Wu Lei: Time is long and young people can have beautiful dreams

In the last month of 2017, Wu Lei celebrated his 18th birthday. Actor Wu Lei has been labeled as a child star all the way to where he is today. In the 13 years that have passed by so quickly, there have been no significant ups and downs or unexpected rises to fame*. Instead, he has completed his personal growth and transformation through the accumulation of one role after another.

*蹿红 means become famous quickly/overnight. In this case, Wu Lei’s career is build step by step, steadily rising by finishing one role after another, rather than become famous overnight.

We also met a different him along the way, a man who had shed his immaturity and now more mature. Now, standing at the door of 18 years old, he looks at the adult world with curiosity. He is nervous and expectant about the unknown world that was once far away but is now right before his eyes. He is eager to let things take their own course and complete the first and most important leap in his life. His fans call him the brightest boy in the world, probably because they see the stars twinkling in his eyes when he faces the future.

The first time I saw Wu Lei, he was wearing a white sweater, with his delicate face, which was as big as a palm, hidden in the high collar. Wu Lei, with his sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, came towards us with a pure and clean boyish feeling. The smile on his face was like a ray of warm winter sunshine in the fading cold, coming somewhat unexpectedly.

The chat with Wu Lei took place in the dressing room. The entire table in front of him was covered with makeup and hair tools, and there was no place for me to put my phone to record. Wu Lei considerately picked up the phone and placed it on his lap, then playfully said “ahhhh” a few times into the microphone to test the sound waves. “This should make the recording clear!” He did all this naturally. I don’t know whether his personality is suitable for the entertainment industry or the life in the entertainment industry has trained him to have a good personality: Wu Lei is polite, knows his limits, cares about other people’s feelings and knows how to get along with others. The respect he gives to others is also the dignity he retains for himself. The 18-year-old boy has the most precious wealth at the beginning of his life – good upbringing and a kind attitude towards others.

Wu Lei started acting at the age of five, and his growth as an actor had a surprising start. With good talent and hard work, Wu Lei has accumulated a lot of powerful works so far, and has grasped every performance opportunity steadily, without being noisy or impetuous. Suddenly, the little Nezha who was wearing a red bellyband and looked childish and cute back then has skipped the immaturity and ignorance, and his eyes are filled with stubbornness and sharpness. He has both the sharpness of a young man with high spirits and the indifference of gradually realizing the truth of life in each character he plays, revealing a maturity and insight different from his peers.

“In fact, the happiest thing in my daily life is filming. I will be happy if I act well. I don’t have much desire for other things. I just let things take their own course. I’m very satisfied if I can play basketball and games.” As for Wu Lei, who frequently travels to film sets, he has been so busy recently that he doesn’t even have time to play basketball and games. Although he had no extravagant hopes, the young boy now had a sword in his hand and showed his full ambition: “I want to win the Best Actor award!” Every word he said was sincere and touched our hearts.

During the chat with Wu Lei, I found that he didn’t have any heavy burdens, and we didn’t talk about some profound and difficult questions like how to interpret and shape the characters. For Wu Lei, who grew up on the set, filming is a normal part of life and comes naturally. After all, his age, mentality, and experience are there, and he is just an eighteen-year-old child. We saw his spirit and talent, as well as his efforts and strength in his performance, but what was more important was probably the release of his instinctive nature when he stood in front of the camera. This is something that makes him happy and satisfied, it is fun and interesting, and he performed with dedication and seriousness.

This is indeed the case. Wu Lei has lived up to his youth. As an actor, he has benefited a lot from it. “I’m a person who can’t stop. I like new things and can’t stand a particularly boring and stereotyped life. Maybe it is because I am used to the work of an actor. Acting allows me to experience different things and experience the lives of different characters. It is quite colorful.” When I asked him about the role he was most satisfied with so far, he responded very frankly: “There is no most satisfied one. Every play has its shortcomings. Every time I look back at my performance, I feel that it would have been better if I had acted in a different way.” Like many actors, Wu Lei is also afraid to look back at the plays he has played, “but as an actor, you have to watch your own performance, because only in this way can you find your shortcomings and do better next time.”

From this point of view, Wu Lei is indeed a very sincere actor. Although he is young, he is not ambiguous about acting. He said that he cherishes the opportunity to work with different directors and actors, and believes that every performance is an unforgettable and valuable experience. He said that he has learned from many excellent seniors how to be a truly professional actor, and he has also seen their love for their careers and their awe of their profession.

