When being interviewed, Zai Zai spoke freely and frankly, and his expressions were quite amusing.
Once had the thought to muddle along with the contract 20 years ago, Zai Zai Vic Zhou was a small boy who lived in his own world. Every day when he got home, he would lock himself in his room watching movies or listening to music. When going to school, he felt uncomfortable seeing people walking to and fro, he would rather climb the wall to enter his school. Zai Zai’s career starting experience has that kind of unreal similarities compared to the other actors’. He was accompanying his friend to have a screen test, but he was the one being selected. At that time, he was a total nerd. When he was accompanying his friend for a screen test for <Meteor Garden>, he was hiding in a trance in between dark stairs, and Angie Chai Zhi Ping had to coax and lie to him in assuring him to act as Hua Ze Lei. But Zai Zai in the beginning, who accidentally entered the entertainment circle, had no interest at all toward acting, he was indifferent even though he was called as the male ornament: “I don’t care whether people were calling me a male ornament, or that I depend on my good looks, doesn’t matter to me, because I really had no feelings.”
Zai Zai said that not long after he started filming <Meteor Garden>, he once was on Matilda Tao’s show, and when the advertisement was on, Matilda asked Vic to take some kind of a psychological test by asking him some questions, and after they finished, Matilda’s conclusion was: “The entertainment circle doesn’t suit you.” Zai Zai pondered over Matilda’s words, and finally confirmed: “Maybe the entertainment circle really doesn’t suit me.” He secretly calculated this, the contract was 3 years, but he’d been working for only 1 year, so at that time his biggest idea was “how to muddle along with the contract.” But after he got along with the other actors and seniors, he felt that his personality was truly accepted and understood, and unwittingly he managed to go on, “I’m very happy that I can stay here up until now. My inherent quality hasn’t changed, and it is life and working experiences that have made me mature a lot.”
Cai Yue Xun prophesied: Zai Zai is the next Tony Leung Chiu Wai2 years after finished filming <Meteor Garden>, Zai Zai was unable to let go the pretty boy image, not until in 2004, where he played as twins who suffered from dissociation of personality in Cai Yue Xun’s series <Mars>. He was able to make a breakthrough through his performance in the dark idol series, he also thinks that starring in the series marked a turning point in his career: “I filmed <Mars> after <Meteor Garden>, and then l realized that I was dealing with the issue of being an actor, and I started to ponder over how to make plans for myself. When I was filming <Mars>, I was determined to be an actor.” In <Black & White>, Zai Zai played as a policeman who handled cases with his intuition. He had to look handsome, while he also had lots of psychological and action scenes to film, and for him, this performance of his is his third model in his acting career. He also claimed that when filming, he would use some improvisations.
Although he would still stick to the script in the order of the filming, but when the filming was officially started, people would realize that suddenly he’s using different methods to act, “At that time, there would be 2 kinds of powerful results. The first one was the actor who saw this kind of acting would laugh, the second one the cameraman sometimes thought that it was too funny, when he’s replaying the scene, all of us would notice that the camera was trembling.”
Having been in the showbiz world for 9 years, Zai Zai’s change is the most evident compared to the other F4 members. From being a pretty boy, he gradually changed into an actor who has self-control and is detailed. His face is not that delicate now, you cannot play the tricks of pinching his face to make water come out of it anymore. Instead, there’s a vague smoke and dust of experiences and vicissitudes of life. Witnessing Zai Zai’s 9 years of maturity and “aging” process, the habitually so-called father of Taiwanese idol drama, Cai Yue Xun, has good expectations of him: “If he continues to walk along on this road expanding himself, I believe that one day Zai Zai would become like Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the former will have the capability of the latter. Tony Leung is also someone who lives in his own world, an extemely quiet and introvert person. Only these kinds of people who can try lots of things and have lots of imagination.
Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly (SMEW) X Vic Zhou Yu MinI will say no if I don’t want to do it
Zai Zai’s metamorphosis history: From a pretty boy to a handsome actor
In 2001, in <Meteor Garden>, he was the melancholic Hua Ze Lei, while in real life he was actually an introvert boy who came from Yi Lan.
In 2004, in <Mars>, Zai Zai acted as twins who suffered from disassociation of personality, and his performance there was a breakthrough. He started to have plans for his acting career at that time.
In 2009, in <Black & White>, Zai Zai acted as a ruffian policeman. He’s a big brother in the acting world who takes cares of the newbies well outside filming.
SMEW: What kind of temperament do you think you have, and how do you adjust your psychology?
Vic Zhou: My temperament is unpredictable, to others, also to myself. At one time, I can be very gloomy, so silent that everyone will think that in my territory, all of my appearances are black, very murky. But sometimes, when I’m being dark, I can also have this sudden idea to tell a joke that makes people think that I’m an eccentric person. I’m very happy that in all these years, I’ve been able to stick to my characters, as I have the guts to say no, if I don’t want to do a thing; I’ve done it.
SMEW: You’ve also said that you like to act old, is it true?
Vic: Yes, I hope my youth will pass quickly, as I want to turn 30 quickly, because I think when men are turning 30 years old, it’s the time when they become real men, that charisma that those man have are hard to imitate. I will try not to remember about the circulation of time, as after a couple of years, I will turn 30.
SMEW: While filming <Black & White>, did you give some suggestions to Mark Zhao You Ting?
Vic: I’ve once seen him being in an inexplicable doubt; he didn’t know whether he should listen to his seniors, or just use his own method to present his role. I just told him that, it is their own business, if you tell them to act in a certain way, they will do so, but your role Ying Xiong, it’s your role, you have the say how to act it, it’s your business. As long as the director doesn’t have any complaints, everyone’s opinions are just suggestions, I think this is a more powerful way to act.”
Source:
nbweeklyTranslation: ling gan @
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Some might have be a little disappointed with Yoon Sang Hyun joining Lady Castle, which will be Yoon Eun Hye's comeback drama in 2 years. Fret not, for it was announced just this afternoon in Korea that Jung Il Woo, last seen in The Return of Iljimae earlier this year, could be joining Lady Castle to offer more eye candy for the girls.
PTS aired the last episode of "Black And White" the night before yesterday. With a viewership rating of 4.03%, it beat the Golden Melody Awards ceremony broadcasted at the same time, achieving top viewership in the country. Its producer revealed that she wants to raise NT$1 billion in funds to shoot a film version and, laughing bitterly, said, "I don't have anymore house to sell!" Fortunately, the drama's high quality and Zai Zai's popularity as seenfrom the fan meetings he held in Japan these two days attracted Japanese investors. The film version is estimated to start filming at the end of the year. 
