First of all, you were so amazing in this movie. Thank you. And I know it was such a process to find you. Why did it take so long? Why did it take so long? Because you were the perfect one for this. Why did it take so long? You got busy. Yeah. We searched, the world over. Yeah. We searched all over China as a completely separate search, and and for a year, we looked for her. And we did find some beautiful actresses, but when we we all felt that we hadn't, like, found exactly the right one, so we started again. And that's when, Ife came to my attention because she hadn't been available the first time. Yeah. And then I met her, and she was so astonishing that we and she still wasn't available, that we decided to wait Mhmm. To delay our production another 6 months just to wait for her. And it all worked out. With the wait, I think you'd agree. Yeah. Yeah. And how special was this for you? How big of a deal was it for you to become Mulan? Mhmm. I think it's always a question of how much ever how deep do you want to go Mhmm. For? Yeah. It it fits suits every character, but especially to this one, I feel somehow I can feel the connection. Me as an actress have never give up. No matter anybody say anything. It's just my passion. I was so sure. And then I see the strengths in hers, obviously. So the process has been both either on me or on the character. It's the journey to both of us. How big of a deal was this for you? You but the the the weight of this knowing it's such a big story and such a the story's been known in China forever. There was the the initial movie. There's a lot going good stuff that goes along with with this film. How much of that did you feel every day, the weight of what this means to to China, to the world? I I've felt it considerably, of course. What an honor, privilege, but what a responsibility to to the Chinese people mostly to to the character herself who's been relevant for so many centuries Mhmm. To the studio and to the audience. But along with that was how inspired I was by all of those things to create something new from this amazing material. Mhmm. You you made it new in so many ways and you made it new in so many ways. To talk about how important that was to to take on the action like that and to change the story around to make it more relevant today. Yeah. There was a lot that made this film fresh and new. Yeah. I I I had a very big epic vision for it that included all of the action and it's the first time in my career that I've been privileged to have a budget that's equal to the vision in my head. And so for me it was the idea that when you make something in live action you make it real and to really commit to that real story of a real girl, not a superhero, a real girl who loves her family, who loves them so much, in particular her father so much that she will take his place in war. Now what what that is actually like was was what inspired me and and drove us to to create this. Mhmm. Mhmm. Now you handle all the emotion and all the acting all that beautifully and it's amazing. Thank you. But on on the fun side, on the action side, how how much fun was that for you to now all of a sudden from seeing this film? You're, to me, now one of the top action stars out there. It's so impressive the stuff you do in this film. Did you hear that? I agree. How can anyone disagree after seeing this film? What's that like? Just just stop a new career. Oh my god. What was the question again? Just just after seeing this film, and I'm sure audiences worldwide will agree to see you do this type of action and climbing buildings and and horses and I think it has to do with what she experienced. I never took the action scene or horse riding scene or whatever out of the script to to to make an individual scene or feeling. So it's always a continuity of what I experienced the last scene, if that makes sense. Mhmm. So in that, in that way, this is just part of, the performance. Mhmm. And, we have great team, Wushu team, the martial art team. They are the real masters. I train myself hard and put Mulan's spirit in me so I can move like her, but I don't move like her in real life. So yeah. Did I answer your question? You did. You did. Okay. And talk about the young women that are gonna be watching this film that were inspired by the the original Mulan. You probably were as well. What's it like now to have this is this is new and fresh now for a new generation that's gonna be looking to you Mhmm. As as their Mulan. I think really you are the one who's gonna give your life an answer and you are the one who's making the choices, and, you're the one to discover how beautiful life is. So it's really this strength on the the how do you say? Learning who you are, that journey, I think is suitable of any time to anybody. Mhmm. Mhmm. And how important and how conscious are you with taking the story and making it relevant today and making it fresh and not necessarily having a love story and changing the characters and making it work for today's audiences in today's times? Yeah. The big thing for me was the critical difference between what they did in the animation and what we are doing here is that in the animation, Mulan discovered who she was when she was in disguise as a man. Here, it's the opposite. She doesn't, come to understand her own power until she understands that she has to be true. She's loyal and she's brave, but until she sheds the disguise and shows up in truth as a young woman that's when she connects to how powerful she is and that's what I hope, not just girls, but all people that might see this new film and this new time can connect to that idea that we are the most, at our most powerful when we are at our most authentic. Mhmm. Thank you for watching. If you want more extra, hit the subscribe button and the bell so you'll never miss a video.