Staging an act

She is a sophomore communication major student at Chapman University, in California. Last year, she came back to China to take a gap year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, because she didn't want to take the lectures online.

Tian signed up to the acting course. "I had chosen a drama action course in college, but sadly it was taken online due to the pandemic," she says.

Tian underwent two rounds of training and, when the first round ended, she felt that her understanding of acting was just beginning and that there was so much more to learn.

She was determined to pursue an acting career after taking a course about the power of sensation.

"I rarely cry, and I didn't know if I would be able to cry on demand before I took the course," she recalls. "However, during the class, when I was asked to read a story and look ahead without thinking anything, with soft music in the background, I just burst into tears."

That moment, Tian says, she felt the magic and the power of acting. "I had no distracting thoughts then, and every word I said created an image in my head, which is simply magical," she explains.

In Tian's mind, learning to act is good for mental health. For those who usually hide or suppress their emotions, acting allows a release.

"I'm not naturally a hardworking student, but when learning to act, I've been so excited and happy, and even after class, I also voluntarily search for books about acting," she says.

Tian and Zhang rehearsed their drama for a month and took a four-day trip to shoot video clips for the performance.

It's the first time that Tian has acted in front of a camera. In one scene, she is being chased by two soldiers and stumbles and falls. It took Tian several attempts to get it right.

"Even though I got bruises on my knees, I accepted them as a kind of acting trophy," she says.

Tian continued to prepare for the drama until the night before the day of the performance-she spent the whole night discussing it with her partner. During the performance, she was so immersed in her acting that she had no time to pay attention to the reaction of the audience.

The project triggered Tian's interest in becoming an actor. As her gap year has not finished, she says she is still deciding whether to pursue her acting dream or to finish her college study first, but she is happy to have alternatives. "There are many possibilities in my life now," she says.