Giddens Ko, pictured here along with some of his books, is an eccentric character. Though some are offended by him, he has an enormous and loyal following for everything he puts out. He seems to be constantly doing something provocative, something out of the ordinary, even when it comes to an action as simple as a photograph. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Giddens Ko is Taiwan’s best-selling author—and that’s no exaggeration! For five straight years, his books stood at the top of bestseller lists year in and year out. It was only in 2011 that he yielded the top spot to someone else, because he was too busy exploring another genre: filmmaking.

The film You Are the Apple of My Eye, which he directed (and for which he wrote the screenplay, based on an earlier novel), was structured around the themes of “love” and “youth.” It also served as a vehicle for him to broadcast his—as he often puts it—“passionate pursuit of my silver-screen dream.” The film did incredibly well in Taiwan, with box-office returns of NT$460 million, as well as in Hong Kong, where, despite the slump in the local film industry, Apple earned HK$60 million. Ko is relentlessly self-promoting, vulgar, and deliberately provocative and combative online, so how has he been able to get so successful?

For the 2011 Golden Horse Awards, the film You Are the Apple of My Eye was nominated in four categories: best director, best actress, best newcomer, and best title song. Although when the envelopes were opened in November, it won only “best newcomer,” Giddens Ko still stole the media limelight. As the program hosts said, “That’s just the way life is, Giddens: you can have fame or honor but not both!”

Giddens Ko maintained his usual arrogant and insouciant expression, declaring: “Before the film opened in theaters, I expected the box office would be NT$500 million.”

He hadn’t mentioned this figure to anyone before the film hit it big. It’s not that he was afraid of being laughed at, he just didn’t want the media to focus all its attention on his “big head.” He admits, “I already had a big head even before I got famous. People have said that I’m cocky and have a big mouth, but every single thing I’ve talked about I’ve done, so what right do people have to call me pretentious or arrogant?”

It has now been more than three months since the film opened, but it is still much talked about. On the day we visit Ko, he has seven interviews lined up, and he patiently answers the same questions over and over again.

“Making a film requires the skills and dedication of a large number of people, as well as some providential intervention. It can’t be done just by a single person relying on their own efforts. Therefore I’m extremely, extremely modest about the making of this film.” In contrast to his public image—taking his pants off while lecturing at a girls’ high school, ruthless take-no-prisoners wars of words over the Internet—he is warm and polite during our interview, and does not lose his temper when asked prickly questions.