This is a series of short articles by the same author which will be a 6 part analysis on Xiao Zhan’s various roles.
- Part 1.1 – Wei Wuxian
- Part 1.2 – Wei Wuxian
- Part 1.3 – Wei Wuxian
- Part 2.1 – Yan Bingyun
- Part 3.1 – Period Dramas
- Part 3.2 – Period Dramas
Original Article: https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404472613152882837#_0
Original Author: 诗债累累
Understanding the Core Tenet of His Role
Many, who have seen “The Untamed”, would be very familiar with the character of Wei Wuxian, and the common tags used are “Beautiful”, “Strong” and “Miserable”, and hence I will not be building on these three labels, but instead, we will dive straight into the difficulty of the role, and what Xiao Zhan did in preparation of the role.
Most would say that you construct the character based on his personality and the underlying foundation. It would be the same for this character, but why was Wei Wuxian created as such? A million actors could give you a million different depictions of the same role with different flavors. In the original novel, the author used several descriptors as the character setting, such as “proud but not arrogant, uninhibited but unbridled”. These were the points which the actor needed to consider in his performance, and these could be seen in Xiao Zhan’s depiction of Wei Wuxian prior to “The Never Night City”.
How could an orphaned child become such a mischievous, rule-breaking troublemaker, instead of becoming someone with an inferior complex, or someone who is a people pleaser?
Here, we will split Wei Wuxian’s life into 4 parts:
1. His Childhood with his Parents
This was not shown in the drama, but Xiao Zhan created Wei Wuxian’s background by bringing in that childlike curiosity in his mannerisms and expressions, as well as his eagerness in breaking any possible rules. From these details, you could almost see the marks left on him by his parents, as well as the kind of people Wei Wuxian’s parents might be. If Wei Wuxian was orphaned since birth, the performance would not have been the same.
2. His Life as an Orphan on the Streets
Basically, his fear of dogs. And Xiao Zhan showed that fear in all kinds of situations.
However, there is also this hidden facade to this period that can only be seen from the supporting cast’s actions, such as Xiao Xingchen and Mian Mian, during their Night Hunts. For those who work alone during their Night Hunts, they do not have financial or team backing, and the hunt entirely relied on themselves. If there were any sudden or complex situations, there may be injuries and this is evident in how Wei Wuxian reacts in all of his Night Hunts.
He is always ready for action, and no matter where the camera is, he is always in character, focused and tense. This created a good sense of tension in the entire drama – while he seems uninhibited on the outside, he is also anticipating action.
3. His Adjustment Period with Jiang Family
The period of time which Wei Wuxian was orphaned and roaming the streets resulted in him suffering hunger and being bullied by dogs, and as a result, awakening his survival instincts. This survival instinct is shown in all of his battles, whether he could win or not, he fights with all of his might. And this is also seen in how he carefully positions himself in the Jiang Family – how the others view him, how to avoid Madam Jiang and her wrath and how to read others’ body language. However, despite all that, Wei Wuxian showcased his most brilliant personality trait – being able to stay true to himself. The role is such that he remains unbounded while trying to keep everyone else happy. This reminds me of the XZ Studio clip where Xiao Zhan was asked to make choices and he said, “I want both”.
This is seen most evidently in the period where he was studying in Cloud Recess. In Xiao Zhan’s performance, his actions are direct and warm, and he reacts very swiftly to his partner’s performances. And because Wei Wuxian has already been through a period unique to his experience, he knows how to adjust himself according to the environment, unlike Jiang Cheng or Jin Zixuan, who are unable to do so, or Nie Huaisang, who went the other track of becoming someone else instead. Xiao Zhan’s performance featured lively expressions, relaxed body language because he knew that he is ahead of the rest not just in terms of battle power, but also in terms of maturity. And as such, with a good understanding of his environment, he is able to act freely as he deems.
4. His Role as the Eldest Disciple in Jiang Family
The most important scenes during this period would be the interactions between the Jiang Family and Wei Wuxian. In here, Jiang Family is not a singular person, but the how the entire clan has accepted him, and what role does Wei Wuxian play in this clan. It is evident in this portion that Wei Wuxian is the spiritual leader of the next generation of Jiang Family, he has the presence and the right to speak as the eldest disciple. He is able and allowed to build and protect the Jiang Family.
And as such, many viewers were able to empathize with him and his misery during the massacre of the Jiang Family and during the gift of his Golden Core to Jiang Cheng. It was not easy to portray realistic emotional scenes, and what was exceptional was that we were able to see in his performance – the feeling of a child trying to be an adult. Although it appears that Wei Wuxian took on the responsibility of rescuing and supporting Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng, his emotional state appeared to have regressed to his childhood stage – the period where he was just picked up from the streets. His emotional response was direct and instinctive.
Conclusion
We can summarize the above analysis into the following points:
- Childhood with his parents – Curiosity, eagerness and persistence
- Orphan on the streets – Focused, tense and alert
- Adjustment Period with Jiangs – Staying true to himself, no matter what
- Eldest Disciple of Jiangs – Spiritual leader
Recently, there has been a lot of acting-related variety shows, such as “The Birth of an Actor”, and audiences felt that some of the performances are exaggerated, and that is due to the lack of emotional buildup. Once, Zhang Ziyi went onstage to do a short skit, and she did something very important – she did some setup actions (without lines), which established the environment, and allowed the audiences to understand the situation before proceeding with the performance. This 10+ seconds of silent actions actually contained a lot of information, and this showed her ingenuity and skill as an actress.
In Xiao Zhan’s performances, he also ensured that there were emotional buildup. This emotional buildup meant that he not only studied the flow of the scenes or the play, but also studied the characteristics of all of his partners in the scene, including those that may not be evident and needed inference. This area required him to have a good cognitive ability and empathy, and as well as what Tovstonogov said – wisdom and enthusiasm.
I would make a guess that in his personal experiences, especially after participating in a stressful idol talent reality show, would aid him in crafting his performances. A talent reality show is scripted, and yet also unscripted. The flow of the script is absolute and tight, but results depend entirely on how your performance as well as that of your opponents. Essentially, the performances go through the following flow:
Being able to read your opponents during a talent reality show is difficult, and this experience aided him in understanding the script not just from his point of view, but also from his partner’s.
Once a good actor has grasped the basics of emotional buildup, his actions would allow his audiences to understand what is being said, and what is being inferred, i.e. a performance with depth. As such, his audiences could see that his performance of Wei Wuxian contained depth and charm.