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yoshyushi · 1 year ago

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20240707 China Screen Magazine cover feature: Yu Shi - Wait and Hope

French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas wrote in his epilogue of 【The Count of Monte Cristo】 "Until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words,—'Wait and hope." Evidently, in the long period of waiting and hoping in the dim light, this is applicable to both the protagonist and Yu Shi's path of growth.

"Everyone eventually grows, in the years of waiting it felt like time has been stretched, two years felt like four or five years have passed," this was what Yu Shi had said in an interview in 【封神第一部 Creation of the Gods I】 in 2023. The sweat from the Creation of the Gods boot camp did not go to waste, but the reciprocation of fate had secretly placed a price to it, as if working towards the same goal in different ways. Back then, as Yu Shi tossed and turned, he psyched himself up countless of times - from dusk till dawn. Finally, he became the radiating new star of the movie industry through 【封神第一部 Creation of the Gods I】 and 【长空之王 Born to Fly】 in 2023. This force that broke through the clouds extended into the 2024 mini-series 【我的阿勒泰 To the Wonder】 and movie 【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】. Other upcoming films include 【蛟龙行动 Operation Leviathan】 and 【封神第二部 Creation of the Gods II】, 【封神第三部 Creation of the Gods III】. After a long time of waiting, Yu Shi welcomes the moment of bloom.

Popularity breaking through the clouds The popularity of this chap born in 1996 in Liaoning sky-rocketed in 2023, from the May movie season with 【长空之王 Born to Fly】 till the Summer movie season with 【封神第一部 Creation of the Gods I】, his performance recognized by the public. Just when audiences who have not seen his movies think he's just another shooting star in the industry, a one hit wonder idol, they will slowly come to discover that he is anything but ordinary.

In the audience's first meeting with Yu Shi on the silver screen, he as Deng Fang in 【长空之王 Born to Fly】 turned from cold and unsociable to a willing wingman, completing the metamorphosis from self-centric to team player. His bright handsome image, healthy and well-built physique was naturally highly suited for the role of a test pilot. Before he started filming for it, he diligently read 《蓝天亮剑》 (T/N: lit. Blue Sky Bright Sword, an auto-biography of Li Zhonghua, a Liaoning-born test pilot in the national army), and 《试飞英雄》 (T/N: lit. Heroic Test Pilot, a non-fiction documentation of national test pilots), gradually growing closer to this unfamiliar career through the psyche. 【长空之王 Born to Fly】 allowed him to garner the Shanghai International Film Festival's Movie Channel "Most-watched new actor by the Media" award through his inaugural work, showing that his silver screen performance was indeed good.

It takes a decade to forge a good sword. 【封神 Creation of the Gods】 that was repeatedly delayed was director Wuershan's gamble of a lifetime. The same could be said for Yu Shi. For him where acting was on a complete blank slate, he had risen from an extremely difficult international selection through a 1:3000 odds. He also went through the Creation of the Gods boot camp that went through 200 days of closed-door training and grueling assessment, finally emerging above the rest to greet Ji Fa (T/N: his character in Creation of the Gods). At this time, Yu Shi, who had been waiting had a short joyous moment, but more so a growing pressure. This was because he, as leading actor had to face 3 billion RMB worth of investment, face acting skills that had to be up to scratch, face thousands of production crew who had worked tirelessly, and face the audience's expectations of the adaptation of a cultural mythology…. Looking back at the Summer movie season, 【封神 Creation of the Gods】 met with tribulations, from its box office not meeting projected expectations until passerby traction finally “carried” the film out of the ICU. This intricately produced historical poetry had completely went against the tide, the Creation of the Gods hostage son team (T/N: referring to the group of rookie male actors groomed to star in the film) was recognized by the audience in the roadshows, festering within the movie industry's rookies, and became a recognized noun to describe the story of those who have overcome the odds. Within them, Yu Shi naturally garnered rising attention. When the audience watched the final scene where Ji Fa rode his horse exuding the aura of a hero, they couldn't help but be moved by his harrowing experience in his journey home. The 【封神 Creation of the Gods】 sequels are on their way, and new actor Yu Shi's high-fidelity portrayal of Ji Fa had gradually touched the audience's hearts.

Welcome to the audience's Side The rate of Yu Shi's popularity is relative. Since his entry into the Creation of the Gods boot camp in 2018 until actually appearing on the big screens in 2023 was nearly a 2000 day of shaping and refinement. To a youth in his 20s this requires him to endure through loneliness, a high level of physique as well as a self-discipline and refinement as an actor… Yu Shi has done it. Hence (T/N: hence = 于是 (Yu Shi) a play on homophone), he became popular.

In 2024, the audience could see that Yu Shi has rapidly become busy, bringing his new mini-series 【我的阿勒泰 To the Wonder】 to the Cannes Series festival, becoming part of the panel of the Beijing International Film Festival's new blood project, dubbing for 【Howl's Moving Castle】, completing filming as leading role for big production 【蛟龙行动 Operation Leviathan】, going all-out in promoting for his romantic comedy 【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】…

Recently, the center of his work has gravitated to the Summer movie season premiere of 【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】. This film feels more like a mini-project he had filmed amidst all his big productions, taking the path of "light calvary". With domestic romance films getting constant poor reviews by the audience makes one can't help but be curious if the beloved Yu Shi of the big screens would be able to score one for romance films through 【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】?

Q&A China Screen exclusive conversation with Yu Shi

【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】 was very enjoyable

CS: What was the reason you signed up for 【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】? What was it about the script that moved you?

YS: It was about a year ago when I saw the script for the first time. I was told it was a project that's about modern romance, and it was also a comedy with some fantasy. After I read it I felt that the character's personality have similarities to myself, adding to the fact that I've never tried such roles before, so I decided to take it on.

