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Xiao Zhan Portrait Magazine February 2025 feature

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“Xiao Zhan’s answer to Time”

As long as you hold the reins tightly, time will give you the answer.

Xiao Zhan has always felt that freedom and self are both neutral words. In the past, he may have cared more about other people's judgments, but now he prefers to listen to his own voice, "Destiny is uncontrollable, but what is controllable is oneself." The so-called freedom is the ability to control one's own destiny, whether fast or slow, whether strolling or galloping, it is all up to him. The reins are not in the hands of anyone else, but in the hands of Xiao Zhan.

Free time

In 2023, Xiao Zhan stayed with his actor friend Vincent for a long time.

He always remembered the scene when they first met: Vincent was very tall, with a very long neck and muscles all over his body. The sun shone on his skin, making it glow red. He held his head high, very elegantly, ignored everyone, and walked proudly into the stable - yes, Vincent was a horse.

After a while, Vincent suddenly started to kick and kick other horses when he passed by them, then ran around the arena frantically. "I was completely stunned at the time," Xiao Zhan said. He pointed at Vincent and looked at the equestrian teacher, "Are you sure?" The equestrian teacher was very calm, "Yes."

Vincent was selected from more than 1,000 foals to become one of the actors in the movie "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Greatest Hero", playing the role of the hero Guo Jing's mount "Little Red Horse".

For Xiao Zhan, the male lead who plays Guo Jing, riding the "little red horse" is the first step to becoming Guo Jing.

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

Vincent is very smart, he is almost the smartest horse in the herd, he has his own unique way of being lazy, often running and then stop moving. Xiao Zhan whispered in his ear to persuade him, Xiaohong, can you run two more laps, but Xiaohong ignored him. Xiaohong didn't want to walk, no one could persuade her; when Xiaohong was unhappy, she would just stick up her horse's butt and throw people off.

Time and waiting are the most Xiao Zhan can give, there is no other way.

He said that if the little red horse was unwilling, he would stop, and when the little red horse was willing to accept, he would spend more time to run in and train. Gradually, the little red horse and Xiao Zhan reached a tacit understanding. He knew that as long as they completed the training every day, everyone could rest. Later, during the breaks in filming, Xiao Zhan did not forget to feed the little red horse with carrots to reward his partner.

Talking about his time with the little red horse, Xiao Zhan said that he felt very happy and it was a feeling of freedom.

Free to fly, free to understand the emotions, personality and habits of another species. They get along day and night, trust each other, and eventually become friends.

For more than two months in the summer of 2023, Xiao Zhan lived this kind of life: getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning, going out at 7 o'clock, crossing the sixth ring road of Beijing, and going to the horse farm in the suburbs. If there is a traffic jam, it will take nearly two hours to get there. That state is like going to school, riding in the morning, martial arts in the afternoon, sometimes riding all day, and physical training. He can rest one day a week, occasionally two days. After returning home, as long as he has enough time, he will continue to do strength training.

Director Tsui Hark treated The Legend of the Condor Heroes rigorously and specially, requiring the actors to devote themselves to such a "semi-closed" period. Actress Zhuang Dafei, who played Huang Rong, remembered that Xiao Zhan would lead the actors to practice more. Because they had a foundation in exercise before and were relatively professional, the physical education teacher would let him lead everyone to do warm-up and stretching exercises, "It felt like classmates were in class together, and the class monitor led us to train."

During that time, Xiao Zhan fell asleep quickly every day due to extreme fatigue. This was another kind of freedom he felt, the freedom of creating a new character.

We asked Xiao Zhan, in the past five years, have you ever had a moment of spiritual freedom? His answer was: "The days on the set made me feel free." The road to the racecourse was long, and it made him happy.

Director Song Xiaofei also witnessed this period of time. At that time, the film "Sunshine by my side" that the two of them were working on had reached the post-editing stage. He knew that Xiao Zhan was very busy every day because of the subsequent scenes, working out, riding horses, and archery. Occasionally, he would tell him that his waist and back hurt, but he found that Xiao Zhan had a more relaxed and free state - he didn't care too much whether there was some dirt on his face, whether he was sweating or oily, he cared more about whether the role was accurate.

When we talk about the past five years, Xiao Zhan will mark the year with each work. In 2020, he filmed "Ace Troops", in 2021 it was "Dream of Dreams" and "Yu Gu Yao", in 2022 it was "Where Dreams Begin" and "Sunshine by my Side", in 2023 it was "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Greatest Hero", and in 2024 it was "The Legend of the Canghai". One after another, he approached those characters with curiosity, some non-repetitive and more complex roles, and found different answers to life in them.

When working with director Tsui Hark, Xiao Zhan always showed respect. When they first met two years ago, he didn't even ask why Tsui Hark asked him to play Guo Jing. When they said goodbye, he didn't even dare to say "I look forward to working with you" for fear of being abrupt. It was only after a while that he knew that Tsui Hark wanted him to play Guo Jing.

