[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for 3 Body Problem, Season 1 Episode 2, “Red Coast.”]
Here's a funny story from the set of 3 Body problem, courtesy of co-showrunner David Benioff: “We polled the crew on set, while we were filming the season: If you were in Ye Wenjie's shoes, would you press the button and summon the aliens? And I don't remember the exact count, but it was pretty close to 50/50. About half the crew said, 'Yeah, I'd call the aliens to come fix this mess, or they'd just erase the whole thing.'”
When you watch the Netflix adaptation of Liu Cixin's novels, Ye Wenjie's choice at the end of episode 2, “Red Coast,” stands out, for the exact reason many of those who made the show saw the point of view de Ye: It's hard not to identify, just a little bit.
Ye's circumstances in the sci-fi drama are very specific, of course: His first successful communication with the alien race soon to be known as the San-Ti comes with a warning: If they come to Earth, they will do so as conquerors. However, as a Chinese scientist in the 1970s trapped in a brutal regime, she feels that this is the only option you really have.
Jess Hong, who plays one of the scientists caught up in understanding the imminent arrival of the San-Ti, says, “Those are very particular circumstances that [Ye Wenjie] is facing. And in that context, you can really relate and say, you know what, yeah. I would also say… No, no, maybe I wouldn't.” She laughs. “But in that situation, it's easier to get carried away and think that it's not worth it and that maybe someone else should come from the outside and save us all. And I think she did think that she was saving the human race.”
That's at least how Zine Tseng and Rosalind Chao, the actors who play Ye Wenjie at different ages, feel about it. Filming that moment, Tseng laughs about it on a personal level: “My reaction was like, 'Okay. Period.' Yes, that's what should happen.”
Chao, the older version of Ye Wenjie, explains: “She had no choice at that time. She is isolated. She has suffered extreme trauma. And as far as she knows, the world is coming to an end. This is not a hopeful world in nature and humanity. And I think her action is a way to correct that mistake.”
Tseng adds that from his perspective as a younger Ye, “I thought it was the only hope for me”; However, Chao explains: “Zine is saying, 'That's the only hope for me'; that is the young Ye who thinks that. And I refer to it as a hope for humanity. I think that’s where Ye will eventually go.”
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