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Xiao Zhan – The Answer of Time

Original Article: https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309405123382776561762 Original Author: 人物 Portrait Translator’s note: The article will be published in the February 2025 Issue of Portrait Magazine..

Xiao Zhan had always felt that freedom and self-focus were neutral terms. In the past, he might have cared more about other people’s judgments, but now he hoped to listen to his own voice. “Fate is uncontrollable, but what is controllable is yourself.” The so-called freedom meant having the ability to control one’s own destiny. Whether it was fast or slow, whether to walk or gallop, it was all up to him. The reins were not in anyone else’s hands, but in Xiao Zhan’s hands.

Text｜谷幌幌 Gu Huanghuang Editor｜金匝 Jin Za Photography｜许闯 Xu Chuang Makeup and Hair｜清俊DDJ STUDIO Styling｜GCK Production Coordinator｜#1105 Post-Retouching｜Comma Studio Photography Assistant｜TrunkStudio Brand Acknowledgements｜TOD’S

Moment of Freedom

In 2023, for a very long period of time, Xiao Zhan spent it with his actor friend Vincent.

He would always remember the scene when they first met: Vincent was very tall, his neck was extremely long, his body was full of muscles, the sun shone on his skin, which glowed red. He held his head high and was very elegant, ignoring everyone and walked into the riding course proudly — yes, Vincent is a horse.

After a while, Vincent suddenly started kicking backwards, when he passed other horses, he kicked them first without a care, and then ran wildly around the riding course. “I was dumbfounded at the time,” Xiao Zhan said. He pointed at Vincent and looked at the equestrian teacher, “Are you sure?” The equestrian teacher said calmly, “Yes.”

Vincent was selected from more than 1,000 horses and became one of the actors in the movie “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants”, playing the role of “Little Red Horse”, the mount of the hero Guo Jing.

For Xiao Zhan, the actor who portrayed Guo Jing, riding the “Little Red Horse” was the first step to becoming Guo Jing.

This is a test that the two actors experienced together, exploring each other, testing each other, breaking through each other’s boundaries, and finally reaching mutual understanding and trust.

Vincent was very smart. He was almost the smartest horse among the horses. He had his own unique way of being lazy and would often stop moving after running for a while. Xiao Zhan would whisper in his ear, “Little Red, can you run 2 more laps?” Little Red would ignored him. If Little Red didn’t want to move, and no one can persuade him; when Little Red was unhappy, he would just kick his butt up and throw people off fiercely.

Time and waiting, these were what Xiao Zhan could give the most, and there was no other way.

He said that if Little Red Horse was unwilling, he would stop. When Little Red House was willing to accept him, he would spend more time getting acquainted and training. Gradually, Little Red Horse and Xiao Zhan reached a tacit understanding. He knew that as long as the training was completed every day, everyone could rest. Later, during the filming break, Xiao Zhan also did not forget to feed Little Red Horse with carrots to reward his partner.

Now talking again about getting along with Little Red Horse, Xiao Zhan said that he felt very happy, it was a feeling of freedom.

Riding freely, understand the moods, personalities and habits of another species freely. They accompanied each other day and night, trusted each other, and eventually became friends.

For more than 2 months in the summer of 2023, Xiao Zhan lived a life like this: getting up at around 6 o’clock in the morning, going out at around 7 o’clock, crossing the Sixth Ring Road in Beijing, heading to the riding course in the suburbs. If there was a traffic jam, just distance alone would take nearly 2 hours. That state was like going to school, with horse riding in the morning and martial arts in the afternoon, or sometimes it’s all horse riding for the whole day and then physical training. He could rest a day in a week, and occasionally 2 days. After returning home, he would still continue to do strength training as long as he had time.

Director Tsui Hark treated “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” rigorously and specially, requiring the actors to devote themselves wholeheartedly to such a “semi-enclosed” period of time. Actress Zhuang Dafei, who portrayed Huang Rong, remembered that Xiao Zhan would bring the actors to train more, because he had the foundation of exercise before and was relatively professional, like a physical fitness teacher, he would lead everyone to do warm-up and stretching exercises. “There felt kind of like the classmates were in class together, and the monitor was leading us in training.”

During that time, extreme exhaustion allowed Xiao Zhan to fall asleep quickly every day. That was another kind of freedom he felt, the freedom of creating a new character.

Black Coat – BINGJIE PENG

We asked Xiao Zhan, in the past five years, have you had a particularly free moment spiritually? His answer was: “My days on the set made me feel free.” The road to the riding course was long and also made him happy.

Director Song Xiaofei also witnessed these days. At that time, the film “Sunshine By My Side” they collaborated on was in the post-editing stage. He knew that Xiao Zhan was very busy every day during the latter scenes, doing things such as fitness, horse riding, and archery, and occasionally Xiao Zhan would tell him, aching back, but he found that Xiao Zhan had a more relaxed and free state – didn’t care too much about whether there was some dirt on his face, whether he was sweating or oily, he was more concerned about whether the role was accurate.

When we spoke about these unseen 5 years, Xiao Zhan would mark the year with each work. In 2020 “Ace Troops” was filmed, in 2021 it was “A Dream Like a Dream” and “The Longest Promise”, in 2022 it was “The Youth Memories / Where Dreams Begin” “Sunshine By My Side”, in 2023 it was “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants”, in 2024 it was “Zang Hai Zhuan”, one after another, he approached those characters with curiosity, some non-repeated and more complex characters, and searched for different answers to life in them.

When working with Director Tsui Hark, Xiao Zhan always had a kind of respect. When they first met 2 years ago, he did not even ask why Tsui Hark came to see him. When saying goodbye, he did not even dare to say “looking forward to cooperating” for fear of appearing rude. It was only after some time that he learned that Tsui Hark wanted him to play Guo Jing.

But why did the cooperation start from Little Red Horse? Perhaps we can find the answer in the original novel “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”. To Guo Jing, Little Red Horse was a partner, a comrade-in-arms, even a family member, and more importantly, there was a scene between Guo Jing and Little Red Horse in the original novel. That was a very important turning point in Guo Jing’s growth, and it was also Guo Jing’s first real battle after learning the Quanzhen Sect’s internal cultivation skill, his courage, focus and super long endurance allowed the Jiangnan Seven Weirds to renew their understanding of their apprentice again, and helped him to become the “Great Hero”.

