"They asked about the relationship between the girl and the bus and the use of red color for the bus," she says. "Though there is no conversation in the film, audiences can interpret the story the way they want."

For Wang, the film is a realization of herself. "I feel like every role I portray shares something in common with me," she says. "I am a fairly shy person at first. But the director understood me. He used a wordless film to tell me that there can be communication without words."

When Wang talks about the two-month shoot, she uses the word "emotional" and becomes very serious. "I felt speechless for those two months," she says.

There is one scene in the film that has Mei Mei falling in love with the abandoned bus, and dancing and walking in the rain. Wang considers that a classic scene.

Director Joshun Tong says that when he decided to use Wang, he had not seen her in Starting from Scratch. What impressed him most was Wang's inner power when she walked in with a red photo album. "She looked innocent and clean but I could feel her restlessness and stubbornness," he says.

The director says that her role required rich facial expressions and eye contact. He is all praise for Wang's hard work.

The actress from Inner Mongolia grew up without any intentions of becoming a movie star but came under the influence of her mother and an older sister who studies dancing in Beijing. Her mother was keen on an acting career for Wang and encouraged her to apply to the Beijing Film Academy in 2001. "My mother is good at acting. I think she is better than me," she says.