《一个女人的史诗》芜湖热拍 赵薇自称偏好个性角色
Beijing Youth Daily
09/06/2008
(Reported by Yang WenJie from Wuhu)
Since Zhao Wei had first came into the spot as "Princess Returned Pearl", this was the first time that Wuhu, renowned city in southern Anhui, became the "home court" for Zhao Wei's career. Adapted from Yan GeLing's novel by the same name, director Xia Gang's [A Woman's Epic Poem] has been in production in the local area. Zhao Wei, who has been careful about accepting TV series productions, accepted to portray the art troupe actress Tian SuFei, who sought after love during her lifetime with fiery passion.
Yesterday, when the reporter arrived on set for a visit, perhaps influenced by the personality of her character, the "mature" Zhao Wei seemed to return to "Little Swallow's" carefreeness, content yet focused.
■"Either suppress entirely or burn alive"
[A Woman's Epic Poem] is set during a period of red history, from the liberation war to the founding of New China to the Cultural Revolution, and tells the story of a woman called Tian SuFei, who sought after the scholarly soldier Ouyang Yu and devoted everything to maintain her love and marriage. During our conversation, it was apparent that Zhao Wei adored the character "Tian SuFei". Even though from today's perspective, as a simple and rash "play fool" who was "dumb in love", this woman had her share of personality weaknesses, in Zhao Wei's eyes, the "fire-like personality" was sufficient to make up for any deficiencies. As we brought up the compromising Yao MuLan from [Moment in Peking], Zhao Wei said with a chuckle that she enjoyed portraying roles with a distinct character, "either suppress entirely or burn alive."
Even though the performance required her to at a constant state of excitement, Zhao Wei revealed that she often shed tears for Tian SuFei, "When faced with setbacks from reality, most people would gradually become depressed. That was not the case with her, for she was always passionate about life." As for Tian SuFei's persistence and selflessness in love, Zhao Wei commented in a series of "I wouldn't dare", "frighteningly surprised", "extend my sincerest appreciation to her", "when dealing with similar relationship problems, women are usually not as carefree as men, everyone will have a tactic understanding of a lot of the plots, I believe that the series will create resonance with women."
■Liu Ye pinched his thighs to prevent breaking out in laughters on set
Apart from the relationships, the huge amount of "plays-within-a-story" satisfied Zhao Wei's huger for performance. Unlike Zhao Wei who had only performed in the play [Thunder Storm] once during her university years, as a stage play actress in an art troupe, "Tian SuFei" had the chance to perform in all the well-known plays during the span of a few decades. During the media visit, the "play-within-a-story" that was being filmed was the well-known play [In the Name of Revolution] from the former USSR.
On the surface, the collaboration between Liu Ye and Zhao Wei was the result of Yan Geling's personal request. Nonetheless, faith was also a factor. As Liu Ye said, "12 years ago, when the two of us applied to the central academy of drama, we were assigned to the same group to perform a skit together. It was only 12 years later that we truly collaborated for the first time, playing a couple for life." The chemistry between the two buddies was naturally great, at the same time, there were a lot of laughters on the set. Liu Ye loved to joke around, so he often brought Zhao Wei to laughters. However, during the actual shooting, he couldn't bear Zhao Wei looking all serious as she developed their romantic relationship. Though he seemed to be deeply in character, he was actually pinching his thighs so that he would not break out in laughters,“One day,while showering after a long day of work, I discovered that the inner side of my thighs were covered with red and purple bruises, all pinched by myself."
■Mom became the crew's cook
Even though her parts in [A Woman's Epic Poem] were cumbersome, Zhao Wei still felt at ease because the set was located in her hometown Wuhu, "my parents are the most excited people. It's been over ten years since I left home, they haven't had the chance to spent so much time with me for a long time." Although the set was only 5 minutes from her home, Zhao Wei rarely had the time to go home. Her mom happily became the crew's volunteer cook, delivering food especially made for her when it was time to eat. Thus, despite the 20-hour a day work schedule, Zhao Wei still "stubbornly" gained a few pounds.
Translated by: Vicki Yan 神仙妹妹/龍小水 (Canada)
