Chen Guokun had never been exposed to Douyin before.
The first short video he released, the classic dance of the Axe Gang, received more than 100,000 likes at once, and his fans rubbed up, and everyone's enthusiasm surprised Chen Guokun.
For Chen Guokun, the public has always remembered the classic roles he has played. He is the goalkeeper "Ghost Shadow Catcher" in Stephen Chow's movie "Shaolin Soccer", the axe gang leader Chen Ge in "Kung Fu", and bruce Lee in "The Legend of Bruce Lee".
Especially because of Chen Guokun's high restoration of Bruce Lee's kung fu in "The Legend of Bruce Lee", many people subconsciously regard Chen Guokun as Bruce Lee himself, and when they see him, they are solemn and respectful, saying to him "Bruce Lee, you are awesome."
In "Ip Man 4", which was released on Friday, Chen Guokun played Bruce Lee again, and many fans said to him: "Brother Long, your role is too small, looking forward to seeing the Bruce Lee series."
Surrounded by Bruce Lee's aura, Chen Guokun is the recognition of hard work, and he feels that "some people have not let the audience remember a role in their whole lives, and I have been very lucky."
In fact, he has also played the no-name pawn, played the policeman, played the soldier... Together with Bruce Lee, these constitute the whole of his acting career, and they are equally memorable and grateful experiences.
From the film for 24 years, Chen Guokun still insists on showing the real martial arts from fist to flesh, and does not forget the original intention of the spiritual inheritance of martial arts, and more importantly, he has not given up thinking about performance.
"If you can act, the 80-year-old is still willing to play Bruce Lee"
"Bruce Lee is my idol, my faith." Talking about the one who has the greatest personal influence on Chen Guokun, Bruce Lee is a topic that cannot be avoided.
At the interview site, Star Capital heard the staff directly call him "Little Dragon" more than once. "At the age of 6, people started calling me Xiaolong, and since my parents, my brother, including my brother's classmates, has called me Xiaolong."
Chen Guokun has been fascinated by Bruce Lee since he was a child, and the rhythm of his speech, facial expressions and body language have been influenced by Bruce Lee. "My life and my philosophy of being a person, as well as my own experience, I try to judge some things close to Bruce Lee's concept."
Chen Guokun himself also practiced Bruce Lee's boxing, "Every time I feel tired after practicing and hide on the side and be lazy, my master will take out the photo of Bruce Lee, and I will immediately cheer up, 'Good, come!'" It's an invisible dynamic. ”
When Chen Guokun went to Hong Kong with his parents, Hong Kong was still in the era of "Chinese and Foreign Coexistence", whether it was going to school or going to work, Chen Guokun found that "those who are in high positions are all foreigners", and the Chinese have suffered too much unfair treatment, which is the same as Bruce Lee's feelings when he first came to the United States. "This state, this environment, made me more aware of what Bruce Lee said, to first make myself strong, to stand up, is to have a kind of backbone."
Chen Guokun believed that Bruce Lee was a character who would never be out of date, and he broke away from the traditional Chinese hero figures and had an open mind on top of traditional moral concepts. He said: "Bruce Lee turned time into eternity, never-ending, he seemed to be alive all the time, he was not even a character, he was a spirit".
"It's the traditional martial arts — martial spirit, politeness, respect for the teacher, and when faced with life and death, you have to leave everything behind, let yourself survive, and then tell others that this is the real martial art." 」 Bruce Lee has been admiring and trying to spread the spirit of martial arts throughout his life, and Chen Guokun believes that there is a need to pass it on.
Therefore, when Chen Guokun knew that he was going to star in "The Legend of Bruce Lee", he was very excited. "As a Bruce Lee fan, it is an infinite honor for me to be able to play Bruce Lee."
Since then, "Ip Man 3" and then "Ip Man 4", no matter how many Bruce Lee roles Chen Guokun has never resisted, "I think it is good that I can act for a lifetime, if I can act, I will still act at the age of 80, as long as the audience does not hate me."
"What I sometimes fear is overconfidence"
In fact, Chen Guokun only played Bruce Lee four times, just an image in "Shaolin Football", and only a short meeting in "Ip Man 3", Chen Guokun himself recalled it carefully, and felt that "the acting was really not much".
For most directors, finding an actor who can play Bruce Lee is not an easy task. "Some people may be very good at kung fu, but they don't look like it; some people can only shoot a big side face or a bowed side face, they can't shoot straight, I am the only one who can shoot straight, the audience also feels like Bruce Lee', and the audience is easier to accept in general." Chen Guokun said why he was favored.
When doing publicity in Malaysia, Zhen Zidan expressed his recognition of Chen Guokun, "Chen Guokun is the only person in the world who can play Bruce Lee." For this evaluation, Chen Guokun said bluntly, "Speaking from Danye's mouth, you don't know how happy I am."
Chen Guokun is really concerned about playing Bruce Lee. Before the filming of "The Legend of Bruce Lee", Chen Guokun took a chocolate advertisement, and after watching the film, Chen Guokun felt that this was his own right, but definitely not Bruce Lee. "Because the state, physical fitness and movements are so far away, I feel ashamed of Bruce Lee", he suddenly went crazy and exercised for 6 hours a day.
