In the hit drama "The Two Eight Laws of Love", Xu Kai's Yanghua is a shy and a little shy sunny boy who chose to work as a freelancer at home because he didn't want to bend his waist in the workplace. This is very different from the free, free, and outgoing roles that Xu Kai has played before, and it must be interpreted in an inward-looking way. In Xu Kai's view, Yanghua is not a male protagonist of an idol drama with a halo in the traditional sense, nor is he a domineering president, but a gentle character who has a complex past and his own set of underlying behavioral logic.
Xu Kai said that after his debut, he desperately took on the drama for a long time, and sometimes even felt hollowed out. So, now learn to slow down and not be an emotionless work machine. Photo courtesy of interviewee
In 2018, the role of the affectionate Fu Heng in the TV series "Yanxi Raiders" made Xu Kai a hit. Since then, Xu Kai has successively starred in TV series "Swagger", "Once Upon a Time There Was a Spirit Sword Mountain", "Ancient Jue Dust", "Shang Food" and other works, there are fewer modern dramas, more costume dramas, "It seems that each one always fights and kills, and there is always a certain distance from real life", so he also wants to try more modern dramas.
Xu Kai said that when he first entered the industry, he didn't give himself time to breathe, and he felt that he could try any play. As long as there is a chance to fight for it, we cannot let it go. Full of confidence and lingering motivation. But only now did he feel that no one was infinitely energetic, and "gradually, I found that my emotions were sometimes hollowed out." So now I want to slow down, enrich myself, and get more inspiration and passion from life, instead of blindly working and becoming an emotionless work machine. ”
The Twenty-Eight Laws of Love
From insomnia to understanding, the difficulty of Yanghua lies in "stuffiness"
Yang Hua in the play is a soft and a little dull person, and even looks strong and weak when he stands with the heroine Qin Shi (Yang Mi) when he first appears. Xu Kai's previous performances were mostly riding horses, holding knives and guns, and playing a heroic role with one enemy and ten heroic postures, and suddenly needed to be a good boy, which was separate from his previous performance. Not only that, Yang Hua and his own personality also have a lot of differences, and even he feels that his workaholic state is more like Qin Shi in the play, and there are no such friends around him, so it is difficult to find a point to establish a character. Therefore, when he first started filming this drama, Xu Kai was very anxious, even insomnia, and did not sleep well every day.
In "The Twenty-Eight Laws of Love", Xu Kai's Yanghua is very different from his previous role, which puts him under a lot of pressure. Photo courtesy of interviewee
But after Xu Kai carefully studied the characters, he could more and more understand that Yanghua represented the real situation of many people, "They are not soft, nor cowardly, there is no way to change their current situation, and people in the dark need to be illuminated and guided." And this imperfection of human nature is the most real and powerful part of this character, and it is also where I want to challenge the interpretation. Yanghua looks soft and dull, but Xu Kai believes that his core is diametrically opposite, he has suffered great setbacks in the past, "Life will not be smooth sailing, there are ups and downs, big ups and downs, you survive is victory, do not survive the past, no matter how many years have passed, this inner demon will always exist." Xu Kai said frankly that Yanghua is the latter, "He chose not to care in order to heal his wounds." ”
For Xu Kai, the biggest difficulty in interpreting Yanghua is precisely that Yanghua is indeed too stuffy, many things are pressed in his heart, living in his own world, and Xu Kai's own habit is to give priority to solving problems, and he will definitely not be stuffy about everything. In the past, he would feel that "stuffy" was a kind of irresponsibility, but from Yanghua's point of view, it was just a different personal way of dealing with it, and Xu Kai had to accept this personality and concept that was different from himself. Yanghua has his own understanding of life, and has never been shy about sticking to and following through on his logic, nor does he mind using his gentle way to confront others, such as when he discusses career, love and marriage with friends, emphasizing a low-desire lifestyle. In order to insist on his unique views and attitudes, he is destined to confront the world, he is an angular person, and in the spiritual world he is also a very small number of geniuses, and geniuses are often lonely. ”
Growth
Accidentally hit as an actor, once scolded on the set as "stupid big man"
Xu Kai described himself as entering the film and television industry "by mistake" before he began to love acting. When he was a child, he was not a literary backbone, nor was he the kind of child who would perform on stage at festivals, "Walking on this road was not foreseen before, it can be said that it is a fate." But acting is magical, and as long as you have the moment you first became a character, it's hard not to fall in love with it. ”
Xu Kai has been very independent since he was a child, and his dream when he was a child was to become a soldier. His parents didn't set much for his future direction, as long as he was honest, kind, and self-reliant. Therefore, as long as he has identified a goal, he will continue to go.