But why did the cooperation start with the little red horse? Perhaps we can find the answer in the original work of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The little red horse is a partner, a comrade-in-arms, and a family member to Guo Jing. More importantly, there is a plot about Guo Jing and the little red horse in the original work. It was a very important turning point in Guo Jing's growth. It was also the first real battle after Guo Jing practiced the Quanzhen internal skills. His courage, concentration and long endurance made the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan recognize this apprentice again and helped him become the "greatest hero".

Regarding Guo Jing and the little red horse, there is a description in the original novel: "The little red horse ran wildly and leaped, galloping back and forth on the grassland for more than an hour, and it was getting more and more energetic. The herdsmen were horrified. The old herdsman knelt down and muttered a prayer, asking the God not to bring disaster on them for offending the dragon horse. He also shouted loudly, asking Guo Jing to get off the horse quickly. But Guo Jing was concentrating on sticking to the horse's back, as if he was tied tightly with a rope. He rose and fell with the horse's height and never fell off the horse."

Xiao Zhan, who has a close relationship with Guo Jing, can also realize that this seems to be a metaphor for Guo Jing's life path: no matter how ups and downs his fate is, he will not be thrown off the horse. He holds the reins tightly and uses a seemingly clumsy but irreplaceable method to step into the world of martial arts and become a great hero.

When Xiao Zhan met his little red horse Vincent, he would have his own answer to this question: when you are in the world, pain and accidents are inevitable, as long as he holds the reins tightly, he will always wait for his moment of freedom.

Innocent confusion

There will almost certainly be a long period of negotiation before the moment of freedom arrives.

It was a long table, with more than 30 actors sitting around it, and the first script reading session that spring began. This play has been performed for more than 20 years. Some actors have been there since the premiere, and many actors are 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 will all think I'm a rookie. Will they wonder where this kid came from?" He thought nervously while saying in a low voice, "Hello everyone, I'm Xiao Zhan." Three years later, when recalling this scene to "Portrait", Xiao Zhan commented on himself at the time, "Completely, very, very unconfident."

It was the spring of 2021. Xiao Zhan was invited to star in the CCTV version of "Dream Like a Dream". This was his first time on the stage of a drama and he played one of the soul roles of the play, "Patient No. 5", a role he regarded as "very sacred".

When Xiao Zhan was in college and joined an art troupe, he had heard about "Dream Like a Dream". He knew it was a play about life and death, impermanence and reincarnation, so he became curious about it. Now, it was his turn to play the role. "I couldn't believe it." He was not a professional actor and had no experience in drama performance. How could he take on such an important role? But because he really liked it, he accepted the invitation.

The story of " Patient No. 5 " attracted Xiao Zhan. It was an extremely complicated fate - his child died, his wife disappeared, and he suddenly contracted a strange disease and was tortured. In the last moments of his life, he decided to travel far away and travel around the world. In Paris, France, he met his lover and also met the mystery of another person. For the rest of his life, he was looking for answers and the answer to the mystery of life.

Xiao Zhan's role as "Patient No. 5" in the CCTV version of "Like a Dream" was decided by the chief producer Wang Keren. Before 2019, Wang Keren had never heard of the name Xiao Zhan. The first time he knew him was because they happened to stay in the same hotel. He heard from others that a very popular actor named Xiao Zhan also lived there.

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

Wang Keren believes that the most mysterious thing about a person's destiny is impermanence. A few years ago, he told People that Xiao Zhan and "Patient No. 5" have something in common, which is very complex and has a sense of destiny. "People are fulfilled as they stay, and they are hit as they stay."

In July of that year, Wang Keren 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 Keren.

He told Portrait that he chose Xiao Zhan not only because of his sensitivity to words and deep diligence, but more importantly, during that conversation with Wan Fang, he noticed that Xiao Zhan exuded a kind of "innocent confusion", a trait unique to "Patient No. 5", and he wanted to explore where this "innocent confusion" came from.

"I find it very strange that when a person is in a severe shock, his soul will definitely feel confused, and this confusion may be more severe than I imagined," said Wang Keren.

At that time, Xiao Zhan was indeed at a loss. In 2015, he entered the entertainment industry through a talent show and became a member of an idol boy group from an ordinary designer. In 2019, he became popular because of the TV series "The Untamed" and became the most watched actor in China. Everything happened too quickly.

When he was a child, Xiao Zhan liked to watch "Story Club". The stories in it were all kinds of strange and the fate was ups and downs. As a child, he first knew what impermanence was. He remembered that when Wang Keren first met him, he told him that he was chosen because of "a kind of impermanence". He also understood that at certain moments, his fate and that of "Patient No. 5" were intertwined. Rather than saying that "Patient No. 5" needed him, it would be better to say that Xiao Zhan at that time also needed "Patient No. 5".

