Dai Li Ren ~ A Good Actor is also Creative
credit kym of jerrybbs for the translation
Dai Li Ren ~ A Good Actor is also Creative
Interview : Zhang Jia Rong, Ou Pei Pei
Photography : Chai Jia Feng
In forth coming TV serial {The Hospital}, Dai Li Ren plays a driven and ambitious surgeon ~ Qiu Qing Cheng. In the show, he is creates opposition and initiates drama competing in the power struggle and wielding manipulative tactics. In reality, he was in closely involved in the productions as he has a vast experience in stage, movie performances and directing as well.
Through this interview, readers are able to peek into this astute actor’s angle in playing a character. His intense involvement in production and the sheer possibilities of our local cinematic property.
Not Only Just An Actor
Dai Li Ren said, ‘This is my first in trying to act a character with such depth. So I have also been more cautious.’
In comparison, a stage performance would need at most 2 months of rehearsals. A movie is about half a year but for ‘The Hospital’, he had put in 8 to 9 months of dedication. In the show, he plays the outstanding surgeon, Qiu Qing Cheng, who pits himself against another surgeon, Su Yi Hua played by Jerry Yan. Both the male leads have many an exciting scene together.
He is known to be fastidious about script selection. In fact, he rejected Director Chai Yue Xun’s initial invitation. The reason was that the character is not the type that he had in mind. A worry of his was that his perception of the character might be different from the actual. Yet Director Chai was adamant and waited a whole year for him. Thus after many communicative efforts, it paid off.
Equally demanding and a perfectionist in details, Director Chai understood Dai Li Ren’s multi-talents in writing, directing and acting. He gave Dai Li Ren more than 100% freedom in his acting. Changing all his lines, developing the other characters in reference to the novel and assisting in the conceptualizing the theme for the script. Besides these, he organized all the composition of the characters, many a time he gave advice to the Director during filming too. ‘If not for fear of interruption, I would love to help out at the Editing Room.’
Why would an actor need to take such trouble, to be involved in every aspect? Perhaps it is his determination to be creative and dedicated in the completion of the entire process.
‘Lines’ Are An Actor’s Creative Space
Whether it is the stage, movies or TV, Dai Li Ren will definitely have to change his own lines before he feels that he has done sufficient character preparation. ‘The script only provides a foundation. Since my early days in the Art Institute, I have understood that even if the script was by Shakespeare, simply memorizing by rote is really silly. There are disparities in the time setting, the nationalities and more importantly the actors are not the same so the acting and language expressions will not be similar. ’
‘This is when a good actor is needed,’ Dai Li Ren stated. ‘A good actor is also creative and he will be able to express the emotions suitable to character as written in the script.’
To Portray The Character From The ‘Doctor-Patient Relationship’
During the filming of ‘The Hospital’, Dai Li Ren was very much immersed in the character’s development and the scripting of the scenes. He emphasized that different doctors have various ways of treating sicknesses. This stems from their professional training. ‘The Internal Medicine and Surgical Departments are fundamentally different in their looking at illnesses. If considerations are not given as to how a doctor’s judgments would vary due to his professional training and the system on the whole, and how this in turn affects his character, how he faces problems then it is over-simplifying Good and Evil. The character would come across as flat and superficial. ’
‘I’ll use the crudest way to explain this. The two male leads – I play Doctor Qiu Qing Cheng who is stubborn and intrigued about ‘solving illness’. So his judgment might be viewed as cold and lacking in human concern. The Su Yi Hua played by Jerry Yan is just the opposite. He sees matters from a ‘human’ standpoint. He feels to cure illness, you must start from the person himself.’ In Dai Li Ren’s viewpoint, ‘There is no absolute Good and Evil. We are all the same. To live in this world, we each need to have a certain attitude, to believe that it is his own and to work hard at developing it. A bad guy like that would merit our attention and thus is worthy of our spending some time to try to understand him.’
Dai Li Ren doesn’t feel that Qiu Qing Cheng should be marked as the ‘Bad Guy’ in the show. ‘Though he might be embroiled in the power struggle but it is not because he is bad. Conversely in his mind, he has his own ideal, perfect world.’
He puts it plainly, ‘Be the power struggle in the medicine or corporate world, everyone would have a blue-print for their goals in their lives. So each would give their all to pursue and would step-by-step be closer to it in their minds’ ‘Beautiful, New World’. So I use this attitude to act out the character. Qiu Qing Cheng does not have ill-intentions and he never wanted to actually. That is why throughout the entire process he often feels very tired. From a certain angle, it is to enable things to be done in a better way. Yet compromise is necessary and in the end one has to ask, ‘What is the ideal world in your mind?’’
