In 2009, Zhao Youting starred in his first TV drama "Ruffian Hero" and made his debut. Not only did he become a new idol with his handsome appearance, but he was also a rare actor. He won the Taiwan TV Golden Bell Award for Best Actor in one fell swoop. After that, Zhao Youting’s popularity was to marry the national Muse Gao Yuanyuan. Although his career development has been continuous in big movies, it has been tepid. The Xianxia drama "Three Lives, Three Worlds and Ten Miles of Peach Blossom" currently being broadcast on Oriental Satellite TV and Zhejiang Satellite TV is Zhao Youting’s first TV drama in seven years. A large number of audiences have turned to his fans again.
Zhao Youting is a star who has been underestimated for a long time. He has good looks and acting skills. When he encounters a character like "Ye Hua" with the name of "the most beautiful man in the four seas and eight wilderness", his ability can be suppressed first and then raised. At first, many book fans opposed him because he was not "beautiful" enough, and the styling effect was just passable. Disappointment boiled over. But Zhao Youting conquered the audience with his "micro-expression" acting. "No matter how ugly the styling is, I can’t help but fall in love with him." Fans also invented the new term "cosmetic" acting for him. In the interview, Zhao Youting is both upright and romantic. He keeps saying that "Ye Hua" is mushy, but his mouth is not the best love story in Gao Yuanyuan’s daily life.
"Cosmetic" acting, I take it as a compliment
Beiqing Daily: From the original unfavorable to the current hot circle fans, are they all expected?
Zhao Youting: I think I seem to be quite calm. Because the shape that came out at the beginning was indeed not as good as we expected, we also wanted to be very handsome and shock everyone, but maybe my own state that day was not so good, or the hair flying was not so wonderful or the light was not good, but it gave everyone a chance to complain, but I think it doesn’t matter, because I am still quite confident, whether it is for myself or for this play, I think everyone will like it after watching it, but now such a good result is indeed not predictable, thank you very much.
Beiqing Daily: How did you feel when you heard that your acting was called "cosmetic surgery" by the audience?
Zhao Youting: I still regard this as a compliment (ha ha), I quite like this kind of label, because I have never felt that my appearance is so high, and I am all down-to-earth and good at acting according to my own strength. I hope that what everyone sees is the hard work behind it and the presentation of the actual acting skills above, rather than saying how handsome or not.
Beiqing Daily: The script assigns this role to "the most beautiful man in the four seas and eight wilderness", and all the controversies about you before are also due to this. What are your thoughts on these nine words?
Zhao Youting: I do have a little resistance to the beautiful man part. If I really only play a very superficial handsome man, I feel that I am not so suitable. I think I am like this, I am very satisfied, but with the handsome guys in my mind, such as Takeshi Kanshiro and Takuya Kimura, it is obvious that I am more than one level away from them; and I don’t know the "skills" that handsome guys should have, the extroverted ones… But I read the script and read the novel, and I found that I like this book and this story, and I also like characters like Ye Hua and Mo Yuan very much, so I want to say that I will win with my acting skills. Because I really want to participate in this work, I will fight.
Beiqing Daily: Ye Hua’s greatest charm value is to say love words. Would you find this so mushy in life?
Zhao Youting: I really don’t say too many such mushy love words in my life. I believe no one can. Who would say anything in daily life, I am your heart, your liver, your baby sweet sauce, impossible, it’s too disgusting. But there is no way, there are needs in the book and the play. So every time Xiao Mi and I say these words, we need to go through some psychological resistance before we can slowly say them out so that we don’t laugh.
Beiqing Daily: Since "Ruffian Hero" became an instant hit, I have been making movies. Why did I take on a costume TV series this time?
Zhao Youting: I have been making movies in the past few years, but I have never set a limit. I did not say that I will only make movies and not TV dramas from now on. I have also read many scripts in the middle, and I feel good about it. But maybe the timing is not right or the schedule is not suitable, or else it is because I have very high requirements for the script, and I hope to work with like-minded partners, so when everyone’s pursuit and requirements for a play are unequal, it is more difficult to continue. So until now, I only took on the "Three Lives and Three Worlds" one. It is also because I found that the whole team I can talk to and have a tacit understanding. Everyone has very high requirements for this play, so I am very happy and feel that I can be very involved in this play.
"Ruffian Hero" regains fan pick-up treatment after seven years
Beiqing Daily: With the current popularity of this drama, you should already be able to feel the madness of fans, right?
Zhao Youting: I haven’t been harassed by fans, but now I will start picking up airports, which reminds me of the "encounter" when "Ruffian Hero" first aired. I am very grateful to them and thank them for their support. But I really don’t think I need to come to see me so hard, because I am like this, it is quite ordinary, so don’t give me gifts, write to me, I am very happy, don’t spend money. I have to worry about their safety when they come to the airport to pick up the plane, because they often take pictures without looking at the road, and often they almost fall or are in danger when going down the stairs, which I am still not used to.
