Wu Lei: Dare to take risks and embrace new life

“Embrace a New Adventure”

Perhaps due to his personality, the 18-year-old Wu Lei doesn’t talk much. He is very restrained, which is rare among his peers, but his eyes are extremely clear and focused when he looks at people. Wu Lei was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy with the first place in the country in the acting major. he will enter the university and start a new life. The road of youth is long, and this young man with fine clothes and strong horses* has unlimited possibilities in the future.

*鲜衣怒马 used to describe young heroes who are full of vigor and vitality. This term not only describes the external luxury, but also emphasizes a kind of spiritual heroism and self-confidence.

The Joy of Acting

When talking about the new work “Shadow”, Wu Lei recalled the days of filming. It was a hot day, and he wore armor weighing 15 kg (30斤) every day and waved a big sword in front of the camera. This latest work directed by Zhang Yimou is scheduled to land in the theaters during the National Day on September 30. Wu Lei plays the role of the young general Yang Ping in the film. In the previously released trailer, there was a scene of a bloody sword cutting through water. Wu Lei was fully armed and his body was suspended. It took 17 shots to complete it. The external hardship is secondary. “In Director Zhang’s crew, there is pressure every minute and every second.” This kind of pressure was not given by Zhang Yimou. On the contrary, in Wu Lei’s eyes, Director Zhang was formidable**, but very friendly and would not put any pressure on him. The so-called pressure all came from himself, not from others.

**不怒自威 means someone who can make you feeling intimidated due to their dignified aura, even when they’re not being angry.

The leading actors of Shadow include Sun Li, Deng Chao, Wang Qianyuan and Hu Jun, all of whom are well-known actors who are good at acting. In the crew, there are also a group of very professional staff around. “You will involuntarily feel pressured and hope that you can be as professional and excellent as them.” There are many fighting scenes in Shadow, and the fighting scenes themselves are not a problem. Wu Lei will also do some physical training when he works out. Before the start of filming, there will be special action training for the fighting scenes in the play, but the most difficult part for Wu Lei is that he has to act while fighting. While fighting, he also have to pay attention to his facial expressions and release his emotions just right, which is not so easy to control.

This role is a challenge for the 18-year-old Wu Lei, but he likes this feeling. Every time he completes a shot, especially when it meets his expectations, he enjoys the satisfaction, just like making a three-pointer in basketball, which is very satisfying. In Wu Lei’s view, this “special satisfaction” is exactly the joy of acting.

Is Yang Ping in Shadow the most difficult role he has ever played? Wu Lei shook his head and said no. “How should I put it? Every time I act in a play, I always feel that the role is extremely difficult.” Every time he reads the script, he gets a headache, and feels from the bottom of his heart that the character he is about to play is particularly complicated. Wu Lei does not think that he is a complicated person. His experience is relatively simple. Apart from filming, there is little else. Like many child stars, he has been in and out of various crews since he was a child, playing roles such as the protagonist’s childhood or son. For child stars like him who have been acting since childhood, the window to observe the world is the crew.

Because child actors don’t spend much time in school, they often fall behind in their studies. For young actors who have been acting since childhood, their studies are somewhat different from those of ordinary children. They are familiar with all aspects of the crew and filming, but they know very little about some experiences that ordinary children have. Take Wu Lei for example, he doesn’t go to the supermarket to buy things like ordinary children, at least not in China.

In his words, “That would seriously affect other people’s shopping experience.” But he doesn’t have this worry when he goes abroad. When he goes to a supermarket abroad to buy things, no one will watch him. Someone once asked Wu Lei what he disliked most about being an actor. Wu Lei replied that it might be this lack of freedom.

If he is not filming, Wu Lei’s usual entertainment is to stay at home and watch movies, and occasionally go out to play basketball. Basically, most of his friends are also made in the crew. However, in Wu Lei’s opinion, “You can learn a lot even from chatting with people around you.” No matter how busy you are at work or how many things you have to do, as long as you pay attention, you can always find opportunities for “input”.

