Wang Qin was also somewhat surprised. He had originally planned to guide her a little, but unexpectedly, Qianxun acted like a seasoned veteran, and didn’t need his help at all.
After this scene was smoothly completed, Wang Qin couldn’t help but step forward, smiling faintly as he watched Qianxun and asked, "Did you come from a professional background?"
Her every move didn’t seem like that of a newcomer.
Director Li had even told him to help her get into her role, but now it seemed, that might not be necessary.
Hearing Wang Qin’s words, Qianxun shook her head and said, "No, I’m not, but I’ve read several books on the subject."
At this, Wang Qin was momentarily stunned.
She had only read the theory, and yet she could perform to this extent?
For a moment, Wang Qin became intrigued, and then he started to ask Qianxun about her views on various acting schools.
You can tell whether it’s a mule or a horse when you pull it out for a stroll.
Whether she was lying or not, a discussion would make it clear.
At this time, Li Man came over to touch up Qianxun’s makeup.
While Li Man brushed her face, Qianxun continued to share her thoughts with Wang Qin, "I’ve only read the theory, but I personally prefer the Experiential school. I don’t like to take risks with myself, so I’m not very interested in the Method school..."
Nowadays, there are mainly three schools of acting: presentational, method, and experiential.
The presentational style is simplest; it’s about understanding the character and then using various forms to highlight the character’s features. The method style, on the other hand, demands actors maintain the same mental state as their character, both on and off screen, placing high demands on the actor’s personal experiences. For instance, to effectively portray a disabled person, someone might need to spend several weeks in a wheelchair to experience the life of a disabled person. Without similar experiences, it would be hard to convincingly play the role. Also due to this, method actors often find it hard to return to normal life after filming, struggling to "exit their characters," and some have even ended their lives because of this.
Experiential acting, in a nutshell, is about transforming oneself from the inside out into the character. For example, in "Emperor Ming", an actor needs to believe they are living in that era in order to think and live like the character.
The reason Qianxun performed so seamlessly, according to the schools, was because she actually lived in ancient times.
But if she hadn’t lived in ancient times, to perform as naturally as she had just done, she would need to subconsciously consider herself as Hong Xiu, combining the character’s living environment and other factors to most authentically portray the character’s life.
Compared to the method school, the experiential school is much safer, but also much more difficult, and those adept at experiential acting are usually talented geniuses in acting.
Therefore, when Lin Yihan heard Qianxun tell Wang Qin that she preferred the experiential school, he couldn’t help but sneer silently.
Did you think that just because you passed the simplest scene, you are a one-in-a-hundred acting genius?
Such ignorance of the lofty and the profound!
Who doesn’t know that the experiential school is the most difficult of the three schools?
And someone of the Movie Emperor caliber like Wang Qin often uses the method school.
Swinging a big saber in front of Guan Gong, or wielding an ax in front of Lu Ban, isn’t afraid of laughing people’s teeth off.
However, to Lin Yihan’s disappointment, Wang Qin, after hearing Qianxun’s words, didn’t get angry with her for not agreeing with the method acting approach; instead, he nodded and said, "It seems you have really studied acting theory well. But no excellent actor uses only one school to act; once you have been in the industry longer, you might change your mind."
Experiential acting is too difficult!
He had studied it as well, but ultimately couldn’t easily immerse himself into a character, while with the method school, as long as he had similar experiences, he could portray the character well.