Free growth of youth

In the early summer, the grass and trees are still green, and the force of joy is bred in vitality. Throughout the past few years with us, Wu Lei has grown up a lot now. Every year, his wish is to “be a good person, make a good movie, world peace, and family health”. Like every young boy, he loves to play games and rides his beloved road bike around with the wind; when he talks about acting, he becomes insightful and confident. In Wu Lei, we can always see the blood of the young man, who grew up in freedom, welcoming every surprise.

One day in 2020, Wu Lei suddenly wanted to ride a bicycle. Before walking into that bike shop, he had never been in contact with road bikes. He didn’t know if he would like this sport or what kind of scene he would face in the future. He just bought a bike and started riding it. “It was the first time I rode a road bike that day. I have been riding a regular bicycle since I was a kid. After riding a road bike, I felt amazing. The speed, the weight of the body, and the feeling of breaking the wind were amazing.” Later, we could often see his bike and different scenery in his Vlog.

Cycling brought Wu Lei a lot of relaxation and relieve stress. “Flying on the ground is great,” he said. The only drawback is that it is easy to be “struck” by experts in Beijing. “You know what I’m saying.” Wu Lei could clearly feel our doubts in the words, and explained, “I was overtaken by the big guys, and couldn’t catch up. This is called a “pull-up explosion” in the road lap. I just went back to Beijing and rode my bike. The big guys are just like you. They surpass me, rushing past like lightning, I can’t even look at their back.”

Riding a bike and performing is about making up with yourself. In 2021, actor Wu Lei handed in a beautiful report card. “Our Time” just finished, “The Long Ballad” which is currently on air, and the upcoming “Faith Makes Great” and the “Upcoming Summer” which will be released in the summer, different eras, different personalities, different stories, each of the roles are devoted to Wu Lei’s efforts.

The heat is Wu Lei’s deep memory of the filming of “The Long Ballad”. Under the temperature of more than 30 degrees, he wears thick costumes to shoot the drama. When he received the script of “The Long Ballad”, he was moved by the vast worldview of the original book. “Ah Sun is very handsome, and many of the scenes look cool, exciting and challenging.” In order to restore Ah Sun in everyone’s mind, Wu Lei read scripts and supplemented comics.

How do people who grew up in the city interpret the travel people who grew up on the boundless grassland? Wu Lei still has no definite answer. “The combination of the wild nature of the grassland and the frank character of Sun is difficult for me. It is not simple to act as the domineering boss. Many times, Ah Sun, who looks naive, is not the real him. He is a person who has a very delicate mind and cares about the feelings of people around him.” How to grasp the performance is a difficult problem. Wu Lei’s solution is to follow the plot.

When the first stills were exposed, the whole network praised “God Restore*”. After the series was aired, Wu Lei was even more affirmed by the audience for his acting skills. He felt “grateful”, “I really read the manhua and experienced it.” This is the particularity of the actor’s work. After putting himself in the role, the actions and emotions will naturally come from the role. *God Restore (神还原) = perfect imitation of the role in a show/drama

Unbridled Youth, Multiple Interpretations

Contrary to Sun’s intention, Xiao Fang in “Faith Makes Great” is serious and sad. Wu Lei said: “The prototype of Xiao Fang is an admirable local reporter, formerly known as Fang Dazeng, under the pseudonym Xiao Fang. He was the first person to report on the Lugouqiao Incident, and he is a very powerful, outstanding and outstanding young photographer. He has been on the front line for many years, using the camera to record the soldiers and civilians of the War of Resistance, and contributing to the War of Resistance in his own way.” In history, Xiaofang issued the last report on September 30, 1937, “Changes in the Northern Section of Ping-Han”. He disappeared later, at the age of 25.

The photos of Lugou Bridge taken by Fang Dazeng are widely circulated, but there were few personal records of the hero’s life. In order to understand the life of this hero, Wu Lei read a lot of literature and exchanged with scholars who specialize in Fang Dazeng. He especially studied the use of Xiaofang’s common cameras, “I want to try to restore the Fang Dazeng in everyone’s memory.” Wu Lei hopes that the vocabulary and shooting can match the history as much as possible, because Xiao Fang is a great figure in his heart. “I’m actually a little stressed out.” He said, “The effect should be okay, but I haven’t seen it as a film yet.”

From the young hero of the Republic of China to the fashionable modern youth Zheng Yuxing in “Upcoming Summer”, Wu Lei has a different experience. “He is a Party Boy who knows exactly what he wants and has his own dreams.” This movie is also Wu Lei’s re-cooperation with Zhang Zifeng after “Adoring”. “The first time we worked together I acted as a blind man, and I couldn’t look at her directly at the time.” This time he could finally play a good match with Zhang Zifeng.

“The movie is very youthful, with a lot of random parts, it looks crazy and interesting.” Wu Lei said. He doesn’t tell the specific story, “You will know it after watching the movie, and I can’t tell you.” Youth always has laughter, some presumptuous, some madness, there are countless new things waiting to be experienced one by one. For this role, Wu Lei specifically learned how to play DJ-ing and likes it too. In the interview, he vowed to say, “I may not perform, but I shouldn’t leave it.”

