WAVES漫潮 Magazine

Wen Junhui: JUN says

Wen Junhui remembers his groupmate from SEVENTEEN telling him, he feels that he can already see how everyone is like when they are 30 years old. Because no matter their age, the thirteen of them will always strive to improve. Wen Junhui recalls a character that he really loved since young from the novels by Jin Yong: Old Imp.* He thought, it's good just like that too, retaining an innocent/child-like heart forever.Before the age of 30, just like how he walked in and out of the life of Lingchao, Wen Junhui still has many opportunities to walk into the lives of many fictional characters. But now, let us hear him tell us about this year of his real life.

[T/N: 'Old Imp' is a nickname for the character Zhou Botong, who appears in the Chinese novelist Jin Yong's novels: 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' and 'The Return of the Condor Heroes']

It is our nature

On the day of the end of filming for « Exclusive Fairytale », the director told Wen Junhui, the constant harmonious atmosphere within the filming crew is largely due to the credit of Wen Junhui.“ It's actually quite gratifying to hear that. Because I think if everyone is harmonious in a working environment, always looking forward and happy, then the final product will be even more positive and there will be a healing effect. If we are not even able to heal ourselves, how can we heal others. ”It is in Wen Junhui's nature to care for the production set's atmosphere. Self proclaiming that he and the word 'social phobia' do not get along, Wen Junhui belongs to the type who is naturally active and positive in interpersonal communication. Usually in SEVENTEEN, the 'mental maknae' gets very used to taking on the 'reconciler' role. Because as an actor, he had debuted very early on and had many film and television performance experiences. So this time coming to a young film crew consisting of more people who are 90 liners onwards, it is not a surprise that he who already has a rich experience, is able to help lighten the atmosphere within the film crew.Wen Junhui says, he believes in cause and effect, you reap what you sow. “ Whatever you sow, you'll reap whatever is possible. For example, the relationship between people is a tree, although no one can guarantee that what grows will all be good, but at least I have planted the tree, I will water it with the utmost care. ”The outcome may not always be satisfactory, but Wen Junhui does not regret every experience of 'planting trees'. “ I dare to take action. You must not be afraid in communication, if you don't even dare to take the first step, how will you know how it develops behind? ”Interacting with others, Wen Junhui is willing to take initiative and put in effort within a certain extent regardless of gains or losses. For work matters, he has a relatively cautious 'learning curve'. When the shoot started, we realized that although Wen Junhui was outgoing in personality, he was not 'overly familiar'. Afterwards when we talked about the first day we met, he expressed that he wasn't nervous then, but was hoping that he's able to get familiar with everyone via a slightly proper manner in a new working environment.After getting familiar, Wen Junhui's lively side started to show, from talking about the food at the venue being really good, to the SEVENTEEN members participating in the little bits in his life.

“ Fairytale ” Test

Being an actor was Wen Junhui's aspiration since young, with the role of autistic child 'Lin ZhiHong' in « The Pye-Dog », the young Wen Junhui was nominated for the Best New Performer Award in the 2008 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and won the Best New Actor Silver Award in the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild, creating a beautiful starting point for his acting career path.But all ambitious aspirations, fall beneath the feet. Steadily moving forward under the guide of his interest, it's Wen Junhui's guide to action then.People who don't know may think that « Exclusive Fairytale » is a (drama) where a member of an idol group is acting in a school drama series as the 'usual practice', not to mention to Wen Junhui who has acting experiences, this seems like a choice that is too 'easy'.As a matter of fact, this role is full of challenges.Firstly, the personalities of Wen Junhui and Lingchao are vastly different, to say it with exaggeration, one is ice and the other is fire. Everyone talks about their characters outside of filming, he even jokingly said, as compared to the male lead's personality, he is more similar to the personality of the female lead.“ Both our mental states are completely different. Wen Junhui's frequency is like this, at this frequency. ” He pointed to himself, “ But Lingchao's frequency is here. ” He used his hand to point at a lower level.Putting aside the fluctuating complicated personalities of the character, firstly, the tonality of both people are already not the same.The read-through before the start of filming, and communicating with the director through video calls previously, it's all to find the feeling of Lingchao that the director has in mind, blending in the character image into every detail. “ Lingchao's actions are much less than Wen Junhui's, the number of words spoken are also much less than Wen Junhui. For voice, the tone of my own voice is higher, which is like how I'm speaking right now. But for Lingchao, his voice is a little deeper, ” He suddenly deepens the tone of his voice and speaks to us in Lingchao’s way, “ Just like that. ”Suddenly hearing a tone that is extremely not Wen Junhui, it was as if the people in front had suddenly changed a 'core', and we who were at the scene, were dazed for a second. It is probably due to the filming just ending, the change in roles was smooth, allowing us to be able to see the scars left from changing himself inside out, for this role that differs so much from himself. From the read-through, the start of filming to the end of filming was around 2 months, spending 60 days with Lingchao day and night allowed this role to become one of Wen Junhui's unforgettable parts in his heart. “ 60 days is neither long nor short, I think what I did was the biggest limit that could be done within this time frame. ”Another big challenge was, « Exclusive Fairytale » is not just a relaxing and happy school drama. Because of the long timeline, there is a long buildup to Lingchao's story, portraying this character feels more like fully experiencing Lingchao's life once. And because filming does not take place according to the timeline, there are times where scenes that differ greatly in emotions and time have to be shot in the morning and afternoon of the same day.“ For example we are filming scenes on the set of the house, one second we could be high school students, the next second we could be acting as university students, and the next second we could be working. This really tests our understanding of the characters at every stage, you must really be familiar with the timeline, which timeline is this episode in, and how to change into that state of mind. ”Finding the exact tonality, having a clear understanding of the script, and lastly there is still one more expectation for the actors before the filming starts: to be at ease.“ One of the scariest parts of filming is over anticipation. Once there is an anticipation, some things can easily become deliberate. ” The actor already knows the life of the character, but for the scenes they have to be natural, yet in a dilemma to maintain the freshness of every reaction. Using their acting skills reasonably, is the last test.Wen Junhui is not a sentimental person, but on the second morning after the end of filming when preparing to leave, he who just woke up in the hotel suddenly felt 'absent-minded', realizing that it's really time to say goodbye to Lingchao. The unreal feeling of 'It's starting soon' when filming was about to start still hasn't been forgotten, the body clock to start work everyday hasn't entirely disappeared.What's more, friends who saw Wen Junhui said that it feels like at times, it's as if his personality changes to an entirely different person. “ Usually I'm quite lively, if I suddenly speak less or my condition changes, other people might think, is this person emo? But actually I'm not unhappy. I just think such experiences are quite intriguing, I quietly sit in between people I'm familiar with, but experience a different life from another perspective. ”One of his new year wishes this year is for the drama to quickly air, because he can't wait to hear the feedback from his SEVENTEEN members. “ (I'm) quite hasty to see the member's reactions. ”

