Shanghai Weekly
26 July 2006
Words: Zhao Ling
Photos: Wang Wei Hua
Contributed by : Shui He Xiang Jiang
You must have known the incident in Old Trafford’s changing room, when Sir Alec Ferguson kicked the football shoe and it hit David Beckham’s forehead. For outsiders who were not at the scene, you would never know if Sir Alec meant to hit David’s forehead. Outsiders can only speculate and guess, as the changing room is out of bounds. Similary, artistes’ resting room is also a ‘restricted area’. Earlier, we had the opportunity to venture into the resting room of the cast of [Thank you for having loved me], and managed to have a chat with the leading artistes Zhao Wei, Zhou Yiwei and Tou Chung Hua.
Love relationship
It was not easy to be given permission to conduct this interview as the production team initially refused to grant further interviews. They had previously allowed a reporter to visit the filming site, only to read an article in the papers a day later with the headlines ‘Zhao Wei had a dalliance with Zhou Yiwei’, together with a screenshot of the two artistes. With such an unpleasant encounter with the media, it is no wonder we had to beg two weeks before they agreed to allow us such close access.
Zhao Wei jokingly told Tou Chung Hua, “It’s lucky that you’re married with a child. Otherwise, the next headline will be ‘Zhao Wei has a fling with Tou Chung Hua!’”
Zhao Wei’s friendship with Zhou Yiwei also did not deteriorate because of the tabloid article. When she received a poster of herself when she was filming [My Dear Princess], she called out to Yiwei, “Hey, Yiwei! Come and have a look at my old poster. Do you think we look alike?” Yiwei looked at the poster, and said, “Hmm… we really do look alike, with big eyes and a huge smile…”
Zhao Wei remarked that she has grown numb to the rumours that surround her. Yiwei further declared, “I really don’t understand why they would say that Zhao Wei and I are together. She’s my senior!” When we commented that such relationships are getting more common these days, Zhao Wei retorted, “I’m not interested in setting or following trends…”
[Thank you for having loved me] is written by Wang Huiling. In the serial, Zhao Wei’s character revolves around 3 men: Tuo Chung Hua, who is a rich man and loves her, but is married. The second person is Zhou Yiwei, a youngster with an unsteady future. The third man is of ‘husband calibre’, but somehow, Zhao Wei’s character does not have much feeling for him.
Zhao Wei disclosed that her character Yu Wei finally chose to be alone. She declared that in real-life, her choice would be the same, “I wouldn’t want to be with men with their personalities…”
Multi-million mansions
In the serial, Zhao Wei’s role is a 30-year-old editor working for a magazine. Her workplace filming site is in a mansion at Shanghai Theatre. The garden in the mansion is beautiful with the many species of flora, but there are also a lot of mosquitoes.
A production crew remarked that there were also many mosquitoes at Yu Hill (literally translated) when he was filming at there a couple of years ago. When Tuo Chung Hua head ‘Yu Hill’, he turned to Zhao Wei, “Heey, I heard that you bought 2 mansions at Yu Hill Estate? Is it true?”
Zhao Wei replied without missing a beat. “No, I bought 3 mansions! And each mansion cost more than RMB4 million!”
If we had not heard Zhao Wei’s words personally, this rumour of Zhao Wei buying 3 mansions would be considered a fact. But Zhao Wei’s tone was so sarcastic; we knew instinctively that she meant the exact opposite.
Zhao Wei is widely regarded as one of the most forthright artistes around. She would definitely acknowledge her mistakes, but she would just ignore if she feels that she has done nothing wrong.
An example for others to follow
Filming is a long-drawn process, especially for artistes who need to wait until everything is ready before commencing filming. Hence, whenever someone in the changing room produces a packet of cigarettes, everybody present would take a stick. Zhao Wei reminded the photographer not to take photos of them smoking, “Actually, people know that I do occasionally smoke. But we try not to influence the children.”
Zhao Wei disclosed that she was once a teacher, as she used to study at the teaching institute. “But I knew even then that I would not make the cut as a teacher. As a teacher, you need to set an example for the children to follow.”
When Zhao Wei was studying at Beijing Movie School, she is famed for breaking school regulations. She’s usually late for school, and there was a time when the teacher questioned her. Zhao Wei’s reply? “I placed my hamburger in the microwave. But it’s not hot, so I pressed a few times until it’s hot. That’s why I was late…” The teacher did not know how to react to such a reply, but Zhao Wei was unrepentant. “I didn’t lie; that’s the truth.”
Speaking the truth without lying – this is the real Zhao Wei, who doesn’t change after so many years.
Translated by Xiao Mei Zi 小妹子
