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I started work on this translation last year but didn't have time to finish it. I think this would be a good time to finish this since #心居 #LifeIsALongQuietRiver has just started release. 🙂
In April of 2021, Giorgio Armani announced that Tong Yao would be one of the ambassadors for the Giorgio Armani campaign called Crossroads. They had interviewed 14 "amazing women" and asked them to "reflect on the journey that led them to where they are today." (quoted from the Giorgio Amani FB post).
(For capsule reviews and links to interviews & other reviews of Tong Yao's work, please CLICK ME)
The first series of videos' first episode featured Tong Yao. If you're a Tong Yao fan and you've yet to watch this, then I do recommend it. It's not very long, nicely shot and has English subtitles for non-Mandarin speaking fans. She talks about switching from being a dancer to an actress, talks a bit about her outlook on life, her love for her job etc. You can watch the embedded video below or you can click this link CLICK ME to bring you to the Giorgio Armani Crossroads Tong Yao page.
The second part of this campaign consists of a series of podcasts. These are longer audio-only interviews with 13 different women. They released Tong Yao's episode on the 20th September 2021.
You can use the Spotify link above
OR
If you prefer, you can use this link to play it from the Crossroads podcast website. CLICK ME.
Unfortunately, for non-Mandarin speakers, there are no subtitles or transcriptions/translations in English. For those of you who can understand Mandarin, it's worth a listen. It's about 20 to 21 minutes long. While some of what she says would have been covered in other interviews and the video that I linked above, there is still enough new material to make the interview interesting.
(edit 26th March 2022 - I forgot to delete this paragraph. I ended up translating the whole thing. 😅 Although, I would still recommend listening to the podcast for the emotions because I can't translate those.)
The podcast begins by highlighting three quotes from three different questions in the interview and they used it in their Opening Tease and Introduction. The interviewer is Amy Yao from Instyle.
The podcast begins by highlighting three quotes from three different questions in the interview and they used it in their Opening Tease and Introduction. The interviewer is Amy Yao from Instyle.
TEASE
Tong Yao: I don't particularly like the words "failure" or "success". What does failure mean? Does it mean that if an actor isn't popular, does it mean that they have failed? Or if an actor decides to leave the industry and career, does that mean that they have failed? I don't think so. I feel that even if he is no longer an actor, he could possibly be living a more wonderful life now. So I believe, that no matter when, as long as in your heart you have not given up on life, then you have not failed.
Tong Yao: I will work hard and do my best but I won't set myself against the whole world.
(Aside: When I ran these translations by a friend, she said that Tong Yao's outlook on life was very zen. Hahaha... I had to agree.)
INTRODUCTION
AY: Welcome to the Crossroads Broadcast, a new campaign by Giorgio Armani. Today, we fly to Shanghai to meet Tong Yao. She's a well-known actress in Mainland China. She began acting in 2002 in debut TV series, Tracks in the Snowy River. She also appeared in Life is like a Flowing River in 2018 and won the Best Actress Award at the 30th Golden Eagle Award for this performance. She also starred in Nothing But Thirty in 2020 and won the Magnolia Award for the Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 27th Shanghai Television Festival this year.
AY: I should know a little about the answer to this question. What interests you the most in life?
Tong Yao: Me? In my life... I prefer travelling.
AY: Ah yes, diving?
Tong Yao: Yes, go travelling. Also, for example, in Shanghai, I can go to exhibitions, stroll on the street, eat some good food, meet up with friends. I feel that these things are the more interesting things in my life.
AY: How long has it been since you've gone diving?
Tong Yao: Oh a long time, since the beginning of the pandemic.
AY: I hope the pandemic will get better soon.
Tong Yao: Yes, it'll return to normalcy.
INTERVIEW PROPER
AY: In today's interview, we will start by asking Tong Yao about her choice at the beginning of her career and ask her to share some of the more important moments in her life. We'll chat about what kind of turning points led to her switch from dancing to become an actor. After she became known, how does she balance work and life and, how has the pandemic affected her life, her thoughts and, her plans for the future. I didn't think I would interviewing Tong Yao in this unexpected way. All right, here's the first question.
AY: Music, dance and drama, what role do you think these played in your childhood?
Tong Yao: I think they made my childhood more colorful and memorable. Of course I think there are good things and bad things about this. The best part is that it made my life very fulfilling, so that I have been nurtured and trained in rhythm and manners since I was a child. The bad part is that it made me cry a lot. My parents' friends always asked me to perform. I don't know if talented children from other countries were also asked to do the same.
Tong Yao: I think they made my childhood more colorful and memorable. Of course I think there are good things and bad things about this. The best part is that it made my life very fulfilling, so that I have been nurtured and trained in rhythm and manners since I was a child. The bad part is that it made me cry a lot. My parents' friends always asked me to perform. I don't know if talented children from other countries were also asked to do the same.
