Cover Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng’s latest role has almost no dialogue yet it was powerful enough to garner him a best actor nomination—and a new realisation about his career.
Eddie Peng has always loved travelling. When the Taiwanese actor got the news that he would be going all the way to the Gobi Desert in northern China to film his latest movie Black Dog (2024), he was beyond thrilled. “I remember the stunning, vast landscape. It was so beautiful,” he recalls. The arid, golden terrain provides the perfect backdrop for a movie about a man who, hardened by life, finds spiritual peace and connection with nature and animals. The film is a far cry from the action, spy and romantic movies that populate his long filmography, which includes 2012 and 2016 movies Cold War and Love After Love (2020).
Directed by Guan Hu, Black Dog tells the story of Lang, an ex-convict, played by Peng, who is part of a group tasked with capturing and removing stray dogs ahead of the 2008 Olympics. He develops a bond with Xin, the hound of the title, and it is this relationship that is the heart of this film. But his growing friendship with the canine is conveyed purely through physical interactions; Lang has next to no dialogue. This muteness is symbolic of one of the film’s key themes: the idea of finding one’s voice in a world where social conformity takes precedence.
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Above Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May last year, winning the top prize in the Un Certain Regard category, which celebrates unusual styles and non-traditional storytelling. And in March this year, Peng was nominated for the best actor prize at the Asian Film Awards.
The actor says this role has made “the greatest impression” on him of all the characters he has ever played. Not only was it his first time working with so many animals— there were hundreds of dogs on set, three of which he adopted after the production, as well as 40 trainers, an experience that he describes as occasionally “pretty scary”— his performance required a completely different approach.
Above Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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“In other movies, there are lines for me to deliver. But in Black Dog, I [almost] don’t speak, and I had to listen to what [the other actors] were saying and [observe] how the dog was reacting, and then I had to respond spontaneously,” he says. “The interesting thing was, when I remained silent, there was always an inner voice in my head. When I listened to it, I opened up my other senses as well. I had to [make full] use of my body or [actions] to act opposite the dog and other actors. That’s something I had never experienced in any other movies. The process led me to explore more of my inner self.”
“We live in a world where we don’t explore enough of who we are. Every day, we [focus on] other people’s lives through social media and you forget who you are,” he says, adding that making the film gave him the opportunity to look back on his start in the industry two decades ago and examine how his outlook has changed. “What was my original motivation to take up acting? Why was I passionate about it? Sometimes, you have to be strategic and [it’s natural to focus] on the money, fame and making it out there. You can get lost along the way. But this film [reminded me] that I enjoy acting.”
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Above Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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His role as a misunderstood ex-convict with a soft spot for animals also gave him a new perspective on human relationships. “We all have made a lot of mistakes along the way. You have to embrace your past and then let go of it. You may have enemies or haters; you don’t necessarily have to forgive them. But [it’s important to] reconcile with yourself in a way to move on.
Since Black Dog, Peng has been inspired to shift his career goals: instead of focusing on blockbusters and action films, he is open to “working with talented people to create something different. I want to learn how they envision storytelling, from which I’ll gain a different perspective on my acting career.” He is referring to how Black Dog’s creative team focused more on the natural landscape of northern China, the animals and the unspoken relationship between them and humans than the plot and script—an approach he believes is rare in the industry.
Above Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Above Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
Eddie Peng (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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“People love this movie and it resonates with them because of the animals. This is a time when movies can transcend language and cultural boundaries. The dog’s perspective becomes a universal language,” he says. He also believes such an approach would give Chinese films greater exposure. “There aren’t many film festivals that are familiar with Chinese productions, to be honest. [If] we can do more movies with universal languages like this, [we’ll] connect to global audiences.”
Credits
Photography: Zed Leets
Photography Assistant: Carlos Hui
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
