After not seeing each other for a few years, Qiu Ze is no longer the "prince of idol dramas" he used to be. He appears to be very low-key and almost never takes the initiative to appear or speak out. Qiu Ze Q&A: We found that your style in your works has changed a lot in the past

I haven’t seen him for a few years, Qiu Ze is no longer the “Prince of Idol Drama” back then. He seems very low-key and almost never takes the initiative to appear or speak out. During the promotion period of " Chinatown Detective 3", Esquire caught up with Qiu Ze and explored how he achieved progressive career accumulation and self-evolution during his long period of silence.

Qiu Ze

Q&A:

We found that your style in your works has changed a lot in the past few years. You used to have medium-long hair, but now you have short hair and a beard. You look much cooler. Is this a deliberate change?

Qiu Ze: No, my hairstyle is mostly related to work. I cut my hair short when I joined the set of the online drama "Detective Chinatown". I have always had a beard, and I had to shave it off for roles before. In fact, my look changed because of the drama.

When you are not filming, how do you look after your appearance?

Qiu Ze: I am a person who doesn’t pay much attention to appearance, but sometimes I keep my hair long for the role and let the character in the next play decide the next look. Because you don't know what the next character will be like, so leave a little room.

Did you fall in love at first sight with the character Lin Mo in the web drama "Detective Chinatown"?

Qiu Ze: I am very interested. I was very involved when I read the script. This was my first time acting in a mystery drama, and it was quite enjoyable. Which one of

is more enjoyable?

Qiu Ze: The genre of suspense reasoning really attracts me. The design of the lens language helps the performance a lot. When filming, the machine will move, push forward, and pull apart. You will feel the tacit understanding of a team working together. The plot is intense and exciting, making you fully immersed in it every minute. The speculation about the character's psychology, the development of the plot, and the interlocking arrangement of such details will actually make people feel excited.

How does it feel to be Lin Mo?

Qiu Ze: Not quite like myself, but I know what kind of person Lin Mo is, and I also understand that being invested in a character is what an actor must do, so I will go back and check my performance to see if there is anything else. What could be done better.

Are you similar to Lin Mo?

Qiu Ze: Let me think about it... It should be about persistence. We are all very purposeful people. If you are curious about something, you want to find the reason and get to the bottom of it.

What are you curious about recently?

Qiu Ze: What I’m curious about recently is the cornering angle of motorcycles. Why can motorcyclists’ elbows touch the ground when cornering? How is the research on

going? Have you learned this cool skill?

Qiu Ze: The knees are OK, but the elbows are not.

How did you feel when you won the Best Actor at the Taipei Film Festival in 2018 for your movie "Who Falls in Love with Him First"?

Qiu Ze: Yes, it felt like a dream at that moment, and it still feels like a dream when I think about it now. I didn’t expect that I would really get this award. When the host called me on stage, I said "huh? Are you calling me?" and then everyone looked at me.

How many years had you been in the industry when you won this award?

Qiu Ze: I entered the industry in 2001, and 17 years have passed since I won the Best Actor award in 2018.

Has Qiu Ze

won similar awards before?

Qiu Ze: No, there is no acting award.

I read in the information that you wore a very dazzling jacket when you went to meet Xu Yuting, the director of "Who Falls in Love with Him First", to discuss your role?

Qiu Ze: My electric embroidery jacket is very comfortable. It is made of silk and has dragons and phoenixes embroidered on it. It looks very Chinese and has a lot of character.

Do you think Ajie (the character played by Qiu Ze in the movie) would dress like this and deliberately go to meet the director like this?

Qiu Ze: I didn’t know the script at all at that time. I failed to win the Golden Bell Award and I felt a little depressed. Director Yu Ting is a friend of our boss. She used to be a screenwriter and failed many times. So she invited me to dinner and comforted me, saying, "Be cautious, in fact, awards are like clouds."I was in a bad mood that day, not dressed up at all, with messy hair, a beard, flip-flops, and that electric embroidered jacket.

