Xia Yu was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province in 1976 and was first
discovered by director Jiang Wen 18 years later.
His performance In the Heat of the Sun (1994) rocketed
him to international stardom after he won the Venice Film Festival
Best Actor award. He became the youngest actor in the festival's
history to win the award, and he went on to win Best Actor awards
at the Singapore International Film Festival and Taiwan's Golden
Horse Awards.
The Law of Romance (2003) won him a Golden Rooster
Award and Waiting Alone (2005) earned him Best Actor at
the 12th Chinese Student Film Festival Awards.
In 1995, Xia was accepted into the Central Academy of Drama.
After completing his studies, he remained an active force in
Chinese cinema as well as television. He may not be the most
prolific of actors, but every one of his films has been a box
office winner.
'I am very certain about what I do or say': An Interview
to Xia Yu
China Daily (CD): Do you and your character Han Dong
have anything in common?
Xia Yu (Xia): Briefly speaking, Han is a hesitant man. I am a
totally different person. I would not spend a long time making a
decision. Usually I am very certain about what I do or say.
CD: Acting in a play is very different from a movie or TV. What
is the major difference? You have also mostly worked in movies and
TV since you graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1999.
Now you are collaborating with Meng Jinghui who is known for his
experimental style in theater. This is a challenging move for
you.
Xia: Meng says I am a very rational actor. I think it has
something to do with my experience in movies. When shooting a
movie, we do not act from the first scene to the last, so before I
start a film, I should read the role pretty well and naturally act
the role as one person in different scenes.
It's totally not the case in theater. In theater, today's acting
would be very different from yesterday, especially working with
director Meng who has different ideas on the roles, the story every
day.
Most actors in the play have worked with him so they are
familiar with his style and adapt to his approach easily. They are
at ease, like playing a game. But for me, it is the first time and
a big challenge. I did not do well in the first few days but
gradually I got used to it. And I am confident about Meng's talent
and experience and I believe I will give a wonderful performance
under his direction.
CD: Why did you want to act in theater?
Xia: I did not think too much about "why"? I played in only
three small theater works when I was in the Central Academy of
Drama. I used to feel closer to movies than theater perhaps because
the reason that I became an actor was I played In the Heat of the
Sun and this brought me many awards when I was in high school.
In the last eight years I have played many movies and TV serial
and feel somehow tired of TV serials. I feel the way that I work in
a TV serial has limited my imagination and creation. It seems you
have played a game for too long time and looking forward to a new
one. But it does not mean I would not play TV serial any longer and
also I want to say I still love to play movie most.
To me, the theater acting is a fresh experience and a challenge
and I believe it will benefit me a lot in my future career.
Director Meng is the major reason I agreed to this work. The first
play I watched was Meng's The Balcony and I watched it four times.
I was impressed and wished I could work with Meng one day.
(China Daily April 4, 2007)