When we asked Xiao Zhan, what is the most empathetic point between you and "Patient No. 5"?

"Looking for an answer. An answer to anything." Xiao Zhan said. "Portrait" and Xiao Zhan haven't seen each other for 5 years. The last time they filmed was at the beginning of the new year of 2020. In the following 5 years, many new problems occurred, which also gave him many new confusions.

Xiao Zhan told Portrait that the arrival of Dream Like a Dream is very important to him, "very important". It is not only a breakthrough in performance, but also an influence and support on the spiritual level. "When I really needed such energy, it appeared miraculously. It gave me 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.

Dreamlike answer

The answer is not that easy to come by.

After taking on the role of "Patient No. 5", Xiao Zhan began to suffer from insomnia at night. When he was awake, he was reading the script. Before joining the crew, he had memorized all the lines and rehearsed many scenes at home many times. Despite this, he was still so unconfident.

Xiao Zhan shared a detail with Portrait about his nervousness at the time. At the first reading session, when he read out the first line, his attention was not on himself, but on others. He seemed to be staring at the script in front of him, but in fact he was secretly glancing at the reactions of other actors with his peripheral vision. Until he finished reading, he found that everyone had a little surprised reaction: "Eh, it seems okay."

The book "Everything for Drama" also records the behind-the-scenes story of "Dream Like a Dream": Before Xiao Zhan came, he had memorized all the lines. He came in the state of "Patient No. 5" and could start rehearsing immediately after arriving.

Wang Keran is very concerned about Xiao Zhan's status, not only because of his huge fan base, but also because the new version of "Patient No. 5" will be judged by all audiences and professional dramatists. The book "Everything for Drama" summarizes the status at that time like this: "A thorn has been piercing the back of this crew since half a year ago - can the newly joined Xiao Zhan perform on the stage of drama? "

Soon, Wang Keran found that Xiao Zhan had put himself into it. During the rehearsal, actors are easily attracted by their phones, but in the rehearsal, Wang Keran observed that Xiao Zhan did not waste a minute. He never lowered his head to look at his 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, which was like returning to school. Everyone rehearsed and discussed, and the teacher gave feedback, revised and polished the work. Everyone created together. For him, "Dream Like a Dream" was like a school, and more like a dream.

Before the premiere, Xiao Zhan was very nervous. He was the opening actor, and the first line of the 8-hour "Like a Dream" was his. When he stood in position, the spotlight was turned on, and there was only white in front of him. The world seemed to be still. He remembered that he could not hear anything that day, but his own heartbeat, thump, thump, thump... When he finished his first line, his hearing was restored.

This may be the charm of the stage. Even though the whole audience was silent, Xiao Zhan could feel that "the air was applauding." Wang Keran also remembered the situation on the day of the premiere. He felt that Xiao Zhan almost "fully and perfectly expressed the emotions of ' Patient No. 5'" that day.

Since April 2021, Xiao Zhan has traveled all over the country with "Dream Like a Dream". In more than two years, he has performed in many shows and gained a lot. What Xiao Zhan likes most is that after each performance, the director and all the actors will get together and express together: "We have carried so much love and enthusiasm from the audience, 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 find that he would come back with swollen eyes from crying.

He became "Patient No. 5" without reservation. There seemed to be an invisible rope between him and "Patient No. 5". Every time he played "Patient No. 5", his mood was also affected. "No scene is the same." The old actors told him that this was right. Even if they had been acting for 10 years, they would have new feelings every time. This is drama. Xiao Zhan also knew that the rope was not only holding "Patient No. 5" but also his persistence in acting. He did not let go of his hand.

At the end of "A Dream Like a Dream", "Patient No. 5" has to stand on the stage and sing a song. Every time he performs this part, he will be deeply immersed in a complex emotion, because before this, he has foreseen the death of "Patient No. 5".

There is a transition time of five or six seconds from lights off to lights on. Xiao Zhan always asks the staff behind the scenes to help him turn off the microphone. He will quickly wipe away his tears, sniff his nose, and adjust his state.

Sometimes, the feeling of helplessness about the fate of the characters still came up. One time, he started to cry while singing. He felt guilty and thought his performance was not perfect. At that time, the actress Feng Xianzhen, who played the elderly Gu Xianglan, said to him, "Your performance today was very moving. You know that? This is the drama itself."

In the more than two years since he became "Patient No. 5", Xiao Zhan has received a lot of comfort, companionship and awakening. He has gradually found his place in this dream and also found some resonance. Backstage, the sign in his lounge does not say Xiao Zhan, but "Patient No. 5".

Wang Keran said that what impressed him the most was actually the performance of "Patient No. 5" lying on the bed. That line made him feel that Xiao Zhan truly understood the role: "He had to get into (the role) to understand his confusion about himself and his fate. Only then could he truly feel it, express it, and have the power to do so. He did it."

