"Gorgeous" was originally conceived purely as a love story, with Chan as producer, but not as one of the film's cast. In order to secure the actress Shu Qi, the script of the film was re-written and a role for Chan was created. This soon developed into a starring role, and elements of action crept in. However, "Gorgeous" remains primarily a romantic comedy and so it differs from his usual all-out action films. The action scenes are fewer and there is no real bad guy character – the fight with the nominal enemy (played by Brad Allan) is a pre-arranged bout and both fighters wear boxing gloves – competitive rather than motivated by revenge or the fight for survival.