But because he was not from a professional background, when he first performed, Xu Kai spent part of his energy on adapting to the scene and learning the rules. He still remembers the scene when he first filmed, and he was embarrassed to even shout loudly. In that scene, he wanted to run to the cliff and shout "aaaaa Xu Kai didn't understand what a counterattack, code position, and drop were at that time, and there was a scene where he was scolded very badly and was directly called "stupid big". "I was told at the time that it was your fall, where you were acting, but I didn't know what that meant. He also said that if you shoot a medium scene, you will come here and act, and it will be good to finish the painting. After I started the actual shooting, I walked out of the painting and continued to perform outside the painting, and the camera saw me walking out of the painting like Mr. Bean. They shouted 'Kakaka (stop)' and I asked what was wrong, and they asked me to see where I was acting. Looking at this matter a few years later, Xu Kai confessed that because he wasted the crew's time alone, it really shouldn't be, "I meet some new friends now, and I will especially want to help them and encourage them." ”
Because he experienced various problems when he first debuted, Xu Kai said that when he meets new actors now, he wants to help each other. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Acting
Solving problems every day keeps me motivated
Xu Kai's understanding of the role is also constantly honed in one play after another, the roles he played before are firm, deeply aware of his mission, there is great love and great righteousness, "The Twenty-Eight Laws of Love" is the first time he has played a role that has lost control of his life. When reading the script, he even doubts and gets angry, why can't Yanghua get up after falling once? Xu Kai felt uncomfortable at the beginning of how to act, such as a scene, Yang Hua took an electric rod to save people, and later said sorry to the gangster, but in fact, Xu Kai's first reaction to this plot was that the roles he played in the past were directly up to a dozen times, how did he suddenly become a weak boy, "I am very confused, and the contrast with me is too big." ”
In the performance, Yanghua's eyes also once made Xu Kai feel difficult to grasp, at first he was said by the director that his eyes were too sharp, because Yanghua is a person who compromises life, raising turtles at home every day, reading comics, and his mother says that his father protects him, ignoring external affairs, and his eyes will not carry a lot of light. But not all performances can be so flat, but also need to add a little vivid parts, such as fighting with brothers, and prodding with Qin Shi, will make him temporarily let down his guard and reveal the bottom of his heart. "When it comes to these scenes, I will let go of a little scruples that belong to Yanghua, interact with them more relaxed, and show it to make everyone feel that Yanghua is not a pool of stagnant water."
In this way, in the process of understanding the characters step by step and slowly approaching, Xu Kai felt the details of different characters. For his acting skills, Xu Kai said that he had seen some good suggestions from everyone on the Internet, even if it was a critical voice, he felt that as long as it was helpful to him, he was willing to absorb it. "There must still be problems with my performance at this stage, and as long as I am on the way to solving it every day, I am full of motivation."
【Digression】
The slow hot personality is not very suitable for variety shows, but it will be tried in the future
Xu Kai rarely goes on variety shows, he feels that variety shows are not particularly suitable for slow and hot people like himself, he is not a self-acquaintance, there is no way to play crazy with everyone in a high mood as soon as he comes up, and there is no way for others to say that a terrier he will pick up in seconds, but it takes a process. If as a flying guest, Xu Kai's personality will make him a little unable to integrate into the show immediately, even if he is discussing a friend who is familiar with him, he can't interject in the crowd, "I'm afraid that I will pull the atmosphere down as soon as I open my mouth." In Xu Kai's view, variety shows must be permanent to be interesting, and they can slowly open themselves, but it is difficult for him to devote so much time and energy to variety shows at this stage, "If I have the opportunity later, I still want to try variety shows, and I want to open myself more, but it will not become a major part of my work." ”
Dialogue
Beijing News: What is the special spark of playing opposite Yang Mi?
