Huang Jue and co-star Fan Bingbing. [Xinhua]

As a fugitive, Huang commonly appears half naked with a scruffy face and messy hair, completely different from his previous appearances. "It is a breakthrough for me," he noted.

Huang said that he did not mind being dressed up as Xia and added that if an actor is completely devoted to the role, makeup and costumes should not matter.

He said that his previous roles of rich young men were not really that appealing, "they are far away from the real me. I have to constrain myself which is quite tiring."

Huang commented that Xia was the role most similar to him so far. "We are both stubborn," he said.

In the film, Xia sacrifices his title and risks his life just to go home in time for the harvest. "When I played the role of Xia, I felt like I was being myself. All of the acting came so naturally, like when I ran across the wheat field freely."

"Sometimes, one has to please himself to please the audience. I hope I will have more opportunities to expose myself on the screen, not necessarily literally," Huang laughed.

Huang evaluated his performance as "passable" in "The Wheat." "I could have done better in some parts, like the ending when the Zhao people find out about my lies. I over-acted a bit and I should have been more restrained." He added that he was satisfied with his improvements, especially in terms of dialogue, "after all, most of my roles did not talk much in the past."

Huang admitted that director He Ping was one of the major reasons why he took on the role of Xia. "He did not usually give actors affirmation and appreciation, sometimes just one word or two, but I could feel that he valued me and I treated him with respect back."

Huang said that he enjoyed the atmosphere on set, "You never felt shooting as boring as on other sets."

"Huang has an air that not every actor possesses," He said in return, "his performance in the film is quite mature. I'm positive about his future in the industry."

(Global Times September 27, 2009)