Yang Chunxia played the white bone essence
When an actor's screen image is too classic, it is difficult for the audience to separate the actor himself from the role.
For example, when chen Xiaoxu is mentioned, people's first impression is Lin Daiyu, played by her, and when it comes to six young children, people will think of Sun Wukong played by him.
However, for negative roles, the audience binds them to the actor himself, which will bring a lot of trouble to the actor.
Yang Chunxia, who once played the role of Bai Bonejing in the 86th edition of "Journey to the West", participated in a TV show "The Horns Are Coming" in 2019, when an audience asked her about the conflict with director Yang Jie because of the role of Bai Bonejing, hoping that she would talk about her ideas.
Yang Chunxia heard this question at that time and smiled and said, "It seems that I can't erase this role." Although it is a joking tone, it can also be seen that Yang Chunxia seems to have some nostalgia for this experience.
Yang Chunxia
In fact, in the eighties and nineties of the last century, people's ideological concepts were still relatively conservative, and they always loved and hated the roles in literary and artistic works, praised and worshiped positive roles, and always hated and resisted negative roles.
This emotion also often spreads to actors along the role, such as Chen Qiang, who plays the villain Huang Shiren in "The White-Haired Girl", when performing in the countryside, he was thrown a stone by the audience and went to the canteen to eat, and the aunt who was also beaten pointed out behind his back.
Therefore, when actors chose roles in that era, they also preferred positive images, and no one wanted to play roles that were too negative.
Before Playing Bai Bonejing, Yang Chunxia was already a famous Peking Opera actress, and the Peking Opera role she played was also positive.
Born in Shanghai in 1943, Yang Chunxia's father was an employee of a machinery factory and her mother was an accountant.
Young Yang Chunxia was influenced by her parents and also liked opera, and occasionally learned to hum two sentences with the tape recorder.
Her parents accidentally found that her voice was good and she had a good taste when she learned, so she deliberately trained Yang Chunxia to learn opera.
Yang Chunxia applied for the Shanghai Opera School at the age of 12 and began to study Kunqu opera and sing Danjiao, in which the famous Kunqu opera artists Zhu Chuanming and Fang Chuanyun saw Yang Chunxia's talent for opera and focused on teaching her.
Yang Chunxia is gifted, studies very hard, and progresses rapidly, and has been selected as the protagonist many times in the theater's literary and artistic performances.
Yang Chunxia also got the opportunity to tour "The Legend of the White Snake" abroad, and Yang Chunxia used her superb performance to let foreigners appreciate the wonderful oriental art.
At that time, it was a great honor to have the opportunity to go abroad and tour on behalf of the country, and the newspapers at that time had a picture of Yang Chunxia on the front page, and the people of the whole country basically knew her name.
Yang Chunxia and her family
Later, she changed her studies to Peking Opera, and also made great progress, and was successfully transferred to the Beijing Opera House.
Yang Chunxia has also served as the protagonist of many Peking Opera model plays, and the Peking Opera model plays she starred in were highly sought after by the audience.
One of the most famous is "Cuckoo Mountain", in which Yang Chunxia plays Ke Xiang, a brave, witty, and deeply loved Communist Party member.
Yang Chunxia's stills were published in newspapers, posted on the streets, and made into calendars to be bought and treasured, she was the national idol of that era.
However, it is also the experience of starring in model plays for many years, so that Yang Chunxia is extra cautious when choosing roles in the back, and attaches great importance to whether the role is decent or villainous.
Stills of Yang Chunxia
Because the Peking Opera model opera is a special cultural product of the times, it reflects the simple values of the audience at that time, that is, the distinction between good and evil, the upright characters are tall and majestic, representing light and justice, and are an example for the whole people to learn.
The villain is completely dark, decaying, and depraved, which needs to be criticized by people and awakened by the times.
Therefore, the actors who played decent characters in that era will also be sought after by people, and the actors who play villains are often hated by people, and in a troupe, the most famous actors can play decent protagonists, while newcomers who are not famous often only have villain roles to choose.
It is no wonder that when Yang Jie, the director of "Journey to the West", found Yang Chunxia and asked her to play the white bone essence, Yang Chunxia felt angry.
At that time, director Yang Jie was preparing to shoot "Journey to the West", and after a long period of preliminary preparation, he was looking for actors who matched the role nationwide.
Director Yang Jie especially requires the female characters in the play to reflect a variety of beauty, such as the fairy in the sky should be an otherworldly, non-cannibal fireworks of the cold beauty.
The princess in the palace should be as delicate as the golden branches and jade leaves, and the king of the daughter country should be an atmospheric beauty with majesty and wisdom.
The goblins of the deep mountains and old forests should be a kind of enchanting, magnificent, and demagogic beauty.
Other roles are still easy to find, there are a lot of people who take the initiative to interview and participate, and they have been finalized one after another, but only the role of white bone essence, almost no one wants to participate.
