Li Meng passed the age of 30 last year, and did not realize the wish he had vowed to be a movie queen before the age of 30 when he was young, but with more and more roles, he gradually became a good actor recognized as having acting skills.
The character she recently met with the audience was Pang Ning, a victim of the "pig-killing plate" in the movie "Parrot Killing". Compared with the heroine Zhou Ran's "hundred turns and thousands of turns", Pang Ning is a more direct kind of woman. At first, she was not ashamed to talk about her pain, and then she was more active in seeking a new relationship and facing a new life. When given the opportunity to meet someone who has deceived her, she calmly and angrily makes the most direct gesture of revenge. In the unexpected ending, Li Meng gives an intriguing multi-layered emotional interpretation.
"Parrot Kill" stills
Compared with the heroine, Li Meng's scenes are not so much. She does not shy away from a certain "functionality" in the role of Pang Ning, but the character who grew up in her heart still has a complete life line. What attracted her to the project was that she admired director Ma Yingxin. This young female director who has not left a wheelchair since she was 3 years old, Li Meng was attracted by her determined and confident temperament.
Over the years, Li Meng likes to work with young directors, and at the stage when they are just starting out and have not yet used their works to justify themselves, she can distinguish the different characteristics of young creators through "feelings", and make a kind of "two-way choice" with her current state.
Some people say that Li Meng's vision for selecting films is good, and he has hardly acted in "bad films" on his resume. Now it seems that "Destiny", "Young Babylon", "Hidden Corner", "Snow Cloud" ... The works at different stages allow her to present the right appearance in line with each moment.
"Short Film Story" poster
When Li Meng was interviewed, she had just returned from Venice. She starred in "Short Story", which was nominated for Best Short Film in the Horizon section of this year's Venice International Film Festival. It has been exactly 10 years since Li Meng first walked the Cannes red carpet.
She once felt that "youth is important, youth is important", so she was eager to shout her name to the world. Later, when she had the opportunity to play Bai Ling in the drama version of "White Deer Plain", she refused. In addition to the frustration she once felt in this role, more importantly, she realized that her stage of innocence and ignorance had passed. So, in "Hidden Corner", she is Wang Yao, a keen paranoid hysterical mother, and in "Snow Cloud", she is Su Hong, a single mother who struggles in the dust of the times and cannot realize her old dreams. One of these two roles allowed her to break through the familiar literary and artistic films and enter the broader public's vision, and the other allowed her to be seen by more people at many international film festivals such as Berlin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Jeonju. Actresses always want to delay the time to become a mother on the screen as much as possible, and Li Meng has no such concerns at all. She looks forward to meeting the kind of profound characters that can show the ups and downs of a woman's life as soon as possible, just like Vivien Leigh, the idol who guided her on the path of acting since she was a child.
From feeling the "separation anxiety" of parents who are busy with their careers when they were young, being sent abroad to study early on with "unaccompanied children", to setting new goals for movies and sneaking back to China to attend film school; From becoming the first Chinese post-90s actress to walk the Cannes red carpet with "Destiny", to appearing in many literary and art films later, she has gradually become a frequent visitor at major film festivals; From aspiring to prove himself to the outside world after winning the film at the age of 30, to choosing to settle in Hainan and sinking into the life of buying vegetables and cooking and chatting with neighbors... Time is a magical creation, and Li Meng, who once said in an interview that he hoped to have a very "crazy and hard life", can now enjoy his sense of relaxation.
The "holding your breath" seems to have dissolved unconsciously, but "wanting to be the best kind of actor" is still her firm goal.
Li Meng
【Dialogue】
Playing a supporting role, I am afraid that I am "too full"
The Paper: The inner journey of the character Pang Ning in "Parrot Kill" is not as detailed and tortuous as another woman, how do you understand and construct this woman's deception experience and inner world?
Li Meng: When I got this script, I felt that the character of Pang Ning needed to form a big contrast with the character image of Zhou Ran in it. When I met the director, she thought about it this way. In fact, when we didn't meet, we had a consensus that Pang Ning and Zhou Ran needed to face fraudsters with different attitudes when facing scammers. So we also control the way the performance is presented. Of course, I myself will do some work to enrich this character, such as the scene by the sea, there is only one sentence on the script, but we shot it for 5 minutes.
