In the TV drama industry, the word "Sun Li" is almost synonymous with quality. The characters she portrays always leave a deep impression on the audience. From Zhen Huan, who grew up in love and power in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", to Fang Sijin, who is ambitious and proud in "Home", she has been looking for "interesting" characters and stories. Recently, in the TV series "A Pretty Good Life", she transformed herself into a 39-year-old insurance practitioner Hu Manli, bringing surprises to the audience again.
Stills of Sun Li as Hu Manli in "A Good Life"
This drama focuses on the insurance industry, but is not limited to the industry itself. It tells the ups and downs of the marriage and career of a middle-aged woman named Hu Manli. Her story can reflect the life difficulties of countless ordinary people. In the interview, Sun Li shared her behind-the-scenes experience of portraying Hu Manli.
She said that in order to play this role well, she learned a lot about the industry by relying on the experiences of many relatives and friends who are insurance practitioners around her. From the difficulty of insurers in maintaining customer relationships to the many "extra efforts" that insurers make to issue policies, Sun Li can empathize with them, which also provided a solid foundation for her to interpret Hu Manli's behavioral logic.
Stills from "A Good Life"
From "Home" to "Ideal City" and then to "A Good Life", Sun Li's career dramas are no longer simply about showing workplace life, but more about focusing on the struggles of characters in society and life. Compared with the career women she played before, the character of Hu Manli is older and more experienced, and her choices when facing difficulties are also completely different.
Sun Li recalled that when she first read the script, she was moved by Hu Manli's forward-looking attitude towards life. She hopes to convey to the audience the courage to face setbacks and the positive attitude to solve problems through this role. "This whole story is about how Hu Manli is in harmony with herself. From the beginning, she always 'looked outward', to turning around and starting to 'look inward', she became more and more peaceful, and she knew more and more who she was and what her mission was in this world."
Sun Li accepted media interviews
【dialogue】
Hu Manli is like a friend or neighbor of mine
Q: Before performing, did you talk to insurance practitioners, get advice from them, or experience life?
Sun Li: For example, in Under the Clouds, I went to the criminal police brigade. When I was filming Home, I went to the agency to experience life. But I didn’t do that for this drama. I just asked the crew to arrange a morning meeting at the insurance company, because I think I know insurance people very well. My aunt used to work in insurance, and many of my friends work in insurance. I also buy insurance myself, so I know a lot of people in the industry. So I know their living and working conditions very well.
The job of an insurer is not just to sell you an insurance policy. In addition to insurance, they also need to have more exchanges with you. Because my premium is not just for one year, sometimes it takes five, ten or twenty years, so the insurer must always maintain this relationship. And they also have to think about whether they can open a second or third policy in addition to opening this one.
So, just like what Hu Manli said in the play, in order to get a bill, I would even catch a cheating for my client. If the client is a gallery owner, I would also need to learn how to maintain the artwork. If there is a paralyzed elderly person at home, I would like to take care of the elderly for you. Xue Xiaozhou said in the play with contempt: If the toilet at the client's home is broken, does he still need to go to fix it? But if the client really asked Hu Manli to fix the toilet, it means that they are very close and she is very happy. So when an insurer issues a bill, he has to pay a lot of extra added value to make that bill.
Stills from "A Good Life"
Stills from "A Good Life"
Q: Are there any stories of your friends incorporated into the character details in this play?
Sun Li: I think Hu Manli is rich enough. Our screenwriter is originally from Shanghai, and our producer is also one of the literary planners, and he also provided a lot of details. So when we were discussing the script, I felt that I already had a good feeling for this character. And mainly because of Hu Manli's life state, she is more like a friend or neighbor around me, so I don't feel that she is far away from me. I feel that there is no sense of distance between her many little thoughts and many behaviors.
In this industry, as Hu Manli said, she does not have a basic salary, she earns as much as she works. So she knows that my efforts determine my income this month. She will work very hard for her career. So sometimes in the eyes of others, it seems like she will do anything to get an order. But you know what? Not everyone can do insurance. Like Hu Manli, she may be born with such a personality, which is to make people believe and feel close to her. This is a kind of life ability. They can provide emotional value to people, and people are willing to give them money. The first big order of 8 million yuan that Hu Manli opened was to drive 120 miles per hour on the highway on a rainy day and accompany the client to catch an adulterer. She won the trust and gratitude of the client. This is really a talent.
Q: Can you talk about your collaboration with Dong Zijian (who plays Xue Xiaozhou)?
Sun Li: Our play was originally called "3928". Hu Manli is 39 years old and Xue Xiaozhou is 28 years old. We are in different age groups and have different attitudes towards life and work. Xue Xiaozhou is a new generation of insurance practitioners. He thinks professionalism is very important. I am an old generation of insurance practitioners. I think social skills are very important. You have to win people's hearts. But later we found that we can work together and achieve a perfect balance. We have absorbed some inspiration from life and work from each other, and we are in harmony with each other and balanced with each other.
