubts as to whether the cool singer was competent in portraying a sometimes sober, sometimes crazy car racer.

When the question was raised at the conference, Chow gave much assurance to the media and the public, saying that he was just portraying himself in the movie because his own character was quite similar to that of the role.

"I don't feel it was particularly challenging for me although I'm not confident in my acting ability. Fortunately, I was just playing myself in the movie," Chow said.

As a talented musician, Chow took on all the composing work for the movie. Most car racing or action movies are prone to use electronic music, but Chow said he broke the rule in Initial D. "I use a lot of hip-hop elements in the movie. It is a movie for young people, so the injection of hip-hop music can create a special flavor. It is very funny," Chow said.

Although Chow is good at driving, which he joked was attributed to the crazy pursuit by Taiwan's paparazzi because he had to try his best to get rid of them, Chow said he had encountered a lot of danger during the acting process, sometimes even "at risk of life."

"I acted in some dangerous scenes, but the deadly sequences had to be performed by professional stuntmen."

Action movies don't often appeal to female audience members, but director Mak said that he didn't worry about that. "Car racing scenes definitely attract speed-savvy male moviegoers, but when they are intertwined with emotion, it can also strike a chord among female viewers," Mak said. Chow developed a melancholic love story with the leading lady played by Japanese star Ann Suzuki.

The movie is scheduled to hit Asian cinemas in June.

(Shenzhen Daily)

seeth: to be in a state of turmoil or ferment（沸騰，騷動，處于狂熱狀態）

leading man : 飾男主角的演員