It started when Jordan Chan stepped into the shower. When he started shampooing his hair, it fell out in clumps all over his hands. This happened simply because his hair was bleached and coloured over and over again in his latest movie, Are You Lonesome Tonight.

"They had to bleach my hair many times so that it turned white. Then they added the bright red colour. However, because the red did not last long, they had to keep adding colour every few days.

"The process was not only uncomfortable, it caused my hair to drop off in clumps while I was shampooing it.... So, I shaved it all off after the entire production was over, and now my hair is okay, back to normal...." he touched his hair unconsciously and grinned. "...Hopefully...."

Jordan's 'hair-breaking' sacrifice was intended to project a very hip and young image for his role in the movie as a quick and energetic entrepreneur in love with a rich Canadian runaway, acted by Cindy Hu. On the pretty first-time actress from China, Jordan quipped with a cheeky grin.

"She is a very versatile actress, not 'wooden' at all. However, she's not my type!"

On his future plans and upcoming movie, the easy-going star revealed that his next movie will be an internet love story.

"I'll play an introverted guy who meets a girl over the net, and sees her only a couple of times before she dies of an incurable illness. It's really a bitter-sweet story...very touching."

Hundreds of children kept chanting Jordan's name.

Although Are You Lonesome Tonight is director Kim Kal's first big movie, he has worked with Jordan Chan on drama serials. At first, Kim Kal appeared a lot more serious than the actors, but he burst out laughing as he described the problems they experienced while filming.

"Jordan's really famous, and because of that, his fans tend to want to get his attention whenever we film on location. I remember this once when we were filming in a narrow street in Shanghai, hundreds of children stood on the balconies of houses lining the street and kept chanting his name."

When asked what he hoped to show through the film, Kim Kal stopped laughing and said earnestly that he felt there was a lack of romantic movies with stories about young people in Chinese cinema, and he hoped to fill that gap.

"...But most of all, we try to make the story of Are You Lonesome Tonight and its characters as widely accepted and identifiable as possible. We also try to promote Chinese cinema, by having all the actors speak in Guo Yu (Mandarin)... All of the lines are done by the original actors, none of it was dubbed by another person."

I take all my roles seriously, even when I act 'can't-be-bothered' types

At present, actor Zhou Jie is not quite well known in the Chinese movie scene. Are You Lonesome Tonight is only the second major movie he acted in after The Actress in 1991.

When you first look at him, Zhou Jie appears to be a happy-go-lucky person who speaks his mind freely. However, he reminded everyone in a mock-serious manner, not to judge someone by his appearance.

"I am a serious person by nature, and I take all my roles seriously, even when I act 'can't-be-bothered' types," the eloquent actor quipped. "As an actor, you cannot say that one role is more important than another... you have to play all of them equally well - to the best of your ability."

In his semi-jovial, semi-philosophical way, he also imparted to us his method bringing characters to life through his acting.

"I believe, that in order to act well, you have to reach down deep inside you, to your real feelings and experiences, and try to find something that helps you identify with the character. Ask yourself what kind of character he is, how he thinks, what the motives behind his actions are. You must in a sense, 'become' the person... If you cannot convince yourself that the character is a real person, how then can you convince others eh?"

The heroine and I have a rebellious streak.

Lead actress Cindy Hu reminded me of a delicate Chinese beauty with long dark hair and ivory skin. She bubbled with enthusiasm as she revealed to us that the heroine in the movie was by far, the role she liked best.

"I can identify with her. We're around the same age and both of us have a rebellious streak," she said.

Cindy Hu is indeed a lucky actress as she has managed to land the plum role of lead actress in Are You Lonesome Tonight, her very first movie. She graduated from a drama school in Beijing in 1997 and hopes to fulfill her dreams of traveling to faraway countries and finding new experiences through her career as an actress.