Xu Kai: Sister Mi is very good and smart, she always has a lot of new ideas and new memes. She will let the opponent quickly enter the state on the spot, and our channel is very similar, and everyone can quickly understand what the other party is saying when they talk about something. As a senior, Sister Mi also has no baggage at all, and also provided me with a lot of useful advice, such as not being too straightforward. She's a very good actress. I also like the setting between the characters we play in the play, it seems to be a sibling love between a strong woman and a weak man, but in fact, the two are chess opponents. Qin Shi is an accident in Yanghua's phased "self-consistent" life, the person who lights the flame for him in the abyss, and Yanghua also helps Qin Shi fill the gap in life. The feeling of "giving affection" is particularly sensual, and it can be said that it is destined for love.
Xu Kai said that he liked the relationship setting between Yang Hua and Qin Shi in "The Twenty-Eight Laws of Love" and thought that this was destined love.
Beijing News: You once said that you want to become an actor like Huang Bo, why do you like him so much?
Xu Kai: Mr. Huang Bo is a senior actor I respect very much, I think he is particularly charismatic, especially the little characters in some film and television works he plays, how can they be so vivid and vivid, as if we have seen it in life. I think it's a very high level.
Beijing News: What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses as an actor?
Xu Kai: If I talk about advantages, I think I can grasp the most distinctive point in the character relatively quickly, which is very helpful in building confidence at the beginning of the performance. Disadvantage, frankly speaking, I know that my original lines at this stage are insufficient, especially the accent problem, I don't like the tone and pronunciation of my Mandarin, I am afraid that my speech on the spot will affect everyone's emotional resonance, especially the senior teachers, so it sounds really insufficient. But I still took the initiative to get the original soundtrack for "The Twenty-Eight Laws of Love", and although I knew there were still many problems, I had to take this step. I'm also doing some line training now, and I can't say how amazing the progress is, I hope I can reach the level of qualification in my heart as soon as possible, and then come to communicate with everyone.
Beijing News: If an actor is too good-looking and handsome, he will often be fixed type, will you feel the limitations brought by "too handsome"?
Xu Kai: There must be limitations, and the types of characters and scripts I can access at this stage are indeed limited, but I think the only way to solve it is to improve myself, when your performance is convincing enough, there are some potential barriers that can be broken.
Beijing News: Since your debut, have you had a particularly depressing period? How do you resolve your frustration when you are generally depressed?
Xu Kai: Every period and stage has points of confusion and frustration at the moment, but I am not the kind of person who will sink into negative emotions, generally after talking with my family and friends, I will want to drive a lot, and then go for a walk, play ball, play skateboarding, transfer my mood, and I can quickly calm down. I think you don't have to blame yourself too much when you have emotions, don't think about it for the time being, and then solve the problem when you change to a better state.
Beijing News: What do you usually cry and laugh about? Can you share something you've been laughing and crying lately?
Xu Kai: There are too many things to laugh at every day, especially every time a new drama is broadcast, I brush the tidbits of the scene at that time, only to know that my laughter is so funny, it is the kind of goose goose goose go If I cry, my tear point is indeed quite low, usually watching a movie will be moved to tears, especially some simple and sincere feelings in the movie, often do not need to show off the shooting techniques and performance methods, it is already very moving.
Beijing News: What are the types of roles you want to challenge at present, but have never had the opportunity to play?
Xu Kai: Soldiers and policemen, this is my dream when I was a child.
Beijing News: What type of films do you usually like to watch?
Xu Kai: Actually, there is no fixed genre, but I would prefer works with emotions and warmth.
Beijing News: What do you usually do when you are not working?
Xu Kai: It's to spend time with your family, because there is really very little time to spend with them. Then there is basketball, badminton, skateboarding, sports can really decompress.
Beijing News: Do you have any dreams in life? What does the ideal life look like?
Xu Kai: My dream in life is to become a good actor, a good actor recognized by everyone. My ideal life is to play every role well and manage my own life at the same time.
Chief reporter of Beijing News Liu Wei
Chief Editor Wu Dongni
Proofreader Zhao Lin