Nourishment

The opening up of an individual happens little by little. Outside the stage, at certain subtle moments, Xiao Zhan always reaches out to let the wind of freedom blow in from the cracks in his life.

No one noticed that Xiao Zhan was among them.

He appeared on Binjiang Road, Chongqing's most famous urban promenade, taking a walk as he did before; he appeared at a roadside food stall, eating noodles with his good friends; he appeared in the most prosperous downtown area of a city, taking pictures everywhere with his camera.

In the past few years, he has occasionally wandered around, riding his bike, watching movies, and walking around freely.

These moments are so important to him. "It's like I'm a tree. Have you ever seen a tree grow in the air? No, it must land on the ground. That's the feeling." Xiao Zhan told People magazine that real people and real life are his soil.

When we first met Xiao Zhan, he said that the atmosphere of life was very important to him, and that kind of life gave him a solid feeling. Over the past five years, he has repeatedly emphasized the importance of life in interviews. He will remain sensitive to and capture daily details, observe the status of the staff on the set, observe the Chongqing residents by the Jialing River, and observe the food delivery riders.

When he couldn't sleep at night, he would often sit by the window and stare blankly. He would wonder what people were doing in the windows that were still lit at two or three in the morning. Were they working overtime? Or were they suffering from insomnia? Sometimes on rainy nights, he would see some people running with umbrellas, while others were walking slowly without umbrellas. He was curious about what stories those people had.

Life has given him a great deal of nourishment and strength, enough for him to have the confidence to cope with difficulties and step into the moment of freedom again, and the family is an important space for providing this nourishment and strength.

Last summer, Xiao Zhan and his parents went on a trip to Europe. They spent more than a week together. The last time the family of three went on such a trip was when he was in high school and went to Lijiang, Yunnan. At that time, Xiao Zhan was in adolescence and was very rebellious. He played by himself and didn't want to spend more time with his parents. More than a decade later, he had the opportunity to travel with his parents again. What he wanted was to spend some time with his parents so that they could see his life.

The short trip came to an end. He and his parents said goodbye at the seaside of a foreign country. His parents continued their trip, and Xiao Zhan ended his vacation and went to work. After lunch, they will each go to their next destination. He remembered the scene of parting that day very clearly. The alley was very narrow, so narrow that only one car could pass through. When the car drove in, the pedestrians on both sides had to stand sideways against the wall. The car to pick up Xiao Zhan came first, and he could not stay for long. Just as the clock struck midnight, the pumpkin car came to pick him up, and the dream was about to end.

He and his parents maintain a traditional Chinese family relationship model. Love is subtle and silent. When facing the person he loves, he never expresses too much emotion. He just pretends to be indifferent and says, "Go away and take care of yourself."

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

The scene was like a movie, deeply imprinted in his mind. When talking about this scene, Xiao Zhan showed the most emotional expression of the day. He closed his eyes and imagined that he was back at the beach. He held his arms in the air, as if he was hugging his mother again. This was almost one of his moments of the year. This complete relaxation brought him some long-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 a back view.

Xiao Zhan said that he and his parents don’t contact each other every day, but they have a strong sense of bond. His parents rarely ask about his work, and they don’t have many in-depth conversations. They only say one thing when he encounters difficulties: "Being happy is more important than anything else. It’s no big deal. Otherwise, just go home."

He found that when he was with his parents, they always talked about his childhood. When he was in high school, he was very annoyed and didn't want to listen more. When he was in his 30s, he had the idea of "talking more, the more the better". He wanted to listen to how he grew up. This is where he came from, and it is also the reason why 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 concrete world and lost his judgment of reality. This year, he suddenly changed. Perhaps it was because of more observation, or perhaps it was because of that trip. He confirmed one thing, "I am in real, concrete life."

The concrete life related to his parents and hometown over the past 20 years is like a thick and gentle net, which gently supports Xiao Zhan and helps him dispel many doubts about real life. It is the world closest to him. It is his soil and his nutrients, which continuously and steadily nourishes him and makes him believe that he is still alive.

Now, Xiao Zhan occasionally dreams, and the scenes in his dreams are all the old houses from his childhood. It is an old residential building, and his home is on the fifth floor. Every time he opens the door, his father, mother, and grandmother are all there, and the old house slowly emerges, and he remembers the bedroom, living room, table lamp, and even the kitchen exhaust fan.

Xiao Zhan said that home was like a safe house. Whenever he felt tired or unhappy, he would dream about the old house. Sometimes he felt happy, and sometimes he felt lost when he woke up. But he knew that no matter what happened, he didn't have to worry. As long as he wanted, he could return to the safe house in his dreams.

