Over the years, there have been many people who have been labeled "old drama bones" red, and these three words have become more and more like small advertisements, which have been posted on tall and low telephone poles. So that an actor like Wang Zhiwen, even as an old drama bone, seems out of place.
Wang Zhiwen is 55 years old, and like when he was young, he didn't like to join in the fun.
As the ceiling of Chinese mainland actor, he did not go to any variety show as a mentor, did not shoot at the chaos of the industry, and did not go to the red carpet at the award ceremony for a long time. In the year, there are half a year of hiding in the crew to shoot a scene, and after filming, they go into the golf course and almost do not meet the public.
With the popularity of the starring "Rebel", Wang Zhiwen, who does not even have Weibo, has landed on the big data list of major representatives "red". But he still did not appear in any publicity campaigns, did not give media interviews, and did not hang on the hot search.
Stills from the TV series "Rebel" Wang Zhiwen as Gu Shenyan
Marketing and exposure weren't buzzwords of his time, and he didn't seem to have any intention of keeping up. He is like a reclusive old monk, either settling down or wandering in the clouds, but people will not forget him.
He appeared as an idol in the mouths of his peers, and his textbook-level monologue lines were widely forwarded by film and television bloggers every once in a while, and he occasionally came out to play a supporting role and also stole the limelight.
People talked cordially about his complexion: What exactly did golf do to him?
He also teased his eye bags affectionately: they were bigger and bigger than their eyes.
Finally, affectionately praise his acting skills and lines: Uncle Zhiwen's eternal god!
But he, as a man, seems to have a hard time being kind to strangers. His arrogant divine manipulation was circulating in the rivers and lakes, so that reporters had to do a long period of psychological construction before interviewing him.
A few years ago, a reporter asked him, do you think your personality is suitable for the entertainment industry?
He said, "You have to fit in, and when you're in it, you have to adapt." ”
In fact, Wang Zhiwen has never really been suitable for the entertainment industry, fortunately, the entertainment industry has not changed Wang Zhiwen. Flattened.
When he first entered the industry, Wang Zhiwen did not meet the requirements of the entertainment industry.
He was not very handsome, thin as a bamboo pole, still old, in his twenties, and his eye bags were quite large.
Feng Yuanzheng was once indignant, saying that the teachers at the Beijing Film Academy did not ask him because they thought he was not handsome enough, "but that year, they recruited Wang Zhiwen!" ”
The appearance problem really bothered Wang Zhiwen. In his 20s, he was nearly one meter eight tall and weighed less than a hundred pounds. Once, When Ken Takakura went to the Beijing Film Academy to do an event, Wang Zhiwen asked his idol, Do you think I am so thin that I can be an actor?
Wang Zhiwen's eldest brother strongly opposed his entrance to film school, on the grounds that he did not look very good, could not pass the examination, and wasted money in vain.
At that time, the family had no money. The father died early, and the mother earned more than 30 yuan a month and raised three sons. To take the art exam, you have to go from Shanghai to Chengdu, and the cost is more than two hundred - half a year's salary of my mother.
He told his mother to borrow two hundred yuan first and pay it back when he grew up. The mother is angry, between mother and child, how can they borrow.
In 1984, the dry and thin teenager sat in a hard seat for three days and two nights, went to Chengdu to catch the exam, got on fire and nosebleeds, and took the soft newspaper to block it.
After passing the art exam, he returned to Shanghai to take the culture class. Before he could enter the examination room, he was hit by a speeding car. He fractured his leg bone and was ordered to stay in bed for 3 months by the doctor.
As a result, Wang Zhiwen, who claimed that "climbing also to climb into the examination room", became the first candidate in the history of China's college entrance examination to enter the examination room lying down. With a high fever, he lay down on a desk that was close together, spread the exam papers on the hanging wooden board, and finished answering the questions.
At that time, two teachers in charge of political review at the Beijing Film Academy went to Shanghai and told Zhu Liuting, a teacher at the middle school of the examination center, that no matter how well the candidate did, we had recruited. In the end, Wang Zhiwen was admitted to nortel's performance department with the first place in the culture class.
Good culture class is his biggest advantage. Nortel's teacher even told him directly, "We recruited you to be a teacher." Later, as the teacher expected, he was assigned to teach lines at the Central Academy of Drama, but no one expected him to become the first Grand Slam player in the Chinese mainland.
Wang Zhiwen, who has just entered the school, is the youngest in the class, introverted, and a little inferior. In class performance assignments, he was always the last one on, worried that others would feel childish. At the worst time, he mentioned dropping out of school, but the class teacher Qi Shilong asked him to insist on it.
Before graduation, Wang Zhiwen had a hard time finding a role in Zhang Junzhao's movie "Arc Light", and as a result, he was filmed for a month and was dismissed by the director. The director said that he could not act, and he was not the material for being an actor at all.