"Parrot Kill" stills
The Paper: Two days ago, I saw that you also forwarded the news of the female master who was deceived by the pig killing, did you pay attention to such social events before? What do you think?
Li Meng: Over the years, we often see on the news a series of behaviors related to the assault of women, such as pig killing, sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence, and you will naturally pay attention to this group that shares your gender identity. I retweeted it because I acted in a movie like "Parrot Kill", in which these deceived girls are in the same group of deceived pigs, which is also based on reality. When such news happens again, I hope that more people can pay attention to this group, pay attention to the crime of victims and fraud, that is, I hope that more attention can make more people less deceived.
The Paper: There is a scene in the film where at the end you squat in front of Zhang Youhao, who had a car accident, and after watching him for a long time, without saying a word, you just looked at him directly, which is very meaningful. Want to know what you were thinking when you were acting in this scene?
Li Meng: I was thinking about something - this was the first time I saw the face of a man who lied to me, and I never thought that I was in love with a person in such a virtual world, it turned out that his image looked like this, and I was looking at him. This is the first layer. On the second level, I wondered if I really met him in life, would I fall in love with him? Third, there is also a layer that at that moment I was actually very sad, the person I "loved", the first time I met him, he was like this, going to die.
The Paper: As mentioned earlier, the attitude of Pang Ning and Zhou Ran is a contrast, as if we see that Zhou Ran is more ambiguous and wandering, Pang Ning seems to be very direct in love and hate, and the first reaction of liars is to "kill you".
Li Meng: But more or less I will believe that the end of this matter does not mean that the girls who have been deceived, including the boys, will be able to come out immediately, I think whether she sent him to prison, or he died like this, it does not mean that her pain is over. So emotional scams are the most hateful, and everyone's feelings are precious.
The Paper: The director said that before filming, he contacted many people to do interviews with them, did you find some actual victims to communicate with them before acting?
Li Meng: I haven't communicated with the actual victims, I don't dare. Because my role after all, she does not have many scenes, this is a relatively Zhou Ran role or a more functional role, of course, when I took this project, I did not define her by this, this must be a complete role and character, but it is undeniable that she carries a functional role in the movie. I'm afraid that if I prepare too much, I might act too hard and too full, which would be unbalanced for the shooting of a movie.
The awe of the film has never changed
The Paper: Introduce this "Short Film Story" in Venice this time, what kind of tacit understanding and new spark is there in the two collaborations with director Wu Lang?
Li Meng: Wu Lang and I have collaborated for the third time, the short film "Snow Cloud" is the first cooperation, this "Short Film Story" is the second time, and then we collaborated on the feature film "Snow Cloud".
"Short Film Story" was filmed in 2020, and the process did not take too long, compared to when I made "Snow Cloud" in 2019, my overall feeling is that the director wants to make his own image style go in a bolder direction through this short film. At that time, he also wanted to make another short film before the feature film of "Snow Cloud" started, to perfect one of his own creations.
Through the previous cooperation, I think Wu Lang is more willing to record the current state of gender relations as he understands it. In that film, my character is a wife who is unexpectedly pregnant, and her relationship with her husband is facing a state of falling apart, which is probably the same story.
"Snow Cloud" poster
The Paper: In the past, you said that there would be the freshness and excitement of overseas film festivals in the past, but now you are slowly becoming a regular visitor to film festivals, and it has been exactly 10 years since you walked the Cannes red carpet for the first time.
Li Meng: I really don't have the curiosity and freshness of going abroad for the first time, going to Europe for the first time, seeing a so-called very powerful film festival, walking the red carpet for the first time, these are indeed gone, but my awe for movies has not changed, and I have not changed the excitement of seeing so many excellent works from all over the world at the film festival.
The first time I participated in various activities, I would be very nervous, but now I will be much calmer. At that time, I didn't know any peers, and the whole person was relatively ignorant, and when I met Ang Lee, Tony Leung, and the Coen brothers, I would be as excited as a little fan to chase stars. This year, Venice met big directors such as Woody Allen and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and I was still very excited, or fan psychology, which seems to be the same as 10 years ago.
