Tag: Harper’s Bazaar

[Interview] Wu Lei Interview for Harper’s Bazaar (October 2018)

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Wu Lei: Growth is always happening

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

This is a line from a superhero, and it’s also a line that Wu Lei likes.

From a child star to a leading actor in a big drama, how much pressure will it be to grow up under the expectations of everyone? This question cannot be answered by you and me, but you must “tag” Wu Lei to answer.

2018 can be said to be a “Wu Lei year”, especially in the second half of the year, when he directly started to dominate the screen. In a schedule that is so busy that it is hard to breathe, searching and watching your own emoticons is one of the best ways to relax and make Wu Lei laugh to tears. The focus is not on the pictures, but on the imaginative words that netizens have added – “I’m only a teenager. I’m so tired. I’m dancing ballet in the desert.”

The interesting screenshots and the imaginative emoticons are really hilarious, and the key is that they are all true. He’s just a teenager, and it’s just very tiring – of course, that’s not Wu Lei in real life, that’s Li Cu in “Tomb of the Sea”, a leading actor whom he played with great enjoyment and sadness.

“There are green screen shots and many real scenes. It is very exciting to run and fight. It really feels like an archaeological excavation. Li Cu is not a perfect male protagonist, he is just a high school student, and because of his family background, his character is flawed. He is quite extreme and not very good at making friends. In fact, he doesn’t have many friends around him. I think it’s interesting and challenging for an immature and mentally fragile teenager to experience such an adventure, but sometimes it’s a bit sad – he’s in such a bad situation, and this male protagonist is not pleasant.”

The high school student who impulsively searched for treasure in the desert during the summer vacation turned into a counterattacking teenager in “Fights Break Sphere” in the autumn.When Wu Lei knew that he could act in this drama, he described his mood as “stupefied”.

From the perspective of honing his acting skills, he want to challenge playing Li Cu. But from the heart of a young man, Wu Lei is more excited to play Xiao Yan. “It’s very inspiring, from being a loser to finally achieve his goal and become the strong man of his dreams.” Needless to say, he is a huge fan of the original book.

“I went to class during the day and read at night. I hid under the covers and used the flashlight on my phone to stay up late to read.”

As a young celebrity, Wu Lei is very busy. “It’s much better now. I remember when calendar software was first introduced, it was really scary. I felt dizzy when I opened it. There were all kinds of notes and colors, and the whole calendar was like a rainbow.”

Gradually, he got used to the current rhythm. At least in Wu Lei, this energetic young man, we can deeply feel the saying “human potential is infinite”. “Fights Break Sphere” following “Tomb of the Sea” and Zhang Yimou’s new film “Shadow”, has also released a promotional special. Wu Lei, who is wielding a big sword, can make people feel his heroic spirit across the screen. From “Tomb of the Sea” to “Fights Break Sphere”, and then to “Shadow”, Wu Lei has challenged action scenes of different difficulty and types, and has done a good job in helping these action scenes to shape the characters. This is inseparable from the foundation he has trained in martial arts since he was a child, and his temper of striving for perfection in every action.

Compared to those young men on the screen, Wu Lei in real life has the same brilliant innocence, as well as admirable high emotional intelligence and thoughtfulness. When he encounters a question he is not sure about, he will stop and calculate the interview publishing cycle. “Well, it should be available for publication by then.”

“Rebellious period? I’m probably still in it now. I tend to stick to my own ideas, and sometimes I have some arguments with my family over work, but I never do anything out of line… Yes, yes, I’m seriously attached to my mobile phone. What app do I use most? WeChat is the most used, Weibo is the second, and the others are tied for third. As long as I download and use various software, I basically won’t delete them. I keep them all in my phone.”

As he gets older and has more room to shape his roles, “Young Hero” Wu Lei is gradually being asked a new question: “Will you consider taking on art films?”

“I will consider it if there is a suitable one. There are many kinds of art films, and I want to choose the ones that are close to reality and down-to-earth.”

In early August, Wu Lei unveiled his wax figure at Madame Tussauds Shanghai. The most vivid interpretation of this running pose is perhaps in this sentence. “I insisted on choosing this pose despite all the opposition. Everyone thought that I should choose a more handsome martial arts pose, but I think this running pose is more representative.”

“No matter how far you go, you must remember why you set out.” From taking the first step in his acting career at the age of 6 to becoming a promising teenager at the age of 18, Wu Lei has never slacked off and will continue to move forward with all his strength in the future.

Source: Harper’s Bazaar

240409 [Interview] Wu Lei x Dwelling By The West Lake x Bazaar Interview

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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