SHANGHAI: Chinese actress Xin Zhilei expressed her eagerness for new experiences and a refusal to limit herself as she helped launch the Shanghai International Film Festival on Friday.
Xin, 40, became only the third Chinese woman to win the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival in September, marking her first major European accolade after captivating domestic audiences. In Shanghai, she will serve on a festival jury for the first time and joked at a news conference that she consulted Doubao, a Chinese AI chatbot, for advice on how to prepare.
"I want to try everything I haven't experienced before," she later told AFP, adding that she does not rule out stepping behind the camera in the future. "I don't want to limit myself, nor do I want to box myself into a specific type... Anything is possible."
Her Venice triumph came for her role in "The Sun Rises on Us All," where her character seeks to reconcile with a former lover imprisoned for a crime she committed. The film was widely praised for the convincing, nuanced chemistry between Xin and co-star Zhang Songwen.
Asked about challenges facing Chinese filmmakers, Xin said good work would "always find its audience." She remarked, "I truly feel that, whether in film or any other industry, we've entered an era where what's false is being stripped away and only the genuine remains. I believe we each have to bring 100 percent sincerity to our professions and to the work we love -- only then might we have a chance to move the audience."
Desire and Drive
Xin's first international break came in 2016's "Crosscurrent," a mystical romance set along the Yangtze River. She has also starred in Chinese blockbusters and popular television series, notably 2023's "Blossoms Shanghai," directed by Hong Kong cinema legend Wong Kar-wai.
"When I first watched 'Crosscurrent' back in the day, I didn't really understand it -- even as an actress in it," she said. "But years later, when I revisited it, I felt it was a truly great film."
Xin grew up in China's far north, near the Russian border, in a financially struggling family. As her success grew, she was labeled online as someone "who wears her ambition and desire right on her face." In a 2018 speech, Xin discussed the guilt she still feels for refusing to buy her paralyzed father a computer early in her career due to cost.
"I admit I have a desire for money -- because I never want to feel that regret again," she said then. When asked how her drive shaped her development as an actress, she said, "Every person has... their own journey. The reason I am who I am is precisely because I've gone through what I've gone through. And that has its own purpose."
While studying fashion design in Harbin, Xin began working as a model. A teacher recommended her to serve as a ritual girl for a TV station, where she was noticed by Donnie Yen and his then advertising agent in mainland China, Liang Ting. In 2007, Xin signed with Liang Ting's agency, Star Union Skykee, after which she adopted the stage name Zhilei.