Because the white bone elf is not only a goblin, but also a scheming, good at deception, and fierce character.
In the chapter of "Journey to the West", the white bone essence has changed into three characters: a young girl, a middle-aged woman, and an old woman, and each image has successfully deceived the compassionate Tang monk, but failed to hide from Sun Wukong's fiery golden eye.
The white bone essence becomes a maiden
Therefore, after Sun Wukong beat all three people who changed the white bone essence to death, tang monk, who did not know the truth, was greatly angered, he was angry that Sun Wukong killed innocents indiscriminately, and he did not listen to Sun Wukong's explanation, so he chanted the hoop mantra and let Sun Wukong die and live in pain, rolling on the ground.
When feeling the cunning of the white bone essence and seeing Sun Wukong who is not trusted by the master, many viewers will inevitably hate the white bone essence with itchy teeth, and such negative emotions can easily be implicated in the head of the actor who plays the white bone essence.
Therefore, almost no one took the initiative to sign up to play the white bone essence, and director Yang Jie could only take the initiative to contact many actors at that time.
Director Yang Jie believes that the actor who plays the white bone essence must meet three conditions: the first is to look beautiful, the second is to look oriental, and the third is to have a domineering wind.
Director Yang Jie first took a fancy to Liu Xiaoqing, when Liu Xiaoqing was already a film queen, whether it was appearance or temperament, it was in line with the requirements put forward by director Yang Jie.
Director Yang Jie, in order to show sincerity, personally went to talk to Liu Xiaoqing, and Liu Xiaoqing agreed to play the white bone essence, but she had additional conditions.
Liu Xiaoqing said that it is okay to play the white bone essence, but the girls, women, and old women who change the white bone essence must also be played by her.
Because Liu Xiaoqing wanted to make her performance more challenging, she wanted to try to perform three age states by herself.
White bone essence
Director Yang Jie heard this request but made a mistake, although she also wanted Liu Xiaoqing to play the white bone essence, but she also demanded that the final effect was real enough and fitting.
If You let Liu Xiaoqing play four roles alone, even if you can make different makeup for her, there is still no way to change her original appearance.
Director Yang Jie said: "Then the audience looks at the four people are all one face, that is, they are dressed differently, and they will definitely think, what kind of body has this white bone essence become?" It wasn't all one person, how could Tang Monk not recognize it? The audience is definitely going to play. ”
After careful consideration, director Yang Jie refused Liu Xiaoqing's request, and he could only find someone else to play the white bone essence.
Director Yang Jie accidentally saw Yang Chunxia's poster and felt that Yang Chunxia had a kind of coolness and domineering spirit, which was quite suitable for starring in the white bone essence.
Originally, Yang Chunxia was very happy to hear that the director wanted to find her to star in "Journey to the West", but after listening, she actually wanted her to play the white bone essence, and her eyebrows were twisted up on the spot, saying: "Do you see me like a white bone essence?" ”
At that time, Yang Chunxia also thought that director Yang Jie looked down on her, thinking that her temperament and image could only play a fierce, sinister and vicious villain role.
But director Yang Jie looks at each role as equal, good or bad only exists in the play, for the actor, can interpret a villain as flesh and blood, real and tangible, this is also a very remarkable skill.
However, Yang Chunxia's concept is still conservative, and she considers that playing Bai Bonejing will destroy her screen image for many years.
But she also knows that the filming of "Journey to the West" is a major event in China's literary and art circles, and if it is filmed well, it may be recorded in history in the future, and she does not want to miss the precious opportunity to participate in Journey to the West.
So she thought about it for a while, and then said to the director: "I can play the white bone essence, but the king of the daughter country must also let me play it, and I will play a good role to rehabilitate, otherwise the audience will hate me." ”
Director Yang Jie thought at that time how could this white bone spirit and the king of the daughter country let one person star? The audience looked at these two people as a face, and perhaps they thought that the king of this daughter country was also a white bone spirit? Was it that the white bone spirit was not killed? Definitely going to be a play.
However, filming is about to begin, and if the role of Bai Bonejing cannot be fixed, the shooting will be delayed, and in a short period of time, there will be no more suitable person than Yang Chunxia.
Therefore, director Yang Jie first verbally agreed to let Yang Chunxia rush into the crew to prepare for shooting.
Yang Chunxia played the role of Bai Bonejing into three points, and director Yang Jie praised her acting skills many times in the crew.
King of the daughter country
However, after the role of Bai Bonejing was completed, Yang Chunxia originally planned to prepare to play the king of the daughter country, but at this time, director Yang Jie told her that the king of the daughter country chose a more suitable person to play.
This person is Zhu Lin, at that time, the "Journey to the West" scene director Li Chengru recommended Zhu Lin to director Yang Jie, the director saw Zhu Lin's photo, he felt that the woman in the photo was as bright as a rose, her face was like a silver plate, her eyes were like water apricots, her eyes were flowing, and she was very suitable for playing the king of her daughter country.