AY: They will! [laughter]
AY: You used to be a dancer. When compared to dancing, which parts of a career in acting gives you more expectations.
Tong Yao: In fact, I think that compared with dance, performance gives me more space and possibility to shape characters, and it also gives me the opportunity to try and challenge completely different characters and lives. Life seems to be broadened and elongated because of that. I think that's what particularly appeals to me about this profession. In addition, there are many abstract things in dance, while performance needs to be closer to life. I've never been an especially
affected/pretentious/pampered (?) girl [translator note: I really don't know what she said here, 特??], I'm more down-to-earth.
AY: You 特?? (both laugh)
AY: You talked about the influence of dance on your childhood or on your acting, how do you think dance has helped you in your acting career? Or is learning dance a better place to start?
Tong Yao: I think there are roles in dance too. And dance also requires you to assimilate into the role, this including using your eyes, body, and so on. Therefore, to figure out the role and enter the role, to find the most suitable way to expression this role; I think this is the foundation for both dance and performance.
AY: What considerations do you have when choosing a character? Which role in your acting career do you think has had the greatest impact on yourself or is the most important to you.
Tong Yao: I think it depends on whether the character can move me first. This is more important. Can I identify with this character or believe in this character, that's the basic requirement. After that, I'll look to see if it's an important character, is it a reasonable or interesting character and so on.
In the course of my career, I think that there are a few roles that are more important to me. One is Gao Xiyue from The Legend of Ruyi. I think it's from that role onwards that I truly started to deliberate about how to play a character. Because when the script was given to me, the character was very uncomplicated. There wasn't a lot of emphasis or focus in the writing for this character in may parts of the script. I had to give her some traits to fill out this character and had to use scene after scene to give her a clearer personality and characteristics.
There is also Song Yunping from Like a Flowing River. I could easily picture this character and I had a lot of empathy with this character because she reminded me very much of a person from my mother's generation and I will think of my mother. I watched a lot of documentaries when I was creating this character and I watched how they worked. I also talked to people, including people from my parent's generation, about their lives and the environment during those times. I was very convinced by this character and I had a lot of affinity with her
Then there is Gu Jia. In fact, I think she is very far removed from my life because Gu Jia is a mother; a full-time mother or rather a full-time housewife as they call it now. I think these two points make her a bit far from my real life. When I first read the script, I actually thought that she was a little bit unbelievable, because this woman was so perfect. You will think that she has high emotional intelligence and high IQ, and she can handle everything well. She also has her own particularly positive values system; she's simply perfect. In fact, when you play this kind of role, you will find it hard to find her faults, and you will think she is unreal. So I kept discussing about this issue with the director. We slowly built up emotions, and as the story progressed, we also gave her flaws in her character to made her a three-dimensional person so that people can believe that she is a human.
AY: The determination to learn dance should be a very important moment in Tong Yao's life. In my opinion, the decision to take on the TV series Nothing But Thirty was a very important moment in Tong Yao's acting career. With careful analysis and interpretation, this role was shaped very successfully by her. During the period when the TV series was broadcast, this character appeared on the hot topic search list almost every day. Many women were able to empathize with the character.
AY: You mentioned that your characters in The Legend of Ruyi, Like a Flowing River and Nothing But Thirty have a certain distance from yourself in real life. Especially the first two characters because they are not from our era. Can you describe how do you get into these roles; what is your process? You touched on a few things just now, can you tell us more specifically now?
Tong Yao: You mean, how do I prepare for a role, right? I think that if we think of a complete character as a 100%, if we use a percentage to compare, then maybe you can only see or rather, only 30 to 50% of this character is presented in the script. What I will do is to use my mind to complete the rest of that 50 to 70%. For example, I will reconstruct in my mind how this character grew up, his character traits, the things that he may have experienced that have an impact on him. Then I sometimes ask a lot of questions that have nothing to do with me, and just try to figure out how to deal with this task in a way that opens my mind; some situational questions. For example, I would ask, how would this character react if someone threw a glass of water at him. Or if someone came out and slapped him, what would his reaction be? It is through these questions, that is, some of the things he encounters, that you can judge what kind of person he is from his reactions.
AY: Interesting. My next question is, you have previously said that you wanted to expand the types of characters you play. How important do you think it is for an actor to break out of their comfort zone.
TY: I think it's a question of degree. I feel that stepping out of one's comfort zone to challenge a new role doesn't mean playing a role that isn't suitable for one's self. I feel that there is no one actor in the world who can play everything. I feel that it's important to recognize one's boundaries. Before you try and breakthrough a role or perhaps even breakthrough what has stereotyped you, that you breakthrough your comfort zone first. but I don't think one should casually breakthrough one's boundaries.
