Andrew Lau admits Edison Chen was the original preferred lead for 2005's "Initial D"

18 Jul - Did you know that Edison Chen was supposed to play Takumi Fujiwara in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's adaptation of the Japanese manga, "Initial D" instead of Jay Chou?

That was revealed by Andrew Lau recently to Hong Kong media in a recent interview, saying that the movie was in the preproduction stage as early as 2000, back when Jay had only made his debut.

Andrew stated that he intended to cast Edison Chen in the main role, with Andy Lau playing his father, as the whole team originated from his previous movie, "Infernal Affairs" and those who have worked with him for many years.

"Except for Jay Chou and the heroine, the others are all actors from Infernal Affairs," he said.

Andrew stated that he knew nothing about Jay at the time and the Taiwanese singer's name was suggested by the producers, who wanted a popular name to play the lead.

The director then stated that he was a little bit upset at first when he was asked to meet Jay in Taiwan instead of the singer coming to see him, especially when it was Jay's manager who came to meet him as he arrived, with Jay nowhere in sight.

"The manager noticed something was wrong, so he immediately called Jay to show up. He seemed interested in the character, he read the comics and done his homework. He even made a drift gesture on the spot. In the end, he got the role," said Andrew.

Meanwhile, his first choice Edison Chen instead was given the character Ryousuke Takahashi, a drift racer who became friends with Takumi after losing to the latter in a friendly race.

(Photo Source: HK01, Oriental Daily)