Zhang Linghe on Voice, Preparation and Feeling Natural on Camera

02Where he started

He was studying electrical engineering and automation at Nanjing Normal University. His first leading role was Pei Zhao in Maiden Holmes. That background is context, rather than a ready-made explanation for every acting choice. The more revealing question is what the work itself asked him to learn.

03Finding a voice

Discussing Xie Wei in Story of Kunning Palace, Zhang described a repressed, obsessive character. It was his first historical drama dubbing himself throughout. He found clear pronunciation and recovering emotions away from the filming environment challenging. He also described preparing emotionally demanding scenes by bringing their causes and consequences together in his mind, drawing on emotions from life to understand the person he plays.

That makes the recording booth part of the performance, with its own demands on the actor.

A line can be perfectly understandable and still leave us unconvinced by the person saying it.

He also said he watches his released work and considers audience feedback to identify weaknesses for subsequent projects. It is a working habit worth noticing: being willing to return to something already finished and learn from it.

04Preparation that starts with everyday tasks

In The Best Thing, to play physician He Suye, Zhang learned Chinese medicine for a month before filming, including acupuncture, from a practicing physician. He called applying acupuncture to Xifan the most memorable part of filming the series. Preparation can begin with the specific tasks a character's everyday work requires.

05Feeling natural on camera

In an earlier AsiaOne interview, Zhang said meeting people from different walks of life enriched the experience he brought to acting. He also described modern dramas as more relaxing because their characters were closer to everyday life. In Our Generation, he played Jiang Qiaoxi and drew on memories of his own upbringing, and he called the project a turning point in his career. He described Jiang as someone who struggles to express his feelings under the weight of family expectations.

What helped him feel more natural? He credited director Zhang Kaizhou's approach with helping him stop thinking about the camera. He described moving away from seeking a single correct way to act and toward responding within the character's world. According to Zhang, the director often used hidden cameras to capture natural performances. The shift is from monitoring yourself toward inhabiting the situation: preparation giving you somewhere to stand, and enough freedom to respond.

06What comes next

In Pursuit of Jade, he plays Xie Zheng, whose story involves a concealed identity and a wartime setting. The official summary also centers on his relationship with Fan Changyu. In Overdo, he plays Murong Qingyi in a Republican-era setting. The Answer Is Earth reconnects him with his engineering background.

The question to carry into each role is how the person becomes distinct beyond the setting and the costume. You can read more about Zhang Linghe and the roles he has described.