The 2007 film Protégé, directed by veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Yee, opens with what is arguably one of the bleakest and most intense openings ever seen in Chinese cinema: a young daughter removing a syringe from the arm of her mother who has just shot up with heroin. The mother is portrayed by 28-year-old Fujian native Zhang Jingchu, perhaps the only actress of her generation with the acting chops this role demands. Indeed, her commitment to the character was such that Yee commented, "[Zhang] was so engaged in her role during the shooting that I even started to worry that the movie might leave her with psychological problems."

Clearly, Zhang is devoted to her art. An art she discovered only recently with her debut in Gu Changwei's Peacock (2005). At the time, she had just graduated from Beijing's Central Drama Academy and had little commercial acting experience. Nevertheless, Gu was able to elicit a performance that won the Best Actress Award at the 2006 Chinese Film Media Awards. That performance also made a deep impression on international critics when the film was shown at the Berlin film festival.

Since then, Zhang has made 10 films, including Zhang Jiarui's The Road (2006), wherein she portrays a ticket seller at a bus station in rural China whose love affair with a local doctor spans more than three decades. Her convincing performance, through the various stages of ageing, won Zhang the Best Actress Award in the 2006 Cairo International Film Festival.

For her role in Protégé, she visited several drug clinics and studied the effects of withdrawal. That research paid off handsomely. To say that Zhang outshines her male costars Andy Lau and Louis Koo would be an understatement. In recognition of that fact, she was nominated for the Best Actress award at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards, though she didn't win.

It's no surprise, then, that Zhang has attracted attention in Hollywood. She had a small supporting role in the Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker vehicle Rush Hour 3. This year holds more promise. Recently, she's been involved in two projects: Zhang Jiarui's low-budget Red River (currently in post-production and slated for a summer 2008 release) and Florian Gallenberger's USD 20 million Sino-German co-production, John Rabe (recently shot in Nanjing and Shanghai and set for release at the end of this year).

In the former, Zhang portrays a mentally-challenged Sino-Vietnamese girl who emigrates to China with her aunt, while in the latter she plays a schoolgirl who photographs and records Japanese war crimes in Nanjing. The film's title refers to the "Oskar Schindler of China", who helped protect thousands of Chinese people during the Nanjing Massacre. Zhang's co-stars include Ulrich Tukur, Steve Buscemi and Anne Consigny. Below, Zhang discusses, in near flawless English, her passion for acting.

that's: After studying to be a director, why did you switch to acting?
Zhang Jingchu (ZJ): Actually, I have never really done any directing work, so it's not a question of switching. Studying directing at the drama academy was a part of my personal education. It mainly helped me build up my own taste in drama and films. Before graduation, I was asked to audition for some commercials and TV series, so I started quite naturally with this kind of work. It just came up. There was always somebody pushing me, asking me to try something. I did start as an amateur, with no real career plan, with no planning whatsoever.

that's: You have said that in the beginning of your career it was difficult to unlock your passion and motivation for acting. Where did you find the key?
ZJ: I think Peacock is the most important film in my career so far, because it's the starting point. Director Gu Chanwei really made me feel relaxed, which helped me get into the character's heart. It was a magical feeling; you start thinking you aren't yourself anymore and you become someone else. Peacock was the key opening another door for me – and not only career-wise. It helped me get the sense of acting and unlocked my acting potential.

that's: What other roles have inspired you?
ZJ: For every movie I've made, actually, I've tried to use the inspiration I got from Peacock, that feeling of sincerity and freshness. I don't try to be better, just to be different and create something new. I don't rely on experience or acting skills, which don't work well [for me]. They get in the way of the surprising, interesting and special things that happen on a set.

that's: So you rely on spontaneity to create a character.
ZJ: Every time I accept a new role I feel a sense of panic. I worry that I won't be able to act the part or find the character. In The Road, for example, I played a character who aged from 17 to 60 years-old, but of course I had no actual experience of being older. It was the same situation in Protégé, where I portrayed a drug addict. Still, in both case the roles felt right and I was able to get the feeling of the characters.

that's: In The Road, how important was make-up in creating a character decades older than your actual age?
ZJ: Make-up and costume tests were very important processes for me in finding the character. I just finished a new film called Red River, where I play a mentally-handicapped Vietnamese girl. On location near the Vietnamese border I went running every morning and saw Vietnamese women wearing [traditional] dress crossing a bridge to come to China. That led me to buy a used dress, one that had been worn for some years, which helped me to bring authenticity to the character. It's this kind of process that I use to make the character in the script come alive.

that's: Authenticity takes precedence over your own experience…
ZJ: Yes, I think so. You know, my experience is so simple. It's really nothing; my experience is no different from other college graduates. It's not that dramatic or interesting.

that's: You've worked with Zhang Jiarui on Huayao Bride in Shangri-la, The Road and Red River. What attracts you to this director?
ZJ: The reason why I did three movies with him is because I think Zhang is very open. And because he's open-minded, I don't worry about my performance. What's more, I especially enjoy the work we do before the shoot. The actors, and sometimes the writer and the cinematographer, sit down and go through the script scene by scene, discussing and defining the characters.

that's: Protégé offered some shocking insights into the drug underworld; your performance as the young mother addicted to heroin was very impressive. How did you research the role?
ZJ: I went to a rehab clinic, more of an asylum for junkies actually, where they are forced to stay for several months to kick the habit. I did a lot of research because the experience was really hard to imagine. I had the same question about addicts as the audience will have: Why is it so hard to quit drugs? How does it feel to experience withdrawal? And so on.

that's: A number of Chinese actresses are trying to establish an international career, but like Zhang Ziyi in Rush Hour 2, Shu Qi in The Transporter, Gong Li in Miami Vice and your role in Rush Hour 3, the only roles available seem to be in action films.
ZJ: You're right, but I hope one day it will change and there will be more parts like the Japanese girl Chieko [played by Rinko Kikuchi] in Babel [Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006]. I hope one day I'll get a role like that. In any case, the parts I choose in China are similar to hers, powerful and full of passion.


(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
May 2008 issue