Chong Qing Business Daily
24 May 2006
The production team for movie [The Longest Night in Shanghai] has allowed us to visit the last filming scene. This is in contrast with their previous stand of preventing the media from disturbing the artistes. In addition, we were granted permission to interview director Zhang Yibai and the leading cast of Zhao Wei and Masahiro Motoki. During the interview, Zhao Wei made the surprising remark of ‘don’t want to fall in love again.’
Casting the worry of image, Zhao Wei is more concerned about the script of her project
[The Longest Night in Shanghai] is a love story that crosses borders. As majority of the scenes occur in the night, Zhao Wei laughingly remarked that she has been living an upside-down life for the past two months. “I’m actually a night person, so I’m alright with it (the night filming). The production team was saying that we can just fly straight to America after the show, as we won’t feel the time difference!”
In the movie, Zhao Wei’s character is a taxi driver, and her image is pretty sloppy. Zhao Wei is nonchalant about the sloppy image though. “I consider the script first before I decide to take on the project, not the image. Indeed, I look pretty simple and casual in the movie. I think if I walk to the supermarket in my present image, people won’t even recognize me. Actually, my priority is to make the audiences feel the beauty within my character…”
Zhao Wei admits that it was not difficult to enact her role, but she needed to take note of her emotions. “I’m very easily swayed by my emotions. So I would not even take calls when I’m filming, so nothing can affect my feelings when I’m filming.”
Obtained top results for Masters Course application
Yesterday, the media reported that Zhao Wei was successful in her application for a Masters course in Beijing Movie Academy. When asked about this, Zhao Wei could not hider her happiness. “My mentor informed that that my application is successful. I haven’t obtained the official notification letter though. The entry exam is nation-wide, so the results were not in school. But I heard that my scores are pretty good; top few positions…” Zhao Wei also confirmed that she would divide her time between acting and studies. “I will not give up my studies. In comparison, I may give up some acting offers if they clash with my study schedule. Most of the production companies are willing to wait for me though, so sometimes if I ask for a few months’ grace, they are usually able to accommodate.”
“What’s so good about falling in love?”
Zhao Wei has not participated in many projects for the past two years. Was she planning for more rest, or that she has increased her expectations of the scripts? Zhao Wei responded that she is in her prime time of her career, and acting is her priority. “Actually, I feel that I don’t need to take on so many offers; just one good movie or television serial per year is good enough.”
When asked about her love life, Zhao Wei retorted, “What is so good about falling in love? I don’t want to fall in love anymore…”
Zhao Wei confirmed that her next project is a television serial named [Thank you for having loved me], where her role is of a magazine editor. When queried about reports that she will be involved in a new film with Zhao Bensan, Zhao Wei said, “I do like to work with Zhao Bensan, but in the film, he needs to carry corpses, which I’m not willing to do…”
Picture: Scribbling on the car windscreen
Picture: The sight of the taxi after an accident
Zhao Wei smashes the car against the lamp post in order to see Dylan Guo
Yesterday, Zhao Wei and Masahiro Motoki appeared near Peace Hotel in Shanghai. We managed to visit the production site. In [The Longest Night in Shanghai], Zhao Wei’s role is that of a taxi driver. She has fallen in love with car mechanic Dylan Guo. In order to see him, Zhao Wei would intentionally wreak her taxi. The production team was enacting one such scene last night.
We saw Zhao Wei scribbling words like ‘Lovers’, ‘We have broken up’, ‘Good friends’ on the car windscreen. After that, she drove the car straight against the lamp post. Motoki was shocked by the scene, and rushed up to her car, shouting in Japanese. “Are you crazy?! Don’t you treasure your life?”
Zhao Wei climbed out of her car nonchalantly, and used a cloth to wipe clean the windscreen. Then, she called Dylan to inform him of the ‘accident’, and that she would be arriving at his garage soon. With a bright smile, Zhao Wei turned and patted Motoki.
We learnt that the production company had purchased 9 cars for the movie. A hot water bottle would be placed in the bonnet of every car, so that once there is an impact, sizzling hot air would emerge from the car.
Translated by Xiao Mei Zi 小妹子