When it came time to actually shoot "The Legend of Bruce Lee", Chen Guokun tried to follow Bruce Lee's habits and wanted to turn himself into Bruce Lee. But when he went to the graveyard of Bruce Lee in Seattle, his first words were "Brother Dragon, I'm sorry, I didn't do well enough", and he cried after saying it.
"I feel that every time I play Bruce Lee, I feel differently, and I feel that I am getting closer to Bruce Lee step by step."
"The Legend of Bruce Lee" has a lot of play, and Chen Guokun believes that if the play is too creative, it will become contrived, and it is better to fight in reality. After playing Bruce Lee's life, Chen Guokun has been able to pose in the state of Bruce Lee very naturally.
"When I was playing Bruce Lee, I was playing a character who couldn't have some creation that left Bruce Lee's essence." Bruce Lee, who has played 50 episodes, is difficult to add new things to the image of Bruce Lee, but Chen Guokun is thinking about how to add more creative space to this role.
After filming "Ip Man 3", Yuan Heping said, "Guokun your leg skills are not enough", Chen Guokun said, "If there is still a chance, I will definitely train this leg well". Sure enough, when it came to "Ip Man 4", Yuan Heping praised him for "really practicing".
Chen Guokun hopes to be smoother and more natural than before. In "Ip Man 4", Bruce Lee's famous scene in the Long Causeway Competition, Chen Guokun filmed very forgetfully, "Those group audiences on the scene, I know that many of them are definitely Bruce Lee fans, they cheer on the scene, the atmosphere feels very real, I think to work harder, more effort." ”
Chen Guokun really punched the flesh, directly knocked the opponent actor away, and injured himself. When everyone watched the replay, the audience seemed to hold their breath and was silent, and suddenly the director said "Wow, God restored", and some people said to him, "I have goosebumps". "For the first time in my life, I was really able to fully play to the waist and horse unity that Brother Long said." Chen Guokun himself felt very excited.
In the play of "Ip Man 4", Chen Guokun often reminded himself in many small details, such as the strength of this time, which was 5 points before, and now he has to receive 3 points. But Bruce Lee in "Ip Man 4" also has a mentor-apprentice relationship with Ip Man, and also has to show a more humane side, which is a challenge for Chen Guokun.
"When I play Bruce Lee, I always look up, which is a kind of arrogant performance, and emotionally it is also a little more public." But when Bruce Lee confronts his master, it should be more of a kind of respect, "I want to change the habit of the past, take back bruce Lee's arrogance, be humble, and speak in a softer tone." ”
Chen Guokun knows that the audience is too familiar with Bruce Lee, and he believes that the most important thing is not that the plot is attractive, but that it should resonate with the audience. "Sometimes when I go to act, I have overconfidence, I feel too involved, I just forget something, forget the camera and forget the opponent." 」
"I dare say that Bruce Lee is my own most confident character, so I am still very sure of playing Bruce Lee, but sometimes I am afraid of being too passionate and forgetting some introverted things." 」
"I agree with this double-edged sword, but I don't mind"
Bruce Lee's acting was so successful that it brought Chen Guokun many unexpected adventures.
As soon as many people saw him, they immediately gave a thumbs up, "that kind of admiring look, let me feel that I am Bruce Lee." Some people greeted him with "Hello, Bruce Lee", and Chen Guokun would reply "I'm sorry, my surname is Chen". Someone even asked him, "Can I worship you as a teacher?" Chen Guokun cried and laughed even more, "I'm sorry I'm just an actor, not a martial arts museum."
For an actor, it is a blessing and a praise for acting skills because a role gains high recognition; but when a role is too successful, it is inevitable that it will also bring some harm to the actor: is it fixed? Is there no more drama to film?
Here in Chen Guokun, many people forget the actor Chen Guokun himself, but only remember Bruce Lee. Chen Guokun admitted that it was a double-edged sword, but "I don't mind."
"I still like to play Bruce Lee, I don't like to play Bruce Lee, I wish I was him. After playing Brother Long, I feel that life is full of fun, full of joy, and full of courage. ”
"To say, in fact, there is not much aura, I have played any role, but people give me labels, as an actor may have a passive side." 」
After playing Bruce Lee, Chen Guokun took over the role of many positive heroes, but "the heroes will be framed by the script, that is, tied to death, and the space for play is not large enough, that is, you cannot go beyond the creed of some righteous characters to play more creative." ”
But Chen Guokun is not afraid of this framework to limit, "If others set up a framework for me, I will break this framework myself and play my own space." So Chen Guokun likes to try the villain role, "Playing a villain can completely break away from the previous decent role path, I can play the opposite idea, which I think will be more interesting." ”
Chen Guokun, who has the courage to break the framework, naturally will not be afraid of being bound by the role of "Bruce Lee". In fact, not only Bruce Lee is synonymous with Chen Guokun, Chen Guokun is also synonymous with Bruce Lee in turn, "Just thinking of Bruce Lee, people will think of Chen Guokun, if the new generation wants to play Bruce Lee, it may be Chen Guokun who thinks first." ”
To a certain extent, this is the greatest embodiment of Chen Guokun's own actor value.