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[TRANS] L’Officiel Hommes Magazine: A little sheep with a temper | Zhang Yixing

Becoming famous ought to be done as early as possible

Becoming famous ought to be done as early as possible, no longer considered a little fresh meat since long ago.

On the night of November 12, in Changsha Helong Stadium with a sitting capacity of 50,000, a Fifa World Cup Qualifier match was under way. Before the match started, the host announced that the one singing the national anthem for the national soccer team was popular idol Zhang Yixing from the group EXO. At this time, he appeared in front of the cameras, his neck wrapped with a red scarf with the words [China’s team jiayou], the prelude of <March of the Volunteers> (T/N: the Chinese national anthem) began to play. It must be known, 2 days ago this Changsha-born post-90s kid had just finished participating in Hunan TV’s <Double 11 Festival> where he hosted and sang, and a week earlier he had also returned home to record <Happy Camp>.

Zhang Yixing had filled his schedules to the brim. On the day we interviewed him, his team had 3 events planned for him, besides filming a movie, afterwards he still had to accept an interview from a web portal. His staff said, from now till the middle of next year, Zhang Yixing had no spare time in his schedule. (This morning at 9am when we arrived at the film studio, he was brushing his teeth in the dressing room.) As for what time his work at night will end, his staff also could not say.

“Becoming famous ought to be done as early as possible.” It’s hard to imagine that a celebrity born in 1991 would say so, and that he has stopped considering himself a “little fresh meat” since a long time ago. With regards to child star Guan Xiaotong who is his partner in the drama <To Be A Better Man>, “She is only 18 and she has already starred in many dramas, whereas I only went to Korea to become a trainee when I was 17, just one year away from becoming an adult.”

17 year old Zhang Yixing was a grown-up with his own mind. “My mother signed a contract with me, when I turned 18 she would no longer care about me.” He thought of several roads to take, washing dishes, working at the laundry; he half-jokingly said “It’s because the laundry did not accept those under 18″, so he did not stay there. At that time “the agreement was, my family would not contribute a single cent afterwards, I had to support myself.” But on second thought, at 13 years of age he had already won 3rd place on Hunan TV’s <Star Academy>, why not play to his strengths and apply for SM Entertainment’s auditions in China? His thinking was very simple, this way “I can temporarily support myself, and at the same time I can learn, when the time arrives I can earn my first pot of gold.”

Will not disappoint those who like me

My wish is to not disappoint those who like me, and also let myself walk towards a fairly well-off life.

Yixing’s grandparents who had raised him since young immediately raised their objections. Both of them were in the teaching profession, and were not willing to let him go into the arts, “They were worried that I would not see a way out, it’s not that easy to become famous.” When he went overseas, the family had a lot of differences, “My mother was very supportive of me.” Zhang Yixing’s mother is now accompanying him at his side, back then “my mother is also a lover of the arts, she likes listening to Andy Lau’s songs”. From the time her son filmed his first charity drama promoting the obedience of traffic rules at the age of 6, his mother has been pushing him in his career. When he was a trainee, even though chances to see him in Korea were rare, she would still go on a “date” with him, to give it a nice-sounding name.

In the four years that he was a trainee in Korea, Zhang Yixing was always the first to arrive and the last to leave the training studio. Zhang Yixing doesn’t reveal any exhaustion easily at his workplaces; just as his Weibo ID is “Work hard, work hard, and work harder”, during the interview he also mentioned “working hard” and “not wanting to let fans down” several times. To him the reason is simple: it is only through hard work that you can learn things, and reap the rewards. “My wish is to not disappoint those who like me, and also let myself walk towards a more well-off life.”

I’m a post-90s kid who likes to make and drink tea, that’s right

Do you feel that I don’t resemble a post-90s kid? I usually enjoy making and drinking tea.

In between filming and changing outfits, Zhang Yixing’s dressing room table is filled with Starbucks paper cups. There are 5 staff members accompanying him, 2 of them are make-up artists and hairstylists from Korea, he often cracks jokes with the jiejies at work. Like other mature artistes, he would discuss poses and movements with the photographer, until both sides reach an agreement in the end.