So the director quickly let Zhu Lin go to the crew to start preparations, but Yang Chunxia, who learned the truth, felt deceived, even if Director Yang Jie apologized to her, she was also angry, packed up her bags and left the crew overnight.
"Journey to the West" was filmed for six years, and once it was broadcast, it was popular all over the country, thousands of people were empty alleys, and every household was playing this TV series, and men, women, and children were familiar with the plot and characters in the play.
Most of the actors who participated in "Journey to the West" became popular because of "Journey to the West" and their careers went to a higher level.
But except for Yang Chunxia, who plays the white bone essence, the white bone essence is indeed a very annoying role, when Yang Chunxia was walking on the street, she met a child with childlike words, recognized her, and directly pointed at her and shouted: "Look, white bone essence!" ”
Yang Chunxia has played so many positive roles, all of which are praised, where can she bear this grievance?
Therefore, she basically cut off contact with the crew of "Journey to the West", and also cut off contact with Yang Jie, and the crew invited her to dinner many times, and she did not go.
She was interviewed by the media, and whenever she asked questions about "Journey to the West", she directly said that she had not read "Journey to the West".
Directed by Yang Jie
Although director Yang Jie has gained fame and fortune for successfully directing "Journey to the West", she has also been grumpy about the fact that she once deceived Yang Chunxia.
Years later, Yang Jie publicly apologized to Yang Chunxia on a television program, saying: "I really don't lie, but this time I really broke my word." "Journey to the West" is an eternal knot in my heart, and I haven't seen it in ten years. ”
Yang Chunxia and Yang Jie were not reconciled as before, and "Journey to the West" became an experience she had always been reluctant to recall.
On the one hand, the actors at that time were all in the system and valued their reputations, and in that era of worshipping heroes, Yang Chunxia, an actor who had always played a positive role, suddenly became famous for playing a villain.
Then as soon as the audience sees Yang Chunxia, it is easy to think of Bai Bonejing, and the audience cannot see her playing other roles. After that, few crews have come to her to play the main role, and her career can be said to have plummeted.
Yang Chunxia still had a grudge against Yang Jie's renegade, and it was difficult to put it down, and later Yang Jie died of a heart attack, and many actors in "Journey to the West" came to remember the director, but Yang Chunxia was still absent.
When the house leaked overnight, when her career was not going well, there was also a crisis in the family. Yang Chunxia's husband Lin Xintao is a Peking Opera violinist, the two met young, knew and fell in love, supported each other after marriage, had a good relationship, and had a son.
However, in 2006, her husband Lin Xintao unfortunately died of illness, leaving Yang Chunxia and her son to live together.
Yang Chunxia misses her husband very much, and often misses her husband silently and tears at night, but fortunately, with the company and encouragement of her son, Yang Chunxia has not been able to get out of the pain of widowhood.
Later, Yang Chunxia simply stopped starring in TV dramas, quit the TV screen, and returned to the Peking Opera stage, focusing on Peking Opera performances, spreading the national classics and promoting traditional culture.
In 2017, Yang Chunxia was selected into the fifth batch of recommended lists of inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects, and her dedication to inheriting the essence of the country was seen by more and more people.
Yang Jie
It is worth mentioning that her daughter-in-law is a young Hua Dan of the Shanghai Kun Opera Troupe, who is also a national first-class actor, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have also performed on the same stage together.
Nowadays, although Yang Chunxia does not perform on stage, she is still actively cultivating more Peking Opera performing talents, hoping that more young people can like Peking Opera and inherit Peking Opera.
Nowadays, the times have changed, things are not people, and Yang Chunxia has also seen the events of that year. She understood that there were many subjective and objective constraints at that time.
And today's audience's concept is more inclusive and open, and can more objectively look at the characters and the actors themselves.
No one will doubt Yang Chunxia's character because she played Bai BoneJing, but many viewers thank yang Chunxia for once interpreting Bai BoneJing so well, making "Journey to the West" icing on the cake.
When Yang Chunxia participated in the interview program "The Horns Are Coming" and was asked about the contradictions with director Yang Jie, she answered very easily:
"It seems to have been passed around, and it has become that director Yang Jie and I had a quarrel over this matter, got into a fight, and became an enemy."
"But in fact, it is not like this, after filming the scene of Bai Bonejing, I returned to Beijing, director Yang Jie did not look for me, I did not look for director Yang Jie." Later, the crew asked me to go to dinner, but I didn't want to be tied to the role of Bai Bonejing, so I thought about it. ”
Siren has passed away, once Yang Jie had to renege on his word, there is no need to pursue it anymore, Yang Chunxia is also estimated to be able to appreciate that both sides had difficulties at that time, so her response now also wants to deliberately play down the contradiction between her and Yang Jie.
It is true that once she was damaged by her image as a white bone essence and was waterloo by her acting career, but now, she is also remembered by many post-80s and post-90s who grew up watching "Journey to the West", and her superb acting skills have been certified by the audience.