[2013.06.11] VICKI ZHAO ADMITS TO YELLING AT ACTORS

courtesy of singtao.com

Vicki Zhao sets aside her directing chair to return to acting for now

Stanley Kwan did not expect how serious Vicki Zhao was about directing

courtesy of mingpao.com

The Vicki Zhao Wei directing debut SO YOUNG made 700 million RMB in the Mainland. Friends who lent a hand of course deserved some credit. Aside from Faye Wong's singing, Stanley Kwan Kam Peng produced. Zhao Wei did not let the high box office go to her head. She was determined to "quit while she was ahead" and stated that she would not randomly direct again. She first would return to her acting job and participate in Kwan Kam Peng's new film.

Zhao Wei said that SO YOUNG's preparation and production took a very long time, it absolutely was a sincere film. Thus she expected a good performance long ago. However she only estimated a box office of 300 million and never expected the performance to double that. "For my directing debut I felt a lot of pressure in each aspect. Kwan Kam Peng gave me a lot of confidence. He not only provided opinions on quality and art, but also supported me on remaking a scene without paying any attention to commercial elements. From him I learned that in order to make a good movie I had to be ruthless." Kwan Kam Peng explained that being ruthless meant when the film went over the budget he kept on asking the boss for money, but Zhao Wei was the one who was paying.

As for Yang Zishan being said to have shades of Little Shadow, Zhao Wei agreed, "The novelist Xin Yiwu liked me very much. When the story was written it was written according to my feeling. Thus the investors originally wanted me to perform. If I play my first love now, viewers can't accept that. Thus I would rather find very young new actors who are right for the characters. The lead actress originally was a relative unknown, now she is famous."

Speaking of the actor complimenting her on her good temper, Zhao Wei said, "Did they change their mind again? The box office performance was good so they came out as a group to say the director was good. On the first day at the Beijing press conference they just said that I was too mean. Actually truly treating everyone well was Kwan Kam Peng. Every time after I yelled at them, they would run to him for comfort." Kwan Kam Peng praised Zhao Wei's high ability to comprehend. He admitted that at first he was biased about Zhao Wei. Later he saw how serious she was about the production and not a female star messing around with filmmaking. "At least I didn't see her directing with a female star arrogance. Overall I give Zhao Wei a score of over 90."