【红色恋人】佩恩医生的饰演者Todd Babcock写的回忆（1998年11月

Todd’s ’Time To Remember’
This is a letter written by Mr. Todd Babcock, the US actor who played the role of Robert Payne on ’A Time To Remember’. Todd also attended the ’Leslie Cheung Tribute’ held on December 2003 in Los Angeles by Asian Film Foundation.
Susanna, I still haven’t received anything in the mail yet so this coming week I will attempt to ’track’ the parcel that you sent at the post-office. As I told you, I received the film from a friend of mine and have had a chance to watch it a couple of times. My reactions to it change constantly and others reactions have been varied. The last viewing was at my house and it was received rather well. Funny how people are drawn to different things and put-off by others. Some thought my character was rather undeveloped and others were totally behind him and with the story. Some didn’t understand the nature of Leslie’s character, Jin, because they don’t know Chinese history and the nature of dedication. But they were all moved.

The one thing that has really surprised me is the lack of discussion I have heard concerning the lead actress, Mei Ting. In China I have heard nothing praising or taking notice of her. She was a darling girl and having watched the film these last few weeks I am more and more taken with her performance. I prize her performance most among all those in the film. She seems so vulnerable and strong and beautiful in the film... I hope she’s getting more recognition than it appears.
Anyway, I know you are more interested in any talk about Leslie. I have been procrastinating writing anything about him because I don’t really know exactly ’what’ to write and what you would want to hear. But I figure I best just plow forward before the experience gets so far back in my mind that I don’t recall much at all.
When I was in the States and had heard that I had ’booked’ the film in Shanghai it wasn’t very real to me. It all sounded exciting but the notion of actually going to China just seemed too crazy. I don’t know very many people that ever really get the chance to go there, let alone shoot a film for three months in Shanghai. So, I sat with Daying (or Ye Ying, or Yip Ying...he has many names it seems) and the writer and first a.d. (assistant director) and we talked about the movie and China and the other actors. Thats when I learned Leslie was in the film. I saw a picture of him and as it was set down next to Mei Tings and they said “These are the other actors in the film with you.“ Once again , seeing them didn’t help me feel like things were any more real. They both looked very beautiful in their pictures.
So, fastforward to China...

By the time Leslie was to come onto the film I had already been there two months and had shot a significant portion of the movie. I had already known Leslie’s work from ’Farewell My Concubine’ and ’Once a Thief’ and perhaps one or two others. Bob, my friend playing Clarke, had alot of time off so he would tell me stories of how he would see Leslie on tv all the time there while I was on the set. So, finally, after much anticipation, we hear that Leslie has arrived. Not only was it exciting because I was finally meeting my co-star but because he had come a month early so we coud wrap the film earlier and get home in 3 months instead of 4.
There was no shooting that day because Daying wanted to greet Leslie properly and take him to dinner and such. So I got to sleep in and meet him that night. When I got the call I went upstairs to meet him in Daying’s room. It was funny, because the second I got in there I knew things were going to be different. Leslie was a star and the energy that was created around him was going to be different from the two months I had already worked there.

Already, when I walked in, there were flashbulbs documenting our meeting. Leslie was dressed in all black. A turtleneck and dark-peecoat as he sat very sophisticated on the couch. I walked over all smiles and awkward. He spoke with a distinct British accent that only helped him seem all the more elegant and polite.
He asked very deliberate questions about the movie, the experience and his thoughts on the story.
We all sat and watched footage from the film as I commented on everything like some adolescent kid trying to impress his big brother. Bob would later tell me how infantish I behaved and how I was intimidated... I, of course, recall that I was smooth, relaxed and the consumate model of poise. In time I came to agree with Bob...
So, Leslie got to work right away which gave me some time off. Many of his scenes were just with Mei Ting and I took that opportunity to sleep in and spend time with my girlfriend, Lian Yi, who had been my piano instructor on the film. I came to regret that decision because the one day I had away from the set (we worked mostly every day) was the day Joan Chen came to visit. She and Leslie were friends and I was a fan of hers from an obscure film (’Blood of Heroes’). But I heard his first day went very well.

