Hong Kong director John Woo shows off his waltzing skills with lead actress Zhang Ziyi at a recent media conference for the film in Beijing, saying she is his favorite star in the epic. Jiang Dong / China Daily

Woo, showing off his waltzing skills with lead actress Zhang Ziyi at a recent media conference for the film in Beijing, says she is his favorite star in the epic.

"Ziyi read the script four years ago. She loved the role (a wartime prostitute looking to find love) very much. She didn't care about the fees and the shooting schedule, she just wanted to star in my movie," says Woo.

He revealed that for the disaster scenes, the 35-year-old Chinese actress was immersed in cold water and suffered vertigo for more than five hours

The big-budget production, with a total investment of 400 million yuan ($65.4 million), was shot on the mainland, and in Taiwan and Japan.

A pool about half the size of a football field was built in a remote area in northeastern Beijing for the shooting of the disaster scenes.

The second part of the film is scheduled for release in May 2015.

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