People Who Can’t Stop

Wu Lei likes acting. A life without acting is unimaginable to him. As an actor, he can do things that he cannot do normally, such as martial arts scenes, where he has the power to go up to Heaven and down to Underworld***. It feels like he is in the world punishing evildoers and eliminating evil.

***上天入地 decribed having great supernatural power and also a metaphor for running around to achieve a certain goal.

He has had a hero complex since he was a child. He is a fanatic fan of Ultraman and has a special liking for movies about saving the earth. Since his youth, he has particularly liked superheroes like Iron Man, “The Avengers”, “Spider-Man”, etc. In short, they are all extraordinary characters.

In the past two years, as he grew up, the films he made were mostly fantasy or adventure-themed. For example, in Tian Can Tu Dou’s “Fights Break Sphere”, he played the leading male role Xiao Yan; in “Tomb of the Sea”, the sequel to “Grave Robbers’ Chronicles” written by Nan Pai San Shu, he played the leading male role Li Cu. “I’m a person who cannot stop, I like new things, and I can’t stand a particularly boring and stereotyped life.” As an actor, Wu Lei feels that he seems to be able to walk into different lives and experience different lives.

He has appeared in more than 50 TV series and 9 movies since his debut more than 10 years ago. He has been filming with his mother since he was 5 years old, such as the little Nezha in The Legend and the Heroes, the little Yang Guo in The Romance of the Condor Heroes, etc. Of course, the role that the audience is most familiar with is Fei Liu in “Nirvana in Fire”, a role that made him famous.

At a young age, he had suffered a lot for filming. When he was 11 years old, he accidentally cut himself while filming. Because the filming schedule was too tight, he didn’t get stitches. Later, the skin grew and left an indelible scar. Another time, his left hand was burned, it was horrible, but he just wrapped it with gauze.

Someone once asked if Wu Lei is a “mama’s boy”? In fact, he is just filial. Wu Lei once said that his mother was a big motivation for him to move forward. Now that he has grown up, he can no longer focus on playing. He hopes to be independent as soon as possible and not make his mother work too hard.

Hu Ge, who co-starred with Wu Lei in Nirvana in Fire, once commented on Wu Lei: “He entered society very early and has filmed so many dramas. He is more mature than his peers, but he does not have a unruly mentality. He is very upright, which is rare.” There are two key points in this statement, one is “mature” and the other is “upright”. The so-called maturity may be due to his personality. He doesn’t talk much. Few of his peers speak as restrainedly as he does. As for “upright”, his eyes looking at people are extremely clear and focused, which can easily make you believe that such a young man is naturally very “upright”, an “upright” person with a good family background.

The scenes he filmed when he were young were relatively simple. When Wu Lei was happy, he would smile from ear to ear, and when he was sad, he would cry loudly. Later, as he played more roles, his understanding of acting also increased. Acting cannot be superficial. If he wants to show something deeper, he must learn how to get into the role and integrate himself with the role.

Three years ago, after filming Nirvana in Fire, the 16-year-old Wu Lei said that his dream was to be a good actor. “Every actor doesn’t want to be stereotyped, so I really want to grow up, leave behind the identity of a child star, and show a more diverse and mature image of a man. I hope that in the future audiences can judge me as a good actor, that’s enough.”

From a child star to a good actor, the gap between them is actually very large. Perhaps, it require the process of transformation****. In this year’s art exam, Wu Lei was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy with the first place in the country in the acting major. In September, he will enter university for further studies. He will only turn 19 at the end of this year, and his youth is still long. This young man with fine clothes and strong horses has unlimited possibilities in the future

****脱胎换骨 is to shed one’s mortal body and exchange one’s bones. It’s an idiom means to change wholly.

Talk to Wu Lei

mu: What are your expectations for the upcoming college life?

Wu Lei: I look forward to studying hard. I also hope to have some good brothers in college. Most of my current friends are people I met on the set, because I usually spend a lot of time on set.

mu: After entering college, in what aspects do you hope to improve further?

