HONG KONG (AP) — Wayne Wang doesn't like being pigeonholed.

The 58-year-old Chinese-American director says that aversion explains his eclectic body of work, which includes Asian-themed movies and Hollywood films starring Queen Latifah and Jennifer Lopez.

"When I started making films, I was already being boxed in as the Chinese director making Chinese-American material ... I just didn't want to be put in that box," Wang told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Wang first made his name as a pioneer in Asian-American cinema in the 1980s and 1990s with movies such as the detective story "Chan Is Missing", "Eat a Bowl of Tea" and his movie adaptation of the Amy Tan novel "The Joy Luck Club."

He then made the American independent movies "Smoke" and "Blue in the Face," both starring Harvey Keitel.

Wang went on to make a string of Hollywood movies, including the romantic comedy "Maid in Manhattan" starring Jennifer Lopez, and the comedy "Last Holiday," starring Queen Latifah.

Wang also attributes his versatility to the diversity of his upbringing as a teenager in formerly British-ruled Hong Kong, where he attended a Jesuit secondary school and watched British comedies, Hollywood movies and Chinese soap operas.

The director moved to the US in the 1960s and is currently based in San Francisco.

"I kind of became a person who just has to wear a lot of different styles. So it's very natural for me," he said.

After a Hollywood streak, Wang is now back with another pair of Asian-themed movies, "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" and "The Princess of Nebraska," both based on stories by award-winning writer Li Yiyun and both showing at the Hong Kong film festival.

He's also hoping to adapt another novel by a Chinese writer — Ha Jin's "A Free Life."

Wang says he is interested in the lives of recent mainland Chinese immigrants to the US.

Both authors Li and Ha moved to America from China.

Wang said he was also burnt out by the market-driven environment of Hollywood, complaining about so-called "pacing cuts" — the Hollywood practice of cutting scenes that don't advance the story.

"In Hollywood films, you never really get to breathe. You're always being pushed along. Just like fast food basically," he said.

Wang says he is able to survive in both independent cinema and Hollywood by being flexible.

He said "The Princess of Nebraska" was shot on a minimal budget with help from volunteers from the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

When he's shooting a Hollywood movie, Wang said he's willing to play by the rules too.

"I can't say, 'I want this (scene) to just linger on ... sit there for 30 seconds.' I would just get sent away or fired," he said.

Wang said he is reluctant to make a movie in mainland China because he's wary of censorship.

He said Chinese investors who were interested in funding "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers" backed out when Wang refused to cut a line in which the father character says, "Communism is good. It just fell into the wrong hands (in China)."