The urban emotional drama "Chenghuan Ji", produced by CCTV, Huace Film & TV's Dream Forest Studio and Tencent Video, and starring Yang Zi and Xu Kai, is currently on air on CCTV-8 and Tencent Video. The drama is adapted from the original work by Yi Shu and tells the family and marriage story of an ordinary girl, Mai Chenghuan.
Among many urban emotional dramas, the innovation of this drama lies in its focus on the discussion and reflection of family and intergenerational relationships; for example, the male protagonist Yao Zhiming is not portrayed as a perfect and charming man. Under Xu Kai's interpretation, this character is more vivid.
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
Although actor Xu Kai has only been in the entertainment industry for a few years, he has starred in many dramas. This young actor has grown a lot. Regarding the role of Yao Zhiming in "Legend of Joy", he admitted that he was attracted by his complexity when he first came into contact with the script. "Dark-bellied and venomous" and "sophisticated egoism" are labels that are very attractive to Xu Kai.
After further understanding, Xu Kai had a deeper understanding of Yao Zhiming. "If we must say that Yao Zhiming is a 'dominant boss', then he may be the most embarrassed 'dominant boss'. First, he grew up in a difficult environment, and second, he had no parents or family members to teach him. He struggled all the way and was taught by things. So he knows very well that only absolute strength is the best solution for a stable life in a world where the strong prey on the weak."
In the play, the male and female protagonists form a sharp contrast in their growth experiences and family environments. Yao Zhiming was raised in a cold and indifferent family, while Mai Chenghuan was tightly bound in a warm family. The development of their emotional relationship is accompanied by the discussion of family issues.
"Mother Mai Chenghuan really loves her so much that she loses her rights as an independent individual. But Yao Zhiming has no family at all and has been used to being alone since he was a child. So when he walked into the lives of the Mai family, the feeling of being surrounded by warmth and care made him feel strange and uncomfortable, but at the same time he was unconsciously attracted."
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
Many young people have to choose whether to "live a happy life" or "live out their own life", whether to follow their parents' plan or to walk their own path. However, Xu Kai feels lucky. "My parents are very open-minded and have not set too many goals for my future. As long as I am honest, kind and self-reliant, I don't have any worries in this regard."
In recent years, Xu Kai has starred in many period costume dramas. "In fact, the audience should have noticed that I used to have a passionate martial arts dream, so I prefer period costume dramas and fairy tales, which are far from real life. Compared with modern dramas, the character settings are mostly relatively 'perfect'."
As he has grown older in recent years, Xu Kai has gradually become more interested in flawed, more real and vivid characters like Yao Zhiming. "Because human nature is complex, different growth experiences and life trajectories will create different people. So what will their lives be like? What choices will they make when faced with different things? If I encounter such situations, how can I interpret them? I feel that it will be a very interesting challenge, so maybe in the future, I will be more down-to-earth in choosing roles."
The Paper interviewed Xu Kai and talked about the creation and thinking of the character in "Legend of Joy".
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
【dialogue】
Extremely meticulous decision-making ability is Yao Zhiming's greatest charm
The Paper : What attracts you most about Yao Zhiming?
Xu Kai : What attracted me the most was the multifaceted character of Yao Zhiming. His sensibility and rationality were in a state of mutual growth and decline. Although he seemed to be very scheming, calculating, and ruthless, and his early actions were very much like a villain, he was very eager for warmth in his heart. When his soft side was stimulated, it can be described as a complete transformation.
When I first came into contact with the script, I thought he was really a very special person, so after reading the script, I quickly decided to fight for this role.
The Paper : Can you talk about the creative process of this character? What do you think is his greatest charm? What is the most "annoying" thing about him?
Xu Kai : Regarding the creative process, first of all, the character of Yao Zhiming is very charming. When we were rehearsing and rehearsing on the set, we also had conflicts over how to make the character more in line with his characteristics and make the plot more interesting. Everyone made a lot of efforts for their own roles. Many times, everyone hit it off and said, "Yes, yes, I think so too." Many interesting details came out of the conversation.
Yao Zhiming's greatest charm, to me, is his extremely careful decision-making ability. He is so smart that when he takes the first step, he has already thought about the next five, six, seven, and eight steps. This is also an ability that even I don't have very much. It's amazing.
If I hate him, from my personal perspective, there is nothing to hate about him, because he does have his motivations and starting points for everything, and he is not a bad person by nature, so he has his own bottom line, and he has his own considerations on what to do and what not to do. Of course, I see that some viewers say he is mean, which is understandable. Yao Zhiming does speak more directly, and when I was filming, I would tell the director that I felt Yao Zhiming would speak like this, and make some adjustments in his expression.
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
The Paper : What do you focus on most when creating a character? In terms of preparing for roles and characters, taking Yao Zhiming as an example, do you have any small habits of your own? For example, how do you practice your lines? How do you get into the role?
