Culture Club | When it comes to Juno Mak, don't judge a book by its cover

Watching Hong Kong’s cinema veteran Chin Siu-ho reuniting with Anthony Chan Yau to battle grotesque geung si (hopping vampires) and eerie ghosts in Juno Mak Chun-lung’s bleak yet surprising directorial debut Rigor Mortis premiering in Venice Film Festival this week, I couldn’t help recalling an interview I did with Mak almost a decade ago.

It was 2004, and the Canto-pop singer had just turned 20. Sporting a cap and baggy outfit, Mak told me his dream was to become a film director: "I always talk about films with my friends, and think about their plots and styles. Thought-provoking films like Seven are my type. It's unusual for a film to have a tragic hero."

Back then, how was it possible to take the kid's words seriously? He's the son of CCT Telecom chairman Clement Mak, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He certainly wasn't the heartthrob type (a photographer even told me once that he couldn't possibly find a good angle to shoot Mak, which was mean), and yet he launched his Canto-pop career when he was 18.

Video: Juno Mak on the controversy over his family background

Hong Kong people can be superficial and mean – they like to hate those born rich yet are disgusted by the poor. Soon rumours began to spread: his fans were hired professional groupies, he was a womanising rich kid on the covers of gossip magazines. And when he won the year-end music awards in 2002, he was booed by audience every time he stepped on the stage.