The Chinese crew made up Eliza. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, August 31 (Reporter Xu Xiaoqing, Zhao Wei, Ren Yaoyao) "Behind me more than once there was an 'explosion' of the whole building and the car, I was completely covered in dust, this is not a special effect, it is a real shot..." "Post-80s" Ukrainian actress Eliza recently recalled to reporters the thrilling scene of the 2017 expedition to South Sudan and other places in Africa to shoot the peacekeeping theme film "China's Blue Helmets".
Young Eliza can be called the "old drama bone" in film and television cooperation and exchanges along the "Belt and Road". In addition to the unforgettable experience of filming "China's Blue Helmets" in "War", in the past decade, Eliza has filmed more than 20 TV series and movies in China, Russia and other places. Recently, she was also invited to participate in film and television works filmed in many countries along the "Belt and Road".
I filmed side by side with the Chinese "big soldiers"
Eliza is the stage name irina Kaptrova Chinese used when filming film and television in China. Born in 1986 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, she studied journalism at a local university and worked as a journalist and presenter after graduation.
But life is always full of surprises — Eliza didn't become a war correspondent, but became an actress in a modern military film.
Slightly different from the Theme of China's Overseas Rescue in Wolf Warrior 2, the film "Chinese Blue Helmets", which is also a military theme, tells the story of Chinese peacekeepers carrying out missions overseas. This is also the first modern military film in which Eliza participated.
"To be a soldier means to be ready to give oneself to save the lives of others, and what could be more important than life?" Eliza elaborates on some of her personal thoughts on character development.
In one scene, Eliza plays Sophie, a peacekeeper who is shot and needs to "lead ordinary people without self-defense to break through the encirclement." On the set, there was "gunfire" all around, and Eliza and the extras kept running, and she had to cover these civilians with her body like a soldier.
She recalled: "After the shoot, I cried. I had a heavy heart and realized what courage and kindness I needed to be willing to give my life to others, even to people I didn't know. ”
In Eliza's view, the Chinese film and television team she works with is very professional, not only using live-action shooting, but also using props to reproduce the scenes during peacekeeping missions.
"There are about 1,000 extras in this work, made up of people from all over Africa, and the kids are doing a great job! I can confidently say that all the details have been well thought out. ”
"Learning Chinese on set, my brain seems to explode"
When Eliza had just started her acting career in China, she was in her early 20s. Starring in the TV series "Northeast Love Story" in 2009, she changed her career. At that time, she learned Chinese through dialogue between actors.
By the time of filming The Blue Helmets of China, Eliza was fluent in Chinese, and her experience of learning Chinese dates back even earlier.
At the time, Eliza, who was still called Irina, initially studied Chinese at Beijing Second Foreign Chinese University, but only studied there for a few months, during which time she auditioned for the film "Crazy Director" and began to accept annual invitations to participate in Chinese films and TV series. At this time, she also had the official Chinese name , Eliza.
"I learned spoken Chinese on set." Eliza recalls that she had invited teachers to teach Chinese at home, and many of them were self-taught. During the filming of TV series and movies, directors and actors basically only talked to her in Chinese and helped her correct her pronunciation.
She said that learning Chinese on set, there are too many new vocabulary. "How long is 'right now'?" "How spicy is 'not spicy'?" She felt "as if her brain was about to explode."
Eliza, who shot films in China. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Write a script for the Belt and Road Initiative
Not only does Eliza have blonde hair, bright eyes, and a beautiful face, from Ukraine to Russia to China, her film and television career is also inextricably linked to the Belt and Road Initiative.
As early as 2011, when Eliza co-starred in "My Natasha" with young Chinese actor Zhu Yawen, she became famous in China. In recent years, she has also filmed TV series such as "Prequel to Breaking into Kanto", "Divine Dog Kochichi (Season 2)", "Spicy Metamorphometer" and so on.
After making "My Natasha," Eliza usually spends less than half of the year in China, and she begins to think differently about her career as an actress. "I want to be a theatrical actor. At that time, I left China and went to live in Moscow, Russia, where I completed my studies in theater performance. ”
"Theatre and cinema are my life, I spent a few years studying the Stanislavsky system, am currently studying modern acting techniques and recently participated in the Avignon Theatre Festival," Eliza said. ”
For Eliza, the new concept of the Belt and Road Initiative advocated by China is very meaningful. She believes that under this framework, the art of film can be further developed, and China can cooperate with other countries to produce new international films.
She revealed that not long ago, she wrote a comedy film script about the story of China and Ukraine, and is currently forming a team and looking for a director. "I want to try making this film and plan to go in that direction in the future."
Eliza's "Belt and Road" film and television career will obviously not be limited to acting, but will develop in a more comprehensive direction.