PUBLISHED ONOctober 06, 2023 10:11 AMByDrima ChakrabortyA cruel, ruthless ruler is a staple in many East Asian movies and dramas, and in the Creation of the Gods trilogy, Fei Xiang plays just that.
This isn't the Chinese-American's first rodeo either, as Emperor Yin Shou of the Shang dynasty marks his third villain role, after the Witch Doctor of Tianlang in Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012) and the king of Yun Hai Xi in The Monkey King 2 (2016).
In an interview with AsiaOne on Oct 3, the 62-year-old, who started off in showbiz as an idol singer in the 1980s, told us why he's so fond of playing the bad guy.
"I do like villain roles, to some extent, because they're more challenging in some ways," he said. "Villain roles are always rich dramatically, because villains always know what they want and they're going for it, they're doing things to get it. So they're very proactive."
From an actor's perspective, Fei Xiang (also known as Kris Phillips) believes "passive roles", where things only happen to the character, are the worst, and he finds it more interesting "to watch the person that's doing the thing".
"Villains are always moving forward, they always have a plan, they always have a goal, they have something they want — so that's part of the appeal."
Another thing that attracted Fei Xiang to the role of Yin Shou was that it is different from his usual "image as a singer" and thus more challenging.
"I get those kinds of scripts all the time, wanting me to play some very well-off, dressed head-to-toe in Dior, CEO of some trading company," he said. "But the audience is going to see that and go, 'Oh, that's Fei Xiang'. Why? I might as well just sing."
He wants the role to be surprising and unexpected for the audience.
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Creation of the Gods portrays a fictional account of the ascension of the last emperor of the Shang dynasty, Yin Shou, and the political turmoil that followed. After conniving with a fox demon residing in the body of Su Daji (Narana Erdyneeva) to take the throne, Yin Shou's cruel rule incurs the wrath of heaven.
The first movie in the trilogy, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, also stars Luke Chen, Li Xuejian, Chen Muchi and Chen Kun, and is showing in Singapore cinemas now. The remaining two movies are expected to be released next year and in 2025.
"He's a sociopath, frankly," Fei Xiang said. "And for an actor to play a sociopath, I think, is one of the greatest challenges, because as actors, we want to draw on our human empathy."
But sociopaths don't have those emotions, he said, but instead "just know what they want" and will "use whoever they have to use to get it".
"And this character Yin Shou is a number one gold-medal top-class sociopath," he laughed. "And that's why he's so fascinating."
He added that people are usually fascinated by sociopaths because their personalities are so "foreign and removed" from our usual experiences, yet they are so charismatic and focused on their goals.
'He can't look like he's an accountant'
The three Creation of the Gods movies, directed by Wuershan, are boasted as being the biggest and most expensive production in Chinese film history, with over 20 sets including Yin Shou's palace and a whole forest.
They were filmed back-to-back over one-and-a-half years, but even before that, Fei Xiang had to undergo intensive training for three months in the skills needed to "complete the role", which included horsemanship, martial arts and learning to play traditional drums.
And the training, especially the physical aspects, continued throughout the filming process.
"He's a great, great hero on the battlefield. So when the clothes come off, he has to look like one, you know, he can't look like he's an accountant. He's got to be convincing," he said.
"I couldn't stop the physical regimen of training for the entire year-and-a-half, it had to just keep going every day, in order to complete the scenes. In the bath with my concubine Daji where I'm not wearing anything — in order to complete those scenes, the training had to be done.
"There's no way around it."
Watch our E-Junkies video for the full interview.
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