Dissatisfied

The nutrients absorbed determine what kind of tree a person will grow into. Xiao Zhan once said in the documentary "Wonderful City: Chongqing" that he grew up in Chongqing, and the mountain city nurtured him for more than 20 years. He climbed mountains and crossed obstacles every day, going against the trend. His daily routine was to "climb" every day, so there are some "very stubborn" parts in his character. Growing up in such soil, he had many dissatisfactions and many thoughts of wanting to move forward.

On December 31, 2024, "Portrait" met Xiao Zhan again in a recording studio in Beijing. This 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 stayed in a small warm yellow room to record dubbing for subsequent works. When night fell, he had been dubbing for more than 8 hours in a row.

"Do it again", this is the sentence Xiao Zhan said the most, "Do it again", "I'll try again", "Come on, do it again".

There was a nearly two-minute inner monologue, which he dubbed several times. The director thought it was good enough, and Xiao Zhan said, "Do it again." The director was a little surprised and asked, "All of it?" Then Xiao Zhan dubbed the nearly two-minute monologue twice more.

Several directors who have worked with Xiao Zhan all mentioned that "Do it again" is one of the phrases he says most often on the set. Director Jiang Jiajun recalled that during the filming of "Yu Gu Yao", there was an underwater scene where the temperature of the water shed was not high and the actors went in and out of the water many times. The actors quickly became hypothermic and their lips were trembling. However, after each take, Xiao Zhan would come over and ask how the shooting went and whether they needed another take. This was also the part that impressed him the most about Xiao Zhan

Wang Keren also shared the same feeling with People. During the rehearsal of Dream Like a Dream, he often felt that he had passed and performed well, but Xiao Zhan still asked himself to do it again. He concluded that this was Xiao Zhan's "dissatisfaction" with himself.

When filming the TV series "Sunshine by my Side", director Song Xiaofei would receive a call from Xiao Zhan every night before going to bed. He would ask in a crackling voice: "Director, what do you think of tomorrow's scene? This is what I think, do you think it's right? Is this line okay for me to understand it this way?" Song Xiaofei said that among the actors he worked with, Xiao Zhan was very outstanding, and they always maintained close, pleasant, positive and effective communication during work.

He could sense some of Xiao Zhan's anxieties, always worrying that he wasn't doing well enough. Sometimes, he would comfort Xiao Zhan more on the phone, "You're fine, relax tomorrow." There was a drunken scene, and Song Xiaofei felt that it was okay not to drink, but Xiao Zhan insisted on drinking a little. He said it would not be realistic if he didn't drink at all. That day, he took a sip of wine and his face turned red. "He always wants to do it well, he is such an actor."

During the filming, as long as Xiao Zhan was free, he would always sit next to the director, observe other actors, and see how everyone worked. Jiang Jiajun remembered that there was a heavy snow scene in "Yu Gu Yao", Xiao Zhan arrived at the scene early, put a small folding chair in the middle of the artificial snow scene, and sat on it quietly. Jiang Jiajun did not disturb Xiao Zhan, because he knew that Xiao Zhan was brewing emotions.

Song Xiaofei also remembers that on the set, Xiao Zhan always sat very low, for fear of affecting other people's vision. He huddled in a corner, watching other actors perform, and was not stingy with his praise, "They acted really well." Hearing this, Song Xiaofei would offer encouragement, "You acted very well, too."

When filming The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Greatest Hero, Xiao Zhan would sneak into Tsui Hark's small tent, sit quietly beside him, listen to Tsui Hark communicating with the staff, and watch Tsui Hark draw storyboards with a brush. He said, "It's great. I only knew the name Tsui Hark before, but seeing it all with my own eyes makes me feel even more magical."

Dissatisfaction with his performance, his condition, the script and the role made him move forward step by step.

Over the past five years, Xiao Zhan has tried his best to play more different roles, such as soldiers, children of a military compound, and designers. He has also tried different styles of works, such as period dramas, urban dramas, and military themes. This dissatisfaction has allowed him to better understand acting and constantly calibrate his judgment. As long as he continues to act one after another and holds on to each work, he will wait for a better moment.

Recently, he has chosen two more complex roles, Guo Jing and Cang Hai.

After taking on the role of Guo Jing, he would ask everyone he met, "What is your impression of Guo Jing?" Many people would mention that fools have good fortune, but he didn't understand it that way. He remembered Tsui Hark asking him, "Can a fool master the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms?" When Xiao Zhan got to know Guo Jing better, he found that Guo Jing was not a fool at all, but just a very serious and pure person.

Interestingly, he remembered that when he first met the director after joining the crew, Tsui Hark asked him and Zhuang Dafei, "Do you know 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 at the time and were a little confused, but during the filming process, he understood that the so-called rock musicians are the kind of reckless persistence.

