The Sun is in the zodiac sign Libra from September 23 to October 22.

Born under this sign are:

Korean actors and actresses: Song Seung Hun, Hyun Bin, Yoo Ah In, Seo In Gook, Seo Kang Joon, Kim Myung Min, Heo Sung Tae, Ryoo Joon Yeol, Kim Ji Won, Bae Suzy, Bae Doo Na, Kim Mi Kyung, Son Dam Bi and others.

Chinese actors and actresses: Tan Jianci, Xiao Zhan, Bai Jingting, Li Xian, Ao Ruipeng, Chen He Yi, Tian Xiwei, Chen Duling, Li Qin, Lu Yuxiao, Zhao Jinmai, Liu Xiening and others.

Read more: The Virgo Stars of Korean and Chinese Drama: Shy but Sharp

Libra is the only «inanimate» member of the Zodiac. Moreover, it is dual, like Gemini or Pisces (Libra has two scales). That is why their default state frightens ordinary people.

Libra’s default state is complete emotional calm. They do not emote; they think, evaluate (weigh), and analyze. Unlike Virgos, whose high intellect frames rather good-natured, home-loving, tender natures, Libra in its default state is a block of emotional ice. All essential information about the world reaches them through reason; emotions are often perceived as an unwanted, interfering side effect.

Libra’s default state

Usually Libra enters the stage precisely to sort out the mess that emotions create in their heads. And they absolutely fail to do what their teachers and directors traditionally want from actors. That is, to come out, sob, dramatize, wring their hands, scream, and so on. But at first Libra will honestly try to do this, and many will even consider themselves failures and talentless because they cannot do it.

Later the strongest and most independent of them begin to understand their peculiarity: one must not sob or scream; one must think. If the viewer walks with you through all the steps of the scene’s development, he will invent for himself the emotion he needs and finds comfortable, and it will be the strongest possible for that particular viewer.

Libra embodies the Kuleshov effect better than anyone. There was an editing experiment at the dawn of cinema. Director Kuleshov spliced a shot of actor Mozzhukhin’s face, which expressed nothing, with other shots: a plate of soup, a coffin with a child, and a girl on a sofa. And it turned out that viewers endowed the same face with different emotions: hunger, grief, love.

That is why strong Libra actors are so attentive to the staging of a scene. They study it from beginning to end and know exactly where and what they want to convey to their partner and the viewer. Literally without a single frame, from nothing, they create their own Kuleshov effect by thinking through the action and evaluating it. Moreover, they can do all this for their partner as well. This is one of those types of actors who can perform an entire play on stage without scenery or with imaginary props and never get confused, because they think everything through well and keep the whole line in their head.

Of course, Libra can (and does!) feel and show emotions; actors cannot do without it. But their emotions are carefully sorted in the head, arranged by height, and go out for a walk only under the total supervision of central command at the right moment, at the right time, in the right composition. And the contrast between the icy rational essence and deliberately (very deliberately) displayed emotions produces a completely explosive effect. They build comic scenes on the same contrast.

Libra are ideal stage psychopaths, demons and demonesses, police officers (if they are actually investigating), mad scientists, hired killers, calculating business tycoons, domineering CEOs, snakes, the main enemies of the main characters, the dead from the afterlife, and gods alien to everything human—or heroes whose circumstances force them to solve puzzles (like game-based plots). But usually they are outwardly so charming that directors simply do not want to use them for psychopath or enemy roles.

Libra is ruled by Venus, the planet of love and beauty. And Libra is indeed usually beautiful. What can you say when Sarah Bernhardt, Marcello Mastroianni, Rita Hayworth, Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, and Monica Bellucci are Libra?

But every time it seems that something inhuman is looking at you from their eyes: either a thousand-year-old man, or some dragon, or something otherworldly.

When a director needs to throw in some ice, you will not find a better refrigerator than Libra. They simply need to return to their natural state—and the viewer will freeze or be horrified. Libra does not need to act this; they do not need to be told how to do it—they are like this themselves, even if they have an angelic, soulful, soft appearance. They will not lose human naturalness, will not lose thought, will not become wooden; they will simply switch off their emotions. The director need only point the camera at their eyes, and he will get a powerful shot.

