ELLE China August 2023 Issue
After leaving a simple message on her Weibo account:
"We have shared the past together
and now, we will have our own future",
Yang Mi decided to restart.
She decided to change, to follow her heart, and to do what she loves.
It was the end of June, when the heat was supposed to be rising, but the rainy days in Shanghai caused the heat to dissipate in no time.
At exactly 10am, Yang Mi arrived at the studio punctually, her footsteps were fast, like a strong wind, also like her personality. When she entered the dressing room, without waiting for a reminder, she swiftly changed into slippers, talked to the hair stylist on how to adjust a thick cloud-like wig, and was able to tell her needs with the manicurist. By the time the make-up artist opened her kit, she had already turned to the press and greeted them, "Okay, let's start the interview!"
The studio, which had been silent, was gradually becoming "busy" while focusing on her. It's all controlled within her pace, regardless fast or slow, one led all.
Wish to Work for 24 Hours a Day
The conversation started with a hypothesis: If you can possess a superpower, what will it be?
The question seems to do with abilities, but in fact, it refers to a strange power that is beyond human capabilities –– people only fantasise about having superpowers when they can't achieve their strong desires. Yang Mi's answer sounds unbelievable at first, but when thinking about it again, it's totally "her".
"I wish I have the superpower to work for 24 hours a day."
As her words dropped, all the staff behind her took a step backwards in shock. Yang Mi's first big smile of the day was captured. She added: "It is not possible if there is only me working for 24/7. My team need to share this ability too."
What exactly is the belief that makes Yang Mi willing to spend the rest of her free time for working all day?
"It's not about a rat race, I didn't even think of doing it too. I just thought that it wasn't easy to gain life experiences and I wanted to keep something with me. Just such a simple thought."
Yang Mi says she also enjoys the moments of relaxation after work, and the ordinary life when she is alone. Even if it's only 30 minutes without having to talk to anyone or facing the camera, it is also very precious to her. But these are only occasional short breaks within the work schedule, and she doesn't want to leave the "changing time" between work schedules to indulge in these leisure activities all day.
"Actually, I have tried gardening but it is not for me. So, there is no need to catch up with the trend of living a slow life, I still prefer to occupy my life with work."
Yang Mi's work efficiency is like a legend in the industry and has a great reputation. Even when there are delays on the set for various reasons, she can always find an efficient way. Then, the team works professionally together to adjust their state and tries their best to finish the work on time.
"There is no secret. I think we can all be more efficient, provided that you know exactly what you are doing and what you want to do now. Once you are clear and sure, don't say what you shouldn't say, don't waste the time that you shouldn't waste. This is the professional attitude that you supposed to hold."
Break the Habitual Mindset
Director Lu Yang (路阳) had precisely described Yang Mi's strong sense of purpose in her work, "Every time when I work with her, I clearly see her persistence and how much acting weighs in her mind. I am even more convinced of this when I see how much Yang Mi enjoyed herself and had fun in creating."
Lu Yang had worked with Yang Mi twice for <Brotherhood of Blades 2> in 2016 and <A Writer's Odyssey> in 2018, and felt her desire for acting. Another director with similar comments is Ding Sheng (丁晟) , who filmed <Nothing Can't Be Undone by a Hotpot> with Yang Mi last year. And, the director used the term "unprecedented" to describe her conditions of acting. In this film, Yang Mi played two roles with distinctive personalities, one is reserved, whereas another is expressive.
"It's not quite accurate to say that I played two roles. There were actually three, and all three stages are very distinctive from appearance to personality. It's too early, I can't tell too much."
As it was inconvenient to reveal the content of the film, Yang Mi's face showed a look of a child who has hidden an interesting toy; excited and reluctant. When she first chose this film, she had the intention of learning and wishing to try more creative freedom for the role. During the filming, Yang Mi felt that the most exciting thing was to "battle" with the director on the set. When they had different opinions and understanding towards the role, they would discuss, debate, and convince each other on the set.
"Director Ding Sheng is very persistent but also open-minded. He always welcome us to 'battle' with him and see who is able to convince him. It was indeed a very challenging thing to do."
Yang Mi talked about her change in mentality for acting, which has slowly become clear in the recent two years when filming <Nothing Can't Be Undone by a Hotpot> and <Harbin 1994>.
"To be honest, I've had my doubts about myself. When my drama became a hit and when others acknowledged me the most, I had doubts about myself."
