Interview with Zhang Zhen： ＂Dune＂ plays less but not water, I want to shoot ＂Embroidery Spring Knife 3＂

1905 movie network feature After a long time, the Hollywood sci-fi giant has officially landed in mainland theaters. Among the foreign star actors, one "Oriental face" is particularly prominent, and he is the doctor Yue he plays.

1905 Film Network interviewed Zhang Zhen during the 78th Venice International Film Festival. Although he did not have many scenes, he was still dedicated as usual, arranging full announcements and accepting online interviews with mainland media. Although the characters are limited in length, they are heavy in weight, which is the key to the plot twist of the whole film. Zhang Zhen also believes that "every play has a meaning, there is no so-called water play".

"Dune" was Zhang Zhen’s first Hollywood movie, but Hollywood blockbuster movies didn’t give him a particularly novel experience. Instead, it was facing foreign actors that gave him a very different feeling. He and "Sweet Tea" Timothy Chilemaid spoke a sentence in Chinese in the film, which was the director’s idea. Even at the moment of shooting, he realized that "Sweet Tea" also returned his sentence in Chinese.

On the set, Zhang Zhenhe has the most communication with everyone. How to maintain the same performance level with everyone requires the director’s adjustment, as well as his own observation and balance.

The opportunity for Zhang Zhen to be electrocuted by "Dune" began in 2018. He and his colleagues served as judges for the main competition unit of the 71st Cannes International Film Festival. At that time, the director had not yet made "Dune". Zhang Zhen had long liked his work, especially during the short time they spent together at the festival, and the two became good friends.

Zhang Zhen said that they talked very well in private, exchanging emails after the festival and occasionally corresponding with each other. In an interview with 1905 Film Network, Villeneuve said that when he decided to make "Dune" and find actors for Dr. Yue, Zhang Zhen’s name immediately came to his mind.

Villeneuve noticed the actor when he first saw Zhang Zhen in Wong Kar Wai’s films in the 1990s. He has always followed him and liked his performances. Through the acquaintance and acquaintance of the Cannes Film Festival, Villeneuve found that "Zhang Zhen is not only a good actor worthy of respect, but also a lovely person."

Villeneuve wanted Dr. Yue to be a fragile and complex person, and he needed a strong actor to bring Dr. Yue’s complexity and layers to the screen in a short period of time. Zhang Zhen was the ideal choice. After receiving the invitation, Zhang Zhen did not have too many concerns. To be able to act in Villeneuve’s movie was a very enjoyable thing in his opinion.

"The original novel is so huge that I don’t have that much time to read it." Dr. Yue has a small proportion of the entire original novel series of "Dune" and does not have many scenes in the movie. Zhang Zhen said that he joined less than half a year before the start of filming, so the basic preparation work he did was to digest the entire world view of "Dune" first.

Dr. Yue is a trusted royal physician and a tragic figure with an ill-fated fate. In order to save his beloved wife who was imprisoned by the Hacknaum family, he had to betray the Hacknaum family and help the Hacknaum seize power. However, he also plotted for Duke Leto to try to poison Hacknaum before he died, and at the same time designed to help Lady Jessica and her son Paul escape, leaving a way for the entire family.

Zhang Zhen said that his performance was mainly to interpret Dr. Yue’s torn and struggling psychological state, hoping to present "a deeper, not a very floating, very symbolic character", "a person who is both sci-fi and humane, and solid."

Dr. Yue also has a certain kind of common trait that Zhang Zhen has played in recent years. Whether it is Shen Lian in the series, Jiu Chen in "Chen Xiyuan", or Prosecutor Liang, they are all particularly determined on the outside, but they are all tortured by love on the inside, and they are all caught in a sad dilemma.

Will this kind of "beautiful, strong and miserable" character be the next one? Zhang Zhen didn’t say much, what he thought was – "Then hurry up and shoot’Embroidery Spring Knife 3 ‘".

The following is the content of the conversation:

1905 Movie Network: In 2018, when you were a judge at the Cannes International Film Festival with Dune director Denis Villeneuve, did he invite you to appear in Dune?

Zhang Zhen: When I was a judge, I didn’t have this invitation, but we got along very well. During the two weeks of the judge’s life, we watched a lot of movies together, discussed movies together or talked about a lot of movie-related things. I was especially able to chat with him, and I became more like each other and became better friends.

His personality is particularly interesting, which is different from when he was interviewed. He is actually a very cheerful, warm, and enthusiastic person, which is a little different from the cold and well-behaved compositions seen in movies. Privately, he is the kind of person who is very good at reading.

