42-year-old Ethan Juan admits that he is not afraid of growing older because there are many things that can make him feel youthful and energetic every day. Being an actor makes him extremely fulfilling and enjoyable, but he often digests his emotions alone and considers himself "not a very interesting person in private."
A few days ago, a reporter from Nandu conducted an exclusive interview with Ethan Ruan during the popularity of the movie "The Three Evils". It is worth mentioning that when preparing the interview outline, his team members told Nandu reporters, "Time is relatively limited, so some questions do not need to be too specific. He is very expressive." Ruan Jingtian, who has a strong desire to express himself, is indeed He was very talkative and unreservedly shared with Nandu reporters the different feelings the character brought to him, and also talked about his self-doubts. There was not enough interview time, so Nandu reporters could only use his sincere answers to show the "real enough" side of Ruan Jingtian as much as possible.
"As an actor, my biggest reward is being able to express my thoughts and emotions through characters, which is a very precious experience. Each character has its own uniqueness and they all reflect me at different points in time. Growth and changes." Ethan Ruan said.
1
"I will never forget everything I have experienced"
Ethan Ruan grew up in Taichung. He was once a "problem boy" and had extremely high swimming talent. He was also frequently dropped out of school because of his "full personality". He was even so obsessed with video games that he didn't go home for several days, and his parents published a missing person notice in the newspaper.
time returns to his 20 years old. He originally just accompanied his friends to the audition, but he didn't expect that he would be selected to shoot the music video and become a model. With the phenomenal popularity of Taiwanese idol dramas at that time, he adapted to the development and immediately transformed into an actor, starring in "Green Forest", "It's Sunny in Kenting", "Destined to Love You", "The Lost Dog Queen", etc. which belong to the 80s. , an exclusive memory series for the post-90s generation, so that many viewers can immediately think of Ruan Jingtian's "Ji Cunxi" as long as they mention "The Boss". After "trying out" the TV series
, Ethan Ruan, who debuted for three years, began to challenge the movie screen. At that time, he was full of infinite freshness about movies. The starting point was "Exit 6" with Eddie Peng. He was so eager to succeed when he was just starting out that he never thought that he would break his ankle while filming the scene where he fell off a skateboard. Four years later, he released "Monga", which became an instant hit. At the end of "Monga", the "monk" he played was attacked by a friend and eventually fell to the knife of a friend from the "Youth Gang". The confusion and complexity in his eyes during the performance were unconventional and profound. For his role as "Monk", he was elected "Best Actor".
It is worth mentioning that those who competed with him on the same stage were powerful actors Wang Xueqi, Ni Dahong and Qin Hao. When the awards were announced and the youngest and most junior "Ethan Juan" won the "Best Actor", he was stunned during the live broadcast. Later, he said in an interview that there was a lot of pressure to win the award at that age. He was lost for a while and didn't know what he should do to deserve it. In just a few years, he went from making music videos, idol dramas, to movies; from making his unexpected debut to becoming famous as the "Idol Drama Prince" to being promoted to "Best Actor", it all happened too fast. It was so fast that he continued to have self-doubt.
Ethan Ruan disappeared for two years after "Monga". Although he brought "Love" and "Blood Drops", they did not stir up much excitement. During that time, he could be said to have been hit rock bottom, and he often asked himself: "Can I really do it?" Then he starred in "Army Paradise", and with the film's good reputation, he once again gained attention; cf. Acted in "The Assassin Nie Yinniang" directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, playing the role of personal guard "Xia Jing"; filming ancient costumes, appearing in variety shows...
Time came to 2022, Ethan Juan met "Chen Guilin". As early as in "Exit No. 6", he had collaborated with Huang Jiangfeng, the producer of "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils". When he learned that he was being asked to star, Ethan Ruan described it as "feeling like a child who has been wandering outside for ten years, and your family didn't ask you to come home until today."He admitted frankly to Nandu reporters that maybe this also means that everything that happened in the past ten years will have the opportunity to be rewarded or forgiven over time.
