Yu Xiangning won the Best Actress Award at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards for her movie " under the day ". Photo provided by ic
html On April 14, at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards, Yu Xiangning won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her wonderful performance in the movie "Under the Sun".Yu Xiangning, who entered the entertainment industry as a model, has made outstanding achievements in the film field in recent years. At the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2019, she was nominated for the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the same time for her movies " Extraordinary " and " Countercurrent Uncle ". At the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie "The Road to the Mountain".
directed by Jian Junjin, produced by Er Dongsheng , starring Jiang David, Yu Xiangning, and Lin Baoyi, the movie "Under the Day" was released nationwide on April 12. The film is adapted from real events. It tells the story of a reporter who received a report and went undercover to investigate into a nursing home for the disabled, uncovering the brutal abuse that occurred here. In the film, reporter Ling Xiaoqi, played by Yu Xiangning, wants to expose the inhumane life in disabled homes through her reports, find the cruel truth "under the day", and hope to change the social status quo.
Before the movie was released, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Yu Xiangning. In order to interpret this role well, she came into contact with some prototype characters and visited a disabled home on her own. After reading the script, she told the director that the character must have no facial features and be realistic. For her, the biggest challenge in playing this role is to always suppress her emotions and keep all emotions inward.
Yu Xiangning plays investigative reporter Ling Xiaoqi in "Under the Day".
Regarding this award, Yu Xiangning was not particularly confident at first. She had not thought about the awards. Instead, she was looking forward to the team behind the film’s 16 nominations stepping onto the red carpet. It was already the most dreamy thing in her imagination. "Because I think it is rare to meet such a good team. Every department is very dedicated. It is a very happy day for us, proving that our efforts are recognized." Yu Xiangning said that she has also watched other works shortlisted for the Hong Kong Film Awards. Every actor is very good. She especially likes the performance of Chung Xueying (nominated for Best Actress in this year's Academy Awards for "Lyrics"). , I like this actor very much. Her first music video performance was Eason Chan's "Dance to Tomorrow" by and . After watching it, she immediately looked for her information on the Internet. She felt that this actor was not only good at acting, but also good at acting. A very good lyricist and very talented. I really hope to cooperate with her.
[Exclusive Interview]
After reading the script, I decided on the character’s facial features
Beijing News: The movie was adapted from a real incident. How did you feel when you saw the news?
Yu Xiangning: I remember that I felt very angry after reading the news for the first time, but maybe like the public, there are many different things happening around me, but maybe I soon forgot about the news. , did not investigate the development trend of this last matter. So I am very grateful to the creative team for making this movie, which can make the audience pay attention to this matter again, or not only pay attention to this matter, but we must pay attention to what is happening in this society and this world, not just for a day or two. I forgot about the heat.
Beijing News: After reading the script of "Under the Sun", what impressed you most?
Yu Xiangning: I think first of all, the script talks about kindness, justice and truth, which are what each of us must stick to. And I think the ending of the script is very real. It is not a happy ending. The bad guys are brought to justice, the dean is caught, and the residents are fine and can finally live in peace. Without this illusion, it actually shows the cruelty of reality. .The dean was not brought to justice, and then Xiaoqi had a strong sense of powerlessness. After watching it, the audience will feel that what we want to express is that we hope that every audience will be like Ling Xiaoqi, even in the face of such a sense of powerlessness. , but after the sun came out, when we got up the next day, we wiped away our tears again and continued to move forward, continuing to believe in justice and kindness. This touched me very much.
Beijing News: Xiaoqi is a journalist in the film. What preparations did you make after receiving the role?
Yu Xiangning: Under the arrangement of the director, I had contact with the prototype characters. In addition, I also maintained a sense of independence as a reporter of the investigation team. I drove by myself to see the situation in some institutions. Really I went on a field trip and saw some journalists who were about the same age as me. I also wanted to know what they thought of the journalistic industry after working for about eight years, or whether I was discouraged or whether I would persevere. I saw that each of them was very persistent in their hearts, so I focused on Xiaoqi's persistence.
Beijing News: When you were competing for this role, which scene did you audition for?