Beiqing Daily: After seven years in the middle, there are fans picking up the plane again. Many stars will feel that this situation of regaining its peak is a bit slow. What do you think?
Zhao Youting: I don’t feel that popularity is coming slowly. Of course, we can’t be proud to say that I don’t care or anything. Of course, I care. Every work still hopes to be seen and loved by everyone. But I think these are all results. What I value more is a process – the process of filming, have I enjoyed it, have I given everything, and have I tried my best without regret? I believe that many films have achieved this. I have a clear conscience, and there is nothing I can do if everyone doesn’t like me, but I like it myself, and I think I have achieved what the director asked of me and the opponent’s actors expected of me.
Beiqing Daily: Your personal Weibo has suddenly become very active in the past half a month. Many netizens have joked that they have followed the fake account. Why?
Zhao Youting: Yes, because of the high attention recently, the company and everyone hope that I can post more Weibo to interact with netizens more. In fact, I am very happy. I am not a person who does not want to post Weibo or do not want to interact. I am not that mysterious. I hope that everything I send is unique or interesting and has content. So if I don’t have any content or anything to say, I would rather not send it. Because I don’t think it is necessary to send some photos of my personal life, it doesn’t matter what breakfast I ate or something. Let’s see if I can maintain such a frequency after this drama is over, but I guess not.
Washing dishes is my favorite chore
Beiqing Daily: Is Gao Yuanyuan also watching "Sansheng Sanshi" simultaneously?
Zhao Youting: Now we are watching with Yuanyuan. After the two of us finish our work, we sit in front of the TV and watch the updates on the Internet the night before, because sometimes we really can’t cooperate that night. It’s better to watch the updates on the Internet. Then I was scolded by my wife, because of the bad part for Susu (played by Yang Mi), there was a little low pressure at home those days, and my wife would think that I was too bad for Susu, how could I not understand women so well.
Beiqing Daily: You once said that the biggest symphony between Ye Hua and yourself is specialization. If you fall in love, you fall in love. Sansheng and Sansheng will not change. You also identified Gao Yuanyuan in this way?
Zhao Youting: I quite admire Ye Hua, and I certainly have the same attitude towards Yuan Yuan myself. Because I am a fan of "Friends" poisoning, I grew up watching "Friends". There is a paragraph in the middle that I don’t know if you have seen, that is, Chandler said there what his dream in life is. When a real girl appeared in front of him and said I want to be with you, Chandler said that I hope the answer is "I’m sorry, I’m married". I think this sentence is super man and super handsome, and I was moved by this sentence when I was a child.
Beiqing Daily: You said before that the whole family is chasing dramas. What do your parents and Gao Yuanyuan think of your performance?
Zhao Youting: Mom and Dad have responded very well to the current drama, and they all praised me for my good acting. Mom said proudly, Look, I said long ago that I should follow a TV drama, but you didn’t listen. It’s true, Mom is right. Seeing the intimate drama, Yuanyuan is fine. I think she has already entered the drama, and she can look at this thing from the perspective of an audience without investing too much personal emotion.
Beiqing Daily: In the play, a person takes care of a small group, skilled and well-organized, is he also very good at taking care of people in life? Can you cook yourself?
Zhao Youting: I am actually quite a lazy person in my life, and I am well taken care of by the people around me. My mother’s cooking is really superb, so I never have to cook. At most, I cook two dishes for my mother on Mother’s Day. My responsibilities at home are basically washing dishes. Washing dishes is one of my favorite household chores, and it is also the least burdensome and stress-free for me.
But will you take care of people? I don’t know either, because I think I’m pretty good at reading people’s words, so my care is not a very practical kind of cooking or doing things or something, maybe silently paying attention. Is this a bit like Ye Hua? I always see at a table who’s drink is gone, or who’s order hasn’t been served, etc. I like to pay attention to these things myself.
Everyone’s "birth" blessing, Yuanyuan and I have received it.
Beiqing Daily: You and Yuanyuan have been spawned by netizens, is it causing trouble instead?
Zhao Youting: It’s not that I mind, but I understand that everyone is very active in sending a lot of attention and blessings, and we have all received it. But there will still be an invisible pressure, thank you, stop reminding us. We know very well what we should do, we just want to follow our own pace.
Beiqing Daily: There are suddenly a large number of female fans in life. What is Gao Yuanyuan’s reaction? Will you be jealous?
Zhao Youting: Yuanyuan won’t do it. Yuanyuan is very generous and supportive. She also helps me adjust my mentality, including my lifestyle. I was originally a very simple actor and "a guy". I think it’s good that I can dress comfortably when I get on a plane, and I never feel that it is fashionable. But now that I have received attention, the studio will have some requirements for me, asking me to take care of some clothes and so on. I am a little difficult to accept and feel very troublesome. But Yuanyuan is still convincing me that this is inevitable. If you endure it, it will be better after this stage.
By our reporter, Yang Wenjie
Photo by Wang Hui