On March 1, 2024, the movie "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" (hereinafter referred to as "Zhou Chu") was released in mainland China. Director Huang Jingfu used the allusion of "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" in "Shishuoxinyu" as his creation inspiration. It tells the story of the wanted criminal "Chen Guilin", played by Ethan Ruan, who wants to die and leave his name, imitating the ancient "Zhou Chu" to eliminate the three evils, and decides to get rid of the two felons at the top of the wanted list, and re-find the value of life. Ethan Ruan played Chen Guilin's decadence, emotion and anger in the film to the fullest. Many viewers were impressed by this "cold-faced killer" and commented that "it is the biggest movie since the beginning of the year" and "killed like crazy" , I also enjoyed watching it.”
Ethan Ethan recalled to a Nandu reporter that when Huang Jingfu approached him to talk about scripts and roles, he asked him how his life was lately. Ethan Ethan said, "Compared to the previous ten years, it will be a little more stable now." After hearing the answer, Huang Jingfu hoped that he could return to the emotions he had experienced in the previous ten years, because this was more suitable for playing Chen Guilin. Ethan Ruan told Huang Jingfu directly at the time: "I will never forget what I have experienced, so I don't need to immerse myself in the emotions of the past, because as long as I think about it, those emotions will be there."
was asked to return to that kind of doubt and fear , in a state where he doesn't like himself, this "is a big challenge" for Ethan Ruan. Ethan Ruan said that he could only achieve the state required by Huang Jingfu by trying hard to recall his own experiences and emotions. The way he became Chen Guilin is also very special. Whether it is reading scripts, reading character biographies, or doing any training required for the role, Ethan Ruan will slowly increase the connection with Chen Guilin day by day, and strive to erase the connection with the character. The line between.
When he first read the script, Ethan Juan tried very hard to find out who Chen Guilin was, but in this state he would appear particularly panicked, especially when he was immersed in Chen Guilin's emotions on the set. "It was the most uncomfortable and uncomfortable moment." comfortable". Even in the middle and late stages of filming, I once broke down and said to my mother: "Mom, I don't want to do this." He also bluntly said, "Being this person (Chen Guilin) is too stressful and I am too unhappy."
On the set, in order to make Ethan Ruan closer to the details of Chen Guilin's character, Huang Jingfu specially asked the costume designer to give him Chen Guilin's clothes in advance, requiring him to wear Chen Guilin's clothes whenever and wherever he wanted, no matter what the weather changed. Wearing this suit, he was required to frequently perform small actions of tying his shoes and observing the environment. Ethan Ruan would feel very embarrassed doing these movements at first, but as time went by, coupled with the increase in training movements and emotional state, he gradually became Chen Guilin in the process of subtlety.
After "Monga", Ethan Ruan returned to the short-cut look, and there were a lot more "punch-to-flesh" action scenes in "Chou Chu". When a reporter from Nandu mentioned what preparations he had made in advance for the action scenes, he said that he has had experience in working with a martial arts team since "Monga", and he can gain different martial arts experience after each training. However, as his experience in shooting action increased, he also realized that he was getting older. If he waited until the filming of the movie started to start training, he might not be able to achieve perfect performance.
"I'm worried that I will drag everyone down. If I can't engrave the actions in my mind and bones, I can only mechanically follow the action instructions to shoot. So before the shooting, I did it myself more than two months in advance. Martial arts training. Although I don’t know if these training contents can be used, they do play a certain role. When you have a certain level of understanding of a certain martial arts action, you are qualified to participate in the discussion of how the character’s actions should be performed. Design." Ethan Juan said.
Huang Jingfu's directing method is very delicate, allowing actors the opportunity to penetrate deeply into the inner world of the characters, and often encourages actors to explore the motivations and emotions of the characters. This allows Ethan Ruan to have more freedom in performance, and also It can more realistically present the complexity of Chen Guilin's character.
In this process, Ethan Ruan got to know Chen Guilin bit by bit and understood Chen Guilin. He not only stabilized the difficult inner drama, but also learned how to find a balance between the character and himself. Ethan Ruan told Nandu reporters that for a period of time after the completion of "Zhou Chu", he really felt the emergence of unreality, fragmentation and loss. However, he understands that this is the impact of the role, and he can slowly adjust it.
