Yu Shaoqun wins praise in Forever Enthralled for his role of portraying young Mei Lanfang. [Guo Yingguang]

Almost everything about Forever Enthralled (or Mei Lanfang for its Chinese title) the new feature from acclaimed director Chen Kaige, is under the microscope. From the exquisite 1,500 costumes to the narration on the legendary Peking Opera master's life, every detail of the movie will go through immense scrutiny as the film starts its official screening today.

Even though the box office fate of Chen's new work is as yet uncertain, one thing is for sure: Choosing 25-year-old Yu Shaoqun to play the young Mei Lanfang was perfect. All who have seen the previews agree that Yu has done a fine job of capturing the enigmatic master's charisma. So good that he might even have outshone leading actor Leon Lai, who plays the master as an adult.

Yu's reproduction of the cross-gender dan role, the female role in Peking Opera that Mei is best known for, is as graceful, beautiful and effortless as Mei's. Some compare Yu to the late Hong Kong actor-singer Leslie Cheung, who played an opera star in Chen's Oscar-nominated film Farewell, My Concubine, and committed suicide in 2003.

"For my part, the film is about a young man who loves Peking Opera and searches for his dream. And I am searching, too," Yu says, shrugging off doubts and curiosity about how he identifies with the female roles.

Born and raised in Wuhan, Hubei province, the handsome Yu spent 12 years being professionally trained as a wusheng, the male role in Yueju and Hanju, two traditional Chinese operas.

Yet despite his decade-long opera experience, Yu still had to adjust to the female role. "I started out with dressing up in the dan role's costume and put on make-up as a female, which surprised me then," he recalls.

The physical change was only the start. From the way to walk, sing and use his eyes, he was trained to be utterly female on stage. He would practice female body movements for months, like gazing, nodding and turning around.

"Shyly, gracefully or sadly, I was immersed in various female roles," Yu says. He studied Peking Opera for eight months before shooting started. Books, videos of Mei as well as other famed dan role singers were all his source of inspiration.

Thanks to his hard work, good looks and colorful make-up, he ended up with a pair of bright, keen, highly expressive eyes and a gorgeous female image. "When I faced the camera after the intense training, I felt confident," he says.

His innocence and appearance also helped win the director's heart. "There was a shiver in my voice when we first met," Yu says of his meeting with Chen in 2006. "After all, he is a big director and the role I wanted was a huge Peking Opera master. I felt restless." But after hours of random chatting about Yu's harsh training experience and his understanding of Peking Opera, the director saw that Yu was the right person for the talented and passionate young Mei Lanfang.

Yu also studied briefly at the Central Academy of Drama, where actress Zhang Ziyi graduated. "Most of my role in the film is training or singing on stage so I acted naturally," he says.

Shooting started in late 2007 and finished the following summer. Yu says that throughout the shoot, he was full of energy more than pressure. "I put myself into the role very quickly because I was familiar with it," he says.

"I love the story and I felt honored to play the role because for every Chinese opera singing students like me, master Mei is a iconic figure."

That seems to be the mantra he lives by. Despite his parents' protests, Yu made up his mind to study the most traditional Chinese opera when he was 13. "I am obsessed with it, the clothes, the movements," he says. "Fortunately, it has given me a good life."

(China Daily December 5, 2008)