Zhao Wei: I Am My Heroine (interview)
赵薇：我的内心不必女扮男装 (专访)
Trends Cosmopolitan
May 2008 ─ 268th issue, 7th issue in 2008
Planning & executing: Rui YuanYuan, Er Er Article by: Wu Lu, Qin XiaoDi Photographer: Jiang JunMin Makeup: Chris (Tony Studio) Wardrobe eidtor: Wo Tao Wardrobe assistants: Fan Da, Xiao Fei Lighting: Times united Studio Wardrobe: Dior Jewelry: Dior Joaillerie Set provided by & a special thanks to: the promotions team of [Red Cliff] the movie
It was as if, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Zhao Wei appeared with a bunch of film works: [Red Cliff], [Painted Skin], and the soon to begin production [A Woman's Epic Poem]...When all theses works combined with the post-production promotions, it would come to the full workload of 2-3 A-list celebrities. With much controversy surrounding her, the it girl used her inner strength to prove: I will not yield, as in neither will I care, nor will I pretend to be strong through male impersonation.
The scene where Zhao Wei returns to her female costumes was filmed during the "psychotic" hour of 4:00 AM. This was an awkward time for both those following a normal schedule and those living a night life. However, for the busy Zhao Wei, this was the only kaopu (translator's note: kaopu literally translates to "close to the books of mainstream thoughts, meaning "feasible" for matters or "reliable" for persons, editor's note: can mean justified) time, despite being an unreliable (bu kaopu) Pisces. Although she was sleeping away in the caravan driving towards the far away suburbs, when finally standing at the out-of-studio set for the movie [Red Cliff], in front of the artificially built thatched hut and the single branch of strangely beautiful peach blossom, she, and her body, awakened in an instant.
Sun ShangXiang is actually an iron lady
In the much anticipated [Red Cliff] trailer, in the midst of fiery cannon attacking fortress, sky lanterns launched in the open, rocket warfare and bloody battles in the night, there was one courageous warrior that could not be overshadowed. This man appears to be courageous and skillful in battle, heroic and fearless. "He" is none other than "Sun ShangXiang" —Zhao Wei—male impersonation.
Perhaps it has something to do with the controversy surrounding her, but one has to admit that she is part of, and the one with the most outstanding representative with the most persistent vitality of the first bunch of Mainland-produced young idols that could, for the first time, not only match those from Taiwan and Hong Kong, but also those from Japan and Korea.
Where did such persistent idol vitality come from? Male impersonation?
Cosmo: It must have been a regret for Sun ShangXiang to live in that type of society. If she was born in the modern times, she might be more at ease.
Zhao Wei: In that type of society, she impersonated a man to have access to the same competitive opportunities that men have. She does not concern herself with everyday family matters. Instead, being unconsciously influenced from the people around her, she concerned herself with the matters that concerned her country. She trained female soldiers for the battles, and had great political strategies. Being a princess was a convenience for her. I feel that in modern times, she would be an iron lady.
Cosmo: But the personal lives of iron ladies are often less than ideal.
Zhao Wei: Her personal life can be said to be ideal. When Sn Quan wanted to use her to threaten Liu Bei, she committed suicide — this action was very unjustified — Maybe people feel that though she impersonated a male, she was still a traditional woman deep down. So it was understandable that she committed suicide for her husband. However, my understanding is that, the things that she helped Liu Bei with all became her own concerns in the end. She does not permit her body to impede her career. Thus, she committed suicide for her career, not for love.
Cosmo: I heard that there was a scene in [Red Cliff] where you hid the intelligence information that you obtained in your under garments. To show off your findings, you took off your clothes in front of a bunch of people. Is that so?
Zhao Wei: Haha, my character is very avant-garde in the movie. Of course, it was to increase the dramatic effects. Although on the outside, she impersonated a man, the whole story demonstrates that she is still a woman, a carefree woman.
Guess which type of men am I attracted to?
There is a sense of carelessness that Zhao Wei exerts, especially when she does not have to comply to the responsibilities of a public figure. She's not afraid of wandering on the streets in casual clothing and without makeup. She doesn't care about being followed by the paparazzi. Because this is her personal time, and all that matters is what makes her happy. This insistence has been and is still present.
Nonetheless, when walking on the red carpet or standing in front of the camera, Zhao Wei would never take it lightly. As years went on, her abilities to master fashion styles also improved accordingly. The dresses that she picked out for the last few events were each outstanding in its own way. Whether it was being elegant, sexy, or feminine, she was always successful in attracting attention of the cameraman. Everybody can clearly sense the change in Zhao Wei's temperament. The most apparent proofs are photos of her at events where she endorsed "Marie France Bodyline".
Luckily, in the one day that we interviewed her, we were in contact with the two distinctly different sides of Zhao Wei. The elegant and feminine Zhao Wei during the photograph session, and during the interview which took place in the caravan on the way back, a Zhao Wei that we have never saw in previous interviews: freestyle mocks and carefree scoffs, with unprecedented ease, like one of your old friends who was finally willing to put aside your differences to have a light drink together.
Cosmo: Nowadays, there are so many public charts ranking celebrities. Do you care about your standings?
Zhao Wei: I'd be lying if I said I didn't care. All I can say is that I try my best to not care, and then set up a chart in my blog where the number one is Zhao Wei, number two is Zhao Wei, and number three is still Zhao Wei, haha — some things are nothing but jokes, no one will care about it if you don't care.
