Chang Chen, chair of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, used a recent event in Taipei to advise emerging talent on navigating the complexities of international film sets. The Golden Horse best leading actor winner for “Lucky Lu” spoke to six rising performers during the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) showcase.
Taiwan Creative Content Fest Showcase
The event, titled “TCCF x The Golden Horse Awards: Taiwan Emerging Actors Showcase,” brought together Bai Xiao-ying, Ho Man-xi, Rosen, Jimmy Liu, Ma Shih-yuan, and Lin Yi-ting. All six are nominees or winners of the Best New Performer award at the Golden Horse Awards, which serves as the top honor for Chinese-language cinema in Taiwan.
The lineup was drawn from two consecutive Golden Horse Awards cycles. Bai Xiao-ying and Ho Man-xi are nominees for this year’s Best New Performer award for their roles in “Girl” and “Sunshine Women’s Choir,” respectively. Ma Shih-yuan won the award last year for “Left-Handed Girl.” Rosen, Jimmy Liu, and Lin Yi-ting were nominated for their performances in “Marching Boys,” “Blind Love,” and “A Dance With Rainbows,” respectively.
The showcase aimed to connect these performers with international creative teams, investors, and media outlets. Each actor shared details about their background and training, highlighting a diverse range of skills beyond traditional acting.
Diverse Training and Acting Philosophies
Bai Xiao-ying, who began acting at age six, is currently a university student studying film. She greeted the audience in both Mandarin and Japanese and noted that she has trained in traditional Chinese martial arts for a decade. Ho Man-xi, who described herself as slow to warm up and serious, drew on her extensive dance training. She expressed a desire to take on suspense action films or other physically forceful roles.
Jimmy Liu mentioned that he practiced taekwondo for seven years. Ma Shih-yuan said that acting helps her find an outlet for pressure. “When you give yourself completely to a role, audiences can feel your sincerity,” she said. “It can give others strength and help you understand yourself better.”
Rosen spoke about his love of nature and how acting allows him to pick up new skills for each role. While preparing for one project, he learned Western fencing and later entered a competition, where he won a bout. Lin Yi-ting offered a different perspective on his motivation. “At this stage, it’s more important to light up others than to light up myself,” Lin said.
Chang Chen’s Advice on Adaptability
When asked about their future aspirations, Bai, Ma, and Liu said they wanted to break away from familiar casting and try comedy or villain roles. Chang Chen praised the group’s versatility. “Actors have to be like water, changing shape to fit the vessel,” he said.
Chang also addressed the challenges of working on international productions. He noted that each set has its own atmosphere, whether led by directors like Wong Kar-wai or Hou Hsiao-hsien. Actors, he added, need to understand how much room each director and production team gives them.
He recalled advice from director Ang Lee, who once told him that actors should read autobiographies of people with different personalities. “Our job is to inhabit the lives of many different characters through our performances,” Chang said. He acknowledged that Taipei may not have Hollywood’s industry ecosystem, but working in a place they know can help them do their best work.
Source: Variety
