In 2022, "I Still Think You're the Best" will be released, which not only won the box office champion of Hong Kong comedy in the history of Hong Kong films, but also exceeded 100 million at the box office when it was released in the mainland, and the Douban score once rose to 81 point, and was nominated for 11 Hong Kong Film Awards.
Two years later, "I Still Think You're the Best 2" was released on February 24 during this year's Lantern Festival, the movie is still directed by Chen Yongshen, Deng Lixin, Zhang Jicong, Wang Yunzhi, Lin Mingzhen, Chen Zhanwen and other leading actors all returned, the story continues the previous work, the home of this story came to the wedding banquet from the dinner table, and the men and women who are afraid of marriage have accidentally stepped into the love adventure of marriage. In the previous work, Lin Mingzhen played the eldest brother (played by Huang Zihua) and brought back the heartthrob girlfriend Meow, who was very popular because of her coquettishness and thoughtfulness, but this big brother left home and went overseas, and the direction of the lonely Meow's relationship has also become a major attraction of the film.
Lin Mingzhen's "I Still Think You're the Best 2" was released on February 24 during this year's Lantern Festival.
Born in Malaysia, Lim Ming Ching debuted as a singer, actress and model. In the "I Still Think You're the Best" series of movies, Lin Mingzhen played Ah Meow with a fresh and beautiful and delicate image with short hair, speaking Cantonese that is not fluent, and caring for every member of the big family enthusiastically and considerately, leaving a deep impression on the audience.
For Lin Mingzhen, it is a lucky thing to be known by more audiences, but she will not be obsessed with how the future will be planned and whether it will be more popular, she is more willing to pay attention to the present than the unknown future: "I don't think I need to know the future, just enjoy the present and grasp the present." I have always liked comedy, and it is a blessing for an actor to have the opportunity to make comedy, and this time I filmed "I Still Think You're the Best 2", I found that I really fell in love with filming, and I hope that there will be more such roles that can make everyone laugh, and I can also discover a different self. ”
If the first time he played Ah Meow was described as "confused", and when he returned again in the second part, Lin Mingzhen felt that he was "much more down-to-earth". When filming the previous film, she didn't know who the co-actors were at first, so she had a mentality of "actually experiencing a free acting class", and the newborn calf was not afraid of tigers, so she just wanted to give it a try.
During the filming process, she also encountered the biggest challenge - speaking Cantonese dialogues, she almost can't speak Cantonese, she has to memorize every day and do her line homework: "Cantonese has nine sounds, each word needs English pinyin, and then design punctuation, a lot of lines and exercises are really difficult for me, and then I decided that I was going to star, only to know that this time I am working with all the 'god-level' senior actors, this time I was very nervous." Frankly, that tension has been haunting me all the time, and it hasn't lessened even after filming, so it's very stressful for me to play Meow. ”
Coming to "I Still Think You're the Best 2", Lin Mingzhen said that the feeling of her performance this time was completely different, and she was a lot more practical, plus she was already familiar with everyone, and the tacit understanding established before gave her a lot of courage: "In the first episode, I focused on myself, and in the second episode, I enjoyed playing with everyone at the moment, I think the filming process is more precious, and I have gained a lot." ”
Before starring in the "I Still Think You're the Best" series of movies, Lin Mingzhen also participated in many film and television dramas, often showing her with short hair, and dressing always gives people the intimacy of an approachable girl next door. Because of her role as Meow, she was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards, and became the object of discussion among the audience.
Beijing News: This time, Ah Meow is still as kind and warm as a little angel, she is the role that attaches the most importance to family unity, how do you shape the character in a relaxed and natural state?
Lin Mingzhen:It's not easy at all, it's really "so hard"!(laughs) Although I have a sense of steadfastness during the filming of this part, I actually feel quite stressed, because the big guy (big brother) is no longer (going overseas alone), which is a big blow to Meow, and her emotions are very complicated, just like the sentence in the previous work - "The person who desperately wants everyone to be happy is actually the one who is the least happy." Meow's mood is very complicated, on the one hand, she is happy for her eldest brother "Open the door, go out, go far";On the other hand, the eldest brother disappeared without saying a word, which made Meow very helpless. In addition to her own emotions, there are many things to solve at home, so she feels that "I am a sister-in-law, so I should carry everything", so she put her emotions aside and took care of the problems of other family members first. In fact, the harder you hold up, the more you pretend to be okay, and the more you hurt deeply, so this performance should control your emotions well, even if your expression is a little exaggerated, your heart is actually holding on.
Beijing News: Showing nothing on the outside and breaking down and forbearance on the inside is a big challenge for performance, how do you meet this performance challenge?
Lin Mingzhen:Starting from the background of the characters, I think Meow's character comes from the influence of her original family, she has to take care of the family since she was a child, take care of her two younger sisters, plus she came out to work when she was young, and she is also very good at observing words and feelings, she is used to taking care of others, although she always says to others not to hold it hard, but she has been supporting herself, so there is the scene of the emotional outburst later (in the end, because of the dispute between the family, Meow excitedly said her opinion).
