Zhou Xun: The transformation from girl to woman has not been completed

"I was a girl and never made the transition to a woman. I free and easy to come and go, don't ask the river's lake, let the storm come more violent!"

On June 14, 2012, Painted Skin 2 premiered in Chengdu. Before this, "Painted Skin 2" has been in Cannes and other places to carry out a variety of large-scale publicity, the lead actor Zhou Xun often with neutral handsome appearance, by the media generally praised.

For her dress style and her role in recent years, Zhou Xun summed it up with elegance. Just like Xiao Wei, the character she played in Painted Skin 2, she is soft, but hard and persistent. Not only boys like her, but also girls will like her. The feeling of love is pain, which is universal, but it is a special feeling of love. Perhaps only Zhou Xun, the collection of masculinity and girls in one of the screen genie can be interpreted incisively and vividly.

"I look like a delicate girl, but I have boyish spirit inside," Zhou said. "I hope the character I play is the same, always an old girl, handsome, free and easy, but also charming, can freely express my feelings and emotions about life and youth."

What have you been doing for a year

After 19 years in the film industry, Zhou Xun, 37, has won all the best actress awards in the Chinese film industry. This year, however, Zhou's life is becoming simpler. You rarely see her, and she is rarely in the headlines of entertainment news. Apart from a few public-benefit themed events, such as Autism Care Week and serving as the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Ambassador, she rarely appears in various star-studded commercial events. Even, some time ago, "Flying armor of Dragon Gate" crew went to Cannes to promote, Zhou Xun also disappeared.

"Zhou Xun is laying low now." That's what all the entertainment reporters say. "What's she doing hiding?" Some members of the media even asked. "I lived on the set for most of the year. Before that, he was shooting Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, where he lived on the set for more than three months. We started shooting 'The Great Magician' the year after, and we've been doing it ever since." Zhou Xun said she likes to stay in the cast. As soon as the play began shooting, no matter how far away, no matter whether the conditions were difficult or not, she took root in the crew. When there is a scene filming, filming, not filming, she herself in the crew room listening to music, reading, watching videos, sometimes also to see other actors filming. Occasionally cast transfer to Beijing in filming, play a shot Zhou Xun also followed the cast back to the dormitory, not back to his home.

"Filming is a quick hypnotic thing. Living on the set, all I see and think about are these people and all I talk about. If you go home and, wow, your life is coming, it's tearing." Zhou Xun said while comparing paintings, like a child, when it comes to the place of pleasure, will forcefully use movement and onomatopoeia to describe a thing to you.

As the only cultural and entertainment star to win the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader of the Year in 2011, Zhou says her biggest goal is to become more calm: "I believe in the saying, when you can't change anything else, you change yourself."

Very pessimistic about the entertainment industry

Over the years, Zhou Xun has often been labeled as candid, temperamental, authentic, simple and quirky. But how does Zhou Xun see herself and her life? That's what a lot of people want to know.

Many good actresses, after reaching the peak of their careers in their 20s and 30s, inevitably go downhill. Faced with such a problem, Zhou Xun is very calm. "It's no good worrying about things that haven't happened yet." "But there was a part of me that knew something had to be done sooner rather than later. When you really get to 40, there aren't as many opportunities."

Perhaps for this reason, Zhou Xun, who has kept a low profile, was recently rumored to be stepping into the international film industry, starring alongside Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant in the Hollywood blockbuster Cloud Atlas, but Chinese actors tend to play Asian characters in Hollywood movies. In the novel "Cloud Atlas," there are six stories that take place in the South Pacific, Belgium, the United States, and the United Kingdom. There is no Asian character for Zhou Xun, except for the clone "Sunmi 451" of Song Ji Restaurant that Korean actress Bae Do-na has confirmed to play. Therefore, some people even say that Zhou Xun's first trip to Hollywood is probably a "soy sauce". In the face of so much speculation, Zhou and her staff don't want to give anything away too soon, and she has a seemingly pessimistic view of today's entertainment environment: "The reality of what we live in every day, whether it's 'playing a part' or any other role, is very interesting for every actor. It's important that we are brave enough to face each experience and experiment. However, a lot of people like to focus on junk information that is not important."

