Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 757 Take it slow, don't rush (23)

Mao Xiaotong plays Zhu Yizhen.

According to the character introduction: Zhu Xiaoxian's beloved daughter, a Shanghai tycoon, a progressive young woman with revolutionary ideas, and also an underground member of the Communist Party of China.

To realize her ideals, she abandoned her privileged life as a wealthy heiress, traveling between Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the New Fourth Army's base in southern Zhejiang, dedicating herself to the underground revolution. During this time, she encountered Lin Nansheng, an agent of the Kuomintang's Military Intelligence Bureau, several times, struggling between reason and emotion due to her lack of understanding of his changed identity…

This character is the pinnacle of spy dramas!

Affluent family background, a loving father, a close best friend, a kind and gentle mentor, a soulmate who is devoted to her, and a steadfast communist belief from the very beginning…

The character is also independent, self-reliant, strong, and brave...

They even transferred some of the scenes between Lan Xinjie and Lin Nansheng from the original novel to Zhu Yizhen;
In the original novel, both Zhu Yizhen and Lan Xinjie had romantic relationships with Lin Nansheng, who were respectively the white moonlight and the red rose. However, the script changed the story so that Lin Nansheng was only devoted to Zhu Yizhen.

In terms of character depth, Zhu Yizhen's growth arc is very obvious, and there is a lot of room for development, which can even be said to be second only to Lin Nansheng.

Mao Xiaotong is very serious!

"The Rebel" is her second film as the female lead!
That's right, she had mostly played supporting roles before.

Guo Fu from "The Return of the Condor Heroes", Zhong Ling from "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils"...

The first TV series she starred in was called "The Girl with the Crow's Mouth," a youth idol comedy, and the male lead was... Wang Chuanjun!

"The Rebel" was the role she got after auditioning...

After joining the crew, I was initially a little apprehensive, after all, the entire cast of "The Rebel" is made up of talented actors...

But after filming started, she found that the atmosphere on set was great, and everyone gathered together to talk about their roles.

Especially Shen Yan…

He basically never arrives late or acts like a diva...

The attitude was excellent!
And they're friendly to everyone!

……

"I think acting can be divided into three stages. The first stage is genuine emotion. But this authenticity is not the authenticity of the character, but the expression of the actor's own emotions. The actor uses his own crying and laughing to complete the character's lines."

The tears are for one's own sorrow.

Using real-life experiences to inspire and motivate inexperienced newcomers is particularly effective.

But you can't use it too often, or you'll become numb to it.

Constantly replaying events like heartbreak or the death of a loved one might be okay once or twice, but after a while, you become numb to it.

"And what about the second stage?"

"The second stage is when, with increasing experience and stronger abilities, one has initially mastered the techniques of acting and entered the 'golden stage,' which is a purely technical stage. Whether it's lines, laughter, or tears, one can perform very well and finish quickly..."

80% of actors stop at this stage.

Full of performance skills, many people have started to extract their own memes, as long as they complete the task.

Many celebrities do this!

However, they lack emotion and explosive power. You can't tell if someone is moved just by looking into their eyes, which is why some actors cry while the audience laughs.

At this stage, many actors become familiar with directing and screenwriting techniques, as well as acting in front of the camera. They understand what camera angles, framing, and other visual elements are meant to convey, and acting gradually becomes a technical skill.

"And the third stage?"

"When actors themselves begin to understand the various aspects of life, they finally enter the third stage. A truly 'radiant' performance can touch the hearts of the audience, and this is the third stage of acting."

Having experienced all walks of life, its joys and sorrows, and the warmth and coldness of human relationships, is enough for you to understand the script. This is the most important thing. Understanding the script and simply reading the script are not the same thing.

Understanding the script means finding the emotional climaxes in the characters' dialogue and then imbuing those lines with your own emotions. Whether you laugh, cry, or remain calm—perhaps laughing through tears, crying through laughter, or even a calm, understated expression—all these are expressions of the character's emotions. This is high-level acting.

Such performances combine technique with genuine emotion; this genuineness comes from the real person. "So, which stage are you at?"

"Hard to say... but it's not at the third stage yet!"

"You haven't even reached the third stage yet?"

"I'm only 28 years old, I don't have that much experience!"

"So how did you train?"

“I don’t know,” Shen Yan shook his head: “I can just get into character and feel the character’s joys and sorrows… It’s intuition, it’s innate. I can’t say whether it’s based on details or emotions and expressions, but even if I’m a little bit detached from the character, I immediately get out of character.”

Therefore, many content creators edit clips of Shen Yan's performances, saying things like, "Many actors deliver intense performances and lines, but they don't actually put any emotion into it; they're just acting for the sake of acting. I don't know how to describe it, but it's like the actor is just performing, not the character portraying the character's story... Shen Yan is not like that!"

Hearing Shen Yan's words, Meng Ziyi and Mao Xiaotong exchanged bewildered glances...

Shen Yan continued, "You two are both formally trained and have been taught by teachers!"

Meng Ziyi said, "Our teacher told us to understand the characters, but he didn't explain how to understand them..."

"So what do you learn in class?"

“Observation, imagination, and a sense of proportion…” Meng Ziyi counted on her fingers, then asked Mao Xiaotong, “What else?”

"And imitation..." Mao Xiaotong seemed to remember something: "I remember very clearly, we had to imitate animals..."

"Imitating animals?"

"Yes, it's about unleashing our true nature...we'll even play the clown..."

Shen Yan asked doubtfully, "Will it work?"

"It's still useful!"

The foundation of performance is unleashing one's natural instincts; animal imitations and clown exercises are used to help students overcome nervousness and strengthen their sense of conviction…

Shen Yan shook his head: "I'm self-taught. My acting foundation comes from watching many actors perform and studying films on my own..."

"Have you done any research or preparation, such as writing biographies of the individuals involved?"

"...Yes, I did some research on the walking posture of young people in that era..."

Meng Ziyi interjected: "Do we even need to study how to walk?"

“Of course,” Shen Yan nodded, “physique and appearance are paramount. Look at me in period dramas, I basically walk with a square gait…”

"Four-sided steps?"

"The small square step, which evolved from the opera stage, is a way to walk with your head held high and chest out, your upper body upright and steady, and your feet firmly planted on the ground. It looks very imposing... No matter how fast you walk, your upper body can always remain straight and steady... If you hunch over, your body sways and your lower body is unstable... You look very weak. How could such a person be the male lead?"

Meng Ziyi nodded, then asked, "So... what should I study?"

"You're playing a dancer, a socialite, so practice your eyes more... the kind that's alluring!"

"...I don't know how!"

Shen Yan retorted, "Didn't you used to be a car model? Don't you know how to seduce people?"

Meng Ziyi was surprised: "You...you know all this?"

Shen Yan was speechless: "Big sister... I have shares in your agency, and would I let you join the crew without thoroughly investigating? You should know very well the current environment. Once an actor has even a small problem and it gets exposed, it could very well affect the entire crew!"

"...You mean celebrities with bad records?"

"Correct!"

Shen Yan nodded: "Take your time, don't rush... Director Kong Sheng is very happy to mentor young actors!"

(End of this chapter)