Nearly ten years after his debut, Jiang Xueming has portrayed many characters, many of whom are villains. He doesn't mind being defined as a "villain pro", but he cares deeply about whether the villain he plays shows enough emotional motivation and behavioral logic. As a young actor with a high degree of recognition, he firmly believes that his sincerity for performance will be seen by more people, "I will continue to grow and break through, I hope that everyone will continue to pay attention to me." ”
Tops, trousers / all BOTTEGA VENETA
Legendary villain face
LEON: In the past ten years since your debut, have you felt that you have played too many villain roles?
Took stock, indeed. In fact, I can't blame it, mainly because the director feels that he needs a more symbolic face.
LEON: So you also think that your image is more suitable for the villain?
I don't approve of it, I think I'm both right and wrong. But I don't know why, many co-directors only discovered my evil side, and selectively ignored my positive side.
LEON: When you first received a script from a villain, did you hesitate or refuse?
No, who would say no in the face of opportunity? (Laughs) But usually the villains who find me are more "anti", so I think this character still has a lot of weight in the whole play. I think it's actually a particularly difficult thing to play the villain.
Shirts, trousers / sean SUEN
Sweater / BOTTEGA VENETA
LEON: So far, have you been worried that people are positioning you as a "villain professional"?
Don't worry, because it's already positioned.
LEON: Do you want to get rid of that positioning?
In fact, I have thought of doing some experiments, at the level of the play, to make the character have some subversion. For example, in the early stage, it may be a villain, and then suddenly reverse into an undercover or something, this type I do not refuse.
LEON: Have you ever encountered such a role so far?
Not yet, but I've played a lot of blackened roles, which at least gives me a space to show, and this role is less symbolic.
Sweaters, shoes / all ARE BOTTEGA VENETA
LEON: Are you rejecting a monostructured, symbolic villain?
be. Because after playing the same type of role more, you will want to dig out different personalities in different characters. From the perspective of the creation of the entire script, the color of the villain will be relatively uniform, but you have to show different characters in different stories, so you still need to do more homework. Especially when you play more of this kind of role, you want to make a difference in their performance, because every villain is different, you can't label the two words of villain, in the end he is still a person.
LEON: If, at the level of the script, the director gave you a very single character, would you make him some rich layers in terms of performance?
Some plays are relatively short, requiring you to present the more extreme side of the character in a limited time, and will not give you too much of the character's emotional motivations and causal connections, such as why the villain became a villain. If not, you have to emphasize your homework in this regard when interpreting other scenes, you have to let the villain appear in front of the audience with values, and you have to constantly establish his values for each character.
T-shirts, vests / sean SUEN
Coat / LOEWE
LEON: What did you do to establish his values when it comes to a specific role?
Let's take the eunuch Jinzhong in the well-known "Ruyi Zhuan" as an example, this role at that time I had to do my homework in advance was: Why did he have such a way of survival in the palace? How did he survive? As a villain, he has done so many bad things, but he can not be detected, and even he can cover the sky with one hand, there must be his survival law in the palace. When you do your homework, you need to take into account the role of the eunuch in history, and his innate repression, and then take the repression of his human nature and some of the humiliations you imagine him to suffer, whether it is forbearance, amplify these things, and finally establish the basis for his psychological distortion. Because no one is born with a psychological distortion, he must have had something happen in his childhood or growing up, he must have felt that the world was unfair to him, so whether it was out of self-preservation or revenge, he did those things. Anyway, he must have his own psychological basis, and those angers did not come out of thin air.
The lens is not deceptive
LEON: What was the hardest part of the filming process for you?
One of the most difficult ways I think is actually when an actor is first introduced to a role, you feel very hard at first, because you can't find the feeling. When you act and slowly find the feelings and directions of the characters, you will act better and better, and the more profound the interpretation, but then you will have a regret about the early shooting, if I understand it now, it is actually better to re-shoot the previous scene, but it is past the past.
LEON: Is there no way to make up for this regret?
If I could, I would expect to give the actors some advance experience and creative preparation time in the play, which is actually quite important. Because in fact, for the actor, the emotional tacit understanding is a big test, the two of us did not know each other before, but as soon as the shooting began to establish a very intimate relationship, it is very unreal, the camera will not deceive people.
In fact, I have always felt that filming is not a rational work, artistic creation is a sensual profession, it is like painting, inspiration is very important, not that I memorize the script well, everyone can act well, this is two different things.
LEON: Do you think that inspiration for filming is encounterable and unattainable?
Yes, to take the simplest example, for example, between two actors, there is a certain degree of randomness between them. Some people may work more effectively at first sight, and most of the time, you need to give the other person time, let him accept you, and build trust in you, which is something that the actor does privately. For example, if you play a couple, come up to play a hot love, or come up to play a breakup, in fact, both of them will be very uncomfortable. Some people say that you can imagine your own experience when creating, and I think it is irreplaceable, because the real person is standing in front of you at that time, and if you imagine another face, it will make you emotionally distracted. I'm more inclined to inject your emotions into the person in front of me, to believe your opponents, to believe in the situation written in the script, rather than to say that I imagine one person, imagine another scene.
LEON: Is the hypothesis also a reflection of the actor's professional skills?
Because we actors are human beings themselves, and we are also human beings, which involves a real thing. As an actor, I can act, but I think it's fake. Why everyone says that they really listen to it, really see what they feel, and the aesthetics of acting depend on the truth. Including when we are filming, whether it is an underwater scene or an action scene, we can try not to use a stand-in, because the real stimulation of people is completely different, and your instinctive physiological response, the emotions in your eyes, and the hormones emitted by your body are completely different. I'm exporting emotion to you, and you're giving me feedback, and this feeling of presence is the most precious.
Edited by Kong Xiangguo
Photography / Ha Yue
Makeup & Hairstyles / Fan Hao
Styling Assistant / Zhao Yu
Interview & Written by Scarlett Hao
Typography / Sun Yanhua