Our first scene together was to be a rather awkward one. It’s the scene where QuiQui first brings me to her apartment to find the shot-up Jin. It was very cold at the time and Leslie had only a T-shirt to wear so we were constantly throwing blankets on him. So I am to come in and take his pulse and then , after getting out my supplies, tear open his shirt to reveal his many war-wounds.
I thought,’great’, my first few acting minutes with Leslie Cheung and I have to tear his shirt off!
The make-up was very delicate on his chest and we only had one shirt so he looks at me and says with a smile, “You better get it right!“ This, of course, did not help. So I hold the shirt and he immediately says “Wait... haven’t you ever torn a shirt off before?“ Of course, Leslie. I usually never bother with buttons and such. When I get home I just tear away and buy a new shirt the next day...
So Leslie takes my hands and positions them for the camera and says not to worry about going too hard. This was the first steps of our relationship on the film. Leslie taking my hand, either literally or figuratively, and getting through things.

The shirt tore open beautifully and it was sort of a christening of our friendship.
In the time that followed I would also come to befriend his assistant and his manager. You got the sense that the people that surrounded Leslie were like his family. That they had been with him a long time. They were very friendly and in time came to start looking after me as well.
That scene, by comparison, was easy compared to the next day and the many shoots we had the rest of that month.

The next days with Leslie was the shooting in Payne’s apartment where Jin comes to me with his telling of his wife’s su*cide and the trade he is willing to make. Leslie, this time, got to wear much warmer clothes and as we sat waiting for the crew to set-up we chatted. I introduced him to Lian yi and we talked about film and China and the States. Leslie then exposed his secret love of McDonald’s cuisine. I found it very amusing that I had come all the way to China to learn about it’s life, history and foods and was only to learn that we would be eating McDonald’s on the set. But, actually, that was a rarity. Leslie had it brought it on occasion but we mostly had food with the crew. I actually preferred the Chinese cuisine in Shanghai more preferable to anything like Wendy’s and McDonald’s but those two places could be accessed easily if we were hungry in the middle of the day and the food wasn’t ready yet. I probably gained ten pounds shooting ’A Time...’ incidentally.

So, as Leslie offered me coffee and burgers, I tried to get him to break on his resolution to quit smoking. I had heard that he smoked quite often back in the day, but Leslie was resolute due to the fact that he had recently began touring again (I had no idea that he was a famous singer before he was an actor). But he said he didn’t mind if I did and so I proceeded to smoke away. I was not a regular smoker BEFORE I went to China... but when the entire crew, director, translater... EVERYONE smokes around you... you tend to pick up the habit. It was also a way to deal with the pressure of being at the center of such a large project... when we were in script meetings, Bob asked how we could think with so much smoking. Daying responded, “How can you think without!“ That made alot of sense at the time...
So, after burgers and cigarettes we attempted our scene. We were going to shoot 2 scenes back to back. First, Jin’s story and then right into the scene folowing the flashback. I found that I was not at my best that day. The scene went well but I was not feeling 100 percent. I think, looking back, I was a little nervous with my first real scene with Leslie. It did not come to matter... we ended up rewriting and shooting that scene 3 times. So, let that be my lesson...don’t worry about everything being perfect in a film. It may never be seen anyway.