Regarding Guo Jing and the Little Red Horse, there was this description in the original novel: “The little red horse galloped wildly, dashing back and forth on the grassland for more than an hour, but yet it was feeling more and more energetic. All the shepherds were shocked by this. The old shepherd knelt down and murmured a prayer, begging for the heavens to not bestow disasters for offending their Dragon Horse, then yelled loudly, wanting Guo Jing to get off the horse quickly. However, Guo Jing was in full focus and laid very close to the horse’s back, as if tightly bound with a rope, rising and falling with the horse’s prances, and never falling off the horse.”

Xiao Zhan, who had become acquainted with Guo Jing, could also realized that this seemed to be a metaphor for Guo Jing’s life path: no matter how his fate will filled with ups and downs, he would not be thrown off the horse. He would hold the reins firmly, using a seemingly clumsy and yet irreplaceable way to step into Jianghu and become the great hero of a generation.

When Xiao Zhan became acquainted with his little red horse Vincent, he would also have his own answer to this question: As one living in Jianghu, pain and accidents are unavoidable, as long as he could hold on to his reins, he would eventually find the moments of freedom waiting for him.

Camel windbreaker, beige sweater, white jeans, and belt are all TOD’S

Innocent Confusion

Before the moment of freedom arrives, there will most certainly be a long period of grinding.

That was a long table, with more than 30 actors sitting around it, and the first script reading meeting that Spring began. This play has been performed for more than 20 years, some of them had been there since the debut performance, and perhaps many actors were new. Everyone had to introduce themselves, it was Xiao Zhan’s turn. Before he spoke, countless guesses kept popping up in his mind, “Oh my god, they’re all going to think I’m a rookie, will they wonder where this child came from?” He thought nervously and said in a low voice, “Hello everyone, I am Xiao Zhan.” 3 years later, when recalling this scene to “Portrait”, Xiao Zhan commented on himself at that time, “completely, very, very insecure.”

It was the Spring of 2021. Xiao Zhan was invited to star in the Yanghua version of “A Dream Like a Dream”. This was his first time on the drama stage and played one of the spiritual roles of the play, “Patient No. 5”, a role who he regarded as a “very sacred” role.

Xiao Zhan had heard of “A Dream Like a Dream” when he was participating in an art troupe in university. He knew it was a play about life and death, impermanence and reincarnation, and became curious about it. Now, when it was him to play the role, “I couldn’t believe it.” He was neither a major in acting nor had any drama performance experience, so why should he take on such an important role? But because he liked it so much, he accepted the invitation.

The story of “Patient No. 5” attracted Xiao Zhan. It was an extremely complicated fate – his child had passed away, his wife had disappeared, he had suddenly contracted a strange disease and endured much suffering. At the last moment of his life, he decided to journey afar, to travel around the world. In Paris, France, he met his lover, met with the mystery of another person, and for the rest of his life, he was looking for answers, looking for the answer to the mystery of life.

It was executive producer Wang Keran’s decision for Xiao Zhan to play the role of “Patient No. 5” in the Yanghua version of “A Dream Like a Dream”. Before 2019, Wang Keran had never heard of the name Xiao Zhan. The first time he knew about him was because they had accidentally stayed in the same hotel, he heard from others that a very popular actor named Xiao Zhan was also staying here.

In 2020, Wang Keran was looking for a new version of “Patient No. 5”, and a friend told him that he could pay attention to Xiao Zhan.

Wang Keran believed that the most mysterious part of a person’s destiny is impermanence. A few years ago, he told “Portrait” that Xiao Zhan and “Patient No. 5” had something in common, which was very complicated and had a sense of destiny. “As people live they would be fulfilled, and as they live they would suffer blows again.”

In July of that year, Wang Keran approached Xiao Zhan and invited him to have a conversation about drama with playwright Wan Fang. In fact, he wanted to observe the young actor. A few days later, Xiao Zhan handed over a long interview outline, which touched Wang Keran.

He told “Portrait” that he chose Xiao Zhan not only because of his sensitivity to words and his deep diligence, but more importantly, during the conversation with Wan Fang, he noticed that Xiao Zhan exuded a kind of “innocent confusion”, a characteristic especially belonging to “Patient No. 5”, and he wanted to explore the origin of this “innocent confusion”.

“I was curious, that in a violent collision, a person’s soul must feel confused, and this confusion may be more severe than I imagined.” Wang Keran said.

Xiao Zhan was indeed at a loss at that time. In 2015, he had entered the entertainment industry through a talent show, and from an ordinary designer, he became a member of an idol boy. In 2019, he became popular with the TV series “The Untamed” and became the actor with the most attention in China. Everything had happened so fast.

Stills from the drama “The Untamed”

When he was a child, Xiao Zhan liked to read “Stories” (TN: A leading Chinese language fortnightly literary magazine published in China) very much. The stories in it were all kinds of strange, with ups and downs of fate, and as a child, he found out for the first time what impermanence is. He remembered that when Wang Keran met him for the first time, he told him that he was chosen because of “a kind of impermanence”, he also understood that at certain moments, the fate of himself and “Patient No. 5” was intertwined. Rather than saying that “Patient No. 5” needed him, it would be better to say that Xiao Zhan also needed “Patient No. 5” at that time.

When we asked Xiao Zhan, what was the point he empathized the most with “Patient No. 5”?

“Looking for an answer. An answer to anything.” Xiao Zhan said. “Portrait” and Xiao Zhan had not seen each other for 5 years, the last filming was at the beginning of the new year in 2020. In the next 5 years, many new problems occurred, which also gave him many new confusions.

Xiao Zhan told “Portrait” that the arrival of “A Dream Like a Dream” is very important to him, “extremely important”, not only for a breakthrough in performance, but also a spiritual influence and support. “When I really need this kind of energy, it miraculously appeared, and it gave some answers to many questions.”

He knew that he had to seize this opportunity, just like holding the reins of a horse, and he had to decide his own direction.