For a while, under the guidance of Tsui Hark, he watched boxing videos every day and studied the boxers' eyes during the fight. Gradually, he found the eyes of Xiao Zhan's version of Guo Jing, which were not silly or dull, but "sharp like an eagle" during the fight. He said that after several months of filming, he understood Guo Jing and his world from a more complex perspective.

Xiao Zhan also has a new work "The Legend of Cang Hai", which is a costume drama. The character "Cang Hai" played by him carries a blood feud, hides his identity, and searches for the truth. The character's sense of destiny and complexity are further enhanced.

Such complicated clues gave Xiao Zhan more thoughts and more expressions. Xiao Zhan and director Cao Yiwen are of the same age and have similar personalities. They are both very stubborn and serious. They often discuss a detail from online to offline, and continue to discuss after work. One day, they discussed until three or four in the morning.

Zheng Xiaolong is the chief director of "Legend of the Hidden Sea". He told Xiao Zhan that the most important thing is to enrich the role from the perspective of people and human nature. Xiao Zhan said that Zheng Xiaolong would give him all kinds of ideas, and he could act this way or that way. Zheng Xiaolong told "Portrait" that Xiao Zhan not only put a lot of effort into the lines, but also tried very hard to empathize with the character. He acted out many emotional scenes over and over again. "He completely explored acting in practice."

Xiao Zhan said that when he first entered the industry, he was more of a passive receiver. Directors and senior actors told him how to act, and he just listened and followed them. "I understand, I understand" was what he said most. Starting from The Untamed, he realized that he had changed a little bit, and gradually found a way of expression that belonged to him.

At the post-production dubbing site of "Legend of Zanghai", we also saw such a scene: sometimes when the director puts forward an idea, Xiao Zhan will not explain it immediately, but think about it for a few seconds first. Sometimes it is even as small as whether the breath is closer to the opponent actor or more distant, Xiao Zhan will have his own understanding.

The New Year is coming, and Xiao Zhan's voice is still ringing in the dubbing studio, "Do it again", "Try again". 2025 is Xiao Zhan's ninth year since his debut. He knows that this dissatisfaction and "Do it again" will accompany him for a long time.

Don't look back

On the day we met again five years later, we asked Xiao Zhan to watch the video interview he filmed for People magazine in 2020. At the end of the video, he smiled at the camera and asked, "I look forward to the next five years. What will Xiao Zhan become?"

He said that this was the first time he had watched this video in five years. He never watched his own interviews, and he felt a little embarrassed. But he also frankly expressed his feelings: "At that time, I was very young and fresh. Oh, you can see that my eyes were shining. I really wanted the world to know me. Come and see me."

When he was young, he listened to Stefanie Sun's song "Youth Without Limits", in which the lyrics go "At 25, I learn the movements that adults should have". At that time, he thought that 25 was so far away, and that I should be a very mature adult. He never thought that he would enter the entertainment industry and start a new life at the age of 25. Now he is 33 years old, an age that he "did not dare to think about" when he was a child.

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

After entering his thirties, Xiao Zhan clearly felt some subtle changes in his body. During the filming of "Legend of Zanghai", he suffered from a long-lasting illness, with constant inflammation of his tonsils, coughing, fever, and facial swelling, which recurred over and over again.

One morning, he was filming a horse riding scene. He had experienced the Little Red Horse in the production of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, so riding a horse was not a problem. He just felt that the sunlight was a bit dazzling and it was a bit difficult to open his eyes. Unexpectedly, the director Zheng Xiaolong asked him, "Why are you so swollen?" He leaned close to the monitor to watch the playback, and saw himself riding a horse at full speed with two swollen frog-like eyelids.

In 2021, he started to exercise because of filming a military-themed work, and he has maintained the habit of exercising since then. When he played Guo Jing, he began to gain muscle and weight. Guo Jing grew up on the Mongolian grasslands and was a man of the rivers and lakes. He should look rough in appearance. In order to achieve the change in appearance, he did strength training almost every day.

Onlookers can also feel the changes that fitness has brought to Xiao Zhan. Song Xiaofei remembers the first time he saw Xiao Zhan. He had just finished running that day and was jogging up the stairs. His hair was a little sweaty, and his body was steaming with a kind of hormones. He "jumped up". Because he was moved by this scene, Song Xiaofei deliberately changed the script and filmed the scene where the male protagonist Sheng Yang got up early to exercise, got ready as quickly as possible, and rushed to the subway with full energy. "It felt so good to see Xiao Zhan that day, I really want to show it to everyone."

Fitness is also a way to control the body. Of course, the frequent red lights on his body last year also warned him that he was getting old and could no longer stay up all night and be energetic the next day. He had to take better care of his body and solve the problems his body gave him.

In the past, he might have wondered why he got sick. Now, he exercises with a clear goal in mind and adjusts his condition. When he was in his 20s, Xiao Zhan was thinking about finding answers to questions. Now, when he is in his 30s, he is solving specific problems.

