By Christina Ng

HE MAY have missed out on making out with Cameron Diaz in his Hollywood debut, The Green Hornet, but Jay Chou doesn't mind.

The Taiwanese superstar is, after all, the latest Asian face to break into the West, starring alongside Canadian Seth Rogen in the Michel Gondry-directed No. 1 movie.

But Chou - who plays Kato, the masked driver and sidekick of the eponymous superhero (Kato was originally played by martial-arts star Bruce Lee in the 1960s TV series) - was shunned by the movie's main gal, Diaz, when it came to a kissing scene.

"We wanted Jay to kiss Cameron but I think she didn't want to because she felt the story would lead to a complexity she didn't want to deal with," Gondry said yesterday in an interview with the media at St Regis Hotel.

"She was the one who said no," he said.

Still, Chou isn't preoccupied with leading ladies. Instead, he's got his mind on the United States market.

He did not say whether he has received more movie offers, but he does hope to make it in Tinseltown - as a singer, not an actor.

He would not, however, sing in English. "English is a struggle for me because it's not my native language," he said in Mandarin.

"I don't want to depend on singing in English to break into the US market."

He hopes the movie - which features a Mandarin song by him during the end credits - will give Americans more exposure to Chinese pop music.

"I'm touched that Gondry used my song. I hope people will remember me not as an action star, but as a musician from Asia," Chou said.

The 32-year-old, who has sold over 32 million albums, added: "I've been in the Mandopop industry for 10 years but, in the US, I feel a little regretful that no one knows me.

"I hope people in the US will Google my name after watching the movie and get to know more about Chinese pop music, and watch my music videos."

Chou has also acted in Asian movies like Initial D (2005), for which he won Taiwan's Golden Horse Award and Hong Kong's Film Award for Best New Performer.

He also directed, produced and starred in the romantic film Secret in 2007.

The Green Hornet - which has garnered US$63 million (S$81 million) at the box office as of Sunday - will, if nothing else, expand his reach.

Gondry and Rogen, who wrote The Green Hornet's script, can be counted among his fans.

Gondry praised the chemistry between Rogen and Chou, while Rogen complimented the Asian star's command of English.

"You'd think Chou doesn't understand what we say, but he always gets it," he said.

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