HOWZAT

Wong said he made the film, which also features Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and David Strathairn, as a vehicle for Jones.

He said: "One of the reasons that I wanted to work in the US is that I wanted to work with Norah, and this film is very good for her.

"It was a really tough journey for Norah, working with these different establish actors and actresses every ten days.

"But she became more and more relaxed. The first few days she didn't know the rules, then she did, I could see that growth. She was very confident.

"The thing that really attracted me to her was her voice, which is very cinematic in a way. It's a very fine instrument and when you listen to her voice without seeing her face you can see a story."

Asked about her first role, Jones said: "I was not planning to make any kind of acting debut.

"I was on this long tour and I'm not an actress so it was like 'whatever'.

Then I went off on tour and when I returned I watched one of Kar Wai's films for the first time.

"So we met for lunch and he says 'you want to be in a movie?' and I was like 'yes, you are amazing' I just jumped in. I had a really good feeling of trust for him."

She added of her debut: "I was very nervous and excited. As soon as I heard the cast list I went 'oh my gosh, I'm really nervous'.

"The first day I was very nervous, the second I was with Jude and I thought I'm either going to sink or swim. My voice was really unnaturally high. Kar Wai came to me and told me to relax. The crew were really wonderful."

The director claimed he could see that the US star had an "acting aura".

He said of making a film set in the US: "There are a lot of Chinese films made by foreign directors. Sometimes they're very embarrassing.

"A lot of the Chinese characters are distorted. I wanted to make a film in a different language but wanted to avoid that problem. So when we were working on the film I asked Jude and Norah some questions that may seem silly."

He said he even asked them about how the kiss should be filmed, saying: "A kiss means something different in the Chinese world than in the English language. It's a subtle difference and you have to make sure it's right."

He added: "I believe there is something we can all share even though we are from different countries, are of different races and different cultures."

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