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

"I have become more stable and also...relatively self-centered." Xiao Zhan told Portrait magazine that he has always felt that freedom and self are neutral words. In the past, he may have cared more about other people's judgments, but now he hopes to listen to his own voice. "Destiny is uncontrollable, but what is controllable is oneself."

The so-called freedom means having the ability to control one's own destiny. Whether fast or slow, leisurely or galloping, it is all up to him. The reins are not in the hands of anyone else, but in Xiao Zhan's hands.

In November 2024, Xiao Zhan released his first music album "We", one of which has a song called "Don't Look Back". The MV of that song is like this: In the dim city ruins, a beam of light hits Xiao Zhan. He passes through the black tunnel, through the lightning, and comes to a winding spiral walkway. The walkway extends all the way to the sky above the city. He keeps running forward, crossing the broken steps, with sand and stones swirling around him. He doesn't look back, nor does he stop.

This scene is very similar to Xiao Zhan’s past five years. He always looks at the road under his feet and keeps striding forward.

When he took over " Patient No. 5 " 5 years ago , he said that he wanted to find an answer. Five 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 and live in the present." Xiao Zhan replied.

Regarding this, Xiao Zhan also mentioned a small matter to "Portrait".

In early summer of 2019, he was filming in the mountains. It was very dark at night 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 he saw such a big sky lantern in his life. He also felt a kind of guidance, walking towards the light and not looking back. That day, he took a picture of the sky lantern, added six words, and posted it on the social platform. In the past five years, this moment often reminded him - "Don't look back, forever."

-END

#xiao zhan #OMGGGG SUCH A GREAT READ!!!!!!#i love the part about ADLAD #and vincent the horse #and actually everything!#so insightful!!!!!!

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p-h03n1-x · 13 days ago

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Xiao Zhan Studio Weibo update 1.23.2025 ( still photos set)

Heroes gather, and in their conversations, there is a sense of great chivalry and righteousness. With Guo Jing Xiao Zhan , we brave the storms together, vowing to stay true to our original aspirations!

#xiao zhan #Xiao Zhan Guo Jing #Xiao Zhan Legend of Condor Heroes #smiling Xiao Zhan #I like #Xiao Zhan Studio Weibo update

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cerusee · 1 month ago

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I've never watched any Chinese dramas but I really enjoy your posts/gifs about them and it's got me interested in trying some! Do you have any recommendations for somebody who's totally new to them? Any tropes/background context I should be aware of? The historical/fantastical ones seem the most appealing to me.

Oooooh! My first thought on reading this ask was, “oh, I’m hardly qualified”; I’m only on my *stops to count on fingers* eighth cdrama, not counting the one episode I watched of the Wang Zhuocheng xianxia where he falls in love with a rock. (Long story.) There’s a lot of cdramas out there, and I myself have not even scratched the surface of what’s out there! That said, if you’re interested in historical/fantastical dramas, those ARE the ones I’ve been watching, so I still have some opinions despite being a total noob myself.

Do not start with The Untamed/Chen Qing Ling. Twas my first cdrama, like a lot of western fans, who were drawn to it in part because of the big censored-but-still-very-evident gay love story between the male leads, but honestly, as much fun as it is for the slash fans, it’s not a great jumping off point for either Chinese television in general, or even for its own wuxia-inspired genre setting. I say this as some who is still deep in the fandom four years later, and has immense love for the show: the first two episodes are flat-out bad, the overall pacing is bad (episodes frequently stop MIDSCENE), the worldbuilding is thin (a carryover from the novel it was based on), and without a larger context for why it’s made the way it’s made (stylistic choices, industry conventions, government censorship, genre conventions) a lot about it is confusing as hell to cdrama newbies, which is…so evident…a lot…in fandom wank I mean in the discourse about what story this story is trying to tell. Like, if you came to me and asked specifically, “I’m thinking of watching CQL. Should I watch CQL?” I would say yes, absolutely! It’s so much fun! I’m obsessed with the characters! I’ve written a lot of fanfic about the purple guy! But it’s not a good first cdrama, nor it is the best example of what the Chinese TV industry has to offer.

A MUCH better first cdrama especially if you like the historical/fantastical: The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017), which not coincidentally was my second cdrama. It’s one of about a dozen television adaptations of the classic 1957 Chinese novel of the same name by Jin Yong, generally considered to be the inventor of the genre known as wuxia, which is a blend of history, fantasy, and martial arts. (One of the most well-known examples of wuxia in the west is Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which you have probably at least heard of.)