Gray shirt, dark gray jacket and tie – Sean Suen; Vest jacket – Masion Margiela

The Answer of A Dream Like A Dream

The answer was not easy to obtain.

After taking on “Patient No. 5”, Xiao Zhan began to suffer from insomnia all night long. When he was awake, he would be reading the script, before joining the group, he had already memorized all the lines, and he had rehearsed many scenes at home many times. Despite this, he was still so insecure.

Regarding his nervousness at that time, Xiao Zhan shared a detail with “Portrait”, when he read the first line during the first reading meeting, his attention was not on himself, but on others. He appeared to be staring at the script in front of him, but he was actually using his peripheral vision to secretly observe the reactions of the other actors, until he finished reading, and he found that everyone had a little surprised reaction: “Hey, it seems okay.”

In the book “Everything is for Drama” (TN: Wang Keran’s book on his work methodology) also recorded the behind-the-scenes story of “A Dream Like a Dream”: Xiao Zhan had already memorized all his lines before he came, he brought with him the state of “Patient No. 5”, and could start rehearsing immediately upon arrival.

Wang Keran was very concerned about Xiao Zhan’s state, not only because of his huge fan base, but also because the new version of “Patient No. 5” had to be judged by all audiences and professional dramatists. The book “Everything is for Drama” summarized the condition at that time: “A thorn has been stuck in the back of this crew since half a year ago — will the newly joined Xiao Zhan be able to perform on the stage of the drama?”

Very soon, Wang Keran discovered that Xiao Zhan had devoted himself entirely to it. During rehearsals, actors would be easily attracted to their mobile phones, but at the rehearsal venue, Wang Keran observed that Xiao Zhan never wasted a minute. He never lowered his head to look at his mobile phone. When others were rehearsing, he was also observing, thinking and learning.

Recalling the scene a few years ago, Xiao Zhan said that he liked that kind of life very much. He was immersed in rehearsals every day, and it felt like going back to school again. Everyone rehearsed and discussed, and the teacher gave feedback, revised and polished, everyone was creating together. For him, “A Dream Like a Dream” was like a school, and even more like a dream.

Before the premiere, Xiao Zhan’s nervousness reached its peak. He was the opening actor, and the first line of the eight hour long “A Dream Like a Dream” was his. When he stood still and the spotlight shone on him, there was only whiteness in front of him, the world seemed to have stopped in silence. He remembered that he couldn’t hear anything that day, besides his own heartbeat, thump, thump, thump… when he finished saying the first line, his hearing recovered.

This might be the allure of the stage, although the audience was silent, Xiao Zhan could also feel “the air is clapping”. Wang Keran also remembered the situation on the day of the premiere, he felt that Xiao Zhan had almost “completely and perfectly expressed the emotions of ‘Patient No. 5’ that day”.

Starting in April 2021, Xiao Zhan followed “A Dream Like a Dream” to travel across the country. In more than two years, he appeared in many performances, and also gained a lot. What Xiao Zhan liked the most is that after each performance, the director and all the actors would get together and express together: “We have carried the love and passion from so many audiences, so we must give these things back to everyone.”

Every time, Xiao Zhan would say that he would never cry and would control his emotions, but every time everyone would discover that he went back with his eyes swollen from crying.

He became “Patient No. 5” without any reservations. There was like an invisible rope between him and “Patient No. 5”, and every time he performed “Patient No. 5”, his state of mind would also affected, “no performance is the same”, the veteran actors would tell him that this was right, and even if they had performed it for 10 years, they would still have new feelings every time, this was how stage plays were. Xiao Zhan also knew that it was not just “Patient No. 5” holding onto the other end of the rope, but also his persistence in performing, he had not released his hand.

At the end of “A Dream Like a Dream”, “Patient No. 5” had to stand on the stage and sing a song acapella. Every time he performed until this point, he would fall deeply into a complex emotion, because before that, he had foreseen the death of “Patient No. 5”.

From the lights off to the lights on, there was a transition time of 5 or 6 seconds. Xiao Zhan would always ask the staff behind the scenes to help him turn off the mic for a while, he would quickly wipe away his tears, sniff his nose and adjust his condition.

Sometimes, the helpless feeling of intertwined fate would still come up. One time, he was singing with a bit of crying, he felt very guilty and felt that his performance was not perfect. The actress Feng Xianzhen, who played the elderly Gu Xianglan at that time, said to him : “Your performance today was very moving, did you know? This is the drama itself.”

In the more than 2 years since he became “Patient No. 5”, Xiao Zhan had received a lot of comfort, companionship and awakening. Little by little, he had found his place, and also found some feedback. Backstage, the sign in his lounge wrote “Patient No. 5” instead of Xiao Zhan.

Wang Keran said that the performance of “Patient No. 5” lying on the bed made the deepest impression on him. That line made him feel that Xiao Zhan truly understood the character: “The confusion about himself and the confusion about fate, he had to get into (the role) so that he could truly feel it, express it, be powerful, and he did it.”

Beige suit jacket, beige suit trousers – Ami; Bow tie – Sean Suen

Nutrients

The opening up of his individual happened bit by bit. Offstage, at some certain unnoticeable moments, Xiao Zhan would always be looking outside, allowing the wind of freedom to blow in from the gaps in life.

No one noticed that Xiao Zhan was among them.

He appeared on Binjiang Road — the most famous urban promenade in Chongqing, walking as before; he appeared at a roadside food stall, eating Xiao Mian (TN: Spicy Chongqing noodles) with good friends; he appeared in the most prosperous downtown area of a certain city, taking pictures everywhere with a camera.

In the past few years, he had occasionally wandered around, biked, watched movies, and walked around freely.

These moments were so important to him. “It’s like I’m a tree. Have you ever seen a tree growing in the air before? No, it must land on the ground. That’s how it feels.” Xiao Zhan told “Portrait”, real people, real lives, those were his soil.

When we first met Xiao Zhan, he said that hustle and bustle of life was very important to him, and that kind of life gave him a down-to-earth feeling. Over the past 5 years, he had repeatedly emphasized the importance of life in interviews, he would remain sensitive and capture daily details, observing the status of the filming crew, observing Chongqing residents along the Jialing River, and observing the delivery riders.

