Quotes

In the West audiences think I am a stereotyped action star, or that I always play hitmen or killers. But in Hong Kong, I did a lot of comedy, many dramatic films, and most of all, romantic roles, lots of love stories. I was like a romance novel hero.

If I can associate with the people very, very gently very, very friendly every day I'm happpy. If I don't pay them respect I feel terrible inside" - From an interview with Chow Yun-Fat in the Documentary Chow Yun-Fat goes Hollywood

As an actor we're just like workers in a factory, we provide our services to directors. But I must do my job perfectly, and I love what I do.

Working in front of the camera keeps me alive. I couldn't care less about actors' trailers and food on sets and stuff like that - I just want to act.

[on his Mandarin pronunciation in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)] It's awful. The first day I had to do 28 takes simply because of the language problem. That's never happened before in my life. It put me under a lot of pressure. There was a lot of dialogue in this film, more than I've ever had to speak before. It was like speaking Shakespeare.

In my heart, I don't like violence at all. But that is what the audience like. My character has changed all the time, as I have made films. I used to be like the people I played - naughty, mischievous and nosy - but now I am more peaceful, more serious. I have mellowed in the past 10 years.

My favourite actor is Robert DeNiro, he can interpret the parts and characters so well and so humanly. I like Robert Duvall - very down to earth, not extravagant - and Dustin Hoffman, he looks so unattractive, such a shorty, but on the screen, he is so impressive with his feeling for a part. Also, William Hurt. His gestures, eyes and dialogue are very full - it's very juicy the way he plays a role.

I'm dying to be one of the biggest heroes of the big screen - I want to be John Wayne and Steve McQueen. I want to entertain. And I hope being Asian doesn't matter. If you love a movie and you're drawn to the movie, you don't care what colour the leading man is - you just enjoy the character he's playing.

Movie star is just a term. It does not mean you have a higher status if you are a movie star, and lower if you are an actor. Movie star or actor ... you're still just a hired worker.