At that time, almost no one said he could. Only Wang Jixing, an 84-level refresher in the directing department, inadvertently said such a sentence: "Your class is also good for you." These words made Wang Zhiwen remember for a long time.
After graduating in 1988, Wang Zhiwen's first film role was given by director Wang Jixing, playing a reporter in "Secret Interview". 10 years later, Wang Zhiwen asked Wang Jixing to direct "Black Ice".
Stills from "The Secret Interview"
His popular posture is also less conventional.
In the showbiz circle of the 1980s and 1990s, the most popular was the so-called "orthodox drama style", such as Chen Baoguo, Tang Guoqiang, Zhang Fengyi, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a face of "Guotai Min'an", whether it was playing the emperor general or Wei Guangzheng's brother of workers, peasants, and soldiers, they were quite convincing.
And Wang Zhiwen, slightly hunched over, always has three points of uninhibited, two points of laziness and one point of carelessness on his face, and his bones are full of literary popularity.
Five years after graduation, in 1993, at the age of 25, he waited until "Addiction", dry firewood, and screamed.
Confused Love Jiang Shan; Wang Zhiwen
1993 TV series "Addiction"
The male protagonist in the play dialect, works in the municipal cultural center, drinks tea and reads the newspaper every day, arrives late and leaves early, the coat is always two sizes larger than the body, is a Japanese Wenqing who does not seek progress, and has no protagonist aura. This was a unique dish in the film and television market at that time.
A classic clip of "Addiction"
In the words of the class teacher Qi Shilong: "Wang Zhiwen has an indescribable disrespect in him, a kind of reverse growth force. The liberation and release of individuality has been completed more thoroughly in the new generation at the end of the 80s, who have bid farewell to orthodoxy and inherited the gifts of the times. ”
The gift of the times is manifested in the fact that this TV series, which was broadcast at 11:00 p.m., created a viewing miracle in the non-golden file.
Stills from "Overindulged"
There is an anecdote that has always been talked about. The crew went to Tianjin to participate in the event, the enthusiastic audience surrounded the mall, director Zhao Baogang took the actors to escape, through the gap on the side of the billboard, was hit by the iron bracket to break the head, went to the hospital for several stitches.
With the role of dialect, Wang Zhiwen became a household name and won the Feitian Award.
But in his words, the exploding happiness "disappeared after four hours." After Zhao Bao just finished sewing the needle, the organizer of the event invited the crew to eat, and just after eating for a while, the fans chased after it again and surrounded the crew.
At that time, Zhao Baogang's TV series "Longing", "The Story of the Editorial Department" and "Addiction" exploded three times in a row, and the limelight was the same. People kept toasting to him, and Wang Zhiwen tried his best to stop him, but it was useless. Zhao Bao, who had just finished sewing needles, was forced to drink cup by cup.
Wang Zhiwen finally did not hold back, and became angry on the spot, "It is not easy for him to come here and sit here tonight, and I will leave immediately if you force a toast!" ”
Later, recalling the incident, he said: "I sat there, and the joy and joy in my heart gradually disappeared. That's not what I want, if it's a success. ”
Wang Zhiwen is not greedy, he has said more than once, the role of dialect, who plays the fire.
"Don't think I'm being polite and modest, I'm not a humble person. In movies and TV series, when a successful image appears, it must have something to do with the literary image of the character. Wang Shuo's three novels combine into an eight-episode TV series, and how solid this literary image will be, and it is still a moving romance story. ”
After that day, people have regarded "Addiction" as a classic of Chinese opera countless times, and Wang Zhiwen said: "I think there is no classic, more is the years, these are two concepts, people often feel that what is long ago is the classic, but in my opinion, it is something that has passed." ”
For some formulaic praise, Wang Zhiwen has never been very cold, and has therefore been called "anti-correctional master" by netizens (another formulaic praise).
The reporter asked him how he felt about playing with so-and-so. He wondered, "What do you mean by show?" ”
In his opinion, "The actor performing on the same stage is a collaborative process, and if you say that the actor pours all his strength into the role, it should be called pouring work." ”
He once said in an interview that there are two words that cannot be heard, and it is annoying when you hear them, one is acting, and the other is acting. "People say I'm good at acting, I'm very unhappy, where is the skill in this?" No tricks. ”
"It's feeling, feel with your heart."
In Chen Kaige's film "With You", the music teacher played by Wang Zhiwen has an eccentric temperament, will make a big fuss with the female neighbors for the placement of briquettes, and when classical music is mentioned, it immediately becomes serious and calm; clothes can not be changed for several days, but the piano must be spotless.
In a sense, Wang Zhiwen is very similar to this character. "He doesn't do everything, but he has some things that can't be destroyed. Wang Zhiwen can compromise anything except movies. He said this about himself in the third person.
