Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng is set to reprise his role in the next two films of auteur Tsai Ming-liang ‘s celebrated “Walker” series. “Director Tsai is making two films in the Walker series soon. So I’ll be doing those,” Lee confirms to Variety , adding to his decades-long collaboration with the Malaysian-born Taiwanese director that began in 1989.
Currently earning acclaim for his supporting role in Yeo Siew Hua’s surveillance thriller “Stranger Eyes,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and for which he is nominated in the supporting actor category at the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, Lee discussed how his longstanding partnership with Tsai has influenced his approach to other projects. “There’s a lot of influence, because director Tsai isn’t a director who works with a full script. He often gives me a synopsis, so there’s a lot of room for improvisation,” Lee explains.
“Director Tsai doesn’t like to yell ‘cut’ right away...
I’m still acting. And once I finish what I have to do, I kind of have to figure out what to do next. It really gave me training for improvisation.
” This improvisational style carried over to “Stranger Eyes,” where Lee convinced director Yeo, “a fan of Tsai Ming-liang,” to give him similar creative freedom. “I told him, ‘Don’t yell cut so quickly. Let me improvise a little.
’ And being a fan of Tsai Ming-liang, Yeo agreed.” Known for his minimalist acting style, Lee describes himself .