John Legend, who plays only the piano, says he learnt enough to ‘look like’ he could play guitar in La La Land

For his first major screen role, US singer-songwriter John Legend plays – what else? – a musician.

In La La Land, he is Keith, leader of the band that recruits protagonist Sebastian, played by Ryan Gosling, thus causing obstacles in his relationship with his lover, Mia (Emma Stone). It is now showing in cinemas.

Legend, 37, also wrote the song Start A Fire that rockets the fictional band to stardom.

“I just tried to be as humble and hardworking as I could because I knew that it was a new experience for me,” he said.

“I wanted to do justice to the character and to the film.”

Legend was on the producers’ wish list from the start, but they did not think they had a chance. After a meeting with director Damien Chazelle, he was sold.

He said: “It started with Damien giving me the idea of what the film was. And then he sent me the script. I thought it was great.

“I felt like, if anybody could do it right, it would be Damien. I think he has a great musical sensibility and a great sense of how to bring that to film.”

He decided to work with an acting coach and a guitar teacher to make sure he was comfortable portraying the character as he plays only the piano.

He said: “I just learnt enough to look like I could play guitar.”

Legend realises that jazz is not as popular as other music styles but “it still is one very uniquely American art form”.

He said: “What is so exciting about jazz is that it’s unpredictable. There’s this conversation going on between musicians.

“It can be chaotic, but in that chaos, you find so much beauty and humanity and that’s what can make it so powerful.”

CLASH

Keith and Sebastian clash several times about musical integrity and sacrifices. Has Legend had to make such compromises?

He said: “I try not to be in a position where I’m sacrificing musical integrity for anything.

“I don’t put an album out unless I’m proud of every song.

“I have to creatively feel connected and proud of everything I put out. In that sense, I don’t ever feel like I’ve compromised my art for commercial reasons.”

But the Grammy winner said he had made “some trade-offs”, in which career was the focus, rather than relationships or building a family.

Legend said: “I’m at a stage now where I’m able to balance family and career pretty well. I’m in a stage where I’m not trying to make it into the business, I’m already there.

“But when you’re trying to work your way up, it’s hard to maintain a relationship and your career at the same time.

“So luckily I met Chrissy (his wife Teigen) after I’d already attained a certain level in my career and we could find a way to balance.”

Now that he has a new baby girl, Luna, he finds himself singing more than ever at home.

He said: “I sing around the house. I sing more with the baby around now.

“I just make up songs about everything now and they’re usually pretty terrible songs. They sound like a bad commercial jingle most of the time.”

The seven-month-old baby has a favourite.

“I wrote a song called Dancing With You and it actually is the perfect song to calm her down when she’s crying.

“So I’ll just dance around the house with her and sing Dancing With You. It won’t be on the album. You’ll never hear it probably. It’s Luna’s song now.”

He said on fatherhood: “Anybody who has kids knows you aren’t the same after you have them.

“Part of it’s just the joy and emotional significance of you and your partner creating this new being that reflects your love and commitment to each other.

“You see yourselves in that little baby. The sleepless nights, the energy that you put towards making sure your baby is happy and healthy and safe… it’s kind of a draining thing but it’s a very powerful thing.

“I think it’s very life-affirming.”

This article was first published on December 09, 2016.
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A coming-of-age Japanese animation movie is a smash hit in China, raking in over US$41 million (S$58 million) at the box office to become the top-grossing film over its opening weekend, after beating out Warner Bros’ “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”.

Directed by animator Makoto Shinkai, “Your Name” is a fantasy body-swapping romance between two teenagers and its success in the world’s second-largest film market is stoking expectations for the film ahead of its wide US release in early 2017.

It received the award for Best Animation of the year from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Sunday and is on an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run in Los Angeles this week.

Even before its release, “Your Name” was highly anticipated in China, with its film title trending for at least a week on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblog, underscoring the popularity of Japanese animation in Asia.

According to a report from industry body The Association of Japanese Animations, sales of Japanese animation overseas reached $28.84 million in 2015, some 80 per cent higher than the $16.18 million in 2014 and up from $16.05 billion in 2013.

The association attributed the sharp rise to growing demand in China, with growth in sales of streaming rights to the world’s second largest economy up 78.7 per cent in 2015 from a year ago.

That “Your Name” was made in Japan was not lost on Chinese netizens, some of whom questioned its popularity after years of ad hoc movements to boycott Japanese goods whenever disputes arise. A few reviewers gave poor ratings to the film, citing patriotism, but reviews were largely positive and critical of any negativity surrounding the movie simply due to its origin.

A post making its rounds on social media Wednesday detailed the chat of a parent urging 90 counterparts in a chat group on messaging app WeChat not to allow their kids to watch the movie, as Japanese cultural imports would give rise to “the erosion of Chinese ideology, contribute to treason and affect the future of China.” The only person in the group who responded said: “Movies are just a form of entertainment.”