Wu Lei: All aspects, everything about actors. Many actors start their acting career in college. I started earlier than them, so I have to settle down during college. As a person, including all aspects of acting, there is still a lot of room for improvement, and I believe that I will be able to improve in college.

mu: Acting in “Shadow” is your first time to work with Director Zhang Yimou. What kind of help did he give you?

Wu Lei: Working with Director Zhang is just the normal communication between a director and an actor. Director Zhang is a world-class director, and his crew is a golden combination. There is no need to say much about professionalism. The key is their seriousness and enthusiasm when filming, which touched me deeply and benefited me a lot.

mu: You can learn different things in different teams, right?

Wu Lei: Yes, the crew of “Tomb of the Sea” is a young team. The director and photographer are both graduates of the Beijing Film Academy. I have absorbed a lot of fresh ideas and concepts from them. And the director of “Fights Break Sphere” is Yu Rongguang, who is very experienced and capable. I have learned a lot of practical and experienced experience from him.

mu: What efforts have you made for “Shadow”?

Wu Lei: Not just “Shadow”. In fact, I put a lot of effort into every play. The most tiring one is actually “Fights Break Sphere”, which has a lot of scenes, more than a thousand scenes, and there are not many scenes without me in the whole play. “Fights Break Sphere” took a full six months to shoot, and I went to six or seven places across the country, including Guizhou, Yunnan, etc. I was tired but happy, because I’m a fan of the novel “Fights Break Sphere”, and I was fascinated from beginning to end.

mu: “Fights Break Sphere” and “Tomb of the Sea” are two new dramas this year, and you played the leading role in both of them. What is the difference between these two roles for you?

Wu Lei: Xiao Yan in “Fights Break Sphere” and Li Cu in “Tomb of the Sea” are both passionate young men, but Xiao Yan is not as weak and helpless as Li Cu. He is more positive and knows what he wants when he appears. He has a clear goal from beginning to end. Li Cu is constantly exploring and gradually finding himself. He has his own flaws and is not a perfect character. This character has more layers.

mu: So the role of Li Cu is more challenging for you?

Wu Lei: Li Cu’s personality is more negative and extreme, which is somewhat different from the roles I played before, and is not very similar to my own personality. I need to figure out the character well, and figure out his psychology by reading novels and scripts.

mu: How to figure it out?

Wu Lei: Imagination. Actors need imagination. Imagine what it would be like if this happened to such a person, and what kind of reaction and actions he would make.

mu: Are there any scenes that impressed you deeply?

Wu Lei: Yes, for example, walking in the desert and struggling in the water in “Tomb of the Sea”, and the breaking of the engagement and revenge in “Fights Break Sphere” all left a deep impression on me. These scenes that impressed me have one thing in common, that is, they have a greater impact on the fate of the characters in the play. It’s the kind of “powerful plot”.

mu: After filming, will you have any regrets when you look back at the drama?

Wu Lei: There are regrets in every drama. For example, in “Fights Break Sphere”, I’m a loyal reader of the novel, and I feel that some plots in the original novel are missing, which is quite regrettable. But this drama also presents the whole story, so I’m quite satisfied. There are also some plots in the original novel of “Tomb of the Sea” that cannot be restored in the drama.

mu: Are you satisfied with your performance in these two dramas?

Wu Lei: It doesn’t matter if I’m satisfied, the audience must be satisfied.

mu: Are you afraid of repeating yourself when filming?

Wu Lei: Yes, actors hope that each of their roles is unique, and of course they will worry that these roles will be difficult for the audience to distinguish.

mu: Will you deliberately take on different types of roles in the future?

Wu Lei: I don’t know. I think the most important thing when accepting a role is to read the script.

mu: Have you ever thought about what kind of life you might live if you didn’t act?

Wu Lei: Maybe there will be other alternatives. But I think a life without acting is unimaginable.

Source: Men’s Uno