If model-host Lisa Selesner had to choose, she would rather watch her actor husband Daniel Wu have onscreen sex with other actresses than to see him die in the movies.
Speaking to Life! recently, the chatty Hong Kong-based American says breezily: "I'm totally fine with him doing intimate scenes because I trust him completely. So him kissing and having sex with other women in movies - that's fine with me. I get it, it's part of his work.
"But I just can't handle watching him get beaten up or die. That's just too painful to watch."
The 38-year-old, who is better known as simply Lisa S., lets on for example that she was "bawling my eyes out" during the Hong Kong premiere screening of his acclaimed crime film One Nite In Mongkok (2004).
"By the end of it, I was a mess and I just couldn't stop crying. He was sitting next to me and kept saying, 'I'm right here, I'm right here'. But I just couldn't stop myself."
From then on, she says that she will watch his movies "only if he doesn't die or get seriously hurt" in them.
Many of the films that Wu, 39, stars in are violent, dark thrillers, such as Shinjuku Incident (2009), Protege (2007) and Divergence (2005). His upcoming crime thriller Control, slated for release here on Dec 12, is another example.
Selesner was in town to promote the fourth and latest season of TV reality modelling contest Supermodelme, which has a new group of aspiring models from around Asia battling it out in various modelling-related challenges.
Aside from hosting the show, she also acts as a mentor to the contestants, giving them advice about how to stand out in the competitive modelling industry. She has been a fashion model since she was talent scouted in New York at the age of 14.
She moved to Hong Kong in 2000 to explore other modelling opportunities and quickly shot to fame, standing out in the city as a Caucasian model. It was there that she decided to shorten her name to Lisa S., because "no one could pronounce" her family name there.
Since then, she has been seen on countless fashion runways and endorsed a string of different products for print and TV. In the past six years, she moved to doing more hosting gigs instead, for events as well as TV shows such as luxury lifestyle programme Dolce Vita on TVB Pearl in Hong Kong.
In 2010, she married American-born, Hong Kong-based Wu in a low-key wedding in South Africa after dating for eight years. They had their first daughter Raven in May this year.
1 Who is the more hands-on parent, you or your husband Daniel Wu?
I would say we're 50-50 in terms of parent responsibilities. I'm really lucky that Daniel is very hands-on and wants to be a very active parent. He wants to be there for her every step of the way, so that's great. He does everything - diaper duty, waking up in the middle of the night and looking after her. He's just been amazing with her. We're also lucky that we have a nanny who helps out.
2 Now that you are a mother, are there any types of jobs that you will turn down?
Well, I can't be away from my baby for too many days at a time. When I went for a holiday with Daniel to Thailand recently, just the two of us, I could barely breathe by the third day because I just had to go home to see her.
When I arrived in Hong Kong, I had to go straight from the airport to another event where I had to schmooze with all these people, and that was the worst. The whole time they were talking, I was just thinking about when I could hurry up and get home to see my baby. When I finally got back, I could see her for only five minutes before her bedtime, but that was enough to calm me down.
So for this Supermodelme press trip, which goes on for 10 days, I insisted on having Daniel and Raven come along with me. There was just no way I could be away for that long on my own.
3 When you are in public with your baby, do you mind that others can see her and take pictures of her?
I've been doing this thing for a while now, which is that my hand will suddenly creep up in the middle of these shots to cover her face. I'm okay with people taking pictures with me or Daniel, but I'd prefer to leave my daughter out of them. She didn't choose to be in these pictures, so I think it's only fair that she's not in them very much.
In fact, we tend not to go out too much with her, at least not in the busy areas. Which is fine, because we live in an area called Clearwater Bay, which is quiet and like the boondocks, so we can walk around there without the paparazzi coming up to snap photos.
4 Are you planning to have more children?
Yes I'm thinking of having more but I'd like at least a year to have my body to myself. Having a baby is like your body has been hijacked for a year, because it's not your own anymore. So I'd like to have at least one year where I don't have to think about any of that and just indulge in whatever I want to do - and then we'll definitely try again for another baby. But if that doesn't happen in the end, that's fine. I'm very happy with just Daniel and Raven too.
5 You have been living in Hong Kong for 13 years. When you first moved there, was there any culture shock for you?
Definitely. When you're modelling in New York, all the models are nameless and you remain pretty much anonymous. I mean, there will be one or two really big-name celebrity models but for the most part, the rest go about their jobs quietly.
But when I was in Hong Kong, I was just shocked by how interested people were in the lives of models. It's as if we were celebrities, which I was not used to at all. I remember after one of my first jobs, all these journalists crowding around and calling out my name, wanting to talk to me. I was so confused because I wasn't prepared for that kind of fame or the fact that I had to do interviews. But now, I'm used to it.
6 How are you enjoying your hosting gigs, compared with modelling?
I love hosting and I'm just so glad that I got to do this. I am a naturally gabby person, so as soon as I started, I just knew that I found something that I really loved doing and I think that it suits me.
Modelling is fine but I won't do the 14-hour photo shoots or the 12-hour-long fashion shows anymore. So I'm glad I got into hosting, because I seriously wouldn't know what I would do otherwise when I stopped modelling full-time.
7 How about doing more acting?
No, no, definitely not. I mean, I've appeared in a few movies before, but just tiny roles and that's fine with me. In fact, I know that I'm just hired to be the movies' hua ping (Chinese for vase and slang for an actress who looks pretty but lacks credible acting skills), and I'm fine with that because I'm not an actress. If you're going to hire me for a movie, know that I will not be giving you an Oscar- winning performance. I'm not the one who can act in my household, Daniel is.
8 How would you like to be remembered?
That's such a morbid question. I guess I just want to be remembered as someone who worked hard, did her best and somewhere along the way, made a lot of people laugh. I'm a simple girl. I don't expect to be leaving a great legacy like Jackie Chan or Gisele Bundchen. I think it's just nice if I made some people laugh.
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Supermodelme: Femme Fatale premieres on Diva Universal (StarHub TV Channel 522) tonight at 8pm. It airs on Channel 5 on Wednesdays at 10pm.
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