Unable to sleep at night, he would often sit by the window in a daze, he would think about what people would be doing in the windows where the lights were not switched off at 2 or 3 in the morning. Were they working overtime? Or having insomnia? Sometimes on rainy nights, he would see people running with umbrellas and others walking leisurely without umbrellas. He would be curious about what stories those people had.

Life has given him a lot of nourishment and strength, enough to give him the confidence to cope with difficulties and enter the moment of freedom again, and family was an important space that provided these nourishment and strength.

Last summer, Xiao Zhan and his parents traveled to Europe, they had spent more than a week together closely. The last time a family of three traveled like this was when he went to Lijiang, Yunnan when he was in high school. At that time, Xiao Zhan was in adolescence and was very rebellious. He entertained himself and did not want to spend more time with his parents. More than 10 years later, he had the opportunity to travel with his parents again, and his thoughts then was that he hoped to spend some time together with his parents so that they could see his own type of living condition.

The short trip came to an end, and he and his parents parted ways on a foreign beach. His parents continued their trip, and Xiao Zhan ended his vacation and went to work. After that lunch, they would head to their next destination. He remembered the scene of their separation that day very clearly. the alley was very narrow, so narrow that only one car could pass, when the car drove in, pedestrians on both sides had to turn sideways and stand against the wall. The car to pick up Xiao Zhan came first, and he could not stay any longer, just like the chime of a clock that struck o’clock, the pumpkin carriage had come to pick him up, and the lovely dream was about to end.

He and his parents maintain a traditional Chinese family relationship, love was very reserved and silent, when facing loved ones, they would never express too many emotions. They would only pretend not to care and say, go quickly, take good care of yourselves.

But that day, Xiao Zhan stood at the door of the restaurant. He hugged his mother first, and then his father. All of his perceptions were magnified again, he remembered that when he was hugging his mother, a middle-aged lady walked sideways past them, she was wearing a white dress with blue prints. As he hugged his mother, he watched a gust of wind blow by and the lady’s skirt swayed, and the wind smelled of the sea.

The movie-like scene was deeply imprinted in his mind. When talking about this scene, Xiao Zhan showed the most emotional expression that day. He closed his eyes and imagined that he was back at the beach, holding his hands in the air as if he was hugging his mother again. This was almost one of his moment of the year. This complete relaxation gave him some lasting strength. During that trip, he also publicly posted a photo with his parents on social networks for the first time, although it was only the back view.

Xiao Zhan said that he did not contact his parents every day, but he had a strong sense of bond. His parents rarely asked about his work, and they did not have many in-depth conversations, and would only say when he encounters difficulties: “Happiness is more important than anything else. It’s no big deal, otherwise come home.”

He found that when he was with his parents, they would always talk about his childhood. When he was in high school, he was very irritable and didn’t want to listen too much. Now that he is in his 30s, he had the urge to “talk more, the more the better” instead, he wanted to hear how he grew up. These were all his origins, and also the reason he grew up to be Xiao Zhan.

A few years ago, he expressed in an interview that he wanted to find “real life”. He was worried that he was too far away from the material world and would lose his judgment on reality. This year, he suddenly changed, perhaps through more observation, or perhaps it was during that trip that he confirmed one thing, “I am living in the real, material life”.

The material life related to his parents and hometown in the past 20 years was like a thick and gentle net that gently supported Xiao Zhan and helped him resolve many doubts about real life. That is the world closest to his individuality. That was his soil and his nourishment, nourishing him continuously and steadily, allowing him to stay convinced that he was still truly living.

Now, Xiao Zhan occasionally dreams, and the scenes in his dreams are all the old houses of his childhood. It was an old residential building, his home was on the fifth floor and every time he opened the door, his father, mother and grandma were all there, as the old house slowly emerged, he could remember the bedroom, living room, table lamps, and even the kitchen exhaust fan.

Xiao Zhan said that that home was like a safe house. Whenever he felt tired or unhappy, he would dream of the old house. Sometimes he would be very happy, sometimes he would wake up feeling a little despondent. But he knew that no matter what happened, there was no need to worry, as long as he wanted to, he could return to that safe house in his dream.

Dark blue jackets, dark blue sweaters, and blue jeans are all TOD’S

Dissatisfaction

Those absorbed nutrients determined what kind of tree a person would grow into. Xiao Zhan once said in the documentary “Marvelous City: Chongqing” that he grew up in Chongqing, and the mountain city nourished him for more than 20 years. He climbed mountains and obstacles every day, going against the flow. His daily life was to “climb” every day, so there were some elements of “obstinacy” in his character. Growing up in such a land of soil, he felt a lot of dissatisfaction and had many thoughts of improvement.

On December 31, 2024, “Portrait” met Xiao Zhan again in the recording studio in Beijing. It was the last day of the year and the atmosphere of the New Year was everywhere. He did not participate in any New Year’s Eve activities, but just stayed in a small warm yellow room, dubbing for the post production of an upcoming work. By nightfall, he had been dubbing continuously for more than 8 hours.

“Let’s do it again”, this is what Xiao Zhan said the most frequently, “let’s do it again”, “I’ll try again”, “come on, do it again”.

There was an inner monologue that lasted nearly 2 minutes, he had dubbed it several times. The director thought it was enough, “Let’s do it again,” Xiao Zhan said again. The director was a little surprised and asked, “All of them?” Then Xiao Zhan dubbed the nearly 2-minute monologue twice.

Several directors who have worked with Xiao Zhan all mentioned that “do it again” is one of the things he often says on the set. Director Jiang Jiajun recalled that during the filming of “The Longest Promise”, there was an underwater scene. The temperature of the water shed was not high, and he went in and out of the water many times. The actor quickly lost his warmth and his lips were shivering. But at the end of each scene, Xiao Zhan would come over and ask about the shooting effect, and whether another take was needed. This was also the part that impressed him most about Xiao Zhan.

Wang Keran also shared the same feeling with “Portrait” before. When rehearsing “A Dream Like a Dream”, many times he felt that it could proceed and the performance was quite good, but Xiao Zhan would still ask himself to do it again. He concluded that this was Xiao Zhan’s “dissatisfaction” with himself.

