This 2024 iteration of The Crow, Wei says, “definitely takes a modern spin”, even if the premise is the same.
Bill Skarsgard plays the title character Eric, whose life is upended after he meets and falls in love with Shelly (FKA Twigs). When the two are killed, Eric is given the opportunity to exact revenge on their murderers, taking on his crow identity. Wei appears as Zadie, a new character who is friends with Shelly.
For Wei, becoming an actress – one in a Hollywood film, at that – was certainly not a reality she had ever pictured.
As a teen, she trained as a dancer, and mostly stayed within that realm until theatre director Lindsey McAlister, with whom she had worked as part of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF), invited her to audition for an acting role in the production #Hashtag.
Wei landed the role of the antagonist, which actually led to some concern for the budding actress.
“I was having people come to me saying that they were very affected by my performance, but actually not in a very good way, and that really burdened me for a long time,” she says, explaining how the production centred on the dark sides of social media.
But after lengthy conversations with McAlister, Wei was able to see the positives in acting after she understood the overall – not just the negative – impact that theatre can have on an audience.
“Right after that show was the moment for me where it clicked and I decided, I definitely want to do more of this,” she says.
Wei auditioned for 1899 at McAlister’s encouragement, but before she got the call saying she was cast as Ling Yi, she was adamant that she would be rejected.
“I went and auditioned for it thinking that obviously, nothing would happen, and lo and behold, it’s brought me to where I am today,” she says.
“The whole thing was super surreal. I remember just not being able to process what had actually happened for maybe about a week, just because it was never something that I would have imagined for myself.”
After all, Wei was still a full-time high school student at Chinese International School in Hong Kong.
“I remember the first conversation that we had with my school was along the lines of: ‘Thanks for everything, but I’m gonna go now, I’m gonna leave and I’m gonna drop out,’ because we felt that that was the only option.
“That was a consideration. Is it worth it? What is this going to bring me to? Is this going to continue, and is this something that I actually want to do? But it really felt right. So pretty quickly, the decision was definitely yes, take the role.”
[I’m] able to change people’s views of whatever they thought Hong Kong was, and [allow them to] realise how amazing it is
Luckily, Wei’s school allowed her to continue studying online, so off she went to Berlin to shoot 1899. After wrapping in November 2021, she returned to Hong Kong to finish off her school year and graduated in May 2022.
That same month, she learned that she was going to be in The Crow. This time she was off to Prague in the Czech Republic.
It was Zadie’s strength and feistiness that drew her to the character.
“I remember thinking that she was in quite a dire situation, but she somehow managed to keep her fire up and not take anything from anyone, and she knows what she wants to do.”
In preparation for the role, she watched the 1994 version of The Crow – “which was incredible and left an amazing legacy,” she says – and also read the original comic book series.
“It was beautiful, just visually, and very painful,” she says of the comic books. “You could really feel James O’Barr’s hurt in the pages, which I thought was an incredible skill and also must [have been] very, very difficult for him. It was just a very touching piece of work.”
Sitting in the hair and make-up chair, and being on set – which reflected The Crow’s dark, gothic tone – also helped Wei understand her character on a deeper level.
“I saw what the intention was for this girl and her style, and in a way, her essence is very much brought out in her clothing,” she says. “Seeing that really flipped a switch in me, and showed me how I wanted to play her.”
Indeed, with bright blonde hair and red lipstick, Zadie is a far cry from the fresh-faced Wei we see over Zoom during this interview.
Her character is mostly seen in the first third of the film, and includes a notable, haunting scene where Zadie faces off with antagonist Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston). This is also the first time that viewers get a real sense of the goriness that pervades the film.
Although the 1994 version of The Crow is a cult favourite, Wei believes that her film will pose new questions for audiences.
“The thing that I personally am drawn to the most – and hopefully audiences will be too – is just the idea of love and hate, and how they’re so closely intertwined throughout the film, and often can be confused,” she says.
“Aside from great cinematography, there’s a lot of questions about love, and what we would sacrifice for the people that we love, in the film.”
Aside from The Crow, Wei has stayed busy over the past two years.
Earlier this year, she featured in Hong Kong singer Keung To’s music video for his single “Dark Moon”. Later this year, she will be seen alongside Keira Knightley in Black Doves, another Netflix series.
She also recently completed filming a British-Chinese coming-of-age comedy-drama called High Wire.
She is now based in London, but has not forgotten her Hong Kong roots.
“I get really excited to, on the big scale, be a face on a screen, but also in a maybe slightly smaller scale, be able to meet people and tell them where I’m from and tell them about my home.
“[I’m] able to change people’s views of whatever they thought Hong Kong was, and [allow them to] realise how amazing it is, how much potential it has to grow, and how Hong Kong people are very wonderful.
“It means a lot to me to be able to be sharing that.”