Yu Xiangning: The first scene is the scene where Tong Bo (played by Jiang David) is first seen, and the second scene is the scene where he quarrels with his boss. I believe the director said that the reason he chose me was because when he saw Tong Bo's scene for the first time, he saw a touch of tenderness in my eyes. Although Xiaoqi looks cold, strong and even a little fierce on the outside, she is actually a very kind and loving girl on the inside. So when she faced Tong Bo and the residents, she quickly put her emotions on them without any reservation. This is also what makes this character very interesting. In fact, as a reporter, she should be neutral, but on the other hand, she cares about everyone around her. She is always a human being, and there is no way she can be so neutral, and she cannot be so numb to everything.
In order to be closer to the role of a reporter, Yu Xiangning mostly appeared without makeup in "Under the Sun".
Beijing News: Do you have any ideas on clothing styling? It is said that from the very first audition, you asked not to wear makeup.
Yu Xiangning: In fact, after reading the script, I told the director that this character should not have facial makeup because I wanted a sense of reality. The character of this character is to get up and change clothes before going to work, even if it is light makeup. It was very unrealistic and didn't fit her character, so I told the director not to wear makeup after watching it. And as a reporter, sometimes you really don’t get enough rest. Even if your skin condition is a little blemish, it’s normal.
Beijing News: What is the biggest challenge for you in this role?
Yu Xiangning: The biggest challenge in the role of is that she has to constantly suppress her emotions. The director hopes that I will keep all my emotions inward, but for me, I am a relatively emotional person. I remember the first day When I went to the filming site and performed the scene where I taught Mingzai and Xiaoling to protect themselves, I actually couldn't help crying during the rehearsal. The director said you can cry now, but you can't cry when the camera starts. Because this character doesn’t do that. Therefore, this character has always been suppressed, and this suppression is relatively difficult for me. But the last scene was to give Ling Xiaoqi a chance to express her emotions. She kept following this case and finally got to that point where she could express her emotions.
David Jiang's impromptu performance moved the whole audience.
Beijing News: There are many senior actors in the film, such as Hu Feng, David Jiang, Lin Baoyi, etc. Are you nervous about acting opposite them?
Yu Xiangning: can’t, because they are all very friendly, especially Brother John (David Jiang). At first we were a little timid when facing this senior, but he took the initiative to chat with us and even sat down while eating. We ate together, talked about some boring topics, and laughed. We soon felt that we really knew each other, so when we went to shoot, we really felt like grandfather and grandson.
The scene in "Under the Day" in which David Chiang puts on Yu Xiangning's hat in the rain was a real-time performance.
Beijing News: You and David Jiang have many scenes together. It is said that he has a lot of impromptu performances. Will his performance also stimulate you on set?
Yu Xiangning: Yes, Brother John had an improvisational performance that moved me very much. It was the scene where he put a hat on my head in the rain. In fact, this scene was not in the script, but that scene After we lined up two or three times, he felt that Xiaoqi was a miserable girl. She was scolded by everyone but still had doubts and guilt about what she had done. He wanted to protect this girl, so he put his most precious hat on this girl. On the head. When John came up with this impromptu idea, everyone actually didn’t know how it would work at first, but after trying it out, all the staff behind the scenes were very moved. And this move was not particularly sensational, but a very real and moving one. . John's acting intuition is worth learning from. He can feel it deeply and accurately.
In the movie "Under the Sun", Yu Xiangning and Jiang David had many wonderful scenes opposite each other.
Beijing News: In the film, Xiaoqi and another reporter took pictures from the rooftop of the nursing home staff bathing the elderly. Was that scene shot in a borrowed position or was it a real shot?
Yu Xiangning: The scene in was actually shot. At that time, A Liang and I, another reporter, were on the rooftop. We actually shot the outdoor location below, where they acted out the shower scene. I also want to thank all the extras. In fact, they are very professional. No one has questioned this scene. Everyone filmed it with confidence. To shoot this scene in an open-air environment, it actually requires a very professional attitude, so thank you very much. Every actor in the film, including the special actors, actually created a lot of the atmosphere in our home, so we are very grateful to them.
Stills from "Under the Sun". Two reporters filmed a nursing home for the disabled giving elderly residents a shower on the rooftop.
Beijing News reporter Teng Chao
editor Huang Jialing
proofreader Chen Diyan
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