Xu Kai : What I am most concerned about may be the motivation and presentation of each behavior of this character. For example, Yao Zhiming was originally a workaholic with little life, but today he is watering flowers in the garden. So he must have relaxed the tense string in his heart in a certain scene, or he was influenced by someone at a certain point, which enabled him to learn to put down his work temporarily and enjoy life for a while.
I don’t have any special little habits myself, but Yao Zhiming does have a little habit. Every time Yao Zhiming is more relaxed, he will spin a pen. This can be regarded as a small design for the character creation.
Regarding the dialogues, I do have a lot of shortcomings. For example, my southern accent is still a bit obvious. I did try my best to correct it during the filming, but I may need to work harder on some pronunciation habits and intonation stress in order to do better.
When it comes to getting into character, I feel like I can get into the mood pretty quickly, which is probably a small advantage of filming on my own.
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
“Mai Chenghuan is so special”
The Paper : You and Yang Zi are working together this time, and the relationship in the drama is quite bickering. Was the atmosphere during the filming lively and relaxed? Are there any scenes in your scenes with Yang Zi that left a particularly deep impression on you?
Xu Kai : In the play, the atmosphere between the two of us is quite complicated. For a sophisticated egoist like Yao Zhiming, people like Mai Chenghuan are really rare. So for him, Mai Chenghuan is so special that he will unconsciously explore and observe this person more, and then be warmed and attracted by her.
When filming on the set, Teacher Yang Zi was a very good and professional actor. She was quite serious when discussing the creation of the character. But when it was time to take a break, chat and play, they would also joke with each other and it was very comfortable to get along with each other.
The most memorable scene was the one where she and I confronted each other in the office. I used her as a part of my goal and used her to deal a fatal blow to my opponent, which Cheng Huan, who already regarded me as half a family member, could not accept. From my perspective, I was very rational and tried to find a way to solve the problem, but she was in a state of collapse and disappointment. The atmosphere between the two of us was tense and we ended up parting on bad terms. The confrontation between the two of us in that scene was quite interesting.
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
The Paper : When working with Wu Yanshu, did you observe the working state and performance style of this veteran actress? Did you learn anything from her? How do you usually interact on the set?
Xu Kai : Teacher Wu Yanshu is really a very gentle grandma. In her, I see a very healthy attitude towards life, and she is also very serious about her work.
I really like listening to stories from the older generation, including when I am at home. I like listening to stories from my parents’ generation. My grandmother told me a lot of things that happened to her in the past, and we get along just like real grandparents and grandchildren.
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
The Paper : It has been relatively smooth since you entered the industry. What was your understanding of acting when you first debuted? Has it changed now?
Xu Kai : After I entered the industry, I fell in love with acting in the first two plays. I felt that I had endless energy and wanted to spend it on acting. Because of this, I wanted to seize every opportunity and didn't give myself any time to breathe. I felt that I could try everything. As long as I had the opportunity to fight for it, I would work very hard and keep taking on roles, hoping that in this way I could be more calm and comfortable as an actor.
Gradually I came to realize that no one has unlimited motivation. I need to stop and feel life, and gain more inspiration for performance from life. Now my mentality is more stable and I am less impatient.
Stills from "The Story of Joy"
When following your own drama, you must open all the barrages
The Paper : Over the years, are there any seniors or directors who have had a significant impact on your performance or have helped you a lot? What kind of growth and inspiration have they brought to you?
Xu Kai : Should I tell you the truth? In fact, the actor I admire the most is Mr. Huang Bo. I think he has a lot of personal charm. As long as he plays a small character, it is very real and lifelike. How can he present each role so vividly? It feels like this person has appeared next to me. I feel that this performance level is really high. He is also my goal and role model in this industry.
The Paper : For young actors, will the voices from the public interfere with their ability to recognize themselves and their performances? How can they maintain their own judgment amidst all the voices?
Xu Kai : For any character I have played, I will definitely watch the show with all the comments turned on as soon as it starts airing, because I really want to see everyone's feelings and feedback on my character. In this process, of course, I will see all kinds of comments and hear different voices. So when I see these contents, I will also reflect on myself, what I did right, what I did not do well enough, which sentences I need to absorb, and which sentences I can just read and forget about.
In fact, after so many years, I have a basic judgment in my mind. If something should be corrected, I will try my best to adjust it. As for the rest, let them be. As long as everyone is happy.
The Paper : What do you think is the biggest change in your career over the past few years? Has the order of things that you think are important in life changed?
Xu Kai : I think my mentality has changed a lot. I have gotten rid of some of the youthful enthusiasm and impulsiveness I had before. For example, as I just said, my future plans and inclinations for my career will be more down-to-earth. This is also because of this. However, the order of important things in life will definitely not change. Family will always come first.