Zhou Xun is a temperament, from her face, speaking tone, can see her life and the law of life, she never hide their feelings. Zhou told reporters that she used to be confused, but now she knows clearly that movies are not completely unrelated to her life, and that the experience she had in those movies can help her do better in real life. With this idea in mind, Zhou Xun feels happy every day: "Those actors and directors who appear around me are all 'little wishes' in my heart, as if every day is a wish."

After the solo

This year is a New Year for Zhou Xun to take off after leaving Huayi Brothers. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is her first film after solo career. Zhou xun said, had just decided to fly alone during that time, there are some ups and downs, on their own state of mind after reading the "longmen fly a script will be suddenly enlightened:" LingYanQiu have a juniors and aggressive temperament, even in the face of love, she have unexpected choice - this is a kind of innate strength, is the vitality of a road. I don't want it to be intentional, but I want it to be comfortable." Zhou said, "At this stage, I seemed to have a connection with the director -- to fly alone means to be independent. I hope to be like Ling Yanqiu: to come and go freely, not to ask about the rivers and lakes, and to let the storm come more strongly."

In addition to acting, what Zhou Xun has done most since her solo career is to promote caring for autistic children. Not only did she promote a documentary about autism, Child from a Distant Planet, for which she recorded a single, You Are the Only One in the World, but she also launched Autism Awareness Week. This series of events is also her studio after the establishment of the public to hand over the first report card. It all started with a chance meeting with Chen Guofu during the Spring Festival. "What have you been doing?" Met a long time no see director, Zhou Xun asked.

"Watching a documentary." The director to answer. Zhou Xun, who loves documentaries, hurriedly asked for the title of the film - "Children of Distant Planets", ready to watch it at home during the Spring Festival break. As a result, this look, Zhou Xun burst into tears.

"I'm not a talkative person myself, and I don't always find the right frequency when I talk to people." Zhou Xun felt the same way and wanted to help the children. "They're just kids who aren't like us, who have a clean, rich world and just can't find a way to express it. We are so lucky to be able to express ourselves, should we go the extra mile and listen to them?" Zhou Xun asked carefully.

She recorded a song after not singing for a long time. In the recording studio, Zhou Xun cried again and again, and she sang to the children with her unique voice: "The only you in the world, warm my uneasy heart, you have the kindest eyes, in the distant planet, let me tell you with a sweet whisper, I will always be here, give me, the only you in the world."

The transition from girl to woman is not complete

Five years ago, Yang LAN asked Zhou Xun: "Do you think you have completed the transformation from a girl to a woman?"

She said, "No, I'm just a girl." But over the past few years, the girl has been giving another answer.

In September 2011, the 30th anniversary celebration of Shiseido's China career was held. Zhou Xun, as the image spokesperson and judge of the "Dream Achievement Education Program", gave the most accurate advice to the contestants who pursued their dreams: "No matter whether they succeed or not, they should return to simplicity as soon as possible." Of course, this is not a naive girl can say, but it is the truth Zhou Xun has been making films for 19 years.

"I get more and more opportunities to see so many great creative things that you don't know what to do. For example, if I go to the store to buy clothes, there are so many new clothes that I don't know which one I like. I don't know if it's a loss." Zhou Xun said that movies once forced her to face vanity and greed at the fastest speed, but after the experience, it is also the movie that made her return to simplicity at the fastest speed. Therefore, someone once described Zhou Xun like this: she is very down-to-earth, and extremely humble. She has an unusual ability to always listen to what others have to say.

These may not sound like great abilities, but they speak volumes. Ninety percent of what makes a good actor great is their extraordinary ability to listen -- they listen, they observe, and they let everything they hear and see sink into their performance.

Perhaps, it is because of this unusual ability, let Zhou Xun see the ups and downs of vanity Fair and flashy appearance. As an actress, she loves movies most. "I love movies." "I love when it's good, and I love when it's bad -- when it's bad, I reflect on what went wrong, learn from my experience, and then I can do it better next time," she said. Making a movie is like playing a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes, if you make a little mistake, you won't be able to put it together properly. But it's the unpredictable outcome that makes it so exciting."

However, for Zhou Xun, growing up may not be her favorite thing.

"I didn't like being an adult when I was a child. I always thought I was a child, ideally when I was 18. Now that I'm over 35, I'm going to start growing backwards."