Example of a change in eye expression

Libra gets very excited by smart scripts aimed at intellectual work and is ready to play anyone in them. Scripts and scenes with unbridled emotions, screaming, tears, excessive sexuality, or tactile contact are accepted with a heavy sigh of doom, and they will make every effort to remove the excess and introduce at least a semblance of intellect. For this they do not shrink from any acting intrigues and the full combat use of their own charm :)

It is important to remember that the best place for Libra is not acting but directing. That is, they are directors themselves, actual or potential. Let us recall that the great Soviet theater and film directors who created the golden fund of classics were Libra: Mark Zakharov, Yuri Lyubimov, Georgy Tovstonogov, Sergei Bondarchuk, Nikita Mikhalkov, Oleg Efremov, Rolan Bykov. And they often acted themselves as actors.

Therefore any director who works with Libra should remember: if you loosen the reins and let Libra think about the scene themselves, the result may be more precise and better than you planned. You should carefully ask their opinion, but do not let Libra finally believe they can get away with anything on set. Otherwise they will get out of hand and stop obeying you. But in any case, the director must always have an answer to Libra’s questions: «And why are we doing this here? And why this? What if we redo it? And here we should add something». The best way to calm Libra’s creative flight (if necessary) is to say: «My dear, this is completely illogical, it will come across as silly, it doesn’t fit the scene. We need to think more». And Libra will go off to think more, and you will have time for coffee.

If you push Libra too hard and do not listen to their arguments at all, forcibly beating screams and emotions out of them, they may become despondent and destabilized. Then no one on set will be more boring; the block of ice will grow to the size of an iceberg, and no one needs that. The more unusual and complex the director’s task in a scene is for evaluation, the more evaluative turns the Libra actor can make, the more interested and active he will be.

At the heart of Libra’s work on a role lies the immutable maxim: «Knowledge of the text is the foundation of creativity». And they really do learn the text in advance. Therefore on set they can not only say a line correctly but also add additional meanings or improvise with details. Anything can happen on a shoot, and Lu Yuxiao, for example, believes that «a fallen leaf, a butterfly that flies in—all this is part of the character, a gift of fate». And one must use the unexpected to bring the character even more vividly to life.

The overwhelming majority of Libra are not lazy about writing a character biography and backstory and studying the basics of their profession. Xiao Zhan wrote a 10,000-word biography for «Legend of Zang Hai», made a presentation, and divided the character’s development into stages. Tan Jianci learned sign language for the deaf and mute for his role in the film «Sound of Silence». He also constantly adds details to roles that were not originally written in the script. Bai Jingting, for the role of his perpetually dying character in «Mobius», studied medical materials about near-death states in order to accurately convey the look in the eyes, bulging veins in the neck, and bluish lips. For the role of a genius surgeon in «Doctor X», Kim Ji Won studied surgical techniques with a medical consultant and practiced them.

Bae Doo Na once said: «I simply absorb the character into my mind, like a blank sheet of paper». See, the mind again.

In general, there is a feeling that Libra deliberately uses any means to «summon» a new character from its mind and nourish it with various emotions and physical actions. There is always something schizophrenic in the acting profession, but Libra is capable of literally giving part of its psyche to the character. And by calling into life something that did not exist before, they reassemble themselves. Before each role, Li Qin «first spends time letting herself go, forgetting herself, becoming a blank sheet», and then enters the life of a new character. During the filming of «The Infinite 10 Days», Xiao Zhan did not leave the character even between takes, which ultimately led to him becoming slightly psychologically strained and even having the same dream for two weeks in a row. When Yoo Ah In acts, it feels as though he completely gives control over himself as Yoo Ah In to his character. Kim Mi Kyung once said that «Acting must be honest... I want to be an actress who draws different sides out of herself in a timely way and honestly expresses them».

Attraction is expressed through logical evaluation and interest. Libra shows its reaction by finding something interesting in its partner (not appearance, but a line or action); then a burning curiosity appears in the eyes, which can easily be passed off as the «chemistry» the director needs.

But kiss scenes cause problems; Libra simply goes blank in them and initially experiences enormous awkwardness, even if it seems to you that these particular Libra are such dissolute rakes. And this is logical, because a kiss, even a stage one, creates tactile sensations, and any sensory experience is like a black hole for Libra, almost unknown to them; or rather, it is so intimate for them that they seriously believe that by and large one can kiss only one’s true love in life. The need to touch a scene partner (that is, a stranger) with lips or hands causes a subconscious stupor in them. They feel out of place, not in their element, and become flustered (however much they try to hide it). Besides, they worry about their partner: what if he or she feels uncomfortable because of their, Libra’s, actions.

