Interview with Lin Baoyi： I love and hate the villain in Under the Sun.

Special feature of 1905 film network The Hong Kong Film Awards ended, and the news of winning the film emperor for the sixth time became the biggest highlight of this year. There are also many people who feel sorry for it. His performance in the film completely subverted everyone’s perception of his past.

Different from those familiar police and lawyers, Zhang Jianhua, the president of the disabled hospital, is a proper villain. Even Lin Baoyi said to himself, "He is a devil".

His almost immersive performance, few scenes, after the turning point, the public unconsciously put their eyes on him, and eventhinkHis expression, all seem terrible and real.

What many people don’t know is that four years before the film started shooting, Lin Baoyi turned down the role. After taking over the script, the two chatted again, and this film Under the Sun came into being.

In the face of an interview with 1905 Film Network, Lin Baoyi said frankly more than once, "This is a challenge."

In the past, he only took part in his favorite role, but Zhang Jianhua made him hate it very much. "From the actor’s point of view, there is a lot of room for me to play this role, and it is rare for me to play the villain role. I really love and hate it."

This is exactly what Lin Baoyi is pursuing now, jumping out of his comfort zone, just like leaving TVB that year. "TVB is a very safe place, and I personally want to start making some changes."

01.

As early as 2019, the director had asked a friend to hand the story to Lin Baoyi. The content was not too long, but it was simple in two or three pages. It was only at that time that Lin Baoyi was preparing for the drama "Bridge of Sighs", which was his first time as a producer. "There are many things to deal with every day, and it is really inseparable from making a movie."

After many years, at a party with Louis Koo, the other party talked about this project again. After many revisions, the script has gradually matured and was invested and produced by Louis Koo Company. After the break, Louis Koo sent him the script.That night, Lin Baoyi read the whole story very carefully.

"Under the Sun" is based on the events in the homes for the aged that have caused a sensation throughout Hong Kong, including the fact that in 2015, the elderly in Cambridge nursing home were stripped naked and washed in the open air, and in 2014, Zhang Jianhua, the former director of Cambridge Home, was suspected of sexually assaulting female mentally retarded people. Zhang Jianhua is the prototype of Lin Baoyi’s role as Zhang Jianhua.

Before taking on this movie, Lin Baoyi didn’t think too much about the future box office results, simply hoping to make more people pay attention to the real events behind it.

The first time he saw Under the Sun was at an overseas film festival. "After reading it, I felt a sense of powerlessness. I really wonder, as an ordinary citizen, what can I do? Fortunately, I am an actor. I can turn this real thing into a role and let more people know that this kind of thing may have been happening around us that we have never paid attention to. "

Finally, after the film was released, the real incident was repeatedly discussed by the media and the public. On March 25th this year, the case was retried and Zhang Jianhua was convicted.

Lin Baoyi later talked about the result. "I was very angry when I saw the news. Although he was convicted, he was only fined. This is the first time I played a role I hate."

02.

"Under the Sun" is to let the audience follow the reporter and expose the incident a little bit. Therefore, there are not many scenes in Lin Baoyi, and even in the first half, it is almost hidden in the background.

To this end, he and the director specially studied the direction of the role before shooting. The focus of this play is not on the dean. "For actors, there is enough space for this role, but too much is not good." When the plot goes to the second half, it seems to usher in a bright ending. Who ever thought that the dean was the big bad guy? "This will put a lot of pressure on the audience."

In the movie, Zhang Jianhua is an amblyopic person. In order to have a more realistic performance during the performance, Lin Baoyi specially asked the director to contact an amblyopic person and follow him to experience life before starting. Even when chatting and eating, Lin Baoyi has been observing each other’s words and deeds, and at the same time, he doesn’t forget to ask him how he feels about seeing things.

After really entering the set, Lin Baoyi integrated what he saw and thought into his performance. Because many people with amblyopia and normal vision have different viewpoints, his performance will be a little crooked and his eyes will be treated differently.

Zhang Jianhua, played by Lin Baoyi, is not only bad, but also bad. Even from his point of view, there is quite a kind of "I am right, I have difficulties".

Especially the announcement scene that came out of the court.

"I thought before I played, I tried to shape the dean into a’ devil among demons’ in that scene." Therefore, he asked the prop group for a piece of paper — — That’s something that’s not in the script. "It’s all written by the dean early in the morning and he wants to tell the media." In Lin Baoyi’s setting, he felt that the dean had long known that he was innocent.

Therefore, Lin Baoyi hates this role from the bottom of his heart. However, in order to be more realistic, he will go to Zhang Jianhua’s office in advance, put on headphones, and listen to a piano piece "The Mystery Song" No.1. "Just listen for 1 or 2 minutes, and slowly summon the Dean."

Lin Baoyi didn’t deliberately remember his lines, but called Zhang Jianhua out in his way and felt it with the thinking of the role.

Lin Baoyi filmed for more than 10 days, which was also his most painful period. Before filming in the past, he would go to the vegetable market to buy food and even exercise, which was his favorite time, but during the filming period of Under the Sun, "I didn’t want to go out at all, so I went back and forth between the set and home, and I didn’t want others to see me so horrible."

After Lin Baoyi filmed all the scenes, "I confirmed with the director again and again whether it was really finished." After getting a positive answer, he didn’t go home that day. He went to the barber shop first and said goodbye to this role completely.

03.

Although Lin Baoyi didn’t win the Academy Award for Best Actor for Under the Sun, he has always been a good actor in the eyes of the audience. As early as the TVB period, he handed over many excellent works, such as A Wonderful Hand and a Kind Heart, A Mind-reading Detective, and Jewellery, and he has already won the title of "Seeing the Emperor" with war and beauty.

These achievements can’t satisfy Lin Baoyi. Almost at the hottest time, he chose to leave TVB, just because, "It’s too safe, I want to jump out and give myself some changes."

In the early days, Lin Baoyi was often praised for acting naturally. He sometimes felt complacent and thought that this might be his talent. "I am not performing, but I am living." For him, all this is far from enough.

Until the filming of the series "Margaret and David Mung Bean", Lin Baoyi’s understanding of acting changed a little, which opened another experience of filming. "You just put yourself into it, and then you use your intuition. People use their intuition to do every reaction, every micro-expression. " Then to the later drama "Bridge of Sighs", this kind of natural and true technique was brought to the extreme by him, and he had already merged with the role.

Even in such an extreme role in Under the Sun, Lin Baoyi still told himself, "Relax and be natural."

Today, Lin Baoyi is very keen to cooperate with the new director. After working with the director of Margaret and David Mung Bean, he boldly came up with Bridge of Sighs. The same is true for the director of Under the Sun. The new directors always give him a lot of excitement and ideas.

Although interviews in the past were generally asked if he would play a police lawyer again, Lin Baoyi used to say that he could look at his past works, but now he has changed his mind. "This kind of role is ok, as long as the role and story are new."

But he still can’t challenge comedy. "It takes a lot of skill to make the audience laugh. I can’t, that’s not my strong point. "

Today, Lin Baoyi, like his friend Louis Koo, has already set up a production company on his own, but there are few new works after Bridge of Sighs. "I’m still reading the script, and the script is really important. Louis Koo reads the script very quickly. I really can’t. I have to read it at least three or four times. " More importantly, he wants to set aside enough time for his life, enjoy life, feel life, and then integrate these experiences into the performance.