From Wei Wuxian to Cang Hai: His eyes will "evolve"

After the release of the trailer for Xiao Zhanshan's new drama “Hidden Sea Biography”, his eye acting triggered a hot debate on the Internet. In the camera, he stood in the snow and wind in a plain robe, his eyes have both cruelty and pathos, but also stoicism and power, as if “with the eyes in the murder”. Netizens teased: “Xiao Zhan this pair of eyes, can single resistance a power plot drama!”

Compared to the heartbreaking eyes of a teenager in “Order of Love”, the eyes of Zanghai in “Legend of Zanghai” are a textbook of power and strategy for adults. Ten years ago, when the tragedy of the extermination of the family reoccurred, he was huddled in the ruins, his pupils trembling but biting his lips, his cries turned into a sneer. Ten years later as the cabinet minister, facing the enemy, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, but the coldness in the bottom of his eyes let the audience back cold.

Director Zheng Xiaolong revealed that Xiao Zhan had to adjust his muscles in front of the mirror every day in order to develop his “Zanghai-style eyes”, and even used “staring at candles” to practice focusing. In the trailer, the sentence “I want the world no more injustice”, he did not raise his eyelids, only by the end of the eyes fluttering and rolling throat, the avenger's desperate to play the hairs on the head.

The character of Zanghai is the ceiling of the costume drama persona - both avenger and a powerful minister. Xiao Zhan accurately stepped on this sense of contradiction: when walking alone on a snowy night, his back is erect but lonely; when confronting in the court, he raises his eyes with a sharp edge, and even his sneer is carefully measured.

The best part is the “tears in laughter” scene. When he learned that his enemy was executed, he laughed to the sky, his eyes red, a tear hanging but not falling, turned into a choke in his throat. This “pain to the extreme anti-laughing” interpretation, so that the original fans exclaimed: “the book written in the ‘crazy batch of beauty’, Xiao Zhaoban with his eyes materialized!”

Xiao Zhan is better at “detail control acting”. In the drama, he broke with his best friend in the clip, his back to the camera, but the audience can read from the trembling eyelashes and veins of repressed anger and disappointment. Zheng Xiaolong exclaimed, “Some actors fill the screen with lines, but Xiao Zhan can make the air freeze with a downcast eye.”

This kind of “microscopic acting” has been around for a long time. In Jade Bone Remote, when Shadow was stabbed through the heart, his eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings falling; in Dreaming of the Sea, Xiao Chunsheng learned of his father's condition, and turned around instantly with red eyes, but forced a smile. In “The Sea of Dreams”, Xiao Chunsheng's eyes turn red when he learns of his father's illness, but he forces a smile. In “The Legend of the Hidden Sea”, his eyes can even distinguish between “calculation” and “sincerity”.

Before the broadcast of “Hidden Sea”, Xiao Zhan's “eye skill” has already made the list of hot searches. An acting variety show even cut his eye scene into a textbook, analyzing frame by frame “how to use 0.5 seconds to complete the emotional transition”. Fans teased: “Suggested that the internal entertainment to open ‘XiaoZhan eye imitation class’!”

Xiao Zhan used his strength to break the prejudice of “top stream without acting skills”. From being mocked by the crowd to being recognized as a god, he welded himself to the chair of the power faction with the moment of his eyes flowing. Some people say that Xiao Zhan's eyes hide “52 episodes of a serial drama” - every time he lowers his eyes, raises his eyes, and gazes, the character's soul trembles. When other actors are still using lines to tell a story, he has advanced to the realm of “writing poetry with his eyes”.

Zanghai biography” in May is about to start broadcasting, this ‘eye skills’ feast is destined to set off a new round of drama frenzy. After all, who can refuse a cabinet minister who “kills with his eyes without a knife”?