Beijing News: The most noteworthy thing about this character is her cute movements, the most signature "kiss one, mua, mua, good" plus the heart, which is very impressive, did you invent this action?
Lin Mingzhen:When I received the script at that time, I thought Meow was very cute at first sight, she was similar to me in many ways, and the director's script was written "kiss one, yes", and I was thinking about how to interpret this action so that it would be less annoying and unpretentious. After that, we designed different "kiss one, yes" movements in front of the mirror every day, and sometimes I couldn't stand myself in front of the mirror, and I did a lot of different actions, and I didn't feel satisfied.
In the end, I tried to put the recently popular comparison of hearts, and I felt that I kissed one, one here, one there, and added a sentence of "好嘢 (Cantonese, meaning so powerful)", and the whole was very smooth. Later, when the performance was shown to the director and all the actors, everyone laughed happily, and I thought that this action should be successful, but I was surprised that there was such a good response later.
Meow's classic coquettish action in the film.
Beijing News: After playing Meow, everyone will think that Lin Mingzhen is like her, she loves to be hairy, cute, it seems that the character has been integrated with you, do you think you are very similar to Meow?
Lin Mingzhen:I speak in private with a deeper timbre, because Meow is younger than me, and she has a slightly higher timbre, so I will turn up my voice a little higher when I act. Especially she loves to say "overlapping words", I used to talk to my family like this when I was at home, "eating", "it's so difficult" and so on, and it was even more serious after playing her. The last thing we are like should be the emotional aspect, Meow has 18 boyfriends, I don't have it, and the love experience is definitely not as rich as hers. In addition, Meow is a foodie, she likes to analyze the best cuisine, and she is very excited when she eats delicious food, and I am like this, especially when I eat delicious things, I will react greatly, which is also an instinctive reaction of mine.
"If only I had half the courage of Meow".
I still think you are the best" series has a deep meaning for Lin Mingzhen, she understands what acting is all about, and she has learned a lot from the character: "Frankly speaking, when I interpret Meow, I feel very free and enjoy playing her every minute and every second." The character is really brave, she's steadfast in what she does, and I really admire her courage. Sometimes I think to myself, if only I had half of Meow. Playing her will have some impact on my life, and I was immersed in the world of Meow during the months of research and filming, and even now, when I encounter some difficulties, I think, 'What would she think if it was Meow', she has given me a lot of positive influences. ”
Beijing News: The ending of this part is open-ended, Meow chooses to go out to find the eldest brother, how do you understand this setting?
Lin Mingzhen:Maybe everyone doesn't understand her approach, and I am also confused, and I talked to the director for a long time before filming. At first, I thought that Meow would not go to the big brother, and I was thinking about how to convince myself to complete that scene. Later, I thought that the ending should leave room for the audience's imagination, and there can be many interpretations of "why Meow went to find a big brother". And my own understanding is that the eldest brother is very different in Meow's heart, she has always paid attention to the eldest brother, and because of the influence of the other party, she has the motivation to grow into such a good and wonderful girl now. In the end, she met her eldest brother, and this love is no longer as simple as pure liking. Meow said, "If you say goodbye, you must say goodbye", she wants to make it clear to her eldest brother in person, so that she can sort out her mood, put everything down, and then focus on herself.
Lin Mingzhen thinks that it is good to be praised for being beautiful, but she pursues both inside and outside.
Beijing News: One of the themes of "I Still Think You're the Best 2" is the power of family, this time I joined hands with the previous "god-level seniors" again, what kind of performance support did they give you?
Lin Mingzhen:I remember the scene where Meow had an emotional outburst at the end, because we filmed from the afternoon to the next morning, and it was already 9 o'clock the next morning when we arrived at this scene, and everyone was exhausted at that time, and I was also very tired and had no energy. But this scene is very important, it requires a lot of emotion and energy, which causes me to have a lot of psychological burden and is very nervous, and the effect I want to achieve is to vent my emotions in one shot, and I can't break it in the middle, I'm afraid that I can't find the state to enter the character's emotions. At that time, Zhang Jicong (as the second brother) saw my nervousness, and he told me, "Mingzhen, don't be afraid, don't worry, we will accompany you to act", that sentence gave me a lot of courage, and I am also very grateful to Deng Lixin (playing the second brother's girlfriend), even if there is no camera of her, she also gave me encouraging eyes and tone on the side, so that I was completely immersed in the world of Meow. Later, that scene passed in one shot, thank you for accompanying me so much, this is what the family did together.
Beijing News: There will always be some comments that it is difficult for beautiful people to have acting skills, do you feel anxious about the label of "beautiful"?
Lin Mingzhen:I don't think I'm very good at acting, and there is a lot of room for improvement at any time. But if people think you're beautiful, I think it's a big compliment, and there's nothing bad about it, but I'm more interested in both inside and out, after all, it's too difficult to keep you beautiful.
Beijing News: If there is a third movie, will you choose to return?
Lin Mingzhen:Let's give the second episode to the audience first, and as for the sequel, I also kept staring at the director in private (laughs), and when I asked him, he also thought, "You still think you're the best 2" first.