Gregory Charles on Chow Yun-Fat
Chow Yun-Fat’s dialect coach Gregory Charles talked about his work with Chow on set on his blog.
My work involved working with Chow Yun-Fat to help him get his pronunciation as clear and intelligible as possible. We did most of the ground work in Hong Kong and in Durango before filming began which was fortunate, because during filming, there was little time or energy left to do any extra work revision. During filming, my work required me to listen very carefully with my headphones to everything he said, making sure he did not drop any words and helping him to improve his pronunciation when necessary.
Mr. Chow is no slacker. By the time we began filming, his pronunciation was excellent dialog, not perfect but excellent none-the-less. Even so, work on my location was not easy. It required intense concentration to listen to every syllable of his dialog, note the areas that needed improvement, analyse areas which were within his immediate grasp or absolutely needed improvement and use the most efficient method possible to communicate the needed changes to him, all within seconds of completion of each shot. It was challenging and tiring but we did a pretty good job.
Mr. Chow’s work ethics are admirable. His dedication to his work is truly remarkable.
Within hours of confirmation of his role in the movie, he began examining and developing his character, and he spent considerable time working on his dialog. From confirmation of his role until weeks into filming, he barely slept as he considered all of the options for his character, an experience I shared last year when preparing for “They’re Playing Our Song.†He worked so hard and slept so little that he became ill just a couple of weeks into filming. But even sickness barely slowed him down. He rested for two days and went straight back to work, getting daily antibiotic injections until he was fully recovered, and regular vitamin supplement injections until filming was complete.
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Hm. I hadn’t really thought about his dialect, but yeah that would be something he’d have to work on. Man, I hope they don’t fuck master roshi over, and change his character…
Woooowww. It’s nice whenever you hear an actor is really dedicated to a role . . . but that’s just freakin’ INTENSE. XD Go, Chow Yun-Fat!
if im not mistaken master roshi was asian right.so why remove the native dialect.im not one of the guys who complains every time something is changed with this movie but i dont get their logic with this one.why not let an asian character speak with an asian accent.im confused.
Not bad. I believe that Chow well do well, but I really want to know if master roshi ( Chow yun-fat ) is going to be “FUNNYâ€!!! I know he can fight, but funny….? Well, I’m not losing hope on him, he’s a great actor.
isnt master roshi asian?im confused on why they would want him to have perfect dialect.i know its a movie and all but shouldnt an asian character speak with his accent unless here is born in the u.s. or something.im confused some one please fill me in.
sorry about the double post my comp acting like fox………………………..stupid
where did you get that roshi is asian? does asia even exist in the dragonball world??
or america for that matter, sorry for double post
@nikooo: Good question. I don’t think it has an answer though.
I agree Adam!!
Im happy to see Chow yun fat put his work into it too. He must be really into this role if he’s willing to get someone to help him with his pronunciation. Maybe he wanted to sound a bit more like master roshi? The old perv!!
I also agree with Nikooo on that comment he just made!
Race doesn’t matter…. You guys are acting like they cast the whole entire cast one race. Lets please not get into any Dragonball race talk. I bet at the end of this post there will be one person that starts talking about Chatwin not being asian. Who cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chatwin is the best person for the role. Get over it!
Ok, listen guys.
Dragonball / Z / GT was drawn by Akira Toriyama, an asian.
Goku, however, like every other person in the series’, had an american ethnicity. Every single person was without anything but an English or American (and sometimes australian) heritage. I have never seen a single (not one) asian person in DBZ.
So stfu with the “THE ACTORS AREN’T ASIAN ITS GOING TO BE BAD” comments.
Oh my God…..I’m not gonna make it………..Need… teaser….trailer
im not getting into a race thing i just thought roshi was asian.inever was saying any of that bull about the movie would suck if the cast wasnt asian i think the cast is perfect i just thought roshi was asian.geez my bad
@dk318: What’s really the difference?
I mean they all look the same to me 
thats what im saying.i just thought roshi was an asian character.my bad for misinterpreting.
Finished recording a podcast. It’s just me answering some questions I received. Only 7:33 in duration, so don’t get too excited.
Great news Adam, can’t wait to hear it.
There are to me, many characters that are obviously asian imo… Yajirobi for one, sterotypical samurai. Roshi MAY be as well.
Bulma clearly seemed like the typical spoiled american girl. And Goku is an alien so he can be played by anyone.
Did anybody like Chow in Bulletproof Monk?
I’m hoping for a better performance than that movie.
Yippy!! Adam has finally decided to do a Podcast. Im excited I wonder what your going to say. Oh uh!! Wait a minute no Adam? No Robert?? How about Jacksterson? lol
Jacksterson is probally saying
“SHut up Corey!! Stop giving me more work dude….”