AY: In fact, I think every character you play now is able to leave an impression on me. Really, especially Gu Jia. I am still very moved by the part where you talked about Gu Jia early. So in what areas do you think you have yet to achieve success in your work, perhaps the word "success" is too much, perhaps this; which areas do you hope to set goals for yourself?
Tong Yao: I still have many types of roles that I haven't tried, including in movies. I just hope to get more opportunities to try them. It may be that I don't force myself to set a goals, but for example, I would like to play a person with autism, a person with depression, or someone who is far away from my life; and I want to try these roles and breakthrough.
AY: Why?
Tong Yao: I feel that these groups need to be seen, need attention and need to be understood.
AY: I found out that you don't post much on Weibo nor use social media very much. I feel like you have a distance between you and social media. As an actor, how do you think social media affects your life?
TY: I think in our industry, it is actually difficult to completely neglect social media or just ignore social media completely. I think that it is the fastest and most direct way to get feedback after all. I actually will go through some social media at work. For example, I would watch live broadcasts and watch something fun. I think it's a relaxing for me. [some banter between the host and TY] I also feel very relieved and relaxed. But I think I may be a lazy person myself, so I rarely want to actively update unless it's forced upon me.
AY: Every time you post something, your fans will cheer. "She's finally posted something". [laughter]. During the shoot for Crossroads, you talked about the relationship between hard work (后天努力) and destiny. Which of these two do you think is more important?
Tong Yao: I think it's hard for one to say if acquired effort (后天努力) or destiny is more important. I would like to believe they are equally important. I think that acquired hard work (后天努力) is when a person continuous works and accumulates expertise. While fate is more like chance or luck at a certain moment. I think that when you encounter a lucky moment or opportunity, you may be able to use this accumulated energy to burst out.
AY: I think you know that many people consider you a late bloomer; that you became an excellent actress late in your career. In your memory, have you felt that fate has held you back? Or perhaps, felt that this kind of restrain made you feel like you needed to work harder?
Tong Yao: I would still like to use Gu Jia from Nothing But Thirty as an example. Why would I say this? Because I wasn't the person they originally casted for this role. Right, and then I think it was because of some... [overlap with interviewer] ...right, right, right, and then it fell on my head. During production, because we didn't have a lot of time to prepare, I remember that slight over a week after I got the script, we started shooting. Like I mentioned earlier, I felt that there were several things about this character that I felt were difficult to act because there was a large gap between her and me. What I think is that it also needed a lot of effort in the later stages to complete this role. Of course, it's not just me, the whole team had to work hard.
[Translator note: She didn't exactly answer the question, I think she lost her trend of thought. I suspect what she was trying to say is that no matter what, even if you were fortunate enough to get a break, you still have to work hard to turn this break into something successful.]
AY: Gu Jia is someone who can balance work and life very well. How do you balance your work and life. Have you set standards, or rules, for yourself?
Tong Yao: Actually for me, in the past few years, my working time is almost seven or eight months, at most, eight or nine months per year. I don't fill it up till it's full. I won't let it get to a point when it feels like my life is just about work. I think that I still need a time to recharge and rest, so that I can spend time with my family, go to the movies, watch TV, exercise, and travel. I think being an actor, yes, you need to have these... [AY: leave some blank space] ...yes, yes, or you'll be drained by the character.
AY: You also love to go to exhibitions.
AY: Gu Jia is someone who can balance work and life very well. How do you balance your work and life. Have you set standards, or rules, for yourself?
Tong Yao: Actually for me, in the past few years, my working time is almost seven or eight months, at most, eight or nine months per year. I don't fill it up till it's full. I won't let it get to a point when it feels like my life is just about work. I think that I still need a time to recharge and rest, so that I can spend time with my family, go to the movies, watch TV, exercise, and travel. I think being an actor, yes, you need to have these... [AY: leave some blank space] ...yes, yes, or you'll be drained by the character.
AY: You also love to go to exhibitions.
Tong Yao: Right! Yes!
AY: This question is also quite interesting. Can you describe something in your life that you are desperate to achieve. I'm not asking gossipy questions.
Tong Yao: I don't think I have. I'm not so competitive. I will work hard and do my best but I won't set myself against the whole world.
[Translator note: part of this answer was used in the tease.]
AY: That's good. Always leave some space for yourself. Everyone experiences some failure in their lives, I'm sure you have too. What have you learnt from failure?
Tong Yao: I don't particularly like the words "failure" or "success". What does failure mean? Does it mean that if an actor isn't popular, does it mean that they have failed? Or if an actor decides to leave the industry and career, does that mean that they have failed? I don't think so. I feel that even if he is no longer an actor, he could possibly be living a more wonderful life now. So I believe, that no matter when, as long as in your heart you have not given up on life, then you have not failed.