A while ago, he had a “Master of Duanshui*” video on the Internet, and marketing accounts published several of his own works. In this interview, we specifically asked which role he would like to be more. “I think Xiao Chuang will be more popular.” Wu Lei said, this is the young entrepreneur who starred in “Our Time” he just finished.

*Master of Duanshui (端水大师) refers to a person who treats people equally and acts impartially; those who can do things in an apparently impartial way so that no one will complain about it. 

Xiao Chuang, as a waiver of the times, is inherently attractive. “He is a Playboy who is even more Party Boy than a Party Boy. He can be friends with anyone, can turn enemies into friends, has a very high emotional intelligence and ability to do things, and is very loyal and empathetic.” Xiao Chuang is a person who doesn’t feel embarrassed/awkward and is willing to take great risks for his friends. The most important thing is that he is “the ultimate good man who is willing to do everything for his lover.” If there is such a person in real life, how can he be unpopular?

After talking, he carefully analyzed the other roles. “Why not Ah Sun in the first place? Only Li Changge can see Ah Sun’s touching side. “Ah Sun’s tenderness is only shown to the people he loves, and strangers may not like this character. Zheng Yuxing will be popular as a rebellious adolescent boy with ideas, but his dislike of making friends hinders his popularity. “He is lonely in some ways.”

If Wu Lei is allowed to choose, he just wants to be Zheng Yuxing. “The young boy in the youth movie is fairly comfortable.” After all, “Ah Sun ‘cuts*’ people here and there, I don’t dare to do it. Xiao Chuang experienced a lot of ups and downs in his life, many failures, many times starting from scratch to be successful again. His strong heart and never admit defeat, I guess I don’t have it either.”

*cut = he killed a lot of people since he was in the military and had to lead his army for battles.

Confidence in acting and lying flat in life

How an actor can switch between several roles has always been one of the most curious questions for general audiences. “It means you become a person and show it to the audience.” The performance has a switch in Wu Lei’s heart, and the roles will automatically switch between the characters. “It takes process and time and these are the basic ways of doing it.”

Breakthroughs in performance have always been a breakthrough for the actors themselves, not breakthrough characters. “If you play your own part well, you will do it with sincerity,” said Wu Lei. He also wanted to break through his own image and ability, and wanted the audience to see his own difference. There are also joys that ordinary people can’t enjoy even if they play different roles. Wu Lei said: “I think acting is a little good. We can change jobs in three to four months. For me, I have never felt alone or tired. It has always been very fresh and facing different cities, different characters, different lives.”

In the face of criticism from the audience, Wu Lei proposed that actors should have their own self-confidence. “The opinions of the audience must be seen and listened to, but I always believe in my own aesthetics.” An actor must have a ruler to measure acting skills in his mind, and he must not be influenced by public opinion and not follow the trend. “You must do what you believe in.” Wu Lei said seriously. “I don’t have confidence in how to make the audience believe in the role.” In life, you can be uncomfortable, self-doubtful, or even indecisive, but performance must be determined.

He has been an actor for more than ten years and has acted. in countless roles. Wu Lei hopes that everyone will remember his role, “You don’t even need to remember my name.” He is also eager to appear in more outstanding works, “Picking out works and characters, and if my work can bring good things to people or change some bad things, then that is my ultimate goal.”

Wu Lei is also under pressure. Some of his work life will be better in the future, and some will be unavoidable. “Some things are remembered this time, and they can be changed if you try next time.” As for the real force majeure, it can only lie flat. He said: “If you encounter something that can be changed, just work hard this time, and work hard next time and just change it well.”

As a person who starts to feel uncomfortable after resting for more than ten days, Wu Lei’s dream is to be a wasteful person who will not panic and feel at ease when resting. When alone, he would lie down and play with his mobile phone. “When the phone screen is black, a picture of your face appears on the screen. That’s all.” But he couldn’t take a long break. He must find something to do.

Recently, Wu Lei, who has just finished filming, just wants to hurry up and enjoy the fun of cycling. In Beijing, he often meets road bike enthusiasts like him, “Everyone will look at each other, see each other’s calves, compare speed, and ride a bike.” Speaking of bicycles, Wu Lei can talk about it endlessly. “The happiest time for road bikers is when you start, the sound of the pedal when it clicked and locked.”

We can’t fully understand the happiness of sports enthusiasts, but from his description, we can feel that Wu Lei really likes this sport. As a newbie on the road, he said he wanted to go to Chang’an Avenue and Miaofeng Mountain. “Chang’an Avenue is very pleasant, the road is very spacious, and you can see Tiananmen Square, and you can see a lot of scenery when you go to the suburbs.”

“Do you want to be the boss of ‘popping*’ others in the future?” “I think.” Wu Lei answered without hesitation.

*popping/pull burst (拉爆) = it's a dialect in Chongqing and has different definitions so i chose the best one; it means being dry and vigorous which describes a lean but energetic person, with a temperament that is above fire (high-temperament).

Translations credit to @wuleiarchive. Source article: Men’s Uno