Thus Li Qin admitted that the kiss scenes in the drama «Fated Hearts» with Chen Zheyuan were unusual for her in terms of quantity and intensity. At the same time, Chen Zheyuan approached the matter with all the professionalism of a Scorpio and searched online for videos with a compilation of Li Qin’s kisses in order to study his co-star. The actress joked: «This guy has already filmed kiss scenes many times. I need to learn a lot from him». She also laughing, said that in one scene she wanted to gently stroke his face, but he immediately recoiled, exclaiming: «Don’t block my jawline!», so she had to put her hand on his chest.

Tian Xiwei demonstrate the ideal on-screen kiss (as Libra imagines)

Female Libra have it easier; usually in such scenes male characters are still supposed to take the initiative.

Men have it harder. Libra Hyun Bin who was still unmarried at the time was captivated by his co-star Ha Ji Won (Cancer). Hyun Bin admitted that his heart fluttered during the kisses in the drama «Secret Garden» (2011), and the actor was aware that it fluttered not only during the on-screen performance. The strongest impression on him was made by the famous sit-up scene from that drama.

Let us also not forget that Hyun Bin fell in love with his wife Son Ye Jin on a film set. Their first meeting took place during the filming of the film «The Negotiation» in 2018. However, according to Hyun Bin, they barely crossed paths: their characters communicated through a screen, and the filming took place in different locations. A simply ideal situation for Libra, excluding any tactile scenes and giving an opportunity to get to know the person. Then they met during the filming of «Crash Landing on You», and that is where it all began, although both deny that their romance began «at work», and this can be believed—work comes first (Son Ye Jin is, after all, a workaholic Capricorn). But it was precisely the filming that gave them the opportunity to get to know each other better.

So it is not easy for Libra on stage when emotions have to be let out for a walk for the sake of a role, and then not all of them can be driven back into the iceberg. And Hyun Bin is still talkative; the other Libra keep quiet about their weaknesses or joke them away.

In 2019, Yoo Ah In offered a philosophical reflection on this topic: «I think I am sexiest when I am alone. When I am with others, I can be friendly or romantic».

During the drama «Lost You Forever», in which he played the nine-headed snake-god, Tan Jianci commented on questions about kisses: «People ask: «If one of your heads kisses Xiao Yao (the main female character), what do the other eight do?» Should the heads kiss each other? If it depended on me, I would try. I have not yet experienced what it is like to kiss myself..».

Well, so you understand that before kiss scenes strange things happen in Libra’s heads.

For Libra to play such a scene well, the director should:

1) give time for awareness, an opportunity to discuss the scene with the partner, and freedom to propose their own versions

2) give the scene a development that allows Libra to work as usual, that is, through evaluating what is happening, to move to the next step. The instruction «you take her (him) and kiss her (him)» does not work; one must go gradually, step by step. Give Libra these little details and they will be happy. This is precisely the sign that will perceive the issuing of instructions for a kiss scene very positively. Unlike someones who deny it.

3) it is forbidden to shoot a kiss scene on the very first day of filming (unless Libra has worked with this same scene partner before). Give Libra the opportunity to get to know the partner and become interested in them; otherwise you will kill the chemistry and get a «refrigerator». However, Seo Kang Joon and Ahn Eun Jin in the drama «A Love Other than Yours» filmed a kiss scene right on the first day; it was the scene when their characters fell in love with each other. Seo Kang Joon handled it, but frankly, the scene was extremely chaste, not like other scenes in that drama.

4) the partner should preferably somehow let Libra know that nothing terrible is happening to them: just go ahead and kiss :) («only don’t block my jawline» :))

Our final advice to directors: make Libra co-authors, allow them to correct and contribute their own ideas to the role or episode, do not force kiss scenes, do not offer stupid or filler scripts—and you will not find a better assistant on set.

And finally, a little playful dance from Libra

Disclaimer: we don’t actually believe in astrology, but we’ll use it as an excuse to talk about acting craft. Whether there really are zodiac-based actor archetypes is for you to decide. Still, understanding how a particular actor archetypes works might help a director find common ground more easily