Wu Lei’s explosive moment as a shining young man

Wu Lei just turned 18, but as one of the most promising new generation actors in the entertainment industry he already has dozens of film and television works in his hands. He is appreciated by big directors, favored by the big screen, and his acting skills are recognized. He is popular and well-known among the people. More importantly, after more than a decade in the entertainment industry, his innocence and youthfulness have not been worn away at all.

The day before the cover shoot, Wu Lei had just cut his hair short. In his words, “I dedicated my shortest hairstyle to Men’s Uno.” But the reason for the haircut was that he didn’t have to film for a while. From his tone, you can feel the joy of “letting go of myself”.

This boy, who has been in the industry since he was 3 years old, shot his first commercial and grew up in the crew, is finally going to spend half a year returning to his student status to prepare for this year’s college entrance examination. What is the most difficult time for most children is an extremely happy “vacation” for him.

But in the next few months, the movies “Asura” and “Shadow” and the TV series “Fights Breakk Sphere” and “Tomb of the Sea” will be released one after another. Each of them is a big production, and the concentrated explosion of his works makes it impossible for you to ignore his presence. The year 2018 is destined to be infinitely wonderful for this shining boy.

A concentrated burst of works

mu: 2018 should be considered the year of your works. Please first introduce to us several of your upcoming works.

Wu Lei: This year, there should be four works for everyone to watch: Shadow, Fights Break Sphere, Tomb of the Sea, and Asura. In Shadow, I play a young military commander who is always fighting. In Asura, I play a kid who herds sheep. Fights Break Sphere tells the story of a kid who grows from a “good-for-nothing” to someone who can achieve his goals. Tomb of the Sea tells the story of an ordinary high school student who is involved in a very fierce fight.

mu: Are there any of these characters that are similar to you?

Wu Lei: They all look like me. Of course, the characters I play look like me.

mu: How did you join the crew of Shadow?

Wu Lei: Someone contacted me and said there was such a role, and asked me if I wanted to try it. If I was willing, I could come for an interview. I first met the assistant director, and then I met director Zhang Yimou. He roughly told me the background of the whole story and how he hoped I would play it, and that was it.

mu: What is your impression of director Zhang Yimou?

Wu Lei: He is a director who has many ideas about movies and has very high requirements. What impressed me most was his “focus”. But he is actually a very friendly person. When communicating with actors, he is very willing to listen to your ideas.

mu: Will he criticize others?

Wu Lei: Yes, of course it’s not malicious criticism, he just says whatever he thinks and he really doesn’t miss any details.

mu: After the collaboration, what did the director say about you?

Wu Lei: Of course he encouraged me to act well and be a good person.

mu: In this movie, who do you have more scenes with?

Wu Lei: Mainly with Teacher Hu Jun, and then Brother Qianyuan. He hits me and I hit him back.

mu: Was it difficult for you to play the role of this little warrior?

Wu Lei: First of all, it was very difficult physically, because I had to wear heavy armor and fight in the rain. Secondly, Director Zhang Yimou was very demanding on the details of the performance. Filming with him was indeed very stressful, but of course I could also learn a lot.

mu: Do you need to do supplementary work like watching his movies or biographies because you are going to work with Zhang Yimou?

Wu Lei: I don’t need to do that. I have basically watched all of his works. Because I like watching movies and I’m an actor, so I will watch all the movies of the greatest Chinese directors.

mu: Which of his work do you like best?

Wu Lei: He had already produced many good works before I debuted. My favorites include “Hero” and “Curse of the Golden Flower”.

mu: The characters you have played in recent years all have very high martial arts skills. Do you have a basic foundation in martial arts, or do you learn on the spot for each role?

Wu Lei: I don’t have any foundation, it’s all accumulated experience. Because there will be some training before each play begins, I will learn from the martial arts masters, and now I can learn the moves faster.

mu: How do you think of your fighting skills?

Wu Lei: Actually, I’m still an amateur, just some fancy moves.

mu: Can three or five people get close to you?

Wu Lei: That’s definitely not possible. We need at least 50 people. (Smirk)

mu: bragging!

Wu Lei: I think one thing that’s particularly interesting is, for example, when I was filming “Tomb of the Sea”, I played a very ordinary person who was beaten badly by others. But I had just finished filming “Fights Break Sphere”. Based on my character in the previous play, dealing with these people is a very easy matter. If I blow a breath, they will all die. I feel secretly happy just thinking about it, haha!

mu: After filming so many action scenes, have you ever been injured?