Therefore is the Ideal World still there in the minds of the characters? In the Realistic World, how would it be? Dai Li Ren ponders and adds, ‘I feel that Qiu Qing Cheng’s Ideal World is always existent. He wants to revolutionize the structure of the Medical World and so he needs greater capabilities and more power, So this is the beginning of the Power Struggle.’
New Break Through, New Possibilities
Starting from the character’s perspective, Dai Li Ren aims to protect and develop the character through making continuous changes. ‘When the production gets complicated and messy, how do I portray the character? It is extremely difficult. During filming when you alter certain things, you have to get the Director and others to accept the character’s changes and at the same time not affect the whole development of the show. Just this keeps one very busy.’ Dai Li Ren is thankful for the space to be able to do just that.
Having made so many attempts, how does he feel about the present and future of the Taiwanese TV scene? Does he have any views or expectations?
‘You should ask Director Chai this.’ Dai Li Ren laughs. He positively affirms Chai Yue Xun’s diligence. Many TV serials are shoddy and cannot compete with the Mainland serials. In fact they might not be anywhere in Asia as well. However Chai Yue Xun’s team insists on enormous capital backing and efforts to produce ‘The Hospital’. They sold the Japanese rights at a record price unprecedented in Taiwan. Even the 3 TV stations didn’t manage to reach certain areas and price, they could. Dai Li Ren extols, ‘Their hard work has caused everyone in the TV industry to open both their doors to them.’
Dai Li Ren ~ Chai Yue Xun’s Determination, Jerry Yan’s Diligence
Touching on Director Chai Yue Xun’s working style, Dai Li Ren is all praise. He laughs that amongst the many Directors that he has work with, Director Chai is the one who possesses ‘the most Japanese Samurai Spirit’. In his pursuit for perfection, he is almost to the point of punishing himself. Dai Li Ren observes, ‘To Chai Yue Xun, the entire production process is like a kind of fulfillment to a promise. Or perhaps it is like a way to fine tune oneself. He and Werner Jerzog are very similar in many ways - the kind that would move a ship over a mountain. You might say that he is wasting resources or is inflexible but it is this spirit that moves others. Every Director has his own style, yet he is one who is very sincere, very industrious and demanding on himself.’
When all eyes are on Jerry Yan, Dai Li Ren speaks frankly, ‘I have seldom seen an actor so hardworking, so earnest, hoping that he can do more and that is Jerry Yan. During the filming, it was evident how he got along with everyone, his communication with the Director and so on. After working with him for not too long, I felt that he is definitely an actor to be respected.’
Dai Li Ren ~ A Good Actor is also Creative
Interview : Zhang Jia Rong, Ou Pei Pei
Photography : Chai Jia Feng
In forth coming TV serial {The Hospital}, Dai Li Ren plays a driven and ambitious surgeon ~ Qiu Qing Cheng. In the show, he is creates opposition and initiates drama competing in the power struggle and wielding manipulative tactics. In reality, he was in closely involved in the productions as he has a vast experience in stage, movie performances and directing as well.
Through this interview, readers are able to peek into this astute actor’s angle in playing a character. His intense involvement in production and the sheer possibilities of our local cinematic property.
Not Only Just An Actor
Dai Li Ren said, ‘This is my first in trying to act a character with such depth. So I have also been more cautious.’
In comparison, a stage performance would need at most 2 months of rehearsals. A movie is about half a year but for ‘The Hospital’, he had put in 8 to 9 months of dedication. In the show, he plays the outstanding surgeon, Qiu Qing Cheng, who pits himself against another surgeon, Su Yi Hua played by Jerry Yan. Both the male leads have many an exciting scene together.
He is known to be fastidious about script selection. In fact, he rejected Director Chai Yue Xun’s initial invitation. The reason was that the character is not the type that he had in mind. A worry of his was that his perception of the character might be different from the actual. Yet Director Chai was adamant and waited a whole year for him. Thus after many communicative efforts, it paid off.
Equally demanding and a perfectionist in details, Director Chai understood Dai Li Ren’s multi-talents in writing, directing and acting. He gave Dai Li Ren more than 100% freedom in his acting. Changing all his lines, developing the other characters in reference to the novel and assisting in the conceptualizing the theme for the script. Besides these, he organized all the composition of the characters, many a time he gave advice to the Director during filming too. ‘If not for fear of interruption, I would love to help out at the Editing Room.’
Why would an actor need to take such trouble, to be involved in every aspect? Perhaps it is his determination to be creative and dedicated in the completion of the entire process.
‘Lines’ Are An Actor’s Creative Space
Whether it is the stage, movies or TV, Dai Li Ren will definitely have to change his own lines before he feels that he has done sufficient character preparation. ‘The script only provides a foundation. Since my early days in the Art Institute, I have understood that even if the script was by Shakespeare, simply memorizing by rote is really silly. There are disparities in the time setting, the nationalities and more importantly the actors are not the same so the acting and language expressions will not be similar. ’
‘This is when a good actor is needed,’ Dai Li Ren stated. ‘A good actor is also creative and he will be able to express the emotions suitable to character as written in the script.’
