Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/P–3yUvcmaUjWlTi3mnC8w
This article is published by Blogger World 博客天下 Weixin. This is also part of the article published in Blogger World 《博客天下》2024 1st Issue.
This year, Xiao Zhan switched roles between era dramas, fantasy dramas, and workplace dramas, delicately handling the complexity of the characters, creating a layered sense of these characters, and allowing the audience to see more of him as an actor.
He never set limits on his performances, his standard for judging characters is to make him fall in love with them. He relied on emotional resonance, observation and feeling, understanding them and becoming them, which made his work real and vivid.
For a long time, he had always adhered to his original intention as an actor, hoping that he could give back to the audience with more and better works, and deliver more positive energy through his own actions.
In 2023, people saw more sides to actor Xiao Zhan.
In “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, he was Xiao Chunsheng, a youth from Beijing. He was sincere and brave, firm and kind, and he pursued his dreams steadfastly despite the ups and downs of fate. The 30-year time span in the drama made many viewers realize that Xiao Zhan, who had a strong youthful temperament, was also able to interpret middle adulthood characters with ease.
In “The Longest Promise”, he was the cold and aloof Grand Priest Shi Ying, the top magic user of Yunhuang, but he also had a complicated and heavy past, he had experienced the entanglements of love and hate in the world, had experienced strong greed, anger, obsession and resentment, and eventually cultivated a heart of justice. Through Shi Ying, the audience once again felt Xiao Zhan’s interpretation of the complexity and layering of characters.
In “Sunshine By My Side”, he was Sheng Yang, a newcomer who has just entered the workplace. He was sunny and cheerful, and had a firm love for the advertising industry. Even if he was suppressed by his supervisors, he would grit his teeth and fight on. Xiao Zhan delicately integrated the idealistic enthusiasm and the roughness tempered by life, the result was three-dimensional and moving.
This year, Xiao Zhan had been constantly switching roles between period dramas, fantasy dramas, and workplace dramas, and had been active in the public eye. Watching the different lives he performed on the screen, the audience began to realize that Xiao Zhan, who had been in the industry for 8 years, had unknowingly become a mature actor capable of various types of roles.
Looking back on 2023, Xiao Zhan believed that this was a fulfilling and rewarding year. His goal had always been to let everyone see his progress and changes through each work, so that his performance could be recognized by the audience.
Following the light of his ideal, his steps never stopped moving forward.
Table of Contents
01 Becoming Them
On the road to acting, Xiao Zhan had always been trying to find more possibilities.
When he met Xiao Chunsheng, he was at the stage where he wanted to challenge more new roles. After getting the script of “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, he was quickly attracted to this drama, which was rooted in the 1970s, and moved by the grand story with a time span of 30 years..
On the one hand, Xiao Chunsheng’s sincerity, passion, and friendship deeply attracted him; on the other hand, Xiao Zhan also grew up in the factory area when he was a child, the life and neighborly feelings Xiao Chunsheng experienced had a strong sense of familiarity to Xiao Zhan, which made him resonate to a great extent with Xiao Chunsheng’s choices in family, love, and career.
But aside to resonance, there were also practical problems facing Xiao Zhan: he grew up in Chongqing, whereas Xiao Chunsheng was an authentic Beijinger. How could he grasp the essence of Beijing dialect and capture Xiao Chunsheng’s spiritual temperament? For this reason, Xiao Zhan hired a line teacher before joining the group and spent a long time learning Beijing dialect. In his free time, he would go to Beijing’s alleys with his script teacher and watch the Beijing elders playing chess, cards, and walking birds. These vivid scenes of life allowed Xiao Zhan and Xiao Chunsheng to become more and more familiar, and he could already fully imagine the traces of Xiao Chunsheng’s life here.
The first scene to be filmed was the scene at the Shichahai Ice Rink. At that time, the crew used straw mats to circle an area of more than 10,000 square meters on the Shichahai Sea, restoring the scene of the old Shichahai Ice Rink 50 years ago. At the moment Xiao Zhan stood on the ice rink, he did not have any extra thoughts, he just felt “I am him.”
In Xiao Zhan’s career as an actor, there were many moments of “becoming him”, which were not realized only through emotional resonance. Before performing a role, he would repeatedly search for the character’s supporting points. At those times, he was like a container, putting the character’s personality traits, living habits, and values into his body bit by bit, and then working out the most suitable and fitting shape.
To a certain extent, Xiao Zhan was the person who understood them best, and hence he could become them.
