For one thing, he’s a fan of method acting, preferring to fully immerse himself in a role to become the character he’s playing. In Wolf Totem, the actor spent months in Inner Mongolia to fully absorb Mongolian culture, learning to ride horses, taking up archery and even training to play the Morin Khuur, a traditional Mongolian horsehead fiddle symbolic of the Mongolian nation. In the film To The Fore, he played a professional cyclist so the actor underwent a grueling training regime for a month, running, sprinting, endurance training and cycling.
All this activity jives well with the fact that Shawn Dou is also an adrenaline sport junkie, having done bungee jumping, skydiving (eek), stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, mountain biking, trekking, fly fishing, and mountaineering (his favourite).
Clearly, the boy can do anything! What CAN’T he do?
I mean, even hair and makeup, the actor has an interest in. In fact, in a recent interview, Shawn mentioned that he once wanted to open his very own hair salon. While living in Canada, he apprenticed at a hair salon in Vancouver, first starting out with washing and blow drying hair and later on working his way up to become a hair stylist three years later. And while the actor had many other jobs to help pay for his tuition, he said that he most enjoyed styling hair and makeup, hence wanting to open his own hair salon. Come to think of it, I’m sure the skills will have come in handy now that he’s doing modeling and promotional campaigns as an actor.
He’s in good company as Crazy Rich Asians breakout star Henry Golding also counts hair styling as one of his previous jobs. In fact, Henry did his mum’s hair for the CRA premiere. So who knows, with his acting chops, dedication and good looks, Shawn Dou might just find himself in Henry’s footsteps to international fame.
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