#AgainstTheCurrent #LiuXueYi I saw this post on weibo: The host asked Liu Xueyi, "Do you think you are a naturally talented actor or a hard-working one?" Without missing a beat, Liu Xueyi replied, "I don't have much talent, but I've always worked hard." He said it very candidly, without a trace of false modesty. In his view, he has never been the kind of actor blessed by the heavens with natural-born gifts. "A naturally talented actor might look at a script once and immediately know how to perform it. I can't do that. I have to ponder it over and over again, completely wrapping my head around the character before I can step in front of the camera." The host followed up: "Is there any evidence of this that only you know about?" He brought up the scene in In Blossom where he played six different personalities at once. Yuan Zhong is struggling in a dream, with five personalities appearing in turns. The timing for each persona's performance was locked down tight, switching precisely by the second, requiring the rhythm to be synchronized down to the exact frame. Liu Xueyi shared, "Before shooting that scene, I practiced in front of the mirror in my hotel room for three whole days. All five personalities had different voices, emotions, and even breathing rhythms. The brutal personality used roaring shouts, while the jealous one had to be reined in and kept internalized. No matter what, nobody knew how long I had practiced beforehand; the audience only saw those few minutes on screen." He once said in an interview: "For me, it always seems to be a process of quantitative changes building up to a qualitative leap. Every step is small, with no so-called overnight success; it's all built by moving upward bit by bit." When filming that viral "wordless jealousy scene" in The Legend of Rosy Clouds, he didn't have a single line of dialogue. Relying solely on the subtle shifts of his brows and eyes alongside his breathing frequency, he completed a three-tier emotional progression within seconds, moving from shock and loss to a burst of jealousy. After it aired, the bullet comments exploded as viewers broke it down and analyzed it frame by frame, praising it as a "masterclass in acting." But Liu Xueyi noted that before filming began, he had already traced the character's psychological arc multiple times, "submerging the emotions deep into the character's bones and blood rather than relying on shouting and externalized acting." From his debut in 2013 to his first drama as a male lead airing in 2021, a full eight years passed in between. While others describe it as "honing one's skills over time for a breakthrough," he only acknowledges one truth: "My evaluation of myself is that I don't have much talent, but I'm always working hard. So whenever an opportunity is given to me, I will definitely seize it." Where a naturally talented actor can arrive purely on intuition, he has to get there through endless practice and relentless introspection, step by step. He walks slowly, but every single step is planted firmly on solid ground. Source: weibo.com/7677446489/RmFGWep…