In 2002, he was sued by investors for not telling lies when commenting on the film, that is, the "smile case" that was boiling over that year.
In early 2002, Wang Zhiwen's Sino-Austrian co-production "Fanny's Smile" premiered in Shanghai. At the premiere, he publicly blasted the film's script.
The reporter asked him, you were moved by the script to star, right?
Wang Zhiwen said, "I was moved by the story, not the script!" ”
He also said that "the performance is bound by the script" and that "the film has little to do with the story prototype Mrs. Wagner, and that Mrs. Wagner's story should be remade." ”
Previously, he had already won the Moscow Film Festival with this film, and the reporter praised him for acting well, saying that "the acting is not good at all." ”
The reporter thought he was modest, and asked rhetorically, "How can you take the Moscow film emperor if you don't act well?" ”
Wang Zhiwen said: "This can all be awarded, and the people of Moscow are blind." ”
The investor was blown up and sued him in the name of unilaterally breaking the agreement, and the final result of the case was that the investor's lawsuit was dismissed and the court found that Wang Zhiwen had fulfilled the contract.
"Fanny's Smile" is adapted from the true story of the Austrian Madame Wagner, the heroine and the Chinese youth fall in love and spend their lives in The turbulent era of Love and Faith.
Wang Zhiwen believes that the script has major problems in art, and does not respect the archetypal characters, and constantly asks for changes to the script from before filming begins, but the crew did not adopt his opinion in order to catch the shooting time. This set the stage for the awkward scene at the premiere.
Wang Zhiwen changed the script, which is also famous.
Before filming Black Ice, he proposed that the creators hold a week's meeting and change the script again. This is an anti-drug film featuring the villain drug lord, but the original script has little analysis of the personality of the drug dealer.
The drug dealer Guo Xiaopeng, who is finally presented in the TV series, is polite in appearance, personable, tasteful, cold inside, keen to manipulate people's hearts, but has no sympathy, such a cold person is eager to get the sincerity of the undercover heroine, and the character level is very rich.
Wang Zhiwen's monologues of self-analysis of large sections of characters in "Black Ice" are regarded as line textbooks.
Interestingly, Wang Zhiwen did not harden his bones after he became a big guy. When he was still a nobody, the "uncompromising" energy was already revealed.
In 1988, Wang Zhiwen was still writing his graduation thesis, and Li Shaohong's film "Silver Snake Murder" asked him to star.
The assistant director approached Wang Zhiwen and said that the script was still being changed. Wang Zhiwen insisted on reading the script first, and then decided whether to act or not. The assistant director said what crazy are you crazy, a student who has not yet graduated, can have a movie male lead to act enough, what qualifications are there to pick and choose?
After a week, the deputy director called and asked him to spend half a day considering whether to act or not, and Wang Zhiwen immediately replied: "Without half a day, I can clearly reply now, I will not agree before reading the script." ”
The next day, director Li Shaohong personally went to his dormitory, asked him why he didn't act, and said that he had pasted his photo on the wall to watch the script change. But Wang Zhiwen still insisted on reading the script first, and also proposed to ask the assistant director to leave before he could act.
His first film male lead opportunity, just talked about yellow.
Wang Zhiwen once told the story of one of his favorite players, Bobby Jones: Once, when Jones was trying to swing, the club touched the ball slightly, and he immediately told the referee.
The referee asked the other players, do you see it? Everyone said they didn't see it. The referee said it wouldn't count as a touch, but Jones couldn't, and if it didn't count, he couldn't play the ball.
"I would love to be someone like him." Wang Zhiwen said.
One year, the Central Academy of Drama divided the house, Wang Zhiwen should be assigned, but the result was not, so he called the dean to express his dissatisfaction. The phone call worked, and the college quickly gave him a house of more than 90 square meters, but just after getting the key, Wang Zhiwen returned the house again.
"Whether it is your business or not, whether it is my business or not." Because I now live in Shanghai, I don't need a house in Beijing, it was wasted here, I believe that many people in the school are looking forward to this house, and this house can be given to them. ”
On the side of the coin, Wang Zhiwen is arrogant and arrogant, and for some kind of insistence in his heart, he offends people everywhere. On the other side of the coin, we will see that he is very emotional and serious.
Recalling the old story of "Silver Snake" afterwards, Wang Zhiwen said that he asked to fire the assistant director because he was in a very bad mood at that time.
This incident made him always feel sorry for Li Shaohong. Five years later, in 1993, Li Shaohong was preparing to shoot "Red Pink", and once again found him, he said, "We both don't want anything, I will promise you now." This time he didn't ask to read the script first.
Stills from "Red Pink"
At the premiere of "Fanny's Smile", he caused a big mess, also because he was in a very bad mood.