“Acting is my job, my profession, and something I like and enjoy. It’s something I want to keep challenging myself.” For Wu Lei, every role is challenging and worth taking seriously. “As an actor, you have to rely on your performance to speak for yourself in the end!” He doesn’t set any limits on the choice of roles: “I want to try a lot of roles. There are no specific rules or regulations, I just hope to encounter more good scripts and suitable roles!”

Although he has been in the spotlight frequently, Wu Lei’s fame at a young age does not seem to have turned into any arrogance or willfulness. Perhaps because he was influenced by his surroundings since childhood and was used to the ups and downs of the impetuous circle of “life is like a drama, drama is like life”, he is very smart and not well-versed at being overly competitive. From the beginning, he knew clearly what he wanted. He insisted on being an actor and accepted all the conditions of being an actor calmly: “Although I feel a lot of pressure sometimes, since I have chosen this profession, I should bear it.”

It is a bit heartbreaking to hear these words coming from the eighteen-year-old Wu Lei. We are used to the glamour brought by his status as a child star, but we often overlook the efforts and dedication that he made since childhood, which are different from those of his peers. “I have hardly ever tried to travel. Every time I go out, it’s basically for work.” It is said that young people do not know the taste of sorrow. In fact, he is particularly eager to travel freely without work and schoolwork. “If I’m given a ten-day vacation, I want to stay at home for two or three days, and then travel abroad. Whether it is cultural landscapes or natural scenery, there is no specific destination. I just think that after all, the world is so big, and I want to see everywhere. For me, who I travel with is more important than the scenery I see during the trip!”

“Don’t you want to travel alone?”

He thought for a moment, and I could see that he was trying to find an appropriate explanation: “I don’t know, because I have never traveled alone. They are worried about letting me travel alone!”

“Who are they?”

“Everyone!”

He then gave a helpless, bitter smile, with a small, slightly complaining expression on his face. “Sometimes I think it’s not that exaggerated!”

No matter how comfortable he seems to be in front of the outside world, the 18-year-old Wu Lei still shows his true self inadvertently. Young and authentic, perfect and natural.

At this point, I suddenly realized that no matter how rich the acting experience of this big boy in front of me is, how precocious he is compared to his peers, and no matter how comfortable he seems to be when dealing with the media, the 18-year-old Wu Lei is, after all, just a big kid who is bidding farewell to the attitude of a 17-year-old boy. Although he grew up under the spotlight, everyone around him tried their best to carefully protect him. When he was not filming, he would inadvertently show his true self, without excessive packaging, young and authentic, perfect and natural. And because of his authenticity, he is particularly precious and lovable.

Wu Lei, who couldn’t stop talking, excitedly revealed to us his picky and tricky taste buds secret: “I’m very picky about food. I don’t eat beans or nuts. Goji berries and dates can kill me. I can’t accept tomatoes, eggplants, and bitter melons, but I can accept eggs in scrambled eggs with tomatoes.” This discussion about picky eating happened at the last moment of our chat. This should be the most relaxing and lively part of our entire conversation. Wu Lei is completely defenseless against the outside world. Whatever his brain thinks, his mouth says it, and the child’s nature is naturally revealed.

As for the future, this boy who is casual in life but serious at work gave an answer that did not surprise me: “After I turn 18, I want to learn how to drive! The future will be very interesting and worth looking forward to, but I don’t have any specific goals. I just hope that my acting will get better and better, I will do well in the university entrance exam, everything will go smoothly, and everyone will be safe and sound.”

2018 is destined to be a year of extraordinary significance for Wu Lei. Like all high school students with ideals, he is working hard for his target school and is serious about his first major test in life. Wu Lei will also show his brilliance in more diverse roles on the big and small screens. We can perhaps temporarily put aside the cheerful boys in those sunny days and take a peek at new young faces: the arrogant and free-spirited fighting boy Xiao Yan in “Fights Break Sphere”, the imperfect and passionate boy Li Cu in “Tomb of the Sea”, the insightful head Ruyi in the extremely magical world of “Asura”, and the young general who goes to the battlefield and cuts through thorns in “Shadow”… The eighteen-year-old Wu Lei is worth looking forward to.

At the age of eighteen, a person is most energetic, curious, and wants to try everything. This boy who likes to be lively and regards hot sweet potato balls as the most delicious food in the world does not make too many assumptions about tomorrow. He does not let himself carry those heavy burdens and can quickly switch and release bad emotions through sports and games.

The boy is eighteen years old. He has plenty of good time and is eager to grow up freely!

Source: SoFigaro