When filming “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan already had a deep understanding of Shi Ying, although he had appeared in works of a similar style before, in his opinion: “The role of Shi Ying feels new to me is that he is a mortal human being, he had human emotions and desires, which are very vivid.” At the same time, “This character has a sense of contrast, he is restrained yet sharp, cold yet empathetic, his character traits are not singular, these gave me a better fulcrum to understand and interpret the character.”
For Xiao Zhan, among all the characteristics of Shi Ying, “coldness” was the most difficult to interpret. He did not attribute Shi Ying’s aloofness to his identity as a Grand Priest, but tried to find resonance points in Shi Ying that would convince him and the audience. With this idea in mind, he chatted with the director and screenwriter on the set to explore Shi Ying’s growth environment and life attitude, and finally presented Shi Ying’s complex and highly contrasting side.
Sometimes, Xiao Zhan would encounter a character he liked, but was not sure whether he could create him with flesh and blood. For example, when he came into contact with Sheng Yang in “Sunshine By My Side”, Xiao Zhan was quickly impressed by this energetic, “wise but not worldly” newcomer to the workplace. However, he hesitated at the time and did not know if he could still be that innocent and lively Sheng Yang, who was like a little sun. For this, he held three script meetings with the screenwriter, and everyone came together to sort out and adjust the character, and a clear and complete Sheng Yang started to appear in Xiao Zhan’s mind finally.
When it came to roles, Xiao Zhan had no fixed restrictions or a certain preferred type. He only had one criterion: this character must be someone he could fall in love with. Because of this love, mutual trust was established and the work became real and vivid.
02 Living Character
During those days on the set, Xiao Zhan’s background colors would fade away and be replaced by a new personality. Sometimes he was more lively and outspoken than Xiao Zhan, and sometimes he had a heavier past than Xiao Zhan.
These differences could not be filled with a few lines, and it would not film strictly with all the lines as planned while on set, Xiao Zhan frequently needed to react on the spot. For example, when filming “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, there were many group scenes, there were many scenes just counting dinner table scenes. In the “Menghai Squad”, Xiao Chunsheng was their eloquent leader, so before filming a group scene, the director would always say “Chunsheng, come and say a few words” to liven up the atmosphere on the scene.
In the days when he became Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan had adapted to such strong social needs, and he often made impromptu toasts. Even after filming completed, these characteristics will slowly fade away, but in this time and space, they had completely overlapped before.
In every drama, Xiao Zhan woud design some details of the character. When filming “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, because the character Xiao Chunsheng had to go through a time span of more than 30 years, Xiao Zhan deliberately made some explicit distinctions in each age group. For example, in his youth, Xiao Chunsheng would often have a “careless” attitude when speaking, with his head tilted to one side, which looked cocky, and his body movements were lighter. In middle adulthood, not only did his hairstyle and clothes change, but his tone also began to become calmer, and his feet would completely land on ground when walking, forming a clear distinction from the unrestrained youth in the previous stage.
Xiao Zhan would write a biography for every character he played. Before filming “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan discovered that there were a few years where Shi Ying’s experience leaving imperial city and entering Jiuyi Mountain was blank, he relied on his own imagination to fill in the life of Shi Ying in those few years, imagining how he grew from a prince to a minor priest, which made the character of Shi Ying’s foundation deeper.
During the filming process, Xiao Zhan would also actively communicate with the director based on the logic of the characters. Because of Shi Ying’s “upright” image, Xiao Zhan rarely sat on the set. He would always stand against the wall or a tree trunk to make himself look more upright. But at the same time, after feeling Shi Ying’s inner softness more and more strongly, Xiao Zhan would take the initiative to discuss with the director whether he could break Shi Ying’s “upright” side in some scenes and show his slightly evil inner self, slightly prideful self, to make this character more vivid.
He once mentioned in an interview a scene in “The Longest Promise” before Shi Ying’s death: “In the original script, Shi Ying comforted Zhu Yan and told her not to be sad. I don’t think this is should be the state of someone truly in love with each other, the state of a someone who truly in love with each other should be: I want you to feel sad for me, when I am dying, I will be very happy when I can see you feeling sad for me from the bottom of your heart.” It can be seen that he had a deep understanding of the character’s inner emotional logic.