2
"Each character represents my outlook on life at that time"
In the second half of 2023, Ethan Ruan will successively bring the film works "Pursuit" and "Rage". He played the role of illegal migrant agent Lin Yousheng in "The Manhunt". He once revealed that his role in "The Manhunt" was largely due to Zhang Junning. Just because Zhang Junning called him at that time and asked him if he wanted to play the role of Lin Yousheng, he immediately agreed to play the role. He also said that if the role of Lin Yusheng was placed ten years ago, he would definitely not be able to play it.
In "The Tide", which directly addresses the issues of the dark criminal industry chain, Ethan Ruan plays the role of the policeman Mai Longwen who is suffering great pain, and he and Nick Cheung Ka Fai and Wang Dalu stage a brotherly relationship. He described Mai Langwen in the road show, "Pain forces him to move towards his goal, even if the journey is full of thorns and long."
Although the response of these two movies was mediocre, the audience can already see his transformation from "idol" to "powerful" through his performance. In Ethan Ruan's acting career, "youthfulness" and "masculinity" coexisted, which was the basis for him to attract attention. He and the character achieve mutual success, and he unreservedly integrates the emotions he has accumulated over the past ten years into the character, striving to make himself more explosive and breakthrough.
After three months, he came back with "Zhou Chu". In his words, "Zhou Chu" is the end of his journey in the past 10 years, whether it is his struggle, self-doubt, pain, healing, or re-examination of himself. He may still have doubts in the future, but he knows that he is the one who wants to be an actor, and he is lucky.
From contact with the script, filming to release, Ethan Ruan also had different understandings of Chen Guilin at different stages. After "Zhou Chu" was completed, Ethan Juan said that he had already stored Chen Guilin in one of the many small rooms in his heart. "Some rooms are closer to my heart, and some rooms are further away. They are like old friends. I still occasionally think about whether he (Chen Guilin) is doing well now."
in "Zhou" In addition, the first collaboration with Huang Jingfu also gave Ethan Ruan unexpected gains. The two became close friends who would often get together to drink coffee and chat. He shared with Nandu reporters that Huang Jingfu wanted him to think about one thing every day, to think about who he is and what he wants to do. These are questions he has never thought about in the past. An unexpected fate was Yuan Fuhua, who would often send messages to Ethan Ruan to ask how he was doing. Chen Yiwen would also talk to him about his current situation, have dinner and see solo exhibitions with him.
"Never before has the main creators maintained such a relationship with each other after a play ended. And Li Renge (Li Liren) will report to me any reports he sees as soon as possible, such as seeing "Guilin" He would send messages to share with me when he was in the barber shop or if there was something interesting. Although it was sometimes very nonsensical, it was very cute. Xiao Jing (Wang Jing) sometimes used me as someone to talk to, and I was like his brother. , these are the emotions that only started to arise after the filming was completed." Ethan Ruan said.
Ethan Ruan often feels extremely fulfilled and enjoys his job as an actor. He told Nandu reporters that each character represented his outlook on life at that time. As an actor, what I gain the most is being able to express my thoughts and emotions through characters. “This is a very precious experience. Each character has its own uniqueness, and they all reflect my feelings at different points in time. Growth and change."
Ethan Ruan, who admits that he has always been addicted to dramas, often doubts himself. He admits that self-doubt does not go away just because you reach a certain age. These emotions are bound to happen, but he has learned how to deal with them.As for which role changed him the most, in his opinion every role influenced him to some extent.
For example, the "Monk" in "Monk", he believes that this is the most unlike himself among all the roles he has played, saying that the audience will think that is what Ethan Ruan should look like, "He is a gangster." . The role of "Monk" indeed gave him many more opportunities to try. The most important thing is that he realized that he was responsible for the performance.
For another example, after filming "Rogue Detective", he understood that whether the film will be a hit or not has nothing to do with whether he works hard or not. No matter how hard he works, he has no way to affect whether the film will be a hit or not. "Fan Ruyi" also had a certain influence on him, whether it was based on the skill training of performance or the thickness of life, it had a certain accumulation effect.
