After seven years in the entertainment industry, Hong Kong pop star Edan Lui is making his K-drama debut in the popular vigilante action series Taxi Driver 3.
In a virtual interview with AsiaOne recently, the 28-year-old revealed it’s also his first acting role conversing entirely in English, which is not his first language.
Sharing that it was something he took time to adjust to, he said: “I was quite nervous and felt a lot of pressure. Since my English isn’t that good to begin with, I specifically found a teacher beforehand to teach me line by line.”
Edan shared that the teacher worked on refining his pronunciation to sound more British, teaching him how to use connective vowels.
“But when I tried to practise and do it with the lines, I found that it would affect my acting because I had to keep reminding myself of the pronunciation,” he added.
Ultimately, Edan decided to place more focus on fluency.
Taxi Driver 3 follows a former special forces officer Kim Do-gi (Lee Je-hoon) who joins a company called Rainbow Taxi — a secret organisation masked as a taxi service — that delivers vengeance on behalf of wronged victims who are unable to get justice through the law.
Edan plays Interpol officer Michael, who is investigating a transnational case and pursues it to Japan, where he meets Do-gi.
Taxi Driver 1 first premiered in 2021.
Most difficult scene
When asked which scene was the most difficult for him, Edan said there wasn’t one particular one but all his scenes with Je-hoon.
He described Michael and Do-gi’s changing dynamic, from not really trusting each other to eventually coming to a mutual understanding and successfully solving the case. They end up becoming comrades who respect each other.
Edan added: “Every scene with him represents the development and changes in our characters’ relationship. At first, I have to observe what kind of person he is, test him, then invite him to solve the case together, and later get frustrated and even scold him.
“There’s a line of emotional build-up throughout, so the emotions have to be very precise for the audience to feel the changes in their relationship as the story progresses.”
He also recalled having to change his approach to a scene on the spot: “Before filming started each day, I prepared how I wanted to perform the scenes. At the same time, I reminded myself that as an actor, you can’t rely on just one approach, you also have to respond to your co-actors and the director on set.
“One of the biggest challenges this time was that I might have planned to perform a scene a certain way, but once I was on set, the director (Kang Bo-seung) would say, ‘Hey, try it a different way.’ So I had to adjust my mindset quickly and try a completely new approach in a short amount of time. That was a really unique experience for me.”
While Edan originally thought Michael, as an Interpol officer, would be cooler and calmer, Bo-seung wanted the character to be more expressive, resulting in a “slightly more intense, emotional” version.
On acting with Lee Je-hoon
When asked about his experience working with Je-hoon, Edan recalled that the 41-year-old was “very professional” on set.
He said: “He had a lot of lines, but he would come to the set fully prepared. And he also had to handle speaking in both Japanese and English,” he said. “You could really see his dedication and attitude toward the role.”
He mentioned that Je-hoon would constantly check on his pronunciation during filming and if it wasn’t good enough, he would re-do the take.
“His professionalism is truly something worth learning,” he added. “He’s a very dedicated actor. Even though he’s famous and has been in the industry for so many years, [the fact that] he can keep such a professional attitude — I think that’s really great.”
Even though he shared most of his scenes with Je-hoon, Edan admitted that he “didn’t dare” to exchange contact numbers with him, sharing that they only interacted on set.
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Korean productions are ‘very efficient’
Edan also revealed that he didn’t film in South Korea but shot his scenes in Japan with the Korean production team. He praised them for being “very efficient”, especially when adjusting and changing the lighting on set.
He said: “In Hong Kong, every time we have to change the scene or camera, the lighting takes a lot of time. I expected that it would need much more time in South Korea… but what really surprised me was that they take very little time, they’re very fast.”
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When asked what the Hong Kong industry could learn from the Korean Hallyu wave, Edan suggested “a more systematic development” for talents in Hong Kong, referring to South Korea’s training system for idols, actors and singers.
“Resources are one of the most dominant factors that affect the production of dramas and films, especially in Hong Kong where the market is [comparatively] small. If we could have more resources to develop… the future might be brighter,” he said.
On the other hand, he described Hong Kong artists as “really adaptive”, adding: “We are used to doing our job in lower-cost productions with less time. No matter the time, resources or budget, we still do our best.”
Edan’s bucket list for Singapore
Edan is also a member of Hong Kong boy band Mirror, who held their first Singapore concert at the Indoor Stadium last May.
Since then, he has not returned to our little red dot.
When asked what he’d like to do if given the chance to visit, he said he would probably take one or two weeks off for a proper break.
He added that he likes our local food a lot and finds it “really delicious”, including bak kut teh, satay and grilled skewers.
He also revealed that he would like to have an in-person session with his current singing coach, with whom he’s been having weekly lessons online, who lives in Singapore.
“And probably to perform, if I had the chance to do a show there. I know that a small group of people in Singapore follow us, so if I could meet them, perform for them, or even have a small fan-meet, that would be really nice,” he said.
Watch out for our video with Edan, where he tells us his most memorable experience in a taxi and a Hong Kong phrase you should know.
Taxi Driver 3, which also stars Pyo Ye-jin, Kim Eui-sung, Jang Hyuk-jin and Bae Yoo-ram, is now streaming on Viu.
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