How did you first get in touch with Gu Xiaogang?
“I already really liked ‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains’ directed by him. Then, he sent the script to me and I was immediately attracted after reading it. Of course, I hesitated for a long time because I was afraid of not doing a good job. I was filming another project at that time and I was worried about not being able to adjust my mindset. However, the director and the producers encouraged me a lot and I could eventually be confident enough. Later, the filming was also a bliss. We talked a lot in the early part of the process, about DBTWL but also about the movies that we enjoyed and disliked, about our hobbies, in short it was to enhance our mutual understanding. Don’t be fooled by Gu Xiaogang’s artistic and literary style, he used to be a teenager who enjoyed esports (laughs).”
In addition to DBTWL, you have also recently played in ‘All Ears’, a movie with artistic and literary attributes, can we discuss your recent approach to choosing projects?
“Of course I want to try different kind of projects but I don’t choose a certain theme on purpose, I just filter out the opportunities I have. In general, I still prioritize the character, I will still choose roles that attract me. I will also adjust and change my performance style according to the different themes.”
How were you feeling most of the time during the filming?
“I think this time, my performance relied on improvisation a lot. Director gave me a lot of freedom and he often gave us fresh stimulations and instructions. Everyone had to give out a new reaction based on new situations. We often filmed for a long time, the longest being two hours and we only had two or three lines for that scene. Director would tell me ‘Talk when you want to talk again’. I needed to slowly feel the space, the characters and the performance of that movie and quietly wait for the right moment to take action.”
You have many scenes located in the countryside when you spent most of your life in the city, how did you immerse yourself in your character ?
He Mulian is a complex character, although he comes from the countryside, his rural attributes have almost completely faded. After all, he attended university for four years in the city so he got used to the urban atmosphere. He looks like a “son of nature” and by that, I don’t mean the kind of character in a superhero movie with special abilities, but I’m saying he can become one with nature, he’s very intimate with trees, with bugs and wild animals. He’s not the spokesperson of nature but he is the son of nature. He’s like a plant in the forest, a big tree, or a lotus, he has a non-confrontational temperament. That’s why I went to botanical gardens prior to the filming and I started to grow plants myself, wishing I could get a deeper connection with them.”
What kind of plants did you grow?
For example, three-seven leaves (ginseng), amaryllis, in short all kinds of flowers and plants. I think plants also have preferences, they also think and seek for the direction of light, for places where nutrients are and they have things they don’t like. You need to understand the language of plants. During the filming, we also shot many dialogues with plants. It can sound a bit unreliable but I really think plants have their own intelligence.
Although Mulian is emotionally stable most of the time, there are moments where he almost falls into madness. How did you approach that state of mind?
Because we were constantly filming pyramid schemes scenes, I was also constantly stimulated. The despair and disbelief Mulian felt at the end actually coincided with my own feelings. I remember when he was turning insane, he almost fell into chaos, chopping down a tree restlessly. Chopping that tree was not only about killing his father, but he was also killing his conscience, justice and his innocence. That feeling of being unable to distinguish passive and active is also a feeling I have experienced. But fortunately, he eventually woke up in time and returned to the right track of life.
You also create some shots yourself, such as vlogs like “Ride Now”. You are also collaborating with more and more directors so how do you approach such a thing as filming now?
Filming vlogs is actually based on my own preferences, I will do it according to how interesting, how amusing it is. It is a slow journey that is different to daily life. Choosing the location beforehand, planning it, filming it on the road, collecting materials for post-production, coloring and editing it, releasing it and reading fans and audience’s reactions are all part of the journey. However, I have always been resisting this identity of being the “Director of Ride Now”. It’s not that I can’t accept it, it just makes me nervous. Because I think every field has its professionals, I’m not a director because I feel like I am one. But it’s true that I can’t find a better description, maybe I just want to be the director of my own life.”
Translation credit to @eowuli
Wu Lei Galaxy 