I noticed you said the word "failed"?

Qiu Ze: Yes, for directors and actors, every film festival is an assessment. Only those who are the best can win awards. If we don't do our best, it's a failure for us.

How did the director find you to play "Who Falls in Love with Him First"?

Qiu Ze: Another time when we were having dinner, she said that she had a play that she wanted me to act in. She asked me first, "Would you mind playing a role that you have never tried before?" I said, "No." Then she told me a little bit about the content of the script, and I said, "Okay, okay, I'm interested." We had some drinks together that day, and we all felt that we could do something together that was worthy of celebration, so a partner from the company took a napkin from the restaurant and asked everyone present to sign it as a contract for the movie, and then we really Made a movie.

This experience is really cool. Is a signature a contract?

Qiu Ze: It’s not so serious. It means that everyone who signed the film is jointly responsible for the film. The work

has been recognized by many people. What was the shooting process like?

Qiu Ze: Sister Yuting’s request to me was not to have a sense of camera, not to look for the camera, and not to let me watch the replay. In the middle, she slowly let me watch part of the replay. When the machine was changing lenses, she knew that I would overhear the photographer talking about the size of the lens. In fact, I wanted to know my proportions on the screen, whether it was a close-up, a close-up, or a medium shot, so that I could fine-tune the energy of the performance. She told me not to worry about this. I asked you to leave the scene, completely immerse yourself in life, and live in the moment with the character.

This will completely subvert your previous habits, right?

Qiu Ze: Yes, just saying not to watch the replays should subvert the habits of many actors. Also, Sister Yuting knows that I will prepare before going to the scene, so she will wait for me to go to the scene, change the script, write a handwritten note to tell you, this is today's script, I don't know it every day when I go to the scene What exactly is going to happen that day.

Isn’t this exciting?

Qiu Ze: Yes. That was the first time I cooperated with Sister Yuting. She denied you crazily every day. She knew that I would make a lot of preparations in advance, but she didn’t want me to prepare. She just wanted to make you not want to act and give up completely. Jay, and then the real Ajie, the domineering and free Ajie in his heart, will come out.

Qiu Ze

This is also a way for directors to train actors, although it sounds a bit cruel.

Qiu Ze: At the beginning, I always felt that something was wrong. What exactly did the director need? In the end, I established a sense of trust with Sister Yuting. I empty myself into the scene every day, trust her completely, and feel what she gives you. I think it is good and very enjoyable.

Is there another possibility? The script of an idol drama is difficult for people to believe. You still have to perform it and make the audience believe it. This is also a challenge, but it further hone your acting skills?

Qiu Ze: Acting is a job that helps others dream. Different people have different dreams, and it is also one of the actors' responsibilities to present the script completely.

How have your acting skills been polished by time?

Qiu Ze: I am very fortunate that I am still fighting for various roles, and there are still people who are willing to trust me, who are willing to see a different version of me on the screen, and who can accept me and my roles. I don’t know if I am making great progress. I just think actors have the opportunity to realize other people’s dreams and experience other people’s lives. This kind of experience is really cool. I hope I can have more skills to make myself more capable. A little better.

Over the years, have you ever had idol baggage?

Qiu Ze: Yes, it has always been there, more or less.

Some people say that you are "a talented actor who is held back by his appearance." Do you feel that you are held back?

Qiu Ze: Looks are given by God and cannot be chosen, but actors can rely on their own efforts for their acting skills. Only when your acting skills are recognized by everyone can you have unlimited possibilities.

Don’t you want to be a star who is often exposed?

Qiu Ze: Regarding being an actor, I always like to find the character’s motivations and analyze his clues. I can be very, very involved, and I can also be very involved in the drama. But to be honest, I will always have trouble with being a star. I have the confidence to be a good actor, but not the confidence to be a star. When will

come into play?

Qiu Ze: For example, my colleagues in the company told me that this work has been well received recently. You have to strike while the iron is hot and work harder. But at that time, I might just want to travel, relax myself, and have some space of my own. Be quiet and settle down for a while. Or, in a situation, I need to talk more or express my thoughts, but I may finish it in one sentence. I am a cold-hearted person.