When performing, Xiao Zhan would also add his own observations and feelings about life to his interpretation of the character. Song Xiaofei, the director of “Sunshine By My Side”, once expressed that Xiao Zhan made many detailed considerations for the character. For example, at first, people would think that Sheng Yang had too few clothes, but Xiao Zhan believed that a designer who had just started working, with a monthly salary of several thousand yuan, it would be unrealistic if every time he went out like he was attending a fashion exhibition, changing his clothes constantly. “We need to bring him back to the real world and make him feel like a new person in the workplace, his clothes are also designed to be relatively simple.” In and out of the drama, on and off the stage, Xiao Zhan never regarded his characters as pure artistic images, in his eyes, they were all living people. With this understanding, he could be natural when performing and make the audience feel the sincerity in the performance.
03 Unchanging Original Intentions
In 2020, “Blogger World” had a conversation with Xiao Zhan, and when asked about his future career plans, he replied: “I still hope to deepen my career and try more diverse roles and dramas with different themes.” 3 years later, Xiao Zhan’s goals had not changed, but he had higher expectations for himself: “Besides hoping to be recognized by the audience, I also hope that my works and roles can bring more power to the audience.”
Xiao Zhan himself had drawn a lot of strength from the characters he has played, for example, he said: “Xiao Chunsheng is a very lively and infectious character, I am often moved by him. He perseveres and has always stuck to his the bottom line in heart, he will not be easily affected by the people around him or the surrounding environment, and he has the drive to face difficulties head on, and frequently say that ‘a difficult road is an uphill road’.”
This character was actually more extroverted than Xiao Zhan himself. “He is very responsible, always taking care of the friends around him as much as possible, and loves to help everyone solve their problems, his pure and innocent heart also affects me imperceptibly.”
Therefore, during the filming process, Xiao Zhan always maintained a high sense of faith to deeply understand the situations Xiao Chunsheng encountered at different stages, every stage had its slight differences, including military service, retirement, employment, and entrepreneurship. At the same time, relatives and friends around him would slowly come closer or become separated. When performing, Xiao Zhan would put himself into the situation and think about “with Chunsheng’s unyielding spirit, what he would think and do when faced with these situations.”
Sometimes he felt that he was the same as Xiao Chunsheng, whatever he wants, he would strive for it through hard work. As a result, the characters and actors actually formed some kind of interaction, influencing each other, and ultimately moving the audience.
When filming “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan felt from Shi Ying’s life attitude that “man could conquer nature and everything depends on his actions”, and destiny was not fixed but could be shaped by oneself through hard work. “He will firmly do what he thinks is right, and in the end he will also succeded in dedicating everything he has to the righteousness and the country,” Xiao Zhan said.
When filming “Sunshine By My Side”, he felt the warmth and rich emotional world in Sheng Yang. In Sheng Yang, there were common workplace dilemmas faced by young people, there were some impulsions when handling with the relationship with his boss, but Xiao Zhan could feel that Sheng Yang must have a pair of parents who loved him very much, his family background might be ordinary, but the emotional condition must be filled.
Every character had a shining point, and as an actor, Xiao Zhan also wanted this light to illuminate more people.
In the past few years, Xiao Zhan had been busy at work and spent most of the year in the drama group. Every time after filming had completed, he would try his best to give himself a vacation and try to return to his daily life, sleeping, working out, and detaching himself from the character. But it would not take too long, “it’s enough to relax for a while, it also takes a while to welcome a new character. You need to read through and become familiar with the script, and sort out the relationships between the characters.” Xiao Zhan told “Blogger World”.
He is a person who listens to outside voices. When talking about the requirements he had for himself at work, Xiao Zhan said: “What I can do is to better fully understand and experience the character, and communicate more with directors, scriptwriters, and the collaborating senior actors, and at the same time, I will also listen to the audience’s well-intentioned and helpful suggestions on performances to improve my shortcomings.”
Xiao Zhan had never deliberately maintained a certain state or image at a certain stage. As an actor, he hoped to prevent the audience from having a fixed concept of his performance or characters. “It would be best if each work could bring a new image that brightens the audiences’ eyes, making everyone forget how Xiao Zhan was like originally,” he said.
“Be down-to-earth, interpret every role carefully, and do my job well.” Driven by this simple original intention, actor Xiao Zhan is walking steadily on his own path.
Conversation of the Year
“Blogger World”: In 2023, you have 3 dramas starring you aired, which have achieved very good results. If you sum up this year, what is your evaluation of yourself, or what do you want to say to yourself?
Xiao Zhan: Fulfilling and rewarding. I hope that I can continue to work hard and give back to the audience with more and better works in the future, and also deliver more positive energy through my own actions.