1905 Movie Network: When did you receive the invitation for "Dune" and how are you feeling at the moment?

Zhang Zhen: He just sent me an email, and we all left each other emails at that time, and occasionally corresponded. Then I suddenly received this notice that he wanted to prepare for the movie "Dune" and needed me to play Dr. Yue. I didn’t think much about it, so I discussed it with the company. I like watching his movies very much, and it is very enjoyable to be in his movies, so I didn’t have too many doubts, so I went to participate in this movie.

1905 Movie Network: Have you read the original novel to understand the role of Dr. Yue, and have you gone through the process of auditioning?

Zhang Zhen: There is no audition for this movie. I haven’t seen the original novel of "Dune" before. I decided to do this project before looking for the original novel to read. Of course, this original novel is very huge, and I don’t have that much time to read it. I decided to join it less than half a year before the filming started. The time is actually a little rushed. The main thing is to digest the characters, backgrounds, and proper nouns in the whole world of "Dune", which requires some effort to prepare.

The character of Dr. Yue in "Dune" is a rather mysterious tragic character, and his psychological state is very torn, so I focus more on what this person’s psychological state is like. When the audience sees it, he is a deeper, not a very superficial, very symbolic character.

The whole story itself has already given this character a lot of points, I just hope to be a little closer to this character. Because he is science fiction, he is not a worldview that we can usually understand, but he is also very human, he is actually a character who cannot let go of emotions, so I want him to be a solid person in the movie.

1905 Movie Network: Dr. Yue doesn’t have many scenes, but he is a key role that affects the overall situation. In a limited space, is there any performance design to make this character richer and more three-dimensional?

Zhang Zhen: I didn’t do much design, I focused more on how to let the audience see this character, his inner torn and struggling state.

Although there are not so many scenes, I think every scene has its own meaning. Basically, there is no so-called "water play", or just a scene that explains the plot. The audience can see what his relationship is with everyone in this family, why he made such a decision, and why he made this decision because his feelings for these people are so strong and so solid.

Zhang Zhen played Dr. Yue in "Dune"

1905 Movie Network: This is your first time going to Hollywood to make a movie. What new experience did you have?

Zhang Zhen: In fact, they are all doing the same thing, and the shooting scenes are similar, but I think it feels different to play with actors from different places. Maybe in terms of language and living habits, everyone is different, so in such a state, how to keep everyone’s performance at a better level may be through some observation on the spot, or by relying on the director’s adjustments to the actors.

Basically, they were very happy working there. Although they were all filmed in the studio, whether they were in costumes, art, or props, for me, they all have a very deep and solid history or cultural origin as a background, and make some ideas on it. So basically if you go to watch this movie, you will find that this so-called science fiction world is far away from us, but it doesn’t seem to be that far away.

1905 Movie Network: On the set, besides the director, who else did you talk to more?

Zhang Zhen: I talk a lot with Rebecca Ferguson, and I talk a lot with Oscar Isaac after work, and they both talk a little more.

1905 Movie Network: There is a scene where you speak Chinese with sweet tea. Was it specially added?

Zhang Zhen: The director hopes to let the audience and friends see in the shortest possible time that the relationship between Paul and Dr. Yue is not just a relationship between doctors and patients. There is a deep friendship between them. So the director chose to express it in Chinese. This kind of quick sentence or two can let everyone know that their relationship is actually very good, and there is their secret existence between them.

1905 Movie Network: Is that sentence in Chinese what you think?

Zhang Zhen: No, it was the director’s idea.

　 　　

1905 Movie Network: Did you teach Sweet Tea to speak Chinese?

Zhang Zhen: I didn’t teach him, and I didn’t hear him speak it before filming. I only heard it when I was filming. He is actually a very dedicated actor. When we play against him, everyone is very engaged and rarely plays, so I didn’t realize that he was speaking a language he didn’t know, and he really knew this language.

1905 Movie Network: From "Embroidery Spring Knife", "Chen Xiyuan", "Soul Hunting" to "Dune", many fans have said that you have been taking on roles such as "beautiful, strong and miserable". What do you think?

Zhang Zhen: Then hurry up and shoot "Embroidery Spring Knife 3", hahaha, if you can shoot 3, in fact, I have always wanted to shoot "Embroidery Spring Knife 3", but I haven’t shot it yet, so I hope "Embroidery Spring Knife 3" can be presented to everyone as soon as possible.