To Portray The Character From The ‘Doctor-Patient Relationship’
During the filming of ‘The Hospital’, Dai Li Ren was very much immersed in the character’s development and the scripting of the scenes. He emphasized that different doctors have various ways of treating sicknesses. This stems from their professional training. ‘The Internal Medicine and Surgical Departments are fundamentally different in their looking at illnesses. If considerations are not given as to how a doctor’s judgments would vary due to his professional training and the system on the whole, and how this in turn affects his character, how he faces problems then it is over-simplifying Good and Evil. The character would come across as flat and superficial. ’
‘I’ll use the crudest way to explain this. The two male leads – I play Doctor Qiu Qing Cheng who is stubborn and intrigued about ‘solving illness’. So his judgment might be viewed as cold and lacking in human concern. The Su Yi Hua played by Jerry Yan is just the opposite. He sees matters from a ‘human’ standpoint. He feels to cure illness, you must start from the person himself.’ In Dai Li Ren’s viewpoint, ‘There is no absolute Good and Evil. We are all the same. To live in this world, we each need to have a certain attitude, to believe that it is his own and to work hard at developing it. A bad guy like that would merit our attention and thus is worthy of our spending some time to try to understand him.’
Dai Li Ren doesn’t feel that Qiu Qing Cheng should be marked as the ‘Bad Guy’ in the show. ‘Though he might be embroiled in the power struggle but it is not because he is bad. Conversely in his mind, he has his own ideal, perfect world.’
He puts it plainly, ‘Be the power struggle in the medicine or corporate world, everyone would have a blue-print for their goals in their lives. So each would give their all to pursue and would step-by-step be closer to it in their minds’ ‘Beautiful, New World’. So I use this attitude to act out the character. Qiu Qing Cheng does not have ill-intentions and he never wanted to actually. That is why throughout the entire process he often feels very tired. From a certain angle, it is to enable things to be done in a better way. Yet compromise is necessary and in the end one has to ask, ‘What is the ideal world in your mind?’’
Therefore is the Ideal World still there in the minds of the characters? In the Realistic World, how would it be? Dai Li Ren ponders and adds, ‘I feel that Qiu Qing Cheng’s Ideal World is always existent. He wants to revolutionize the structure of the Medical World and so he needs greater capabilities and more power, So this is the beginning of the Power Struggle.’
New Break Through, New Possibilities
Starting from the character’s perspective, Dai Li Ren aims to protect and develop the character through making continuous changes. ‘When the production gets complicated and messy, how do I portray the character? It is extremely difficult. During filming when you alter certain things, you have to get the Director and others to accept the character’s changes and at the same time not affect the whole development of the show. Just this keeps one very busy.’ Dai Li Ren is thankful for the space to be able to do just that.
Having made so many attempts, how does he feel about the present and future of the Taiwanese TV scene? Does he have any views or expectations?
‘You should ask Director Chai this.’ Dai Li Ren laughs. He positively affirms Chai Yue Xun’s diligence. Many TV serials are shoddy and cannot compete with the Mainland serials. In fact they might not be anywhere in Asia as well. However Chai Yue Xun’s team insists on enormous capital backing and efforts to produce ‘The Hospital’. They sold the Japanese rights at a record price unprecedented in Taiwan. Even the 3 TV stations didn’t manage to reach certain areas and price, they could. Dai Li Ren extols, ‘Their hard work has caused everyone in the TV industry to open both their doors to them.’
Dai Li Ren ~ Chai Yue Xun’s Determination, Jerry Yan’s Diligence
Touching on Director Chai Yue Xun’s working style, Dai Li Ren is all praise. He laughs that amongst the many Directors that he has work with, Director Chai is the one who possesses ‘the most Japanese Samurai Spirit’. In his pursuit for perfection, he is almost to the point of punishing himself. Dai Li Ren observes, ‘To Chai Yue Xun, the entire production process is like a kind of fulfillment to a promise. Or perhaps it is like a way to fine tune oneself. He and Werner Jerzog are very similar in many ways - the kind that would move a ship over a mountain. You might say that he is wasting resources or is inflexible but it is this spirit that moves others. Every Director has his own style, yet he is one who is very sincere, very industrious and demanding on himself.’
When all eyes are on Jerry Yan, Dai Li Ren speaks frankly, ‘I have seldom seen an actor so hardworking, so earnest, hoping that he can do more and that is Jerry Yan. During the filming, it was evident how he got along with everyone, his communication with the Director and so on. After working with him for not too long, I felt that he is definitely an actor to be respected.’
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