Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung has packed on a few pounds since love re-entered her life -- 10 pounds to be exact.

But although Cheung said in a telephone interview that the weight gain was due to successfully quitting smoking, it may also have to do with love-of-her-life, Nicholas Tse.

The actress' weight gain supposedly pleases her boyfriend, who doesn't like skinny girls, according to Cheung. "He forces me to eat sometimes," she said.

Cheung has been reported in a relationship with Tse since 2002, when Tse was connected with Chinese pop diva Faye Wong. Cheung and Tse broke up in 2003 but they arrived at their reunion since the two starred in Chinese director Chen Kaige's latest fantasy epic The Promise

Magic in Memphis

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai got the green light to shoot his latest film My Blueberry Nights in Memphis, Tennessee. Wong is the first Asian director to receive the go-ahead for a film project there and joins the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Milos Foreman. The movie, which marks the director's English-language film debut, boasts a star-studded cast including Ed Harris, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and crooner Norah Jones.

A model career

China's model-turned-actress Yu Na has been selected for a role in the Hollywood new production Rick Hansen: Heart of a Dragon, which is currently shooting on the Great Wall in Beijing.

The film features the story of a Vancouver paraplegic who, from 1985 to 1987, pushed his wheelchair through 34 countries on four continents to raise money for spinal-cord injury research. Yu, champion of China's New Silk Road Model Contest in 2000, made her screen debut in a popular TV series How Can I Help You, My Lover. She was picked for the role of a Chinese-English translator in the film mostly because of "her pretty face and typical Asian feel," as reported by local Chinese media. Moreover, Yu was an English major before she entered the entertainment business.

The film, due for release next year, also features Canadian model-turned-actress, Natasha Henstridge, Aleks Paunovic and Victor Webster.

Snappy stars shoot back

Prompted by shutterbugs sneaking photographs of actress/singer Gillian Chung getting changed, leading Hong Kong artists including Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang, Simon Yam and Stanley Tong have teamed up in a fight against paparazzi.

The photos of Chung, taken last week, later ended up on the cover of a magazine.

The artists have joined an emergency meeting hosted by the Hong Kong Performing Artists Guild (HKPAG) to discuss new measures against paparazzi.

Lawrence Cheng, the spokesman of the HKPAG, released a statement that members are determined to fight against the tabloids and that they hope the government will intervene, since the law no longer provides adequate protection..

(China Daily 09/08/2006 page3)