When filming the TV drama “Sunshine By My Side”, Director Song Xiaofei would receive a call from Xiao Zhan every day before going to bed. He would speak continuously on the other end of the phone and say: Director, what do you think about the scene tomorrow? That’s what I think, do you think it’s right? Can I understand this line this way? Song Xiaofei said that among the actors he worked with, Xiao Zhan was very outstanding. When working, they always maintained close, pleasant, active and effective communication.

Stills from the TV drama “Sunshine By My Side”

He could feel some of Xiao Zhan’s anxiety, always worrying that he was not doing well enough. Sometimes, what he did more on the phone was to comfort Xiao Zhan, “You are fine, you can relax tomorrow.” There was a drunken scene, Song Xiaofei thought it was okay not to drink, but Xiao Zhan insisted on drinking a little wine, saying that it would be unrealistic to not drink at all. That day, he took a sip of wine and his face suddenly turned red, “he is all about doing it right, he is such an actor”.

During filming, as long as Xiao Zhan had time, he would always sit next to the director, observing other actors and how everyone worked. Jiang Jiajun remembered that there was an important scene in the snow in “The Longest Promise”. Xiao Zhan arrived at the scene early, placed a small folding chair in the middle of the artificial snow scene, and sat quietly on it. He did not disturb Xiao Zhan, because he knew that Xiao Zhan was brewing his emotions.

Song Xiaofei also remembered that on the set, Xiao Zhan always sat very low. He was afraid of affecting other people’s field of vision. He huddled in the corner and watched other actors acting, and he was not stingy with his praises, “they acted really well”, when hearing this, Song Xiaofei would send encouragements, “you also acted very well”.

When filming “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants”, Xiao Zhan would sneak into Tsui Hark’s small tent and sit quietly next to him, listening to Tsui Hark’s exchanges with the staff and watching Tsui Hark draw storyboards with a brush. He said, it was so great, he only knew of the name Tsui Hark before, but seeing all this with his own eyes, it felt even more magical.

Being dissatisfied with the performance, the status, the script and the role made him move forward step by step.

Over the past 5 years, Xiao Zhan has tried his best to take on more different roles, including soldiers, military courtyard youths, designers, he had also tried different work genres, such as period dramas, urban dramas, and military themes. All these dissatisfaction had made him understand performance better and constantly calibrating his judgment. As long as he continued to perform one work after another, and tightly holding onto every work, better moments would arrive for him.

Recently, he has chosen two more complex characters, Guo Jing and Zang Hai.

After taking on the role of Guo Jing, he asked anyone he met, what’s your impression of Guo Jing? Many people would mention that fortune favors fools, but he did not understand it that way. He remembered Tsui Hark asking him, could a stupid person learn the complete Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? When Xiao Zhan got to know Guo Jing deeply, he discovered that Guo Jing was not stupid at all, but was a very serious and pure person.

Interestingly, he remembered that when he met the director for the first time after joining the movie group, Tsui Hark asked him and Zhuang Dafei, do you know any rock musicians? You are the rock musician version of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Xiao Zhan said that he and Zhuang Dafei looked at each other and were a little confused at that time, but during the filming process, he finally understood, the so-called rock musicians was about the kind of reckless persistence.

For a period of time, under Tsui Hark’s guidance, he watched boxing videos every day and pondered the boxers’ gazes when they were fighting. Slowly, he found the Xiao Zhan version of Guo Jing’s gaze. It was neither foolish nor dull, but a seeking “gaze as sharp as an eagle” during battle. He said that after several months of filming, he understood Guo Jing and his Jianghu from a more complex perspective.

Xiao Zhan also has a new work “Zang Hai Zhuan”, it is a grand costume drama. The “Zang Hai” he portrayed bore a blood feud and hid his name in search of the truth, the character’s sense of destiny and complexity were further enhanced.

Such intricate clues gave Xiao Zhan more to think about and more to express. Xiao Zhan and Director Cao Yiwen were of the same age, they had similar personalities traits. They were both very persistent and very serious. They would often discuss a detail from online to offline, continuing their discussions after knocking off, one day, their discussion lasted until 3 or 4 o’clock in the early morning.

Zheng Xiaolong is the executive director of “Zang Hai Zhuan”. He told Xiao Zhan that the most important thing was to enrich the characters based on people and human nature itself. Xiao Zhan said that Zheng Xiaolong would give him various ideas, that he could act this way or that way. Zheng Xiaolong told “Portrait” that Xiao Zhan not only worked hard on his lines, but also worked very hard to empathize with his character. He performed many emotional scenes over and over again, “his acting was completely explored in practice”.

Xiao Zhan said that when he first entered the industry, he was more of a passive recipient. Directors and senior actors would tell him how to act, and he just listened and did it. “Understand, understand” is what he said the most. Starting from “The Untamed”, he realized that he had changed a little and gradually found his own way of expression.

At the late dubbing scene of “Zang Hai Zhuan”, we also saw this scene: Sometimes when the director puts forward an idea, Xiao Zhan would not say understand immediately, but would think about it for a few seconds. Sometimes something as small as whether his breath is closer or further away from his co-actor, Xiao Zhan would have his own understanding.

The New Year was coming, and Xiao Zhan’s voice was still ringing in the dubbing studio, “do it again” and “try again”, 2025 is the 9th year of Xiao Zhan’s debut, he knew that this kind of dissatisfaction and “do it again” would also accompany him for a very long journey.

Gray shirt, dark gray jacket and tie – Sean Suen; Vest jacket – Masion Margiela

Go Ahead

On the day we met again after 5 years, we let Xiao Zhan watch the video interview shot for “Portrait” in 2020. At the end of the video, he smiled at the camera and asked: “Looking forward to the next 5 years, what will Xiao Zhan be like? “

He said that this was the first time he watched this video in five years. He never watched his own interviews, so he felt a little embarrassed and a little awkward. But he also frankly expressed his feelings: “The me then was very young and naive, and also very vivid, aye, you see the eyes were shining, I really wanted the world to know me, everyone come and see me.”

