There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand readers, and likewise, there is no best Son Goku, only different styles of Goku. The actors who play the role of Sun Wukong are countless, and the younger generation of audiences are familiar with the six-year-old child, Zhou Xingchi. The 86th edition of "Journey to the West" played by six children has become a classic that cannot be overloaded.
Chinese opera has a long history, and wusheng characters are full of talents, and when director Yang Jie prepared "Journey to the West", the original candidate was a Peking Opera wusheng actor, not a six-year-old child.
Zhang Zongyi first recommended his son, but did not attract the attention of the director
In 1982, when preparing to shoot "Journey to the West", in that historical era, the conditions in terms of shooting technology, equipment and makeup were obviously much backward compared with today. Because of this, director Yang Jie focuses on the selection of actors. Sun Wukong was originally scheduled to choose Dong Zhihua, who was in the momentum of career development, and he refused to star, and Yang Jie could only give up.
After several twists and turns, director Yang Jie considered that the stage style of Peking Opera actors was too heavy, and a fixed pattern had long been formed. The famous Peking Opera performance artist once commented on the stage actors: Leaving the gong and drum, you can't open your mouth and can't walk. This makes Yang Jie herself aware of this, if you go from the stage to the "life" TV series, the acting effect may be reduced.
Therefore, she began to turn her vision of finding sun wukong candidates from martial arts schools and Peking opera to local opera. In order to find a suitable candidate, she ran to Zhejiang, hoping to find a suitable candidate for Sun Wukong from Shaoxing, which is famous for monkey plays.
In the area of Zhejiang, the Zhang family is the monkey king family, the grandfather is called "living monkey zhang", the father is "sai live monkey", Zhang Zongyi and his son Zhang Jinlain specialize in martial arts, good at monkey play, create a "living, spiritual" southern style, enjoy the reputation of "southern monkey king".
According to director Yang Jie in her book, she mentioned that it is precisely because she remembered the Shao opera "Three Dozen White Bone Essences" that she had watched, and felt that The Sun Wukong played by Zhang Zongyi in the play was both lively and emotional. At that time, Zhang Zongyi took his son Zhang Jinlai to the railway station to receive Yang Jie in person and briefly introduced her son to her, and Zhang Jinlai, who was only in his twenties at the time, did not attract Yang Jie's attention.
At Zhang Zongyi's home, he performed a set of monkey plays for Yang Jie on the spot, wonderful acting skills, and made Yang Jie happily say on the spot: "If you are twenty years younger, this Sun Wukong candidate will definitely determine you." In the chat, I learned that the young six-year-old boy who took a photo with the premier died prematurely due to illness, and after regretting it, he immediately asked Zhang Zongyi to recommend the right person.
Zhang Zongyi seized the opportunity to recommend his son Zhang Jinlai to director Yang Jie: "This is my son, who has learned monkey opera since he was a child. At that time, Yang Jie did not say anything, plus Zhang Jinlai, the impression given to her was the feeling of an ordinary youth, and the first meeting between the two ended like this.
Zhang Zongyi recommended his son again, and finally got an audition
On the first day of Yang Jie's visit to Shaoxing, she did not see the expected little six-year-old child, pinned her hopes on Zhang Zongyi's troupe, and proposed to go to Zhang Zongyi's troupe to see the young students. After dinner, Zhang Zongyi arranged Yang Jie in the guest house and gave some reports about the young monkey opera actors of Shao Opera.
Zhang Zongyi estimated that at that time, he did not expect that Yang Jie only had one night to look at his beloved apprentice Liu Jianyang from the information he gave. Liu Jianyang is Zhang Jinlai's disciple, and some people in the report have "applauded the case" of the monkey drama he performed.
Liu Jianyang was 18 years old and a six-year-old child, and Zhang Jinlai also learned Shaoxing monkey play with this time. In just one year, Liu Jianyang played Sun Wukong in the Shao drama "Flame Mountain", and even won the first prize of the provincial actor and the provincial art star award, which is enough to show that he has a talent for acting.