3
"The biggest change is age"
In daily life, Ethan Ruan is a rather boring person. He loves cycling. He is self-disciplined and loves fitness, surfing and skiing. He told Nandu reporters that every time he meets with the audience, performs road shows or works with others, he can really feel that interesting things are happening, so he can also laugh, be happy, angry or sad. But when I got home, I spent more time with myself and my emotions. He bluntly said, "I'm not a very interesting person in private."
In Ethan Ruan's opinion, the biggest change since his debut is his age, and his personality has gradually become gentler than before. He revealed that he had been alone for a long time, facing various negative emotions such as doubt and insecurity. For a period of time, he even felt a little bit resentful and unfair. But when he looked back at himself during that period, he discovered that when he was stuck in the quagmire of emotions, there were some people around him who were always accompanying him.
"Some people have the same attitude towards me no matter whether I am in good or bad state or what kind of emotions I am in. For example, my parents, and those friends who do not regard me as a special person in their lives. In As they guard and wait, I gradually become more and more gentle. As I grow older, I care more and more about their emotions." Ethan Ruan said.
After being alone for a long time, Ruan Jingtian was inspired to work hard for self-rescue and self-reconciliation. What this period of time means to him, we cannot discuss in detail with him in the short interview time. But what is certain is that Ethan Juan has taken another path and has a new pursuit.
is over 40 years old. With more than 20 years of acting experience, he has gone from a "little boy" to a "tough guy". He has a new understanding of performance. In Ruan Jingtian's view, age is never the dividing line in performance, but a process of constant renewal. Every time he finished filming a movie or played a role, he would not put the movie and the character aside and stop caring about it. More often, he would review what he did well and what he didn't do well enough. have flaws. His perception of performance is also changing all the time, including everything he encounters in life, which will also affect his perception of performance.
Ethan Juan, who has always valued his family, especially loves his grandparents and has a deep relationship with them. He grew up living with his grandparents, and even the name "Jingtian" was given by his grandfather. "Jing" means seniority, and "天" means grandpa hopes that he can be as tall as the sky, stand upright, and always be able to stand up to the sky and the earth. Ethan Ruan was too rebellious when he was a child, and only his grandparents were willing to support him unconditionally. They even secretly sent him money when he first started out because of financial instability. Since his grandparents left, his mood has changed a lot from before.
He said frankly to the Nandu reporter, "After you experience something in your life that impresses you, you will definitely change. It's just that others think there won't be any changes, but these things are happening in the body all the time. With changes."
When talking about whether he is afraid of growing older, Ethan Ruan laughed and said that he is not afraid.In his opinion, when people feel that they are getting older, they often need reference objects. After discovering that his younger brother is 29 years old this year, he realized that he has reached a certain age. "There will be no fear, because there are many things that can make me feel the vitality of youth every day."
When talking about acting, Ethan Ruan firmly believes that he is an experiential person. Whether it is acting or doing anything, he only chooses to do it if he believes in it. . "Only by practicing, practicing, and thinking bit by bit every day, can we make progress day by day." Every performance by Ethan Ruan for more than 20 years, regardless of success or failure, summed up these experiences, and already has his own characteristics. He has his own way of getting into character. "Experience and method are both indispensable. Even if people ask me what method I used, I will tell you without reservation, but it may not work for everyone."
Ethan Ethan described the profession of actor as "sailor". In his opinion, more often than not, the only thing an actor can decide is which ship can find him. As for where the ship will sail, it is unknown until things take shape. "You never know what will happen tomorrow. Even if everything you cherish now may disappear tomorrow. But you may also see someone tomorrow who you will love for the rest of your life, so I think, The 'unknown' is the most interesting thing about the job of an actor."
"The job of an actor is also interesting in that, although it sounds like there is no way to completely determine your own destiny, isn't your real life the same? ?" Ethan Ruan asked the Nandu reporter with a smile.
Written by: Nandu reporter Lin Jingwu, intern Zheng Xinxi
Pictures: provided by the respondent
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