Lin Zhiyao had just finished a day of dubbing when we met. She had asked for the theatre rehearsal room rather than a café; she finds it easier to relax there.

Over five years she has done three stage productions and four films. That ratio is uncommon among actors her age — most weight their careers towards screen work, where the exposure is greater.

"The stage answers you on the spot"

Explaining the choice, she used one word: feedback. "The stage answers you on the spot. If the audience drifts tonight, you know it. A camera doesn’t. With a camera you find out six months later."

I don’t want to be treated as traffic. Traffic passes. A part doesn’t.— Lin Zhiyao

On the criticism, her answer was more direct than expected. A film two years ago drew a wave of negative comment, and she says she read all of it. "About half of it was right."

Next: behind the camera

She confirmed that her next project will be her first as a director, a story about a theatre company in a small county town. "I know people will call it an actor’s vanity project. But I do want to try it once."

As the interview ended she mentioned that she has started practising lines again, an hour every morning. "There aren’t many things in this business you can keep doing. Line work is one."