Shu Qi and Lee Sinje at collaboration in Netflix’s ‘The Resurrected’:

Two of the most celebrated actors of Asia, Shu Qi and Lee Sinje, perform together for the first time in Netflix’s new thriller drama ‘The Resurrected’, world premiered on the 30th Busan International Film Festival before streaming worldwide.

Co-directed by Leste Chen and HSU Chao-Jen and filmed in Thailand, “The Resurured” tells the vengeful story of two mothers, played by Shu and Lee, after their daughters fall victim to telecommunications in the fictional city of Benkha. The cast contains Taiwanese and Thai actors, including Alyssa Chia, FU Meng-Po, Chung Hsin-Ling, Sukollawat Kanaros (Weir), Caitlin Fang, Cheng Jen-Shuo and Patrick Nattawat Finkler.

In the script phase, the revenge story of the double protagonists had already moved both actresses. The chemistry that they developed during filming brought Levity to the dark material.

You both appeared in just a few drama series, but have been more active in films. What did you go to this specific script?

Shu Qi: First of all, this script is very special. When director Leste Chen came to me, I felt that this was a role that I had never done before. Nowadays, with more and more people moving from theaters to watching films at home, I thought, well, why not try another shooting style for a change?

Lee Sinje: Of course I was attracted to the script itself, and the role was also something that I had never tried before. Moreover, I thought it was quite rare to meet a story about women looking for revenge in a Chinese language project. Of course the production team is really strong. So I thought, although it is a drama series, as long as you have a good script and a good team, the outcome should be great.

What did you like to work with directors Leste Chen and HSU Chao-Jen?

Shu Qi: I would actually talk to Leste about scripts for a while, maybe from two or three years ago. We discussed other projects and I had no idea of ​​this. So when he asked me later to do it, I thought, why not? It felt like you were working with old friends.

With HSU Chao-Jen he has a strong Taiwanese accent in his mandarin, so the nice part for me was that I didn’t have to be overly accurate or polished with my speech-I could be at ease. When I worked on the parts he directed, my Taiwanese accentuated mandarin came out very strongly and I often had to withdraw it. It was actually very nice.

Lee Sinje: This was my first time I worked with both, and I really had a lot of fun. Although the shooting was difficult, they gave me very different impressions on the set – one was more extrovert, the other more reserved. Leste was usually on the set, so when I acted, he was the one who communicated with me. He would always tell a lot of jokes, which really helped to relieve the tension if it became stressful. We both filmed in Thailand before, so we were already quite familiar with the place. Therefore, although it was my first time I worked with him, everything felt very familiar and went smoothly. Director HSU is more of the remarkable type. He seemed to me as a quieter, more an observer.

Despite the fact that it was a set -up with two directors, there was never a conflict or disagreement on the set. I imagine that they must have done a lot of balancing and coordinating in advance, so everything went smoothly. I also felt that they were both really dedicated, very attentive to every detail, and they made sure that every scene and the performance of every actor were really well recorded.

The story focuses on the struggles of two mothers after losing their daughters. What kind of characters are they? How do they differ from each other?

Shu Qi: The personalities of the characters are actually very different. Mine is more like the talkative, Bazaar-Gossip aunt type, tendent to the good woman and mother. While Lee is more of the strong type of career.

Lee Sinje: Chao Ching is a career woman in the story. She only came to Taiwan from Malaysia through the marriage and later became a single mother. So she has to bear much more responsibility, making it more difficult, more resilient and calmer when confronted for challenges. Wang Hui-Chun, on the other hand, is a housewife. So the two are already in very different situations to start with. When the two come together to seek revenge, you really see them …

Shu Qi: Somehow pretty funny.

Lee Sinje: Yes, exactly!

Shu Qi: The chemistry between them is quite unique.

Can you talk more about that chemistry? This is your first time they act together. What did you enjoy filming together?

Shu Qi: It was pretty magical. Chao Ching tends to load ahead, comes across as a kind of ‘male’, while Wang Hui-Chun is more the type to hide when something happens. It creates this kind of alternative, unexpected kind of pair of sphere between the couple.