Wu Lei: That happens a lot, but I don’t think it’s necessary to talk about it.

mu: “Tomb of the Sea” was filmed in the desert, the conditions must have been very difficult, right?

Wu Lei: It’s actually quite dry, with a huge temperature difference between day and night. It was really cold at night. The most depressing thing was the lack of internet. Another thing that left a deep impression on me was that one time we were filming in the desert and it suddenly snowed.

mu: Can we see the real scene of snow falling in the desert in the drama?

Wu Lei: I don’t see it (in the drama), it’s not captured in the filming camera. But I took a lot of photos and kept them.

Meet the Growing Self

mu: The filming of “Fights Break Sphere” took quite a long time, about 5 months?

Wu Lei: Yes, filming this drama was indeed very tiring, and I also put a lot of effort into it. Before filming, I had read the novel of Fights Break Sphere, and after reading it, I said that I must act in this drama one day. At that time, I was just a little kid, only thirteen or fourteen years old. I didn’t expect my dream to come true.

mu: Did you actively strive for this role or was it a coincidence?

Wu Lei: The production team found me and it was a perfect match.

mu: Since you are a fan of the book, you must have had some understanding and imagination of the role beforehand. After performing the role, how would you rate yourself?

Wu Lei: Since I’m a fan of the book, I roughly know what the fans want, and I put everything I wanted to act into the role. I think the Xiao Yan I played should not be too different from what everyone imagines.

mu: “Asura” has always been very mysterious. Can you tell us something about this play?

Wu Lei: For me, it’s actually just a play about myself.

mu: What do you mean?

Wu Lei: I just fought with myself throughout the whole play.

mu: Was most of the filming done in front of a green screen?

Wu Lei: Yes, a lot of CG.

mu: Each crew will form a different crew culture due to its member composition and shooting environment. After shooting so many dramas, is there any crew that left a particularly deep impression on you?

Wu Lei: They are all very profound. For example, “Sand Sea” was produced by a very new team composed of a group of young people; and “Fights Break Sphere” was produced by a very experienced and professional team, with a fixed cast. They knew what to do at every step and everyone was moving forward steadily; “Asura” was very international. Although it was all invested by China, in addition to the Chinese team, there was also a first-line American team working together; needless to say, “Shadow” was a golden combination under director Zhang Yimou.

mu: Which crew has better welfare? For example, food

Wu Lei: Every crew was very nice to me and would give me extra food because I was very popular with the cafeteria aunties. They would always give me the most meat, maybe because they thought I still needed to grow.

mu: Yes, you just turned 18 and are now in puberty. Do you think you have ever been rebellious during puberty?

Wu Lei: Yes, but my adolescence and rebellious period were mostly spent in every drama, and the characters I played were all quite rebellious.

mu: Do you think you mature earlier than your peers?

Wu Lei: In the past, reporters asked me if there was a generation gap between me and people of the same age, and I always said no. But today, I feel that there really is a little bit of a generation gap between me and my peers.

mu: So what kind of person are you among your friends?

Wu Lei: Among my peers, I am considered a leader, but when I have older brothers with me, I just follow them and play.

mu: Are most of your friends people of the same age or older?

Wu Lei: Most of them are older.

mu: What’s your style in your circle of friends?

Wu Lei: I may only post once every few months, so many people think I have blocked them, but I don’t, it’s just that I rarely post. I only post when I’m in a particularly good or bad mood.

mu: When you are in a bad mood, what do you do to cheer yourself up?

Wu Lei: Sports and fitness.

mu: Do you have any “passionate” hobbies in life?

Wu Lei: I spent all my pocket money on headphones. But I was very careful when buying each pair. First because I knew what I liked, and second because they were really expensive, so I would do my homework before buying each pair.

mu: How many headphones do you have?

Wu Lei: I gave away a lot of them. I have about seven or eight pairs now.

mu: Since you love listening to music so much, have you ever considered realizing your musical dream?

Wu Lei: No.

mu: Why?

Wu Lei: To have no courage is to lack courage.

mu: You haven’t taken any acting jobs recently. Is it because you are preparing for the arts exams?

Wu Lei: Yes.

mu: Do you have a target school?

Wu Lei: Yes, but I can’t tell you.

mu: It shouldn’t be difficult for you, right?

Wu Lei: It’s quite difficult, because I’m an actor, and what I’m best at is acting with a script, not reciting, singing, or dancing. So it’s really difficult.

mu: Finally, let’s make a wish for 2018.

Wu Lei: Can I make two wishes? To get into my ideal school, and to have my works released online.

Source: Men’s Uno