It was after that day that I got into my groove with Leslie. We had a long shoot in the house that was being used for the concession where i meet Jin at the map. The house was beautiful and much warmer than most of the sets so we were already happier upon arrival.
Leslie was wearing a large winter jacket with a fur-trimmed hood and was in good spirits. Mei Ting, Leslie and I sat about playing around at the piano. That reminded Leslie and he gave me a gift... a VCD of one of his concerts. We sat down around a large table and had a discussion about the scene. Everyone had alot of ideas with the way it should sound and the way it worked. We talked through the scene and tried it alot of ways. This was where it truly helped that Leslie spoke three languages. He was the ONLY one who could speak Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Therefore he could negotiate between myself, the director and the writer very quickly and smoothly. (He also did the production a great favor and brought in his own photographer from HK who would shoot publicity shots all through rehearsal instead of keeping us hours after the shoot when we were all exhausted!)
Once we got to shooting we walked through the scenes. I was discussing certain Chinese films I had seen and at the time I did not know he was in ’Once a Thief’ and told him it was my favorite John Woo film. He said, “I was in that!“ and we both had a laugh. That was where we really loosened up and just had fun. Between takes we were both trying to make the other laugh. We joked that we were going to change the story of ’A Time..’ and make the relationship about Jin and Payne and leave QuiQui behind. All of a sudden the side of Leslie that was the British gentleman that I met at the hotel became this energetic kid. We were doing Madonna imitations to the other between rehearsals and just had a ball.

Leslie has done so many movies that he is absolutely professional. When the camera is set and they are ready he knows exactly what to do and where to look and how to hit his marks. But he has also learned how to relax and just have fun when the camera is off.
That was probably my favorite shooting day with Leslie. It must have been 20 hours of shooting and we were both exhausted.
When the day was done I found out that the director wanted me to go across town and shoot more scenes downtown. I was so tired and begged them not to. Finally, I broke and accepted the task saying that I would be exhausted and look it. Daying patted my back and said “Thank you.“ It was only a half hour later that the director said “Nevermind“. I was to learn later that Leslie had asked him to take it easier on me. So, like I said, he was holding my hand along the way.

During lunch that day (yes, over McDonalds) we had a great talk about projects that I had worked on. What I thought about the new Hong Kong and the history of China and the film. He was very open and I remember that he wanted my opinions on his trakes and what I thought about his acting. I couldn’t get out of my head how great I thought it was that he cared for my opinion and I really felt we were working together for something.
As I said, we went back to the scene at my apartment for many reshoots. The next one we did was probably the best... I was actually so relaxed with Leslie at this point that when he got in my face to confront me (a scene that wasn’t in the movie where Payne sort of challenges Jin) I started laughing. When we cut, Leslie smiled and was confused and said “Why are you laughing?“ I think it was simply because I knew Leslie by then and we made so many jokes that when he was so close it just made me laugh. But it was probably because I was enjoying myself so much.

This was a day I noticed alot of fan attention to Leslie. Normally, we were very remote from the public on the sets so you weren’t reminded constantly that Leslie was a moviestar. But since there were so many extras and we were in the middle of Shanghai there were alot of people at the door. I thought he was quite good about it. He took in anyone who requested an autograph politely. He agreed to have pictures taken... even while he was wet and cold. I also found things got done easier with him around. We got extra days of shooting in one of Shanghai’s banks because the owners liked the idea of having him around and wanted pictures with him.
The only time he ever seemed put out was when we were at the hospital doing the X-ray scene and a flood of young girls screamed constantly while we were trying to shoot. Eventually we had to smuggle him out the back door. That type of thing, when it’s intrusive, seemed to bother him.

中间有一段发不上来啊，度娘说我广告。。
I don’t know if I’ll see him again.. I’m sure he’s shooting a movie right now. But I think he did a great job in the film and comes across wonderfully. I am quite happy and impressed with all my castmates. I just wish he was eligible for a golden rooster award... but I wish the best of luck to my friends who were.
I hope this was what you had in mind, Susanna. It’s hard to just specify my moments with Leslie because it all blurs together but I gave it my best shot. If you have any specific questions I would be glad to answer them. I still plan on getting photos made for you but have been quite the procrastinater due to my own career necessities.
I hope you are well and that you enjoyed the movie.
- Todd Babcock - November 30, 1998