Chen Shu reveals success secrets

Director stresses indie spirit

"To feel real in a play, you have to let go of fun in life. To treat a fake thing as real, you also have to believe that what you think is real is possibly fake," he says.

Calling his profession a dreamers's industry, Wu says, he doesn't understand why people are caught up in the notion that many of today's TV dramas vaguely relate to reality. Wu says none of the plays he grew up watching, including American serials The Man From Atlantis and Garrison's Gorillas, can be described as realistic.

"Created based on individual ideas, TV serials are for you to leave reality, to live in an imaginary time and world, and hopefully come back with some pure thoughts and dreams. That's it," he says.

As his fame rises, he is often awarded the chance to participate in associated fields such as scriptwriting and co-directing serials. But rather than pitch "harmless ideas" to TV show producers, he says, he wants total control and full responsibility for projects.

His dream plot for a TV series could well be written up, based on his own experiences.

"It's not dramatic enough. Well, as for those parts of my life that can make a play, I'm not ready to share now. Maybe when I am ready, I will be too old to play myself."