Barbie don't want to fall in love

'Between work and love, I find work more relaxing, whereas love can be much tougher,' she told The New Paper. 'Work is more exciting and gives me more freedom. I like the way my life is right now... I don't want to fall in love.'

Eight months after confirming that she split with her actor beau Vic Chou, it seems Barbie is happily basking in singlehood. What drives her on is her passion for acting instead, and instead of dates, she is on the hunt for good movie scripts. Her latest work is the highly anticipated action flick Connected, which boasts of being the first Hong Kong remake of a Hollywood film. The original is the 2004 title Cellular, which stars Kim Basinger and Chris Evans.

The Hong Kong version is helmed by acclaimed action director Benny Chan (Invisible Target, New Police Story) and stars Hong Kong's Louis Koo and Nick Cheung, and China's Liu Ye. It opens here on 1 Oct and Barbie, together with Louis and Benny, were in town yesterday to promote the film.

On why he picked Barbie over Hong Kong's own pool of actresses, director Benny said Hong Kong women seemed too 'strong' for the role. Barbie, however, appears fragile in comparison and 'invokes a natural instinct in people to protect her', he added.

In the movie, the dainty actress plays a mother who gets kidnapped but manages to establish contact with a man (Louis) through a spoilt phone and begs him to help save her daughter and younger brother. This is her most physically strenuous and emotionally draining role yet, as her character is a 'total victim' who gets beaten up and tortured by the baddies from beginning to end.

Lost weight

Filming in a small deserted hut - where her captors locked her up - was such a stressful experience that Barbie was constantly nervous and tense and lost her appetite. She lost 3kg as a result, she said.

The easy part for her was to play a doting mum, as she professes to be a child magnet. 'I love kids and I love to help my sisters with their children, so feeding babies and changing diapers is no problem for me,' she said with a laugh. 'I have very strong maternal instincts and kids usually don't shy away from me.'

If she wants to have her own children, she would need to find a man first. But - believe it or not - she claims to have no 'obvious' suitors knocking at her door. 'There are guys who say they like me, but probably more from a fan's mindset,' she said with a self-deprecating laugh.

Well, Taiwanese actor Peter Ho just blabbed to the media that he has been carrying a torch for Barbie since they met on the set of a drama three years ago. Barbie insisted they are just friends, and she does not rule out working together with him.

Another likely future co-star is her ex-beau Vic, with whom she still keeps in touch via phone messages. 'We're still friends and I like to work with him because we have established a certain mutual understanding. And I know he won't say no to the idea.'