Wu Kang-ren’s first Chinese TV series, 'Dangerous Liaisons', in which he stars alongside Sun Li, has received critical acclaim but underperformed in terms of viewership. Perhaps the PUA (Pick-Up Artist/manipulation) theme is too novel, resulting in low audience acceptance and disappointing ratings. However, Wu Kang-ren’s exquisite acting has won over many Chinese viewers. Not only is his chemistry with Sun Li hailed as textbook-grade, he has also been praised as the best actor at playing a psychopathic character. This may come as a comfort to Wu Kang-ren, who once hesitated about whether to take on the role. In an earlier interview with iQIYI, he shared this emotional journey and revealed that he weighed many considerations before accepting the part. Nevertheless, the decisive push came from a few words by internationally renowned director Ang Lee, which inspired him to take on the challenge.
Wu Kang-ren’s character, “Luo Liang,” is skilled at PUA manipulation due to childhood experiences, and as an adult, wields even more psychological control over others — especially since he is a psychologist who fully understands how to manipulate people’s minds. What’s scarier is that Luo Liang relishes his own pathological nature. When he first received the script, Wu Kang-ren felt it was extremely challenging and worried he might not be able to pull it off or that his performance would fall into clichés.
Mindset Shift After Best Actor Win
However, in 2023, after winning Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards for 'Abang Adik', at his celebration banquet, he received words of encouragement from Ang Lee, which became a key turning point for him in choosing this role. At the time, Ang Lee encouraged Wu Kang-ren to experiment with different things, saying, 'It’s better to make mistakes than to let yourself become boring.' For Wu Kang-ren, who always strives for breakthroughs in his acting, this instantly made him feel understood.
These words struck a chord with Wu Kang-ren: 'It’s as if he (Ang Lee) saw what you’ve been trying to do in recent years; maybe you haven’t done everything perfectly, but he believes what you’re doing is good, and that you’re moving in the right direction.'
Source: Apple Online News
Mindset Shift After Best Actor Win
However, in 2023, after winning Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards for 'Abang Adik', at his celebration banquet, he received words of encouragement from Ang Lee, which became a key turning point for him in choosing this role. At the time, Ang Lee encouraged Wu Kang-ren to experiment with different things, saying, 'It’s better to make mistakes than to let yourself become boring.' For Wu Kang-ren, who always strives for breakthroughs in his acting, this instantly made him feel understood.
These words struck a chord with Wu Kang-ren: 'It’s as if he (Ang Lee) saw what you’ve been trying to do in recent years; maybe you haven’t done everything perfectly, but he believes what you’re doing is good, and that you’re moving in the right direction.'
Source: Apple Online News