Asian star Karen Mok looks West with jazz album

The Associated Press, Monday, February 4, 2013, 7:27pm (PST)

HONG KONG (AP) — After years of stardom in Asia, Hong Kong actress and singer Karen Mok hopes her first English album and an action film directed by Keanu Reeves translate into success in the West.

Mok has released 15 Chinese language albums and starred in more than 40 films over the last 20 years.

She plays a Hong Kong police officer in Reeves' directorial debut, "Man of Tai Chi," scheduled for release this summer. It's about an underground fight club in China. Mok says most of her dialogue was in Cantonese, but Reeves always knew which takes were the best.

Her first English album, "Somewhere I Belong," was released last month. She's known as a pop artist but this is a jazz album, something she says had long been a dream of hers.