“Blogger World”: In the era emotional drama “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, you play the role of Xiao Chunsheng, a tenacious and upright young man who bravely pursues his dreams. What impact does this character’s character and story have on you? What did you gain from the process of creating this character?
Xiao Zhan: Xiao Chunsheng is a very lively and infectious character, I am often moved by him. He is tenacious and always sticks to the bottom line in his heart, and will not be easily affected by the people around him or the surrounding environment. At the same time, he has the drive to face difficulties. He often says, “A difficult road is an uphill road.”
This character is actually much more extroverted than I am. He also acts as the “leader” among his friends, he is very responsible and always tries his best to take care of the friends around him and help everyone solve problems, his pure and innocent heart also affects me imperceptibly.
“Blogger World”: As an era drama, involving decades of time changes, how do you grasp the characteristics of the characters at each stage? For you, what is the most important element in a person’s growth process, and what needs to be held on to?
Xiao Zhan: I think the first thing is to believe and allow me to put myself in Xiao Chunsheng’s shoes and experience the situations he encountered at different stages. Actually, there are subtle differences in the stages of military service, retirement, employment, entrepreneurship, etc., including the close ones and friends around him, who will also slowly get closer or become separated, so when performing, I need to think about the scenes before and after, and put them into the situation: with Chunsheng’s unyielding spirit, what he would think and do when faced with these situations.
I think for me, it means sticking to what I believe in and doing what I think is right.
“Blogger World”: This time you starred in the fantasy drama “The Longest Promise” and returned to the field of ancient dramas. Do you have any new feelings and surprises?
Xiao Zhan: The new feeling for me about the role of Shi Ying feels new to me is that he is a mortal human being, he had human emotions and desires, which are very vivid. At the same time, The surprising thing is that this character has a sense of contrast, he is restrained yet sharp, cold yet empathetic, his character traits are not singular, these gave me a better fulcrum to understand and interpret the character.
“Blogger World”: Shiying in the play is a lonely and cold person, but his destiny has experienced great twists and turns. What do you think the character’s attitude towards life is?
Xiao Zhan: Shi Ying’s attitude towards life is that man could conquer nature and everything depends on his actions. Therefore he will firmly do what he thinks is right, and in the end he will also succeded in dedicating everything he has to the righteousness and the country.
“Blogger World”: In the urban drama “Sunshine By My Side”, you play the role of designer Sheng Yang. The character has a sunny side of a young man, but at the same time he is very mature inside. Is this the image you want to maintain?
Xiao Zhan: As far as I am concerned, I do not deliberately maintain a certain state or image at a certain stage. In my understanding, Sheng Yang is a person who is wise but not worldly, he has the energy of a young man but is not childish at heart.
As an actor, I hope that everyone will not have a fixed concept of my performance or role. It is best that every work can bring a new image to the audience, making everyone forget who the original Xiao Zhan should look like. (Laughs)
“Blogger World”: Do you imagine what your life would be like now if you had not entered the entertainment industry?
Xiao Zhan: Actually, I have never thought about that, perhaps I might still be in the design industry, I would commute to and from work every day, and might have to work overtime frequently. Or open a bakery, paint when I have nothing to do, or go traveling with family and friends.
“Blogger World”: In recent years, you have participated in a variety of works and diverse characters. What method do you usually use to detach yourself from the emotions of the previous character and adapt to the next one?
Xiao Zhan: Maybe I will just give myself some time off, return to my daily life, sleep, exercise, and relax for a while, that’s about it. It also takes a while to welcome a new role, to read through and become familiar with the script, and to sort out the relationships between the characters.
“Blogger World”: Regarding the profession of actor, do you have any new insights now compared to when you first debuted? Is there any change in mentality?
Xiao Zhan: My idea was relatively simple then, I just wanted to act well and try different roles. My thoughts have not actually changed now, but I will have higher expectations on myself, besides hoping to be recognized by the audience, I also hope to bring some strength to everyone through my roles and works. I think this will be very meaningful and valuable.
“Blogger World”: What is your current ambition on the road of acting? What are the requirements for yourself reflected in your work?
Xiao Zhan: My goal has always been to hope that everyone can see my progress and changes through each work, and also hope that my performance can be affirmed and recognized by the audience.
What I can do is to better fully understand and experience the character, and communicate more with directors, scriptwriters, and the collaborating senior actors, and at the same time, I will also listen to the audience’s well-intentioned and helpful suggestions on performances to improve my shortcomings.
Be down-to-earth, interpret every role carefully, and do my job well.