Li Meng at the Venice Film Festival
The Paper: Audiences who have seen the film in front of Venice will have some comments, saying that this "Short Film Story" does not seem to have any "story". In fact, many literary films will have such confusion for the audience, the plot conflict is not so strong and direct, and the actors present more states. For you, will there be a difference between acting in a story and acting in a state?
Li Meng: Acting in stories, acting states... This should be the director's decision, we have no right, or we have no possibility to interfere with the final direction of the film and the way it is presented, whether it is a feature film or a partial atmosphere film. The actor's job is still to finish the characters in the script during filming, which in itself does not affect the difference in our actors' performances, at least when I filmed, the performance was the same. Finally, on the editing table, how to decide the direction of the film is still the director.
The Paper: Over the years, you have also begun to try to make TV series, and even costume TV series, this kind of plot density is more, or requires a lot of information to be said in lines, it is still quite different from movies.
Li Meng: That's true. But I don't have a preference, I participate in dramas, literary films, short films or commercial films, which has trained me to a greater extent. I feel that completing different performances on different tracks is a blessing for me to become more familiar with the needs of each track.
The Paper: Over the years, you have worked with many young directors, they are not like successful directors, let people judge his level through his resume, but you seem to almost "not step on the thunder" in film selection, can you ask you what kind of film selection experience?
Li Meng: It's not my choice, it's a mutual choice, but this level is indeed an intuition. I value the first meeting with the director, how you feel about him, between conversations, your sparks and collisions, about the script or about the character, or not even necessarily the character.
Think about a lot of directors I've met, we didn't meet completely talking about the script itself, the directors were more looking at my current state, such as what I look like at this moment today, I can feel that they are observing me more, not necessarily knowing how much I understand or desire this role and so on, they want to capture in me a taste and temperament that they need, and it just so happens that at that point we matched, and they chose me.
In this process, I am also watching the director, feeling what kind of attitude this creator has towards this project and the work he is currently shooting, what his three views are like, and what his motif is. We are testing each other in this process, and of course, I am lucky to meet such a group of talented young directors who can work together.
Li Meng took a group photo with the creators of "Parrot Kill"
The Paper: Can you expand on some of the qualities you find in these young directors that attract you?
Li Meng: Like Ma Yingxin of "Parrot Killing" this time, although she is making a film for the first time, she gave a very complete and stylish script, and the theme is also very unique, at least the project I contacted did not talk about the pig killing plate, at the beginning, the theme first attracted me. Then I met the director herself, and I realized that although she came back from Spain, she knew very well what she was going to shoot now, and I liked a quality of the image she wanted to convey. I can feel that this director and her are very mature on all levels of what they want to write and shoot, and it doesn't give me the feeling that I'm in contact with a new person, but a director who comes out of a very mature system.
Like the director of "Short Film Story" and "Snow Cloud", we added WeChat in the early stage, I have seen some photos of his circle of friends, the photos he took are special, he has characteristics in the image, and many directors I have seen are different, then I judge that he should be a director who pays a lot of attention to image thinking, and when I actually get in touch, I find that he is indeed like this, compared to the advancement of the plot, he may pay more attention to some image atmosphere communication.
Because these young directors are not familiar or familiar with them at the beginning, they still have to feel through the work, some peripheral elements, from his words, words, attitude towards their own projects to feel what this person is like, everyone is different, but if there is anything in common, I think these directors are very clear about how they want to create.
The Paper: So there is a saying in this industry that actors are chosen, do you agree with this "passivity" of this profession? From the initiative that may have been said when he first debuted, has the space become larger now?
Li Meng: I think it should not be completely passive, more often it is still a two-way choice. Of course, my own space is getting bigger. When you first debuted, you were too ignorant, you are 0 in this aspect, so more often it is others who characterize you, and you also need to understand yourself through the characterization of others. But at this stage, 10 years into the industry, I found that it was not what I had understood. But each stage is precious, precisely because when you were in a very ignorant state, others wanted this thing. So this is still a two-way choice, people want your ignorance, you happen to be ignorant, you also need to let people photograph your ignorance, that's it.
When I'm not working, I'm a normal person
The Paper: As a post-90s generation who has just passed the threshold of 30 years old, do you have that legendary 30-year-old anxiety?