Hey Adam you should do something really different with your podcast!! To make your podcast standout. You should do something no one has done yet. I bet if you think of something really cool and different. James Marsters will want to be on it dude. Just go to Youtube and check out best podcast out!!!!
@dk318: No, its not you who I was talking to. I’ve been seeing so many people on youtube and myspace and all over google and forums that same sentiment…
who the hell even cared about bullet proof munk????–chow has great dialog compared to jet-li or jackie chan.-first of all why try to make it sound so american he is asian and isnt he supposed to be playing an asian?-how stupid is that?-id be piised if i was chow after reading this and tell them to kiss my a$$ !!!-lets get some db pics or movie details!-yes i agree corey is annoying at times!
I can’t be that annoying, because im the first person you mention lol
Now I know how Goku feels!!
@Jacksterson: Woah Woah dude. The Dragonball characters weren’t of “American” ethnicity… first off because America does not have an ethnicity. Second they weren’t based off ANY ethnicity more like a combo of all of human races. That comment was just as pigheaded as the one who said they should be all asian.
And also… ChiChi was based off of asian ethnicity. And I don’t think you can argue that. And Grandpa Gohan? Him too.
yo when are we going to hear the interview with brian tyler?
@DyHo: Ask JP, he’s the one doing it, isn’t he?
@AlexM: I think all talk about what color the actors should be needs to stop, now. It’s so damn annoying and childish. I’ve told you all once before, if you want to discuss and argue about the Asians being the cast thing then go to the IMDb boards. Trust me, if that’s all you wanna talk about then you’ll have plenty of people there to argue with
They absolutely love that topic, so my advice is to take it elsewhere or shut the hell up and leave the website! Have a nice day 
By the way Chow Yun-Fat’s greatest performance I think was POTC 3…I thought he had a great English accent compared to most of the Asian actors of films today’s… and yes Jet Li and Jackie Chan would be totally annoying in Dragonball, they can hardly speak decent English.
@Sean:
Read correctly, idiot I wasn’t the one who started this discussion. I just wanted to end it.
It’s annoying alright but I wasn’t going to let a pigheaded statement pass.
And I’m not into the whole race discussion because I think the characters they picked were spot on.
when Goku is fighting the red ribbon army theres a world map which shows the locations of the dragonballs, but they never say where abouts they are ya know. Chow, he will still have his accent its just pronouncing English words.
@AlexM: Uh….I knew that moron, I wasn’t directing that to you at all… well to an extent
No seriously, I’m talkin about the other people who’s been complaining about the cast, not you dude. I was just replying to yours to make a statement.
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When I said “I’ve told you all once before” I wasn’t talking to you at all right there. It might have came off and sounded like that but it really wasn’t directed towards you.
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I know I should’ve made it more specific of who I was replying to exactly, but I wasn’t feeling like naming all the idiots who’s been complaining, it would simply take too damn long…and their not worth my time
i agree. we don’t need to discuss race on this site, i get to look at that enoough on imdb. this site is great because all the trolls from imdb are not here. oh and adam’s not bad either
.
@Sean: You made it seem like you were only talking to me. So why would you call me a moron? And I’m not a dude.
@AlexM: Ok…girl, you hit me first with the “Read correctly, idiot” talk, and I’m just retaliating alright. Also I never apologize, ever, but since I’m in such a good mood today I’m apologizing cause according to you I’ve made you mad
So, we cool now? Good 
hey guys someone wrote on JPs site that he saw the trailer for Dragonball
@Victor: Dude, it’s so easy to lie on the Internet it’s not even funny.
you know what, im not sure what to believe, but what if it was true?he is so descriptibe, its 50/50 for me. How do you guys add an avatar by the way.
@Victor: http://www.gravatar.com
@Victor: victor, thats hardly true, even i can come up with a better lie than that
@nanjirou: well why dont you. lol. jk, idk, why would someone write something like that, that would b mean.
Thanx adam, ill load one avatar up asap, just have to find one that will suit me.
@Victor: Obviously to get some attention of course
Trust me man, if you’ve kept up with the movie this entire time since it was announced back in November, then you’ll know how many rumors have floated around. And some were very convincing, but when it comes down to it, there still just rumors
Gregory Charles a Quebequer artist from Quebec, Canada, VIVE LE QUEBEC!
Hey you guys need some dragonball smilies????
I suppose
Why all this effort for a movie like this? For someone as great as Chow Yutfat, there surely are other movies earlier this year that would worth more to strive for.
@Msotaun: Because Chow Yun-Fat liked the script?
@Adam
Chow Yunfat just joined because Fox gave him more bucks. To think he ditched the offer for a military genius advisor role just to take on this dumb job
@Msotaun: Read the god damn interviews. Unless your calling Chow Yun-Fat a liar.
He said he joined the movie not for money or for fame but because he thought the character was fascinating and that the script was good.