CS: In comparison to your other projects that seem more solemn, how did it feel to perform in a fantasy rom-com?

YS: This work is different from all other characters that I've acted as, this is a modern romance movie. The character of Chen Xiao Zhou is closer to real life, there's areas which I'm able to improvise on. Besides that it's also a comedy, so my condition would be more relaxed.

CS: Last year at the "Starry Sea" (T/N: Movie Channel's project for recommended youth actors) you have directed a short clip with similar comedic style, and now you have a rom-com screening. Is it challenging to you in a comedy?

YS: I don't think it's considered challenging, comedies are very enjoyable, I communicate and do walkthroughs with the director on set to give a couple of different performing styles.

CS: Before filming this movie what background work did you do to prepare your condition for this performance?

YS: Normally I would watch some classic comedies, and I would watch Hongkong comedy movies many times. When I was filming for this project, I communicated with the director and scriptwriter and adjusted Chen Xiao Zhou to a condition where everyone was satisfied with.

CS: How compatible do you think you are with Chen Xiao Zhou?

YS: About half, some living conditions of Chen Xiao Zhou is very similar to myself, and some parts where he overthinks has some similarities to myself. The atmosphere on set was really good, we are all young people so the frequency was right, communication was smooth and filming was really fast.

【蛟龙行动 Operation Leviathan】 was astounding

CS: What was the greatest challenge in your new film 【蛟龙行动 Operation Leviathan】? Was the entire production team high performing?

YS: 【蛟龙行动 Operation Leviathan】 tells the story of a heroic elite team of naval soldiers, so we have to do our best to become as close to how these soldiers are in reality, hoping that we will be able to give off a natural aura of a soldier and achieve looking like a well-trained soldier even if we're not in uniform. The explosion scenes in the film left the most impression on me. These scenes were so realistic, I'm always astounded as I watch every replay after a scene was filmed on the small monitor. It would definitely be magnified many more times in the future when it hits the big screen. The entire production team are so high-performing, we entered the production in advance for physical training, diving, weapons, combating skills. Everyone was strict on themselves.

CS: Going into the skies in 【长空之王 Born to Fly】 and into the sea in 【蛟龙行动 Operation Leviathan】, what else do you really wish to present on the big screens in between?

YS: I'm personally very interested in the military, I'm really happy to be able to fulfill my own interests through work. As for the type of roles, I would like to try any roles that I haven't done before.

CS: Ever since last year we can see your busyness no matter through the big screens or on television. If you could look back at Yu Shi who had entered the Creation of the Gods boot camp back in 2018, what would you want to tell yourself the most?

YS: Zero in on what you want and persist, you will definitely be rewarded.

CS: What moved you the most since debuting?

YS: Having so many audiences liking my roles, and I've been receiving so much support from the seniors and teachers of the industry all this while. For a rookie like me, I'm so grateful.

Welcome to my Side - Loving you is non-negotiable

Story: Chen Xiao Zhou (Yu Shi) met with an accident following his breakup. Since then he would often see groups of rubber ducks gaggling, bringing major disruption to Chen Xiao Zhou's life. Until a day where a lady called Feng Jia Nan (Wang Ying Lu) appears, the ducks no longer appear to cause disruption, an amusing romantic journey ensues…

Fantasy set-up of a sweet romance 【欢迎来到我身边 Welcome to my Side】 is another big screen production by director Song Haolin following his critically acclaimed 【五个扑水的少年 Water Boys】. From the pre-production materials, it seems that director Song was pivoting his plot from a youthful coming-of-age to urban fantasy romance, keeping his light comedic creative style, bright colors and lively character personalities, good looking youth female and male leads, mischievous yellow ducks dominating the screens. Like a sweet dessert presented in a scorching hot summer noon, it's tasty and likeable.

Since the explosive success of 【封神 Creation of the Gods】 on the big screens, Yu Shi who had played the heroic youth had instantly turned into one of the most outstanding faces of the silver screen this year. From test pilot Deng Fang in 【长空之王 Born to Fly】, he also has a steady performance in the hit drama 【我的阿勒泰 To the Wonder】 as Kazahk youth Batay. Yu Shi had become the most watched youth actors. Courageous and adept in battles, the elite archer and riding youth Yu Shi had opened a new path in his inaugural role in an urban romance film, turning into a gregarious with a tinge of "goofiness" Chen Xiao Zhou.

(T/N: omitted description of co-actor Wang Ying Lu)

The world quacks on, you're the only cure After male protagonist Chen Xiao Zhou meets with an accident, he is diagnosed with a ridiculous case of "hallucination", he must not see anything yellow - after a yellow-clad delivery boy appears, Chen Xiao Zhou sees him as a huge yellow duck holding a take-out bag. During his speech at work, when a yellow page appears in his presentation, all his co-workers in front of him turn into neat rows of yellow ducks. Looking at the yellow wrapping in a grocery store, Chen Xiao Zhou loses his ability to hear when his boss rings him up on the phone, all he can hear is "quack"… As soon as he sees anything yellow, everything around Chen Xiao Zhou turns into a fantasy world of "quacking" ducks. In the sneak previews, Chen Xiao Zhou performed by Yu Shi rushed out of the hospital door in "tip top" condition, yellow ducks chasing after him, a ridiculous scene. Such a "disease" was only miraculously cured when he met Feng Jia Nan played by Wang Ying Lu. Feng Jia Nan hence became his one and only "cure".

June 2024, the film received TOP 10 most anticipated film in the Weibo Movie Night awards. This time, up and coming director Song Haolin sets his sights on the average urban men and women, through an imaginative set up and story conflict, conceptualizing "crazy and wild" emotions and anxiety of young adults of today, invoking new reflections.

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