I think he is perfect for this role because he looks innocent, cute, and silly. Sometimes I have to scold him in the play, and I feel embarrassed. When he is next to me, I always want to protect him, and the state of being a big sister in life comes out. In the play, he and Hu Manli share a house, and they often play and fight with my son in the play, so sometimes I treat him as my son, and feel like I am raising two sons.
His character in the play lacked love in his family since childhood. His father cheated on his wife and died, and his mother became a vegetable and later died. He lived in a loveless environment with no one to support him. But Hu Manli was able to support him all the time and provide him with a lot of emotional value. For Hu Manli, I just regarded him as a younger brother, a teacher and a friend, like a family.
Stills of Sun Li and Dong Zijian's rivalry in "A Pretty Good Life"
Stills of Sun Li and Dong Zijian's rivalry in "A Pretty Good Life"
Q: How would director Wang Jun talk to you about the play?
Sun Li: He would point out many of my acting habits, hoping that we would not see Sun Li, but more Hu Manli. But Xiao Dong and I would often laugh on set, because the state of this character would infect you and make you laugh. We often told the director to scold us to calm us down. But sometimes the director was reluctant and wanted to laugh with us.
I benefited a lot from the director's grasp of many scenes. He said that sometimes I react too quickly, and my brain works too fast. Sometimes I respond too quickly, which makes the character seem too smart; sometimes I slow down a little, which is the proper reaction of the character. So as an actor, I sometimes have to slightly break the inherent rhythm of the performance.
Q: Some viewers are questioning whether it is necessary to win back a cheating husband? Does a woman need to be so tolerant?
Sun Li: That may be because she has not experienced the trials of society. In fact, when you have had so many beautiful things, when they are broken, sometimes you will want to grasp the lost beauty, even if it is just an illusion, and hope that it will continue to exist. Hu Manli just can't accept it, and she just wants to keep her husband in her life. People have the inertia of life. We all say that there is no creation without destruction, but the process of being broken and growing again is very painful, and it should be presented.
Everyone needs a friend like Hu Manli
Q: From "An Jia" to "Ideal City" and then to "Pretty Good Life", do you think there are any changes in professional dramas over the years?
Sun Li: I think a professional drama is just a shell. It is more about a person's struggle in society and the ups and downs he goes through in life. I asked the director before filming began, "Is this a workplace drama or a life drama?" It has both. We later said that it is more like a story happening around us, because our lives cannot be perfectly divided into work and life, they are often intertwined.
Q: How is this role different from other working women you have played before?
Sun Li: She is older than them, so she has experienced more seasons and tasted more ups and downs than them, so her life choices will be different from theirs. For example, Fang Sijin and Su Xiao, they are in a state where one person feeds the whole family and does not worry about it, as long as they live well. But for Hu Manli, who is 39 years old and has a family, children and parents, she does not have so many choices. When she encounters difficulties, she does not have so much time to express her emotions. Life does not allow it. If you cry for a long time and feel sad for a long time, it will completely affect your efficiency in making money.
So I think what moved me most about Hu Manli is that she can always look forward, not waste time, and she always has her own way. When I was reading the script, I always wanted to see how she would deal with this matter, how to solve it, and what her attitude towards life is? Her sadness and happiness are particularly touching to me.
After her scene of cleaning the trophy, a typhoon blew the next morning. Hu Manli was still immersed in the sadness of divorce, but she was still sending WeChat messages to clients, asking them to pay attention to the typhoon, and her emojis were all laughing. The contrast made me feel very sad. Then she came to the office, and her assistant asked her why her eyes were swollen. She said she drank too much water, and then immediately started to solve work problems. Throughout the drama, she never lay flat on the bed in the bedroom. She was either working, cooking, mopping the floor, or educating her son.
I think she only has a few moments to return to her own state of mind, and she will shed a few tears, and that is when she is herself. But middle-aged people don’t even have time to be vulnerable, and you can’t pay attention to your own emotions.
Stills from "A Good Life"
Q: What do you most want to convey to the audience through this character?
Sun Li: The courage to face setbacks, the attitude towards things. What kind of life is a good life? I think whether it is good or not depends on your attitude towards things. Why do some people get over it when something happens to them, but others can't? That's because our views on things and the paths we choose are very different. Hu Manli's attitude is: I want to solve the problem. She knows that emotions are useless. Life brings me troubles, it doesn't matter, I will solve them one by one. She is absolutely not self-defeating. I think everyone needs a friend like Hu Manli.
Moreover, Hu Manli never shies away from her true self. I am vain and I love money, but nothing can affect my making money. Making money is very important to her life and it is the basis of her life. After losing her job, she was anxious every day. When I read the script, I asked how to make the audience feel Hu Manli's sense of economic urgency in the script. I said that the audience must see very clear numbers so that they can feel the urgency and pressure of her life.
In the past, characters in TV dramas might be ashamed to talk about money, but now why not? They all get it through their own hard work, and money is really important. What I like most about Hu Manli is that she will never be ashamed to talk about her desires, and she is very honest with herself.