Cosmo: Care to reveal which novels you have been reading lately?
Zhao Wei: Nothing lately, but I can recommend an erotic novel to you, "Red Peony" by Lin YuTang. It's about how a young and attractive widow in the late-Qing Dynasty who, in pursuing free love and the ideal man, fell in love and cohabitated, one after another ther, with her first love who was a married man in her hometown, her cousin the Hanlin from the Capital, the boxer at Tianqiao, and a famous poet in Hangzhou. She was finally fed up with the bitterness and repression of a mistress' life, and subsequently returned to innocence — after being rescued, she found true love in the end. This can actually be seen as a story of a modern woman pursuing love. And, Lin Yutang probably wanted to express that it's not enough to just have love, sex is also important.
Cosmo: I remembered that when we interviewed you last year, you said that your ideal man was a responsible man. Any changes from last time?
Zhao Wei: One with a good body? Hehe, joke. There hasn't been a big change since then. i mean...who wouldn't like a man characterized by great adjectives? However, that man would not necessarily suit you.
80% woman，20% man
Some people are naturally the focus of others' attention. This can be otherwise explained as a kind of celebrity temperament, and Zhao Wei belongs to such a category of individuals who can easily find themselves on the headlines. [Red Cliff] illustrated the case. Zhao Wei expressed in her blog: "Lately, some people used a purposely over-exposed retake of a poster to create a commotion, asserting false accusations. This is very much a unfair action that lacks technique. To have unrelated individuals irresponsibly comment on such a huge production that entailed efforts from everyone is to judge people without walking in their shoes. Despise you."
Taking full responsibilities, the few sentences are very effective at driving across her points. Her tone matches the heroic and fearless personality of her character in the movie.
Cosmo: Are you afraid of having such straight-forward statements taken out of context from your blog?
Zhao Wei: I have the guts to write it out on my blog because it is how I feel. Nonetheless, there are still people who take one or two sentences out of context as eyeball grabbers. For example, I saw headlines such as "Those who criticizes [Red Cliff], Zhao Wei despises you". They are clearly twisting my intentions. Thus, statements like these must definitely be written in blogs, in context with all the reasons and explanations. If you wish to know about the matter, you can come to my blog, and then there would naturally be no misunderstandings.
Cosmo: I heard that recently your blog created the record of surpassing 10 million hits in 25 days, what are your thoughts?
Zhao Wei: Very thrilled, very fun, it seems that being a diligent bee has its returns.
Cosmo: Your tomboyish spirits never changed eh?
Zhao Wei: People say that the child is the father of the man. I feel that there are some things that are part of one's DNA, which can not be changed. Of course, when set back by reality, one would reflect upon those things to either fix or alter them so that they adjust to the environment. Nonetheless, the essence would not change.
Cosmo: Do you feel that the real you have some masculine qualities? What is the percentage?
Zhao Wei: My personality is rather straightforward, sometimes, even when everyone else already feel embarrassed, I still don't feel anything. This personality has helped me tremendously in terms of facilitating others to better accept and understand me. As for the percentage, I feel that it should be 8:2. I personally believe that an outstanding person must possess qualities of both sexes, a man with the refineness of a woman, or a woman with the straight-forwardness of a man. I do not believe that a pure feminine or masculine individual would be very rich in personality.
Cosmo: What will change?
Zhao Wei: Basically, I would not actively wanting to change anything. I am rather passive on the matter of change, but it is not so hard to accept changes.
Afterwords of the Interview:
After having stared at computer screen for a while, I finally decided to say: the truth is, I really like Zhao Wei as such, liking her not in the way one likes a celebrity, the way one likes an individual. She has been a vegetarian for more than half a year, and success with quitting smoking. She cares about each and every one around her and smiles at everyone. She listened carefully and responded accordingly, giving boring questions their deserving answers, while joking it's so boring about the boring questions. Together, we commented on a mutual friend who as also her classmate. She leaned her face on the car window to call someone, and then stuck her tongue out and said, the pedestrians saw me...She created a sort of ambiance, an ambiance that made everyone feel at ease.
Don't remember when the conversation ended. On the wobbling caravan on the way back, Zhao Wei's two assistants had already fell asleep. Suddenly, Zhao Wei stood up: passengers, I have arrived at my destination, good-bye.
Watching her getting off the car, I saw high-school boys on the side of the road murmuring to each other, is that Zhao Wei?
Yes, that is Zhao Wei.
Translated by: Vicki Yan/ShenXianMeimei (Canada)
(Click on the pictures to enlarge)
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photos from Trends Cosmopolitan website
bloopers
As soon as the morning-breeze-shivering Zhao Wei stood in front of the camera, she became outstandingly serious
Zhao Wei was quick to go into character
A playful instant
The beauty of the Red Cliff, as the enemy fleets were burnt to ashes and smoke
(translator's note: it's an excerpt from a poem by the Song Dynasty poet Su Shi aka Su DongPo, called "Reflections on the Ancient Red Cliff-To the Tune of Nian Nu Jiao")
Zhao Wei was ready for the coverpage pose
Beauty of the thatched cottage
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photos from Trends Cosmopolitan website
Movie stills of [Red Cliff]