JUN's Comeback

Under the impact of the pandemic, there are many stages where Wen Junhui was unable to go to the venue, and can only participate through pre-recording videos or connecting via online means. Fans couldn't see him personally on stage for a very long time, Wen Junhui expresses that he can understand the fans' feelings, every time he pre-records a video, he would feel regretful just like the fans.“ The visual impact of personally seeing it is different, this year we'd often feel that it's a pity, including our comeback stages, year-end award ceremony performances, special stages, SEVENTEEN's concert performances. Every stage, we really wish we could perform in front of fans, to let them personally watch our performance. I hope the pandemic gets better quickly, then showcase these performances that we weren't able to perform in front of them during this period face to face. Even if it were stages that we have already performed in front of them previously, performing in front of them now will also be a whole new look. ”But Wen Junhui's music production is not restricted by these conditions. Aside from covering songs and releasing his own singles « Crow » and « Silent Boarding Gate », he has already started trying out in areas of production since the year before. “ (I've) always been trying out to produce some songs with SEVENTEEN members and our company's team. It's not released yet, although it's not because I'm not satisfied with the outcome, but because it's the first time, I hope to give everyone the best, so I'd want to keep going on to do it even better. Actually there's already a lot of content being produced, but I always want to give myself more choices as a 'minimum guarantee'. At a suitable time in the future, I'll work even harder, and strive for an outcome that allows me to be satisfied and have a sense of achievement. ” Aside from music works, Wen Junhui also has thoughts regarding his own stage, he will fulfill these one by one in the future.After having awareness on production, Wen Junhui pays even more attention to life's little bits, even a passing scenery can become a lyrics's source of inspiration for him. “ For example, when I stroll along the river with SEVENTEEN members, and see how the clouds are like in the sky, I could probably write a few lines of lyrics. You can see many wonderful things when watching the view at night, watching the busy traffic and passer-bys on the road after work hours, a few words may probably pop out too. What's more is through movies, after watching a movie, you'd often easily develop different kinds of sentiments towards the movie characters' life, I would write down things of different emotions according to what I feel at that moment. ”Filming also naturally becomes a source for his inspiration for production, at any moment where he has sentiments towards the character, he will note it down, “ We'll see about it when it is useful in the future. ”Then that one time where he sang on the streets during filming, was that also trying to find inspiration? Wen Junhui says, he didn't think about that at all, “ I just went in the heat of the moment ”. After singing the first song, he didn't feel satisfied yet, he just got the feeling after his throat was warmed up, hence he sang a second song. “ Little did I know when I raised my head after singing the song, there were so many people in front, I was flustered, (thinking) no, I have to go already. ”A less than 4 minute cover on the streets, there was no difference between the views on Bilibili and a concert fancam. Because of the impromptu performance of 'Absolute Infatuation', everyone especially wants to know what other treasured songs are there in Wen Junhui's playlist. “ There's all types, I listen to many various songs. Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, English, I listen to all of it. I also listen to songs by seniors such as Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan and Jam Hsiao. ”As the life of Lingchao comes to an end, Wen Junhui doesn't take a break for too long, he very quickly returns to being SEVENTEEN's JUN. In the recent online SEVENTEEN concert, Wen Junhui rewatched his own performance, and realized that his expressions and condition are vastly different than before. This experience of acting as Lingchao, allowed interesting changes to happen for his performances.“ Mental state is a feeling of a different personality, the vibe of Lingchao would be slightly different from mine. So I'm quite curious, if I were to try using Lingchao's point of view on stage to deduce a performance, would it look like two different people? It feels quite interesting thinking about it, recently I've been thinking about this question. ”