When he was young, he listened to Stefanie Sun’s “Youth Without Limits”, the lyrics sang, “I am twenty-five years old, learning the moves that an adult should do”, at that time, he thought that 25 years old was so far away, and he should have become a very mature adult.He would not have imagined that he would enter the entertainment industry at the age of 25, opening up a new life. Now he is 33 years old, reaching an age when he “didn’t even dare to think about it” when he was a child.

5 years later, what kind of person has Xiao Zhan become?

After entering the age of 30, Xiao Zhan obviously felt some subtle changes in his body. During the filming of “Zang Hai Zhuan”, he suffered from a long-lasting illness. His tonsils were constantly inflamed, and he had recurring coughs, fevers and facial swelling.

One early morning, he had to shoot a horse riding scene. At that time, he had already experienced Little Red Horse on the set of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants”, so horse riding was not a problem. That day, he just felt that the sun was a bit dazzling and it was a little difficult to open his eyes. Unexpectedly, Director Zheng Xiaolong said, why are you swollen like this? He leaned closer to the monitor to watch the replay, and saw that he was galloping with two eyes swollen like frog eyes.

In 2021, because he was filming a military-themed work, he started to do physical training and had maintained the habit of exercising since then. When playing the role of Guo Jing, he began to gain muscle and weight. Guo Jing grew up in the Mongolian grasslands and was a man of martial arts, his appearance should be rough. In order to achieve the change in appearance, he did strength training almost every day.

Bystanders could also feel the changes that fitness had brought to Xiao Zhan. Song Xiaofei remembered the first time he met Xiao Zhan. He had just finished running that day and trotted up the stairs. His hair was a little sweaty and his body was emitting a hormonal aura, “he came jumping up and down”. Because he was moved by this scene, Song Xiaofei specially changed the script and specifically filmed the scene where the male protagonist Sheng Yang got up early to exercise, packed himself up as quickly as possible, and rushed to the subway full of energy, “it felt so good to see Xiao Zhan that day, I really wanted to show it to everyone”.

Fitness was also a kind of control over the body. Of course, the frequent warning signals on his body last year also warned him that he had reached his age, he was no longer a person who could stay up all night and still be energetic the next day. He needed to take better care of his body and solve the problems that his body gave him.

In the past, he might have wondered, why did he get sick? Now, he would exercise with clear goals and adjust his condition. The Xiao Zhan in his 20s wanted to find answers to problems, the Xiao Zhan in his 30s, wants to solve specific problems.

Beige suit jacket, beige suit pants, vest – Ami; Bow tie – Sean Suen; Shoes – TOD’S

So, what is the biggest growth in these five years?

“Become calmer and��be more self-focused.” Xiao Zhan told “Portrait” that he had always felt that freedom and self-focus were neutral terms. In the past, he might have cared more about other people’s judgments, but now he hoped to listen to his own voice more, “fate is uncontrollable, but what is controllable is yourself”.

The so-called freedom meant the ability to control one’s own destiny, whether it was fast or slow, whether to walk or gallop, it was all up to him. The reins were not in anyone else’s hands, but in Xiao Zhan’s hands.

In November 2024, Xiao Zhan released his first music album “WM”. There is a song called “Go Ahead”. The music video of that song was like this: In the dim ruins of the city, a beam of light shone on Xiao Zhan. He passed through a black tunnel, passed through the lightning flashes and came to the winding, coiling path. This path extended all the way into the sky above the city. He kept running forward, crossing the broken steps, with sand and stones swirling around him, he did not look back, and he never stopped.

This scene is very much Xiao Zhan’s past 5 years. He always looked at the path underneath his feet and kept striding forward.

5 years ago, when he took on “Patient No. 5 “, he said he wanted to find an answer. 5 years later, we asked him, had he found the answer?

“There is no answer. I have given up looking for the answer. There are not so many whys in life, just do it well and live the present moment.” Xiao Zhan replied.

Regarding this, Xiao Zhan also mentioned a small incident to “Portrait”.

In the early summer of 2019, he was filming in the mountains. The night was very dark and he couldn’t see anything. Suddenly a huge sky lantern rose in the sky. It was the sky lantern used by the crew for lighting. “It was very, very big, like a hot air balloon”, it was the first time in his life that he saw such a big sky lantern, and he also felt guided, walk towards the light and do not look back. That day, he took a photo of the sky lantern, captioned it with 6 words, and posted it on the social media platform. In the past 5 years, this moment had always reminded him — “Don’t look back, ever.”

(Intern Chen Jingxuan had contributed to this text.)

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nutty1005 · 6 months ago

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Xiao Zhan | The simpler is more complex

Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Zkps0vHvP89ZrMWQIUZ3NA Original Author: JIAWEI This article was originally published on 10 August 2024 on ELLE’s Weixin Official Account 世界时装之苑ELLE.

Xiao Zhan believed that truth brings simplicity. But in performance, he is starting to like multi-sided and complex characters more, or rather, this is the true and real state of human existence. At a time when everything is being simplified, to be willing to admit the difference between people, to seek the possibility of communication, to be sensitive and defend complexity, this definitely requires passion, as well as courage.

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Two black curtains reached the top of the studio ridge, neatly separating the shooting area from the surroundings, there was a need to go through a maze of them to enter the small core space. Pure white, plenty of air conditioning, and the camera shutter sound was high-frequency and continuous.

Xiao Zhan wore black clothes and rarely made any unnecessary movements. For a while, the lights broke down and photography was suspended, so he maintained standing in the dark with one foot on the wooden box; when the staff and the photographer were discussing the photographs, adjusting the styling, he stood alone in front of the display screen, and the weak screen light enveloped his body. Very occasionally, he swayed slightly to the background music, his legs lean but muscular.

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#01 I’m afraid of becoming dull

After entering the entertainment industry, these things quickly became part of his daily life – cameras, spotlights, monitors, and barriers. Because of his career and popularity, he had fissioned into countless “Xiao Zhans”, such as giant portraits on the facades of high-end shopping malls, the projections of an astonishing number of fans, or the appearance of characters in successive movies and TV series.

