E-Junkies: Christopher Lee says 'very hard to play a dead man' next to 'emotional' co-star Berant Zhu

Christopher Lee's character dies — but does it look realistic?

In a recent interview with AsiaOne, the 51-year-old actor revealed that acting dead is actually a pretty difficult thing to do, especially when his Taiwanese co-star Berant Zhu was in complete hysterics, bawling his eyes out beside him.

"I definitely felt emotional during the scene... My character might have been dead while Berant was putting on his emotional performance, but I am very much alive," he said.

"When playing a dead man, we're afraid of moving and affecting the other actor. And even though we're acting dead, our arteries will still pulsate."

He added, pointing at his neck: "Especially for close-up scenes, when we're lying on a bed, sometimes the arteries still pulse when we're filming. It's not something we can control, so I was afraid something like this would affect Berant's performance."

Thankfully, they didn't encounter any problems on that day of filming and Christopher shared why.

Imitating the pose he held in that scene, he tilted his head to the side, using his chin to cover his neck.

"Because my head was like this, it helped hide my neck away from the camera," he explained.

Christopher and 23-year-old Berant are nominated for the best supporting actor in a drama series and best actor in a drama series at the upcoming Golden Bell Awards for their performance in Danger Zone.

Danger Zone, an action-thriller drama by iQiyi, also features Tseng Jing-hua, Wu Hsing-kuo and Christopher's own younger brother Frederick Lee.

Berant Zhu's return to showbiz

Berant was touted as a rising star, but the young actor suddenly backed away from the limelight following the termination of his contract with his talent agency in July. 

[[nid:601357]]

He disappeared from Taiwan showbiz, making his sudden participation in this latest round of interviews a momentous one.

When asked about the contradictory rumours surrounding his alleged retirement from the entertainment industry and rumours of him acting in a new show, Berant laughed and said: "If I wanted to quit showbiz, I wouldn't be sitting here [and answering questions]!"

Berant and Christopher then concurred that some news should only be read and not blindly followed.

As for what he's been up to, Berant also told us that he's currently nursing an injury.

He said: "I was injured recently, so I've just been resting, going out and enjoying myself."

'He flipped the skin back and carried on'

Mishaps while filming can happen, but for Christopher's brother Frederick, some small scrapes and wounds aren't enough to faze him.

According to Berant, there was a scene where he tussled with Frederick and they traded fists.

However, Frederick's return punch missed and he hit the ground instead.

Sounds painful? It gets worse.

[[nid:601356]]

"The ground was filled with coarse gravel and sand — the skin on his knuckle fell off. Frederick looked at it and since we still had a lot to film, he flipped the skin back and carried on," Berant recalled.

"He didn't even flinch and simply said, 'Don't worry about it, let's carry on.' It's like he doesn't feel pain."

Responding with an anecdote of his own, Christopher tried to explain why Frederick didn't have a strong reaction to his injury.

Recounted Christopher: "To him that was a small scratch, he once got cut on the forehead by a knife… he got cut and had to get stitches!"

Back then, Christopher had received a picture of the injury from his brother and he remembered how stunned he was when he saw it.

"I asked him about what happened and Frederick only replied, 'I got cut by a knife'!".

Picking a fight with his own foot

[[nid:594184]]

Frederick was not the only one among the cast who sustained an injury — someone might have told Christopher to break a leg, and his leg must've misunderstood.

On Tuesday (Oct 18), Christopher uploaded an image of his swollen left foot with a crutch beside it to Instagram and told fans that he wouldn't be going to the Golden Bell Awards.

"You really picked up an inflammation at the wrong time, showing no respect for me when I have important things to attend to," he wrote on his post, addressing his foot.

He also warned his fans to take care of themselves when they're injured regardless of the wound they recieved.

"Make sure you take care of your wounds or they'll follow you for the rest of your lives!"

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj2DDdrv5cD/[/embed]

ALSO READ: 'There is no next generation': Double Up's Mayiduo and Charlene hope to fill Chinese comedy gap after Mark Lee, Jack Neo and Henry Thia retire

khooyihang@asiaone.com

No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.