National media in China and Japan, however, were fast to seek common ground on the back of the film’s success.

“Although people in the two countries may feel ill will toward one another, as the shared enthusiasm for ‘Your Name’ shows, they are also culturally bound to one another in many ways,” state-owned China Daily newspaper’s Tokyo bureau chief, Cai Hong, wrote in an opinion piece with the headline “Popular culture can be employed to help forge friendly ties.”

Kyodo news agency noted in its report of the success of “Your Name” in China that “Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials have said the two Asian countries should expand positive aspects in the bilateral relationship, while acknowledging that more needs to be done to manage differences over territorial and wartime issues.”

The South Korean media meanwhile was quick to point out that the warm welcome “Your Name” received contrasted with the cold reception for its own pop exports, due to Beijing’s row with Seoul over the US’ deployment of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) missile system.

“China rejects Korean pop culture, welcomes Japanese animation amid row over THAAD,” was news agency Yonhap’s headline.

Since October, not one K-pop artist has been granted approval to perform in China, according to reports in Korean and Chinese. The Korea Times and Yonhap News suggested last month that the snub was a sign of intensified anti-Korea sentiment on the mainland, one of the top consumers of “hallyu,” or Korean pop culture.

The success of “Your Name” follows its popularity across other parts of Asia including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand.

At home in Japan, the film has dominated the box office since its release in August, grossing some $175 million by now to become the second highest grossing Japanese title of all time, trailing behind the Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away”, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2003.

The movie’s popularity also comes on the back of a high profile run in Japanese cultural exports this year with runaway mobile gaming hit “Pokemon Go” amplifying the visibility of the country’s pop icons.

Even Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined in the party, dressing up as Super Mario at the Olympic closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro in August. He appeared alongside Hello Kitty, manga cartoons Capitan Tsubasa and Doraemon as well as video game Pac Man in a video shown at the same event to promote Tokyo as the host city for Olympics in 2020.

Actress Fann Wong learns more about life and what it means to be a mother in new Taiwanese film

Fann Wong’s motherly instincts kicked in when she was working on her latest project, Packages From Daddy.

The local veteran actress, 45, plays a wife and mother grieving over her husband’s sudden death. At the same time, she has to deal with her son’s and daughter’s outbursts.

The Taiwanese movie, which tackles the issues of death and moving on from it, opens here on Dec 15.

Fann shared how actor Xie Fei, 11, who plays her son, was “stressed out most of the time as he is very young”.

“Sometimes during filming, I tried to de-stress him by playing games and talking to him,” said Fann at the film’s press conference on Wednesday at Shaw Centre.

“I also encouraged him by telling him that he acted well in certain scenes, or asked him why he wanted to be an actor.”

Fann said acting opposite Taiwanese actress Yu Jo Ching, 15, who plays her daughter, “was different as she is slightly older”.

“I would assess the situation first to find out how they felt on that day,” said Fann.

These maternal feelings came from being a mother in real life. She has a two-year-old son, Zed, with her husband of seven years, actor Christopher Lee.

While filming in Taiwan for about a month last year, Fann would make trips back to Singapore during breaks to see Zed.

But she nearly did not take up the role as Zed was a newborn when the script was given to her.

“When I found out that Tsai Yin Chuan was going to be the director, I became interested, especially after reading the script.

“As I had just became a mother then, I realised that I felt more for topics on life or family.”

But her unwillingness to be separated from Zed held her back, and it was Lee who encouraged her to take it up.

“I could not bear to leave my baby. My husband noted my reaction and asked me to accept the role since it was so good.

“He would ask me every day if I had accepted it. Deep down, I wanted him to say no so I could spend more time with Zed. He told me that our baby was young, he would not remember if I left him alone or not,” Fann said, laughing.

“I really have to thank him. If he did not push me out the door, I would not have gotten this role.

APPRECIATIVE

Filming the movie also allowed Fann to think more about her life and family. She learnt to appreciate her relationships more.

She said that during the premiere for Packages From Daddy on Wednesday, she told Lee that he had to live up to 100, and that he had to live longer than her – else, she would end up crying every day.

“In life, we have to face the problems being thrown at us. But when you have to deal with them, it really grips at my heart, especially if it is someone you love,” Fann said.

“After filming a movie with this topic, I feel that I cherish my relationships more, and that my relationships with my husband and baby have changed. I have realised more about myself as well.

“I was more work-oriented previously, but now I am more kids-oriented. I do love my job, but nothing is more important than family.”

Fann said she loved Packages From Daddy as it is thought-provoking.

“It made me think whether I had accidentally disappointed someone, or if I managed to cherish the one I love today.

“These things are like daily homework given to us in life that we have to think about,” she said.

“In life, we have to face the problems being thrown at us. But when you have to deal with them, it really grips at my heart, especially if it is someone you love.”

This article was first published on December 09, 2016.
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