Li Meng: I thought I would have it, but it seems that I don't understand what "anxiety" is, so I can't express it. It seems that I had my 30th birthday last year, and I didn't have a special emotion, I think it's okay, but now that I think about it, I don't seem to love birthdays so much now, and I used to have a sense of ceremony in the birthday matter.
The Paper: The biggest change that gave you after filming "Snow Cloud" is that you chose to move directly to Hainan to live, and are you still living in Hainan? Is that a temporary "escape" in search of some kind of relaxation, or does it feel like you can live like this forever?
Li Meng: I've been living there for almost two years. I still feel good that I can just live like this. When I'm not working, I'm an ordinary person's state of life, waking up, going to the supermarket or vegetable market to buy vegetables, taking a lunch break, reading books, watching movies in the afternoon, meeting friends, drinking coffee, chatting and eating again in the evening. There is nothing special, just a very ordinary life that I want, with a much slower pace.
Li Meng shares her life in Hainan
The Paper: I saw an interview you had a few years ago, saying that you wanted to live "very crazy and hard", and then in a state a while ago, you would wish you had a more "relaxed feeling", have you observed how this change in yourself happened?
Li Meng: I really haven't observed it. I don't even remember saying that I wanted to live "hard", but I did have a stage earlier when I was crazy to prove myself. But if you see I'm 30 now, I don't have the 18-year-old state of "calling my name to the world."
The Paper: Is it because you think you've proven yourself? Or did more characters who could "go crazy hard" later and let you unload this part?
Li Meng: It's not a matter of proving itself, maybe it's that people's growth will bring about these mentalities. I don't know, I don't know why I wanted to prove myself back then, and I don't understand why that desire has dissipated now. But I don't seem to be trying hard because of this.
But it is indeed possible that because of playing more roles, I have experienced more life, and I have not played some very crazy and hard roles before, and now I may not have to work too hard in my life after acting.
The Paper: In the past, many news about you will say that you are too real about the play, are you a person who is prone to "internal friction" in life?
Li Meng: Do you think I am very internally attritioned during your conversation with me? I've never been very obsessed, growing up in anything. I think it's really a two-way choice. Cinematography is a collective operation, and all departments are responsible for this outcome.
I haven't stopped to think about my current state so far this year, but I'm already thinking about stopping and thinking about what state I'm in after this busy time. But I do have a lot of mildness, and I don't know why, but I don't think I'm "mild" either. Is this really a philosophical question, are you what others see as you? Or is you who you see yourself?
A still from "Hidden Corner"
The Paper: Acting in a literary film like "Snow Cloud" to walk the tall red carpet, or the TV series of "Hidden Corner" out of the circle is recognized by ordinary audiences, or the commercial film of "In the Octagon" has a good box office, which is more fulfilling for you?
Li Meng: I don't have much different feelings, in fact, I am quite a hindsight. I think it is Wang Yao ("Hidden Corner") that is more discussed. I have some female friends who will tell me that after they become mothers, they think you play a lot like a mother. I am not in the stage of a mother, and when I do not fully understand the state of my mother, I feel quite fulfilled to be able to complete such a role.
"In the Octagon Cage", I am very grateful to Brother Baoqiang for giving me this opportunity to try such a role. If he didn't dig into me, I wouldn't have thought that I could play such an intellectual and white-collar image.
The Paper: Indeed, Wang Yao is a character who is very different from yourself, and many actresses even really become mothers will avoid playing their mothers, how did the drama convince you at that time?
Li Meng: No need to be convinced, I found them. Because I like novels, I volunteered myself. I didn't want to play Wang Yao at that time, but as a reader fan, I especially wanted to play this novel. As a result, people didn't give me a choice, just said that there is such a role that allows you to come, you can't play it. So I didn't think that much, and I didn't think it would be particularly difficult to do. I remember the agent telling me that there was a reply in two hours, so you should hurry up and decide. I replied in two minutes, and I have always believed in intuition and never struggled with the role.
The Paper: Do you think the current state is the kind of actor you once wanted to be?
Li Meng: I can only say that it is still on the way to becoming. I wanted to be an actor because I watched "Gone with the Wind". Scarlett's accomplishments are so high that Vivien Leigh is supposed to be one of the best actors in the world. You see when Vivien Leigh died, the whole UK turned off the lights for her for a minute, she was a very great actress, I wish I could be that person, but I was still far from "great".