Legend of the Condor Heroes (hereafter known as LOCH) has it all: romance, revenge, evil plots and daring deeds, people jumping off a burning mountain and being rescued by the worst CGIed eagles known to television or cinema, boat adventures, mountain adventures, grasslands adventures, a weird cult leader who lives on a spooky flower island (there will be math), murder, baby kidnapping, more murder, one guy inadvertently racking up a ridiculous number of martial arts teachers, sworn brotherhoods which invariably end with one guy stabbing the other, lots of VERY good martial arts fights, and, of course, Genghis Khan. Technically there are no magic/supernatural elements in this show—no ghosts, ghouls, magic, angels, devils, gods, etc—although the martial artists do have l33t skillz that might qualify as superhuman depending on how you slice your genre conventions, and are awfully fun to watch.

I’ve actually seen two LOCH adaptations (there was one in 2024 I liked a lot, with my favorite Guo Jing so far), but 2017 is a much better adaptation for newcomers as it tells a fuller version of the story and doesn’t skimp on or rush through or rewrite as many elements of the plot as other versions do; it’s meant to be a LOCH for people who haven’t seen half a dozen versions of LOCH already. It has a WONDERFUL cast, including my one of my favorite cdrama leading men, Chen Xingxu,* as the lead antagonist, Yang Kang, who is a trash fire of a person you just can’t root for, but he also can’t help it because he was raised by Wanyin Honglie. You can catch it on YouTube (I recall that there are couple of missing episodes from that playlist, but you can search on YT for those when you get there, to find them subtitled from other channels.)

*If you, like me, come away from LOCH 2017 with your mouth slightly ajar at how great CXX is, I have wonderful news for you! He’s been a lead in at least two other very good cdramas: the 2023 xianxia** The Starry Love, where he gets to play, like, five different characters (huge acting flex, and he’s great, although I would rush to stress I loved a ton of things about this show besides CXX himself), and the 2019 semi-historical drama Goodbye My Princess, which might actually be my favorite cdrama I have seen to date, and arguably THEE best well-made on a technical level, with phenomenal acting, a great script, and editing and directing I am constantly swooning over, but I am not entirely sure I can recommend to you unless you are a Tragedy Enjoyer.

(If you are a Tragedy Enjoyer, please stop whatever you’re doing and just start watching Goodbye My Princess right now, it is phenomenal. It is also available on YouTube. Watch the Director’s Cut, not the regular one! This is important. In its haste to get the main leads on screen together ASAP, the regular version does a Reader’s Digest version of stuff the Director’s Cut spends like five episodes carefully setting up, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense, nor does it flow well.)

**Speaking of xianxia! Xianxia is the high fantasy genre, full of magic and gods and demons and people dying and living multiple lives and whatnot. Important to note: xianxias are soap operas (complimentary). They tend to feature female protagonists, sweeping, epic romances, and put enormous emphasis on exploring the nuances of relationships and emotions. I have watched three that I loved (Love Between Fairy and Devil, The Starry Love, and Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms), and while technically I could recommend all three, if you were going to watch just one, especially as a cdrama intro, I have to recommend Eternal Love, which really is the quintessential xianxia, the one all other xianxias are kind of shaping themselves around. I have watched it 1.5 times and I can say that it does not properly take off until like, episode 10, or whenever it is that the main couple finally, properly meet. IT IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT. This show made me want to spit blood. I cried multiple times watching it. It made me feel things. It has a wonderful immersive quality that’s hard to describe except to say that the entire show sort of vibrates on its own frequency. The casting is just kind of…perfect? Props to Maggie Huang for portraying the most perfectly hatable xianxia villainess of all time. Absolutely no one is doing it like Su Jin. No one should try. I believe this is available on YouTube, but after an abortive start, I realized it was on US Netflix, and watched it there.

As for tropes and background context: ehhhhhh. I mean, it’s an entire industry? I know substantially less about how it functions than I do about, like, American TV and film. I know government censorship is a not-inconsiderable factor, but I don’t know much of the nuance of how that plays out in terms of filming and airing. Tropes will vary according to subject. Idol dramas (shows built to showcase media personalities regardless of their ability to act) are a thing. Most cdrama audio is still dubbed (this one surprised me!), usually by professional voice actors and not by the original cast, for a confluence of reasons, some of which historically make sense (noisy filming lots rendering original audio useless), and some of which are really stupid (fans throwing hissy fits if lead actors don’t have the “right” kinds of voices for their characters).

Anyway! My recommendations are this: try The Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017) to start with, UNLESS you would prefer having your heart ripped out of your chest, in which case watch Goodbye My Princess (Director’s Cut, 2019), or UNLESS you love soap operas as much as I do, in which case watch Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (2017). All three are great shows, but they all hit differently/scratch a different itch.

Oh! Lastly! @dangermousie is a great source of cdrama recs. I should note she prefers dramas and tragedies and mostly does not vibe with xianxias. But she watches like eight million hours of dramas a week and reports her findings to us because she is a river to her people.

#asks #cdrama #legend of the condor heroes #loch 2017 #the starry love #TMOPB #lbfad

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nutty1005 · 19 days ago

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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｜��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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