His response towards hard work and his performance at work, makes one wonder if this young popular idol can really be considered a universal representation of the post-90s. “Do you feel that I don’t resemble a post-90s kid?” Zhang Yixing burst into laughter, “I usually enjoy making and drinking tea. Maybe it’s because I have been living with my grandparents since young, so my life habits take after them.” Of course, he has a normal youthful side to him, whether it’s posting selfies on Weibo, or never leaving his smartphone in private. “I also love to play the mobile games that young people like to play, my consumption habits are just like everyone, this is something I learnt from my mother, my mother is a post-90s person at heart.”

When asked why his group EXO’s popularity is so high, he said: The most important thing is luck, followed by the fans’ support, the company’s grooming, and hard work. This answer resembles a “model answer” even more, it shows maturity beyond his years. He is very sensible, with regards to the unbridled passion from his fans, he would caution them to be rational. His manager “made up” for this by saying, due to the heavy protection Korea’s entertainment industry and the company have for their celebrities, EXO’s Chinese member is mentally more innocent/naive in comparison. In her view, Zhang Yixing is a person who keeps his public and private life separate, at work he maintains a professional attitude, in private he lives like a child.

A sheep has its temper too

A sheep has its own temper too, if it flares up it will head butt others.

Zhang Yixing’s display of his most childish side would have to be <Go Fighting>, which shot him to fame. This competitive variety show comprising of 6 men started out with ordinary ratings, then “exploded” around the middle to end stage, becoming a explosive hit program. Besides the drama of the “Go Fighting 3 Geniuses” actors Huang Bo, Huang Lei, and singer Show Luo teasing the “Go Fighting 3 Idiots”, the continuous story between Sun Honglei and Zhang Yixing has also become a hot topic among viewers. However, Zhang Yixing’s “adorkableness” as well as his “slow reaction” when met with Sun Honglei’s “betrayal” has also attracted much disapproval. Some netizens doubted that he was really as gullible as he was on the show, to this, Zhang Yixing denied that he acted according to a script. “Honglei-ge and I have a naturally produced chemistry. At the start of filming, I was not familiar with him, but at that time I already knew he had acted as the handsome and ruthless Yu Zecheng (T/N: Sun Honglei’s character in the drama <Lurk>). Actually, all the geges take very good care of me.”

As the show progressed, “Little Sheep” Zhang Yixing’s image won the hearts of the people. “My zodiac is the sheep, this year is the year of the sheep. Both the sheep and I are fair, and pretty clean.” Zhang Yixing replied, “Except sheep have its own temper too, when it flares up it would head butt others.” However, he frankly said that his personality is not that great, but his tolerance is quite high. “Celebrities may need to tolerate more. On one hand it’s because of my grandparents’ teaching, on the other hand when I was a trainee a conflict occurred, so I think it’s better to tolerate.”

I am my own imaginary enemy

My goal is to constantly exceed myself, my imaginary enemy is myself.

But he doesn’t hope that viewers’ impression of him will only stop at that of a sheep. He has tried many things in other areas, for instance, taking on movies. In the the recent hot premiere of <Ex-Files 2: Spare Tyre Strikes Back> he plays the role of a character in a “Three-Sided Relationship” with good friends; the soon to premiere <Oh My God> is his first contact with the silver screen, he is just like other newcomers, the first day he entered to the production team was “a daze”, the first scene had to be reshot. In order to film a good movie, he specially looked through many movies, rewatching <Farewell My Concubine> many times. And, thankfully for the help of the director and other actors, he was able to finish his own parts. “Skills with the script and acting” were all mishaps, this way he could only give himself 60 marks. Later on it got better, the second work (movie) he could give himself 61 marks.

This child-like aura, tolerance and fastidious nature, forms the Zhang Yixing before our eyes. “My own goal is to constantly exceed myself, my imaginary enemy is myself, everything is a battle between me and myself, not being able to live with myself. My nitpicking of myself has to culminate and become hard work in the end, even with hard work it may not bring good results.”

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translation by: elaysium and laymerence | for layixingworld. do not repost.

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