Chen Kuan Tai was one of Shaw's first guenuinely trained martial arts stars that could in essence be considered a master of kung fu by his peers. With a career spanning over four decades he became a symbol of the HK kung fu cinema. King Wei interviewed Chen for Hkcinemagic.com.
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Chen Kuan-tai in Vengeance! (to the left) |
 HKCinemagic :
Is Chen Kuan Tai your real name or a stage name?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : It's the real one; I always used my real name. |
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| HKCinemagic : How did you become an actor? |
| Chen Kuan Tai : I started as a stuntman and action director. Then in 1969, I went to participate in a ring competition and got the first place. Then Chang Cheh signed me with Shaw Brothers. |
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| HKCinemagic : Your first movie with Chang Cheh was Vengeance! right? |
| Chen Kuan Tai : No, I was a stuntman in this movie. Boxer from Shantung was my first lead movie. |
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| HKCinemagic : It was your first leading role and when Mr. Chang said that you would be starring in it, were you nervous? |
| Chen Kuan Tai : Yes…ha-ha. You can say that it's a joke.
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| HKCinemagic : Your specialty is the monkey kung fu?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : Yes |
Boxer from Shangtung
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| HKCinemagic : You learned Hung Fist with Lau Kar Leung?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : At the Shaw Bros, it's Lau Kar Leung who was the choreographer for the Hung Fist. My real master immigrated to Canada . I started to learn from him since young. In 1969, I participated in the competition and got into the movie industry. Then I've been mainly collaborating with Lau Kar Leung and Chang Cheh. |
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| HKCinemagic :
Tell me about the shooting schedule for Boxer from Shantung ?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : Back in the times, every movie had to take 60 working days to shoot. We did this one in a month, with day and night shooting with 2 directors. Pao Hsueh-li shot during the day and Chang Cheh shot during the night. The ending alone took 10 days. |
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| HKCinemagic : How about Milano?
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| Chen Kuan Tai :
Mario Milano, 4-5 days. Back in the days, the movie production was more “serious”, we use a lot of effort to fight, unlike now using computers. It was so relaxed. |
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| HKCinemagic :
Do you prefer old or new martial arts film?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : The old ones, the flavor of the fighting was better. Now, the actors cannot fight real kung-fu. |
Chang Cheh and Chen Kuan-tai
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| HKCinemagic : You worked with Donnie Yen on a new kung fu flick, didn't you? |
| Chen Kuan Tai : Yes. It's just done. It's a comic-style movie called Dragon Tiger Gate. This comic style movie, it's very different than ours in terms of action. Also, action movies now use special effects to enhance the effects. I still prefer old style action. |
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| HKCinemagic : Now you work more in television or movies? |
| Chen Kuan Tai :
More on TV production. We're working on a television series. |
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| HKCinemagic : What's the plot? |
| Chen Kuan Tai : It's a modern comedy. It's called “Yat…Jau Tin Ngai”. The lead actor is Ng Man Tat. The other lead is a child. This series will start shooting in August. |
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| HKCinemagic : Which director did you enjoy the most working with? |
| Chen Kuan Tai : Chang Cheh, he's my master and mentor. I was very comfortable in his movies. He doesn't tell you what and how to perform. We would read the script and analyze the characters ourselves. Then later came John Woo's movies (…). He used to be Chang Cheh's assistant director so he has a similar style as Chang Cheh, letting the actors act freely. |
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| HKCinemagic : Where there any improvised parts?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : At times. Each movie's script has different characters. We have to think how to act. There are times the director will think we overacted in some scenes on the set. [Yet] the director liked our ways of acting. |
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| HKCinemagic :
In Man of Iron, you were certainly more relaxed and wore a very stylish costume. Did you have input?
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| Chen Kuan Tai : Someone else in the company was responsible for the fashion design. Because of the script and that style, I was freer. You like that movie? It's my second movie as a lead. It's a different performance compared to the one in Boxer from Shantung. For every Shaw movie I worked in I had a different personality. If it was too similar, then I would think about another image to perform. Later I played the triad boss Big Brother Cheng with another image. And later in King Gambler, it was an upper class feel. |
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