The past 20 years have been the high production period of Chinese dramas. In the early years when you went to Heng Dian, you could see 40 or 50 production teams on set at the same time. The actors was like gears on the team, having to spin according to the rhythm with no time to settle down. Yang Mi has been filming and acting since high school and has always been in such busy rotations,
"I used to work in a state where I tried to digest the script, understand the story, and complete it according to what people imagined. Due to this, I developed some habitual mindset in acting. When the character is there, I would portray it with a fixed and habitual mindset. Now, I think that this is never enough; I also realise that it's bad to continue in such ways, therefore, I need to change."
As Yang Mi gets older and more experienced, she gradually understands the reasons for her past confusion and all the frustrations behind it. She has taken the initiative to change, to shatter her past self, to re-learn and re-construct. This change is firstly reflected in her choice of scripts. Yang Mi says that now, she can't just consider the audience's preferences, or what other people think of her. Instead, she asks herself more questions, whether she needs the script and whether she can learn more from the character.
"By this year, my thoughts come with more responsibilities compared to the past. The responsibilities are for myself; to produce a good film/project and be responsible to myself."
Life is All about Constantly Escaping from Shackles
The freedom of choice is sort of related to the change of surrounding. On 8th May this year, Yang Mi changed her Weibo avatar and wrote the words, "We have shared the past together and now, we will have our own future", officially announcing that she was leaving her 10-year partnership with her company and deciding to restart. This is an inevitable parting, just like the crossroads that everyone will encounter on the journey of growing. There is no right or wrong, just different choices, and sometimes a detour can reap another scenery.
"It was actually a long process, and what everyone saw was just one node of the process. I was so busy that I didn't care much about this node. Sometimes, the more significant something is, the lesser the emphasis is needed."
Yang Mi talked about this manner with Zhang Li (张黎), the director of <Harbin 1944>. He mentioned that life is a process of constantly unshackling oneself. He gave Yang Mi a quote: "Sisal is pressed underneath a stone". Sisal is a resilient plant that has a strength that is invisible to people, even if it is pressed underneath a stone, with a little water and air, it can still penetrate the stone and grow into its original form.
"The presence of the character, Guan Xue (关雪), is a kind of redemption for me at this moment. Every day on the set, I am enjoying the learning process. It has been many years since I've had such experience, that is shooting a scene for multiple times and the director keeps asking you to try and polish it."
Director Zhang Li is a director who can capture the inner workings of his characters to the extreme. He focuses on complex human relationships and will put his characters in different times, spaces and states to explore their different facets. In his dramas such as <Towards the Republic>, <Ming Dynasty in 1566> and <The Road We Have Taken>, the characters are always pulled back and forth by the tension, the tacit understanding of being in the same boat, the revelry of success and the betrayal that follows, and there is no peace in their hearts. To play Zhang Li's films, actors have to understand the deep psychology of their characters and make logical actions.
"What I'm learning at this stage is to act out the logical relationships between people. Guan Xue, who works in the Special Duties Unit (特务科), is the kind of person who has her life in risk. If she does one thing wrong and says one wrong word, her subordinates or superior may kill her. So, to play this role, it's not enough for me to just say the lines. I must understand the life experiences, social relationships and character relationships behind the lines. For some words, I might seem to diss you but in fact, I'm whining. Something like this. I need to express the hidden meaning of the lines, and these are the things that can only be found in the adult world. The things that I discussed more with the director are such contents."
Scriptwriter, Wang Xiao Qiang, is also extremely strict with his scripts and the actors are not allowed to simply change their lines. In the set of <Harbin 1944>, everyone must say the lines according to the script. The reason why spy dramas are spy dramas is because the lines convey a great deal of information and hints, and between one hint and another, there may also be contradictions, and each sentence and word is carefully scrutinised and random changes are not allowed. Therefore, Yang Mi brought along her acting teacher to the set. At evening or night, the two of them would rehearse and digest the lines in the script and sort the characters.
"I just urged myself that I must rehearse and remember the lines before going to the set. With this, I don't have to bring along the script, and I can further discuss with the director about the emotions and intentions of the characters."
When filming this drama, Yang Mi often recalled the time when she filmed <The Dream of Red Mansions> more than ten years ago, "some scenes as well as the director's dialogue were very similar."
The whole production team seem to live for films, no one talks about anything else other than acting. The director can wait for a beam of light or an emotion without considering the time. But in the end, what is more similar is the desire for acting that is rekindled within Yang Mi. After more than ten years of vicissitudes, Yang Mi is standing on the opposite bank of the river while looking back at her original self, and her genuine heart (or original passion) is still there:
"Within the 20 years of staying in the industry, I've had different thoughts or intentions and done things that I didn't want to do. But now that I'm back, I'm very pure and not complicated at all. I am just earnestly doing what I like. Collaborating with a director that I like and creating roles together, this thing itself is quite pure."
