Taiwan’s Golden Horse Chair Told Six Rising Stars to Be Like Water

Chang Chen, chair of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, told six rising Taiwanese actors to be like water at a showcase in Taipei. Speaking at the TCCF x The Golden Horse Awards event, Chen urged the performers to change shape to fit the vessel of each production. He noted that actors must understand how much room specific directors and teams allow them.

The showcase featured Bai Xiao-ying, Ho Man-xi, Rosen, Jimmy Liu, Ma Shih-yuan, and Lin Yi-ting. These performers are nominees or winners of Best New Performer at the Golden Horse Awards, Taiwan’s top honors for Chinese-language cinema. The event aimed to connect the group with international creative teams, investors, and media.

The lineup included nominees from the current cycle and winners from the previous year. Bai and Ho are this year’s nominees for their roles in Girl and Sunshine Women’s Choir. Ma won the award last year for Left-Handed Girl. Rosen, Liu, and Lin were nominated for Marching Boys, Blind Love, and A Dance With Rainbows, respectively.

The actors shared details about their training and personal approaches. Bai, who started acting at age six, studied film in university and trained in traditional Chinese martial arts for ten years. Ho described herself as slow to warm up and serious, drawing on her dance background. She hopes to take on suspense action films or other physically forceful roles. Liu mentioned practicing taekwondo for seven years.

Lin said he felt it was more important to light up others than to light up himself at this stage. Ma stated that acting provides an outlet for pressure and allows audiences to feel her sincerity. Rosen discussed his love of nature and how acting lets him learn new skills. He learned Western fencing for one project and later won a bout in a competition.

When asked about future roles, Bai, Ma, and Liu said they wanted to break away from familiar casting to try comedy or villains. Chen referenced advice from Ang Lee, who told him actors should read autobiographies of people with different personalities. Chen added that while Taipei lacks Hollywood’s industry ecosystem, working in a familiar place can help performers do their best work.