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Currently, in the dressing room after the shooting, Xiao Zhan was carrying his box of whole grain salad, vividly imitating the scene of meeting director Zheng Xiaolong.

“I was a little bit hesitant, so I asked the director if he wanted me to be thinner or stronger? He said, thin, of course thinner, so good looking, sharp.” After a while, Zheng Xiaolong saw him again while taking final costuming photographs, “He said, hey, you’ve done well.” From then till now, he has lost more than five kilograms.

Xiao Zhan, the source of all of this fission, was presentable and relaxed, to him the glamor seen by the outside world was a supplementary value. Sometimes he even forgot about it and said, “No one really cares about you.” Then he continued to talk about his work.

Recently completed was the 5-month filming of “The Legend of Zang Hai” in Hengdian. The previous film, also shot for 5 months, was the film “The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero” directed by Tsui Hark. This was often the case for large-scale movies and long-running television dramas, it took four or five months once you joined the group. In 2022, his filming work was mainly “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories” and “Sunshine By My Side”, in 2021 it was “The Longest Promise”, in 2020 it was “Ace Troops”, in 2019 it was “Douluo Continent” and “The Oath of Love”.

Endless filming appointments. Hence, it was sometimes impossible to decide whether the interval between filming should be lengthened or shortened.

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In the second half of 2019, during the filming of “The Oath of Love”, Xiao Zhan was filming during the day and recording the variety show “Our Song” at night. Both sides were very challenging. The former was his first time playing the male lead in an urban drama, so he had little experience and was under great pressure; the difficulty of the latter lies in the harmonizing, “I had to memorize all the harmonizing that were different from the song’s tone, and not to be led astray. “

“Then, I thought it didn’t matter. I slept for an hour or two and woke up a good man again. But now, while my mind says it doesn’t matter, my body will make some protests.”

This year he was filming in Hengdian. Later, one day, he discovered that his tonsils were inflamed and it was painful to swallow, but he went to work as usual. Until the director came over and asked him, what happened to your eyes? Only then did he see his own swollen eyes in the mirror, held on until the afternoon, “completely like a frog.”

He had to go to the hospital, the symptoms themselves were very common and could be stopped by taking medicine. What can’t be done was exactly what doctors advised the most: you need to rest.

More importantly, “Perception will become dull. I am really afraid of this, afraid of becoming very mechanical and formulaic.” When saying this, the emphasis was on the word “really”. When he chatted with seniors, “They also said that you have to live life, you need to experience life.”

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The fact is that the life in the limelight is somewhat contrary to the life of ordinary people, but the profession of an actor requires him to be in touch with as many folds of life as possible.

A while ago, he watched a one-man show on a variety show, describing the current workplace situation of contemporary young people. Xiao Zhan had opened a studio and worked before entering the entertainment industry. He could understand the gloom caused by going to work, but the new vocabulary and tools that appeared in the workplace made his sense of resonance weaken. He found himself gradually uncoupling to a certain extent.

#02 The flavor of life lies in the details

In early June, Xiao Zhan took a short vacation and returned to his hometown of Chongqing. He loved walking very much, and one night he walked for several hours, visiting old streets, People’s Liberation Monument, and even around the place where he used to work.

In 2014, the 23-year-old Xiao Zhan graduated from university and worked as a designer in a design studio. Every weekday morning, he transferred from Line 2 to Line 3 at Niujiaituo Station, pushing through the crowds and squeezing onto the light rail, and several times he had been squeezed so hard that his face was pressed against the glass windows.

He simply stuck against the glass and looked at the Jialing River below, seeing the strange rocks exposed in the dry season and various people, including winter swimmers, joggers and fishermen, with a rather optimistic spirit.

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He still loved to observe the people around him——

“Why are you still here so late?”

“People walking in a hurry must be people who have just gotten off work and are rushing back, their behavior is just like when I was trying to catch the subway, when it’s the last train and you want to run, in a panic. Some food delivery guys are rush forward undauntedly. There are also some very leisurely people, sitting there drinking beer, then going home and starting a new day.”

“Everyone has an exciting story happening, and it is everyone’s life that makes up our society. So it is wondrous, everyone is the protagonist, we are all filming our own biographies, how will tomorrow’s story develop?”

At that moment, mixed in, he was like all those who have been busy working in a foreign land for a long time and finally had the time to go home, and discovered that “it had been a long time since I came here, and there had been quite a lot of changes.” “Actually, I’m not particularly happy or have any other feelings. I’m living, that’s all.”

Two and a half days later, Xiao Zhan left Chongqing and returned to Beijing due to work, then rushed to Shanghai, and then in turn to France. This time he brought his parents too. This was a long in coming family trip, within a week, they traveled from France to Switzerland and back to France. Every detail of the trip was magnified, they were happy, bickering, or just walking for a while, “it was all very vivid.”

On the day they parted, they had dinner at a restaurant in the south of France, the car to pick him up arrived and he had to leave first. Before leaving, his mother hugged him and told him to take care of himself. In a rare move, his father also hugged him awkwardly.

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The flavor of life lies in the details.

“I used to think that work was everything and life was not that important, it was nothing more than having a place to sleep, then getting up, going to work, finishing work, and resting. But now, when my parents have grown older, and I have not been with them for a long time, you will feel as if each other’s lives, even your family’s, would become further and further apart. “He especially did not want this to happen.

The way to avoid suspension and regain the real sense of life is not difficult. “When you have time, go out and see more. The important thing is to feel life and feel the world. Even if some of the things are bad and cruel, they are all life, and will burst out with energy when you need it.”

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#03 Stay innocent, stay complex

Halfway through the interview, Xiao Zhan suddenly said that he was ambivalent about long interviews. On the one hand, he was worried that he had not grown up enough and would show ignorance in the conversation, but on the other hand, he wanted to explore some subtle feelings through the conversation because he felt that he was not good at using words to record them.

Observation, feeling, understanding and expression are the essentials of why actors can bring creativity.

“Dialogue is also muscle memory.” Xiao Zhan said, “Although I am very introverted, I am not antisocial. Because I think actors need to learn to express, express your inner thoughts, and digest the content conveyed to you by the other party.”