When accepting a role, if the character is a bit boring, but the story itself is interesting and attractive to you, would you consider taking it?

Qiu Ze: Yes, I care more about the core of the story. After all, every actor is a foil to the entire story. The message of the story is more important than the extent to which the character can perform. If a character is very powerful, but the entire story itself is weak and empty, then it becomes a pure show of skills and has no meaning. I hope that each of my characters can be in an interesting story situation, like an adventure, which makes people want to stop.

I know you are a racing expert. Do you think sports and performance are completely different thoughts, or do they have similarities?

Qiu Ze: It depends on the project. Racing cars are a bit similar to actors. The brain has to process a lot of information every tenth of a second. You have to brake, downshift, turn into corners, etc. in an instant. The same is true for acting.

Qiu Ze

I heard that you were first discovered by a talent scout and entered the industry?

Qiu Ze: Yes, they told me that you are very handsome. Are you willing to sign with a company and become a professional actor after training? I was stunned at the time and thought he was a fraud group.

Don’t you think you are handsome?

Qiu Ze: I don’t think I’m handsome enough to be a star, and I don’t know what I want to do as a star. I was studying in a sports college at that time and had no idea about entering the entertainment industry. I didn’t understand what acting was and had no interest in it.

What was your ideal career at that time?

Qiu Ze: I just want to study hard and become a coach or physical education teacher after graduation. Many of my seniors and seniors have been arranged like this since they were young. They were recommended to high school, recommended to a physical education center, and then became physical education teachers. Life may not seem like a breakthrough, but in the eyes of parents, this kind of career will be more stable. Many people around me are like this too, and it seems pretty good. How did

agree to the talent scout?

Qiu Ze: Later, a talent scout came to my house and talked a lot with my father. After that, he helped me accept an advertisement and earned NT$60,000 (approximately more than 10,000 RMB). For me, who was still in school at the time, it was already That's a lot.

is well paid!

Qiu Ze: Yes, actually I didn’t know much about it at the time. I signed a contract with the company and went to the studio to film. My agent at the time gave me a script and told me that I would shoot this page tomorrow and you should memorize all your lines in it. I said yes. But when you get to the scene, you have no idea what to do, how to act, and how to coordinate with the camera. Because it was my first time filming, and it was my first scene, I remember clearly that I was so nervous that I was so nervous that I could walk on the same hand and on the same foot. One scene was filmed at 5 o'clock in the morning and ended with dinner at noon, but it was not finished yet.

How did you feel about this job when you first entered the industry?

Qiu Ze: I feel uncomfortable. This is not what I want to say. Why should I pretend, say what others want to say, and do what others want to do? This is not me. I am very repulsive and resistant.

When did you first want to be an actor and seriously want to do it well?

Qiu Ze: After you retire, because then you have to make a choice. I used to feel that I had the opportunity to be a singer, shoot commercials, and acting was also an option, but we don’t have the right to have both. I need to find a choice of my own so that I can concentrate on doing it well and do it wholeheartedly. I am responsible for my own future.

Why did you choose acting?

Qiu Ze: At that time, it was an intuition that I was not really suitable for playing music. I felt that I had no talent. Later, I thought that I might as well become an actor seriously, calm down, and act well.

Now you fall in love with being an actor?

Qiu Ze: I may still have a lot of room for improvement, but I seem to be able to see a little bit of hope. I read a lot of people's comments on me. I know I'm not the best. My requirement for myself is to keep improving. I am willing to come into contact with different types of roles, and I am willing to work hard for my role. Gradually, some people will remember my role. This is the most important thing to me. At least it proves that I did not choose the wrong path for myself. I can Keep walking.

What are your plans for 2020?

Qiu Ze: I want to act and try more roles. For the audience, for the people who trust me, and for myself. Gaining a little bit every year will really make you feel happy.