Lee Sinje: Yes, although many scenes are really intense and heavy, when I acted next to her, some of the tense moments unexpectedly fueled a little dark humor. The funny thing is that we did not plan it at all or discuss it – it just happened of course. We had this great unspoken chemistry.

You said there are intense and heavy scenes. Because this is a series about revenge, there are also some brutal scenes that seem very challenging. Were they hard to shoot?

Shu Qi: She is definitely more worn out because she has experienced all the brutal scenes towards the end – she has quite a lot on her plate. I think the most difficult part to get the right level was, “how far to go.” It is as if we kill a fish for making a stewed fish dish, Wang Hui-Chun would just say: “I will do it”, and she would handle it in a way that is not too exaggerated. Chao Ching would just go for it Snap! So there were such moments in the series.

Lee Sinje: In those scenes we represent two very different characters. So if we act together at these moments, our synergy is really important – which has to take the lead that goes ahead, which goes back one step back. I think our unspoken concept was really strong; As soon as we were on the set, we could find the right balance for our characters.

Of course it was really difficult. I felt that we were both physically and mentally exhausted during the shooting. It was a very intense experience for me. Usually when I photograph a movie, the schedule is shorter. This was almost three and a half months of filming.

Shu Qi: Yes, it felt like the shooting would never end – we eventually hurried a bit.

Lee Sinje: So you had to stay in character for a long time, what you really tested mental and physical endurance.

Shu Qi: That was one of the more difficult things for Lee. Because she has a child herself, it is very easy for her to completely immerse herself in the role.

Did this role make your pain feel, sinje, because you play a mother who has lost her child?

Lee Sinje: It was really easy for me to make contact with her. When you play such a role, this inevitably touches some of your own real experiences. You notice that you are being deeply immersed – it just happens. If you are really invested, it no longer feels like acting; It really feels. That’s why it can be pretty painful.

Shu Qi, you said that playing this role is a challenge because you are not a mother yourself. How did you determine your character and enrich it?

Shu Qi: I actually treated the daughter like a good friend, almost like a bestie. Because my character has long been a victim of domestic violence, the only outlet she has through her daughter, so the mother-daughter relationship feels almost like two sisters. So when the daughter ends up in a vegetative state, it is really heartbreaking. It feels like you are losing your nearest little sister. That is the feeling that I concentrated on. I also thought that every mother-daughter has his own way of interaction, so I approached it by treating my daughter in the role as both my child and a very close friend of the child.

Sinje, this is not your first thriller. How different is this your previous one, in terms of how it felt or the story itself?

Lee Sinje: It is absolutely very different, especially because I am now at a different age. I did thrillers when I was in the twenties. Later I decided not to do that genre for a while, because it felt like I repeated the same type of performance.

After all these years, the audience can come back to ‘the reasons’, the audience as a thriller. But for me it didn’t feel that it has a very well-founded script, says the experiences of two mothers and investigates the power of female self-rescue. That is what makes it really different. The power of these women is very powerful and unique.

From your perspectives, compared to other series, in particular the Taiwanese dramas and Chinese language series, what do you think is the biggest peak?

Shu Qi: It’s about resurrection! “The Resurrected” – I think that only the title itself is quite intriguing to the public. How do you bring the dead back to life?

Lee Sinje: Shu qi’s in it! That means I want to view it!

I haven’t looked at it yet, but when I read the script, as I said, roles like this rare. I also felt that the story has a feeling of mystery. There are so many well -made characters, and I think they are all very compelling. It seems to combine elements of commercial genres with a very solid, character -driven script, which I find really impressive. When I first received the script, I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one go. So I was sure that it would keep viewers addicted, which is important for a series. The story is really fascinating and the characters are also very fascinating.

Moreover, it is our first time that we have done a series together. Although we have both been in the industry for a long time, we had never met or worked together. And the first time we met was on this project, performing together. So I think all these factors make it really exciting.

Shu Qi: Just look at it! I think once you enter the first minute, you probably can’t stop.