EROS Eros is a trilogy of medium-length art films about desire. Italian cinema legend Michelangelo Antonioni is the inspiration as well as a contributor. His segment provides the most titillation and confusion with its ’ÄúLove American Style’Äù plot, naked girls dancing on the beach, and baffling dialogue. Hollywood hotshot Steven Soderbergh contributes the shortest and funniest piece’Äîa mostly black-and-white discussion between distracted therapist Alan Arkin and confused adman Robert Downey Jr. The opening piece, by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, pairs up Chinese film legend Gong Li and new-school pan-Asian actor Chang Chen. It is the longest segment, and it is the one that you really need to see. Chang is a relatively new to acting, but manages to equal the iconic actress’Äô onscreen power scene for scene. GR: With high-end movies like Crouching Tiger and 2046 on your resume, you seem to be very selective of your roles. What about ’ÄúThe Hand’Äù appealed to you? CC: Yes, I have only done 12 films so far. Working with filmmakers like Edward Yang, Wong Kar-Wai, Ang Lee, Tian Zhuangzhuang, and Hou Hsiao Hsien has been an invaluable experience ’Äìalmost like going to a film school. The chance to work with Gong Li and with director Wong again is what brought me to ’ÄúThe Hand.’Äù GR: You play a frustrated tailor who services a gorgeous courtesan played by Gong Li. Did you actually do any sewing? Were you ever worried about cutting yourself with one of those old machines? CC: For my part I had to apprentice with an old tailor who makes cheongsams in the old way. I am glad to have done this, for it helped me to understand my character: a man who works with his hands. Old-school tailors use their hands to measure the body contour of their clients' bodies to see if the individual has gained or lost weight. I was not afraid of needles. Actually I kind of enjoyed it, since it also gave me a chance to study fabric and I liked it a lot. GR: The filming was short but grueling. Can you describe the atmosphere and how SARS affected it? CC: It was an unusual circumstance. Everyday, we read about more people getting sick. Some people left Hong Kong. The airports were empty as no one traveled, but I kept flying between Taiwan and Hong Kong. It was amidst this climate that we shot the film. As actors who must stand in front of the camera, it was certainly eerie to be surrounded by crew that wore facemasks and gloves. GR: Gong Li is such a film icon. Was she cool to work with? CC: I actually met Gong Li on ’ÄúEros,’Äù as it was shot when 2046 was in hiatus. As I can remember, Gong Li was the last actor to join 2046’Äôs cast. Gong Li is a very special and generous actress. I was at first intimidated by her, but soon we warmed up. Although she had to leave immediately after shooting her last scene, she stayed on and helped me emote for my reaction shot. She was very supportive. GR: Did you have a technique or strategy for making the erotic scenes realistic and not funny or gross? CC: There was no special technique. We played out the roles as they were written by director Wong. WKW did a wonderful job to put us at ease. We just concentrated on our parts and focused. GR: You also appeared in Wong Kar-Wai's DJ Shadow video. What do you think of Shadow's music? CC: I like his music. I was very honored to have been asked to appear in the video. GR: Do you have Wong Kar-Wai's technique figured out now that you've done a few projects with him? CC: WKW is an actor's director. Having worked with him three times, I understand his method a bit. He basically writes the part according to the actor he chooses and magnifies certain qualities of him or her. This helps us to create the part with him. As we are working, WKW makes adjustments to see what is best for the story and what interesting ways will bring out the actor. It is a very cool way to work. GR: Can you explain Michelangelo Antonioni's segment of Eros for us? CC: A very Antonioni film...You can feel it only when you get into the cinemas.