‘I’m a little monkey,’ says star of top TV series
Print Edition
Many Chinese people might consider “Legend of Miyue” to be the hottest TV series of the year. Mi Yue, modeled on a woman born roughly 2,300 years ago, was a concubine of King Huiwen of Qin. The popular costume drama, which went on air late last month, depicts the ups and downs of her life, from being a concubine to becoming the first empress dowager in Chinese history as well as the most powerful woman of her time.
The plotline spans her entire life, making it necessary to cast different actors to play different ages. Li Jing’er, a third grader from Jiading, got the part of young Mi Yue.
Although there are dozens of big names attached to the show, including acclaimed director Zheng Xiaolong and well-known actress Sun Li, who plays adult Mi Yue, Li still made quite an impression on the audience for her performance and delightful personality.
“If I compare myself to an animal, I think I’m a little monkey, because I’m active and outgoing,” Li says.
Her mother said Li has been in the entertainment business since she was 3 years old. She took part in fashion shows, and won three top prizes in children’s modeling competitions.
Though not a professionally trained actor, Li always appears natural and relaxed in front of the camera. The 9-year-old has starred in many commercials and TV series, such as “Generation of Dignity” and “The Empress of China.” In these shows, she worked alongside a number of famous people in the entertainment industry including Sun Honglei and Fan Bingbing, and has built an impressive resume.
Last August, the casting directors of “Legend of Mi Yue” started looking for the right girl to play young Mi.
Since director Zheng and leading actress Sun had already done a successful series together called “The Legend of Zhenhuan,” “Mi Yue” became a highly anticipated show, attracting lots of people to try out for this role. On hearing the news, Li’s mother took her to the audition in Beijing where she went through three tough rounds before getting the part.
In the first audition, Zheng asked Children to improvise. “If you encounter a monster and you are startled, how would you act that out?” Li came up with an excellent performance on the spot, which caught the director’s attention. After this audition, Li was placed third among more than 200 rivals for the role.
The reason why the director finally decided to cast her was the last audition, where Li had to do a scene that involved “stealing a piece of cake.” Not being provided with costumes or props, the young actors needed to quickly get into character using just their imagination.
Li went through the script briefly and felt it was a good idea to find a prop herself. “I asked one of the crew members if I could have the newspaper that he was holding and he gave it to me,” says Li. “I folded it and used it as my cake.” She then asked the director to be her “co-star” in the scene and read some of the lines.
This rarely happened during auditions and it cracked everyone up. “The director thought I was funny and that I am in some way similar to the role of young Miyue,” Li recalls. “I felt happy with my audition, and I think I did a good job in this scene during filming, too.”
Li loves acting, but it’s not easy being an actor. When asked about what she would do in the face of difficulties, she says, “I have no other option but to carry on.”
In “Legend of Mi Yue,” Li has won the audience over with her compelling performance, especially the part where she had to display intense emotion and burst into tears. What the audience didn’t know was that her seven crying scenes were all done in one day.
It was a huge challenge for any actor, let alone a child with no professional training. She had to use her own experience to get into that place. “I thought about my dad. I had been away from home for several months to shoot the series. I missed him a lot,” says Li.
Li’s mother was with her during shooting and saw much of Li’s hard work behind the scenes. “She had a high fever on the day she was supposed to do the crying scenes. She was so sick, vomited a few times, but she still managed to pick herself up and kept going over and over again. I have no idea how she did it.”
Such dedication to the job has led to unconditional support from her parents. “I don’t know much about acting, but as long as my daughter is enjoying it, I will do my best to help her pursue her passion,” her mother said.
As to future plans, Li’s mother says she hasn’t thought that far. “I do think she should keep up with schoolwork, which is her priority right now, and she can decide later whether she wants a career in the entertainment business.”
However, Li has her own thoughts about a career. “I would really like to try acting in a comedy sometime, because I’ve never done that before,” Li says.
She has been taking psychology as well as acting classes in school, hoping to lay some groundwork and develop the skills needed to become a better actor and realize her comedy dream.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
