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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Culture & Society

Actor Tseng Shao-tsung Recounts Intense Role as Hematologist, Finding Personal Resonance

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Actor Tseng Shao-tsung deeply felt the pressure of portraying a hematologist, especially in a scene where he had to declare a patient's critical condition after a failed bone marrow transplant.
  • The intense realism of the scene, which depicted the emotional weight of delivering such news, reportedly shocked the cast and crew, leading to tears from the performance director.
  • Tseng drew parallels between his character's role and his personal experience of accompanying his father through illness, finding strength and empathy through the role.

Actor Tseng Shao-tsung described the immense pressure he felt while embodying a hematologist in the DaAi drama "His Soul and His Bookstore." The role demanded a profound emotional depth, particularly during a scene where he had to inform a leukemia patient, portrayed by Patrick, that their bone marrow transplant had failed and treatment options were exhausted.

Actually, this part was one of the most difficult for me to perform in the entire drama.

— Tseng Shao-tsungDescribing the emotional challenge of delivering news of a failed transplant.

Tseng revealed that this particular scene was one of the most challenging to film. The deep connection formed between the doctor and patient characters amplified the weight of responsibility and the sorrow of impending loss. His initial attempt to convey the gravity of the situation was so solemn that it moved the performance director to tears, with the director remarking, "You scared everyone."

To manage the emotional toll and avoid overwhelming the patient's family, Tseng adjusted his approach for the second take. He channeled the grief, regret, and reluctance into a deeply held internal space, delivering the news with a slow, gentle tone. This experience allowed him to truly grasp the profound burden doctors carry when accompanying patients through their final moments.

You scared everyone.

— Director Lin Chih-juReacting to the intense realism of Tseng's initial performance in the critical scene.

During the three months of filming, Tseng's own father was undergoing medical treatment. This parallel experience of "accompanying" a loved one through illness intensified his empathy for the anxieties of both medical professionals and families. He felt a sense of spiritual blessing, drawing strength from the situation that he hoped to convey to the audience.

This was a blessing in disguise, as if I received some strength spiritually and mentally, and could also bring strength to the audience.

— Tseng Shao-tsungReflecting on how his personal experience with his father's illness informed his role.

Tseng also found common ground with the character's prototype, Dr. Li Chi-cheng, sharing a literary inclination and a reflective nature. While his character had a bookstore to retreat to, Tseng finds his own solace in walking, describing it as his "old house bookstore", a personal sanctuary for introspection away from responsibilities. Dr. Li, who runs a bookstore funded by his mother's legacy, was impressed by Tseng's portrayal, noting how the actor captured the doctor's gentle side and elevated the drama's theme of "truth, goodness, and beauty."

Shao-tsung's performance this time actually managed to capture the doctor's very gentle side.

— Dr. Li Chi-chengPraising Tseng's portrayal of the physician's compassionate nature.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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