[Translator's note: This answer was also used in the teaser.]
AY: How do you present your personal style in your life? How do you express your own style?
Tong Yao: I think the best style is definitely the style that suits you best. It's the kind of thing that feels the most comfortable and pleasing from within yourself. I think style is lived out and is not based on performance.
[Translator's note: the section starting from here till the indicated end was used in the Introduction after the tease. There are a few more questions after this pull-out section ends.]
AY: I should know a little about the answer to this question. What interests you the most in life?
Tong Yao: Me? In my life... I prefer travelling.
AY: Ah yes, diving?
Tong Yao: Yes, go travelling. Also, for example, in Shanghai, I can go to exhibitions, stroll on the street, eat some good food, meet up with friends. I feel that these things are the more interesting things in my life.
AY: How long has it been since you've gone diving?
Tong Yao: Oh a long time, since the beginning of the pandemic.
AY: I hope the pandemic will get better soon.
Tong Yao: Yes, it'll return to normalcy.
[the section of the interview used in the Introduction, ends here.]
AY: Through daily observation of life and through work, Tong Yao feels that the profession of an actor is not only based on skills and experience, but more importantly, it comes from the accumulation of experiences in life. She is a chill person who pursues her own style.. In the past two years of the epidemic, she will not schedule her work till it fills up her life, and deliberately sets aside some time for herself to accompany her family and self reflect. For the future, she hopes that the world that has been interrupted by the epidemic can be reconnected, and measures for healthier, greener, and more sustainable development can be implemented.
AY: Through daily observation of life and through work, Tong Yao feels that the profession of an actor is not only based on skills and experience, but more importantly, it comes from the accumulation of experiences in life. She is a chill person who pursues her own style.. In the past two years of the epidemic, she will not schedule her work till it fills up her life, and deliberately sets aside some time for herself to accompany her family and self reflect. For the future, she hopes that the world that has been interrupted by the epidemic can be reconnected, and measures for healthier, greener, and more sustainable development can be implemented.
AY: There are still many uncertainties in the current global epidemic. The world seems to be at a crossroads, in fact, many of us have been thinking a lot since the beginning. So, in the coming year, or rather, in the near future, what kind of changes do you hope to see in the world.
Tong Yao: I hope that we can restart global travel again. [laughs] And then...
Tong Yao: I hope that we can restart global travel again. [laughs] And then...
AY: You've returned to you... diving again...
Tong Yao: Right... back to a normal sense of freedom. I think it is necessary to reconnect the world that has been interrupted by the epidemic. I also hope to see measures that are more environmentally friendly, healthy and sustainable. Otherwise, I think the burden on the earth will be particularly heavy.
AY: Yes, indeed I think that everyone should protect the environment because this is related to the earth on which we live. So for you personally, has this epidemic brought any turning points or changes in your life?
Tong Yao: The epidemic made me feel that all the things that we thought were so important previously became less important now. Instead, we care more about the important people around us, such as our family and friends, even our neighbors, how well they are doing.
AY: Thank you Tong Yao. It was a very pleasant conversation
Tong Yao: Right... back to a normal sense of freedom. I think it is necessary to reconnect the world that has been interrupted by the epidemic. I also hope to see measures that are more environmentally friendly, healthy and sustainable. Otherwise, I think the burden on the earth will be particularly heavy.
AY: Yes, indeed I think that everyone should protect the environment because this is related to the earth on which we live. So for you personally, has this epidemic brought any turning points or changes in your life?
Tong Yao: The epidemic made me feel that all the things that we thought were so important previously became less important now. Instead, we care more about the important people around us, such as our family and friends, even our neighbors, how well they are doing.
AY: Thank you Tong Yao. It was a very pleasant conversation
Tong Yao: Thank you, Amy.
AY: You're listening to Giorgio Armani's brand new project, The Crossroads Podcast. The interviewer and host for this issue is INSTYLE magazine editor, Amy Yao. Produced by Jonathan Zenti (sp?) from Milan.
END OF INTERVIEW
AY: You're listening to Giorgio Armani's brand new project, The Crossroads Podcast. The interviewer and host for this issue is INSTYLE magazine editor, Amy Yao. Produced by Jonathan Zenti (sp?) from Milan.
END OF INTERVIEW
My thoughts:
Tong Yao does strike me as a pretty grounded and cheerful person. She does generally come across as quite earnest, sincere and down-to-earth in most of the interviews I've watched. Some of her views on life seem pretty zen too. She seems to be fiercely private too because except for the commonly known fact that she loves diving and travelling, she practically never talks about anything too personal. I don't know why, but I seem to like several actresses that like diving. 😂 Tong Yao is an avid diver. Toda Erika dives too and so does Kimura Fumino. 😅 
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