During this period, Zhang Jinlai was admitted to the troupe to specialize in martial arts, and played Sun Wukong in the Kun opera "Wukong Borrowing Fan", but did not achieve outstanding achievements, and it is clear that his acting experience needs to be improved. Obvious contrast, in all aspects, it is no wonder that director Yang Jie took a look at Liu Jianyang.
However, the next day, when Yang Jie continued to offer to go to the troupe to see the young actors. This time, Zhang Zongyi went straight to the point and asked her to consider her son Zhang Jinlai. His recommendation of his son again made director Yang Jie suddenly realize that it was no wonder that Zhang Zongyi kept mentioning his son in front of him.
Although Yang Jie was not very satisfied in her heart, Zhang Zongyi strongly recommended it and decided to give Zhang Jinlai the opportunity to audition.
Under the persuasion of his father, Zhang Jinlai was able to audition in the "Journey to the West" crew, unexpectedly by director Yang Jie, Zhang Jinlai showed his vivid and vivid side on the basis of his ancestral monkey drama acting skills, and finally successfully obtained the opportunity to play Sun Wukong, and the smart, jealous and hateful Monkey King Sun Wukong who portrayed him has also become a household name classic image.
Avoiding the recommendation of his son by his beloved disciple, his choice was disputed
Liu Jianyang, who is extraordinary, finally lost his hand with "Journey to the West" because of his master. People who know the inside story have criticized Zhang Zongyi for being selfish and giving the opportunity to become famous to his son, Liu Jianyang, a beloved disciple of Xuezang. However, Liu Jianyang did not lose his frustration and passivity, but still stayed by his master's side to learn art and became the representative inheritor of the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.
In fact, in the historical environment at that time, the status of opera in the hearts of the masses was higher than that of tv dramas, and tv dramas were far inferior to operas in terms of status and reputation. At that time, the original candidate Dong Zhihua chose to play a stage play instead of acting in a TV series, and there were also reasons for not being optimistic about TV series.
Strictly speaking, Zhang Zongyi was not the same apprentice as people discussed, not to mention that Liu Jianyang at that time had already made a name for himself in the opera industry, and it was not a rational move to give up the foundation of a good career and transform into a TV series.
Therefore, after the broadcast of "Journey to the West", it is inevitable that the practice of evaluating Zhang Zongyi again is not objective enough. In reality, he did not treat this apprentice badly, and Liu Jianyang, under his careful cultivation, was blue in the opera world, which is a good example.
Moreover, Yang Jie's initial impression of Zhang Jinlai was not very good, mainly reflected in the lack of maturity in the image, the high degree of myopia was not bright enough, and the height was too high and not dexterous enough, which was enough to make her deny Zhang Jinlai in her heart.
At that time, after Zhang Jinlai auditioned, waiting for the crew to decide on the month, still diligent in hard practice, in order to make the monkey play live, specially raised a monkey, imitating the flexible image of the monkey's eyes and swaying left and right, it was his efforts and persistence, his brilliant acting skills, changed the director Yang Jie's initial impression of him.
As the saying goes, "There is nothing difficult in the world, as long as you can climb it." In the practice of eye contact, Zhang Jinlai insisted on watching ping-pong every day, just staring at the ball, so that the eyes that were originally highly myopic and colorful became vivid; in the process of shooting, in order to make his height meet the requirements of the director, he bent his waist, but created the classic image of the Monkey King.
Just think, if Zhang Jinlai only relies on the luck given by his father, it is obvious that even if there is no fellow disciple Liu Jianyang, yang Jie, a director who pursues perfection in art, will consider other candidates.
Therefore, the father Zhang Zongyi recommended his son to enter the TV series and bypass the apprentice, which is actually a comprehensive consideration. On the one hand, the apprentice can continue to shine, the son can also try to develop in new areas, we all know that the future is full of variables, and no one can guarantee that the path chosen will be correct.
Liu Jianyang missed "Journey to the West", which did not hinder his path to success, and now the Sun Wukong he plays is praised by the public as "acting to the bone". It can be said that the road to success between him and Zhang Jinlai is like a big road leading to Rome, and missing some opportunities does not mean that they will lose their development prospects.
Whether Zhang Zongyi is selfish or objective, history has told us the answer, and his son Zhang Jinlai and his beloved disciple Liu Jianyang have achieved good results in their respective fields.