Fifty-year old Tony Leung (梁朝偉 ) is certainly not slowing down. Following the release of his latest film, The Silent War <聽風者>, Tony has signed on to star alongside Shota Matsuda and former AKB48 singer, Maeda Atsuko in 1905, a film in which his character will develop a relationship with the 21-year old. Captivating the Japanese audience when he starred in Hong Kong film, 2046, with Takuya Kimura, Tony has never been in a Japanese film. The director of 1905, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, specified Tony for this role. Tony’s management company confirmed, “Kiyoshi’s role for Tony in this film was almost tailored for him. They started discussing the film last year. Kiyoshi has always wanted to work with Tony, who already has his schedule full throughout next year, but we were able to make time to film this.” Synopsis The story of 1905 takes place in Yokohama, Japan during the Qing Dynasty when Japan and China are on the edge of revolution. Tony plays a Chinese moneylender who travels to Japan to collect his debts and meets Chinese Nationalist, Kato Paul, played by Japanese actor Matsuda Shota. With mutual interests and for their own benefit, they work together to repatriate five Chinese revolutionaries. Aside from Tony and Matsuda’s friendship, the film also focuses on Tony’s relationship with Maeda, who is 29 years his junior. However, Tony is no stranger to large age gaps with his costars, as he has played a couple alongside many younger actresses before. 1905 is set to start filming in November, aiming to complete production by January of next year. Shooting will primarily take place in Japan and Taiwan. The filming will be done entirely in Chinese, which will pose a challenge for the Japanese cast. Creds: Ming Pao
