"She's a lost girl who retreats into her own world because her own life has been so twisted," says Fann Wong of her character Jane, in her first movie role in The Truth About Jane and Sam.

"Jane saw her father cheat on her Mum and saw her mother eventually kill herself, so because she's grown up in an environment full of lies, she hates deceit and phoniness. Life is a waste of time to her, so she tries to shut it out. She may look like a good-time girl, but she's fiercely defensive and is very wary of men," explains Fann in a phone interview from Taiwan, where she's working on a video clip for her third album.

Jane's closely guarded world comes apart when she befriends Sam, a Singaporean journalist, at the movies. Played by newcomer Peter Ho, Sam is fascinated by her dysfunctionality. "All her wants is the truth about her, and because he is so honest a person, he's completely different from all the men she's known. Despite all the mind games she plays with him, he still trusts her, so she's very touched by him."

Labour of love

Penned and directed by Derek Yee, the actor-turned-director from Hongkong who made the award-winning movies That's Life My Darling, and Viva Erotica, Truth is co-produced by Hongkong's Film Unlimited and Raintree Pictures, the movie-making arm of TCS. Set to open at a theatre near you in early July, it will also be released in Hongkong.

Visually, Truth looks like a cross between Chungking Express and That's Life, My Darling in its portrayal of the alienation, indifference and grubby poverty of Jane's life. Fann turns in a vulnerable performance as a messed-up runaway kid while Peter is the perfect foil, with his boyish good looks and awkward idealism.

"Initially I was very nervous about making my first movie," says Fann, "but after I saw how nervous Peter was, I forgot how tense I was." Her less-than-fluent Cantonese didn't put her at a disadvantage; some of the Cantonese in the final cut for the Hongkong market is indeed spoken by her. The rest was carefully dubbed with the voice of a DJ that sounds like Fann.

Life as a movie star

The six-week shoot took her to Guangdong, Hongkong and Singapore. It didn't feel like work, she says, even though it was very intense, largely because of Derek. "He brought me to the underground discos in Hongkong as well so that I'd have an idea what Jane's trying desperately to hang on to."

He also brought her and Peter out a lot after work, which probably explains why she looks so wrung out in the movie, like someone who's partied way too much. "Maybe it was payback for telling him I never watched Viva Erotica!" laughs Fann.

On his part, Derek Yee says, "I'd seen her MTV clip, so I knew her as a singer already. When I met her, seen her MTV clip, so I knew her as a singer already. When I met her, I realised she was an intelligent and savvy actress. Her eyes were very expressive too, which was important for a character with such emotional swing. When the Hongkong audience sees her, they will be surprised that a new face already has so much acting experience."

He also adds that his movie company may cast Fann and Peter again in a movie he's producing - rare for a director who hardly uses his leading actors twice.

A new life and a new love

Because Derek's films have been shown at the Hongkong Film Awards, the Golden Horse Awards, the Shanghai Film Festival and even the Berlin Film Festival, Fann can expect an incredible amount of exposure with her portrayal of Jane. What's more, Derek Yee is known as a star-making director; think Anita Yuen and Shu Qi. Will Fann be joining the club soon?

"I don't think being a star alone makes the movie a winner," replies Fann after a long pause.

"A good movie is the result of team-work, it's not clever to think any single person can take all the credit. But it's a dream for any actor to get to the Golden Horse Awards; and I'm happy if this movie opens doors for me, and for my fellow actors too."