Actress Song Hye-gyo on Sunday downplayed rumors of her quarrel with Wong Kar-Wai, but admitted there had been “some difficulty” with the Chinese director, Hong Kong media reported.

Song said there was “a bit of friction and misunderstanding” with Wong while filming his recent flick, adding that the difficulties helped her mature.

“It has not been easy. For me, it was the first time working with Wong. Since their (movie makers in Hong Kong) way of filming was different from that of Koreans, there were both highs and lows,” she said during a promotion event for her drama “That Winter, The Wind Blows.”

The 31-year-old actress, who gained fame via TV dramas such as “All In,” “Full House” and “Autumn in My Heart,” worked with Wong in his 2012 martial arts film “The Grandmasters.”

In the film, Song appears as the wife of a legendary Chinese martial arts fighter Yip Man, who is played by Tony Leung. The movie is slated to be released in South Korea in late August.

Early this year, Hong Kong news outlets reported that Song and other cast members bickered with Wong over filming schedules and their parts in the movie. According to the reports, the film’s star Leung became furious with Wong for deleting a large portion of his scenes.

Neither Wong nor the cast members had directly addressed the rumors, and the suspicion of the dispute between Leung and Wong had somewhat faded after the two attended the 2013 Chinese Film Festival together.

Wong is among the most beloved foreign movie directors in South Korea, particularly noted for directing noir films such as “Chungking Express” and “As Tears Go By.”



By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)