[2010.06.21] WEN ZHANG SWIMS FOR OCEAN HEAVEN

DWELLING NARROWNESS' rising young Mainland actor Wen Zhang in the autistic family story film OCEAN HEAVEN played father and son with international superstar Jet Li (Lee Nin Kit)! Wen Zhang honestly said that he had no pressure in front of Lee Nin Kit because Lee was not arrogant at. Instead from him he learned about professionalism. Earlier Wen Zhang with OCEAN defeated Lee Nin Kit to win the Shanghai International Film Festival warm up race new film Media Award Best Actor!

The 26 year old Weng Zhang in OCEAN plays a 22 autism sufferer and has a series of scenes with Lee Nin Kit who plays his terminal liver cancer, not long for the world father. In reality already a father of one, Wen Zhang plays meticulously the relationship between his autistic character and his father. Actually he put in a lot of hard work before hand. "Before and during the shoot, I kept in contact with autistic people and studied their behavior. In the film I had less than ten lines. Later I thought of gestures as a channel to express happiness or sorrow. Honestly, after making this film, I really didn't want to speak for 1 or 2 months!" Was studying the character was the most difficult? "No, this is what an actor should do. Instead playing a swimming expert in the film was hard for me because I don't know how to swim! Before the shoot I spent a month, along with 5 or 6 year classmates I swam for several thousand meters nonstop daily. Finally I learned!"

Was working with the international superstar Lee Nin Kit very stressful? Wen Zhang said, "Before meeting him I would be nervous, but after I wouldn't. Although he is internationally known, he isn't arrogant at all. He is nice and full of performance experience. With him leading me into the performance, naturally I can play it. In addition from him I learned how professionalism is! I remember in one scene we father and son had to jump into the sea. At the time the weather already turned

cold and had to get wet. He without saying anything grabbed a bucket of sea water and poured it from head to toe. That type of spirit affected our entire team to get into the production completely."

In addition, OCEAN director and writer Xue Xiaolu honestly said that she appreciated Lee Nin Kit for not taking any salary to make this film. Otherwise it definitely would not have been made. Lee Nin Kit's delicate interpretation completely met her requirement and she was very

satisfied. "Lee Nin Kit never had any big star halo, his attitude was great. He absolutely wasn't arrogant. After working with him I discover that he is a simple and easy going person." Would she worry about the film return and box office issues? She honestly said that she and Lee Nin Kit were of the same mind. She only hoped that this film would be able to bring attention to people with autism and their families. She joked, "Hopefully non commercial films have room for survival!"