Before the filming of “Sunshine By My Side” started, he met with the main creators and held several script meetings to deepen his understanding of one another and the characters. In the early stages of “The Legend of Zang Hai”, the producer also mentioned that he would discuss the script in detail and talk about a scene with a lot of his own understanding.

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Xiao Zhan is not an actor with a professional background, when he first entered the industry and filmed “Battle Through the Heavens” and “The Wolf”, he had strong doubts and asked himself, am I suitable? The constant negativity and self-refuting made him lose self-confidence.

Sometimes he would be asked what he would be doing now if he had not participated in the talent show, debuted, or entered the entertainment industry at the age of 23. He had thought about it, but did not look back.

If he was not good at acting, then he needed to spend extra time taking acting classes, review more in the monitors, and ask more advice from his seniors. He put his head down stubbornly, and with hard work, he slowly found the knack.

Later the filming of “Where Dreams Being / The Youth Memories” started, Xiao Zhan played Xiao Chunsheng, a young man from the military courtyard in Beijing, who was completely different from him, and even his accent was completely distinct. He felt insecure. Before filming started for many scenes, director Fu Ning would run over and whisper to him, “Don’t be afraid Zhanzhan, just speak bravely, if you feel it, just say it, the audience actually can feel your emotions and what you want to express.” .

He also gradually gained more self-awareness: “Techniques may not be my area of expertise, I rely more on feelings. Only when I feel it myself then I can have the confidence to interpret it. If I rely solely on some techniques, I don’t think it is sufficiently moving.”

It had been 8 years since Xiao Zhan first acted, and his resume included leading male roles in films and television dramas of various themes. But he still felt that he is a newcomer and hopes to cooperate with more experienced production teams if there is an opportunity in the future.

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He would not think too much, he actually did not know his work plan divided by year. He only cared about the work arrangements for the next stage, rather than “asking about things that are too far away.”

“I still feel like a child now, but in fact I am not anymore. It seems like I am still in high school, but in fact I have grown up.” The nature of a child means curiosity, desire to explore, and power of imagination.

He placed the curiosity and desire to explore into his characters, “I mean, for myself, when I dig into the character’s background and past, I explore the complexity and contradiction of the character as a person, and present it. Only in this way can some of his choices and motivations be understood by the audience, and the work may then be good, and only then can you have the audience you have now, right?”

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#(Q&A)

ELLE: During the break, will you think about anything on the set? Xiao Zhan: Of course, I remember that just a few days after filming was completed, I was still dreaming that I was still filming, and the director and I were still discussing how to say that phrase on set? How to handle that scene?

ELLE: Do you actually miss the atmosphere on the set? Xiao Zhan: I like it very much, because I like the feeling of everyone creating together and working together to get something done.

ELLE: When you first entered the entertainment industry and your popularity grew very quickly, you said you felt it was a bit unreal and magical, but now you seem to be quite relaxed. How did this change occur? Xiao Zhan: Rather than being unreal or magical, after so many years, I feel that I hadn’t had time to adapt to such a fast pace at that time, so when I woke up from sleep, I was like where am I today? What am I doing? I think it is a process, just like when you first enter the workplace, you will be very excited, “Work here I come, please take good care of me”, “My highness is here, everyone get out of the way”, “I can do it, I will do it”. (Laughs) But after experiencing a lot of things, you will feel that it seems that everything needs to be considered in the long term.

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ELLE: In several interviews, you mentioned that you like to play roles that “can convey energy.” Why do you have such a preference? Xiao Zhan: Because I think this is the life of the character. The kind of energy I’m talking about is not just a single, generally understood positive energy, I’m talking about nourishment that can subtly influence and moisturize. I believe that every character has a complete storyline inside, this is what I like very much, and as long as you dig deep, you can move people. I don’t really like to call the villain a “villain”, as it seems to be a bad character from the beginning, but in fact it is not, he may have his own difficulties.

ELLE: It sounds like “transmitting energy” is just a general term, but is it actually about understanding different people through performance? Xiao Zhan: Yes, if you break it down to each character, what they convey is different. But if you want to talk about “good people” and “bad people”, then I don’t think it’s interesting.

ELLE: So do you think performance is a form of communication? Xiao Zhan: Yes, you can say that, I think it’s great to say that, (performance) is a bridge to communicate with the audience. Just like when a drama is broadcasting, I will read some of the audience’s comments and impressions after watching it, and I feel that they have a very rich feelings about the work. When I see some comments that are exactly the same as my thoughts during the filming, I will feel very amazed, as if the bridge is really connected, we don’t know each other in life and have never communicated with each other, but he suddenly understands my thoughts then, I’ll just feel that, oh, acting is a beautiful and magical thing.

ELLE: Do you watch some science fiction movies, TV series, and literary works? Xiao Zhan: Yes, I used to like watching “The Three-Body Problem”, I have actually watched some science fiction movies recently, the American drama “Constellation”, and recently I am watching “Dark Matter”, which is about infinite flow and parallel time and space. Because I think maybe there really is a parallel time and space. Every choice you make will split out a different parallel time and space.

ELLE: Then will you imagine Xiao Zhan in parallel time and space? Xiao Zhan: I will really wonder, for example, is he still an actor? Maybe yes, but is he still filming now? Is he still singing now? Or is he also a designer? Is he an employee or is he his own boss? (Laughs) Really, I will.

ELLE: As for the future, what do you think it will be like? Xiao Zhan: Wow, I feel that the world may return to its original nature when the time comes instead, maybe the world will become a better place, and people will return to very essential communication.

ELLE: This is very interesting. Why do you think so? Xiao Zhan: Anyway, at least now I have a little aversion with this kind of ubiquitous Internet, when we were young, there were no mobile phones, everyone just chatted during meals, my friends would all come downstairs to play, hide and seek, and play various games, I feel that that time was very precious instead.

ELLE: Will there still be an actor career by then? Xiao Zhan: I think there will be. I believe that as long as life goes on, drama will continue. Because everyone needs an outlet, emotional resonance and sustenance, be it images or sounds. So I feel that even if the world is destroyed, as long as there are still people, drama will definitely exist.

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