Marking a return to his villainous best, film icon Chow Yun-fat sports shaved head and tattoos for his latest turn as a tough pirate captain. The Hong Kong big-name star's role is central to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, set to open in China on June 12. In this third installment of the Hollywood blockbuster, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) journey halfway around the world to the exotic Asian locale of Singapore.

Here, Singaporean Chinese pirate captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-fat) is their best hope to rescue missing pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). The dangerous and powerful Sao Feng has the charts and, moreover, the ship to take them to their destination. But, being a pirate, Sao Feng isn't going to cooperate unless there's something in it for him.

Director Gore Verbinski said as soon as the writers took the film's plot to Singapore, the obvious choice was Chow Yun-fat, Asia's most popular actor.

"Once we knew that, there was nobody else," Verbinski told Hollyreporter. "Chow is a living legend."

And Chow's response? "Yes, of course," the actor said. "I'm a big fan."

Best known to Western audiences for leading roles in Ang Lee's Oscar-winning martial arts epics Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and, more recently, Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower, Chow said the Pirates film was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

The Pirates of the Caribbean phenomenon has fascinated Asia as it has the rest of the world. With the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, which has a Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the newest part to the film series could only bolster Chow's image with younger moviegoers.

"When I was a boy, pirates were considered taboo," the actor said at Hong Kong Disneyland on May 7, while promoting the film. "Thanks to the previous two Pirates, in Asia there's a new way of thinking. Pirates are fun."

Verbinski said there was no one else he considered for the role of the Singaporean pirate captain. "I thought, we got to open this thing up, we got to get to Asia," the director said at the film's world premiere, in California Disneyland on May 19.

"Once you know you're going there, you've got to get Chow Yun-fat. He's an icon."

Chow, who came to international fame in the 1980s in John Woo's acclaimed thrillers Hard-Boiled, A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, brought a different vibe to the set. The actor was asked to shave his head for his role.

"I think as a director, he has a full vision of every single character in the movie," said Chow. "All the Western pirates have long hair, so I think it's a very wise idea. Sao Feng is more stunning with tattoos and scars."

Chow said his role is not the ordinary bad guy. "He's not one straight line. He has so many faces. You can say he's a bad guy, but on the other hand he's a bad guy with a conscience."

Chow began his career in TV in the early 1980s, quickly established himself as a popular leading man in Hong Kong. His big break came when new age director Ann Hui approached him to star in The Story of Woo Viet, which became a hit among the mass-produced kungfu movies of the time.

From there, Chow's star went skyward. His collaboration with noted Hong Kong director John Woo established him as a superstar in Asia and developed an international following as well.

After conquering the Asian film industry, Chow set his sights on Hollywood with his first English-speaking role in The Replacement Killers in 1996, directed by Antoine Fuqua. He then starred in the police drama, The Corrupter, helmed by James Foley. While he has played a range of villains, he is best known for playing tragic heroes.

Chow cemented his place in Tinseltown with the crossover success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which earned 10 Academy Award nominations and four wins in 2001, including best foreign language film.

Since Pirates, Chow has filmed The Children of Huang Shi, a fact-based war drama, in China. He co-stars with Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays an Australian helping to rescue 60 war orphans. Chow plays a village leader who aids in the rescue. The historic drama is slated for release later this year.

On May 21, Chow was honored with Lifetime Achievement at the Asian Excellence Awards, held at Royce Hall in the University of California, Los Angeles. This award is for Asian or Asian-Americans who have made great achievements in entertainment. Chow expressed his happiness at winning the award, describing it as an honor for all Hong Kongers.

(China Daily 06/06/2007 page6)