Mrs. Wagner, the prototype of Fanny, died the day before the premiere. On the same day, in order to express his sorrow, Wang Zhiwen deliberately left the most middle position for her and sat on the far side himself. But in the midst of the chaos, the Austrian consul suddenly asked him, "Do you not want to sit next to me?" Wang Zhiwen had no chance to explain, so he was forced to sit back in the middle.
From this point on, his mood dropped to the freezing point, and the crowd at the scene bragged about the film, which made him feel that Mrs. Wagner had been insulted.
He had always had respect and guilt for Madame Wagner. During the filming of the film, almost everyone in the crew visited her, except Wang Zhiwen. He stubbornly believed in his heart that the film was a betrayal of Madame Wagner, and that he had participated in this lie and had no face to face her.
"Thorn head" Wang Zhiwen caused a storm outside, he thought his mother did not know, but in fact his mother knew everything.
His mother knocked on his side and told him to have a better temper, not to say anything, to think more about it. He said to his mother, "Trust me, the son you know." ”
Wang Zhiwen and his mother
What kind of mother is a mother? After the death of her husband, one of them raised three sons, cut their hair, and let each child dress clean and decent. Without hesitation, he would take out half a year's salary to let his younger son go to the art exam, and he would be angry that his son said he borrowed money.
What kind of son is a son? After my father died in a car accident, every night I slept with my mother, always pretending to inadvertently touch my mother's eyes, if it was dry, I would sleep with peace of mind, and if it was wet, I would talk to her. Before the college entrance examination, I was in a car accident, and I did not dare to say that it was a car accident, but I only said that I fell into the ditch on my bicycle. After becoming famous, he also moved back to Shanghai to live with his mother.
My mother loves hairy crabs, but it is always too expensive, and she will say that she is full when she tastes one. So Wang Zhiwen colluded with the waiter in the shop and lied to his mother that he was discounting as long as 20. The mother asked the waiter how much to spend, the person said 20, she listened to the music, leaned into Wang Zhiwen's ear and said: "Then ask for a few more!" ”
Zhu Liuting was the secretary of the middle school at the college entrance examination center that year, and it was she who agreed to Wang Zhiwen lying down and entering the examination room. More than 30 years later, Teacher Zhu has retired and her family has moved three times. One day he suddenly received a call from Wang Zhiwen, saying that he had been looking for her and wanted to invite her to his wedding.
Director Huang Jianxin said that Wang Zhiwen does not like to greet and talk about scenes, but he has right and wrong in his eyes, and he must have in-depth communication to become friends with him. Once friends, he is relaxed, funny, and affectionate.
At the 2011 China Directors Association Annual Commendation Conference, Lan Weijie, a 90-year-old (the wife of a famous film editor and famous director Tang Xiaodan), took Wang Zhiwen's hand and said, "I just like you, can I call an artist without temper?" ”
In fact, Wang Zhiwen does not seem to care about the public's judgment of his character and character, some people think that he is a heavy love, and some people think that he has a bad record.
But he said something like this: "Our audience friends are particularly willing to strive for the perfection of people, and ask us to be three good students, not only to be in good health, but also to study well, and to have good moral character."
Are there such people in society? There will be, but I can't. I just want to be a person who is in good health and good work, and I don't want to be a person of good moral character.
What is the concept of good character? Is it the virtue you understand, or the character I understand, there is no upper limit to morality. ”
The label of "old artist with both virtue and art" is something he doesn't want.
Weak water three thousand, take only one scoop. Wang Zhiwen's choices and trade-offs are always as clear as the scoop edge.
Friends pull him into business, he doesn't go, admitting that he has no business acumen.
When people asked him why he wasn't a director, he said he was lazy and didn't want to worry.
When he was done, he left, unwilling to participate in "lively, specious" occasions.
The reporter asked him why he was firm, and he said that "firmness is simplicity."
Wang Zhiwen has no assistant and no driver.
Wang Zhiwen has always been a lecturer and has no interest in evaluating titles.
Wang Zhiwen does not accept commercial endorsements. Once, when he was filming, he put a bottle of wine in front of him that had nothing to do with the plot, and he got up to leave, "Take the wine away, and I'll sit down again." ”
Regarding the matter of shooting advertisements, he explained it like this: "Money, I like it, I have no vendetta against it, shooting advertisements makes money fast, it is very tempting, but this money I do not earn comfortably." ”
In his own words: "Interest is enthusiasm, and disinterest is scornful." ”
In 1988, in his graduation thesis, "Experiment, Life, Acting," he mentioned that Robert De Niro had practiced boxing for a year and gained 52 pounds in order to play "Angry Bull.".
Filming "Over the Addiction", Wang Zhiwen directly smashed the glass with his head in order to shoot the effect.
Filming "Jing Ke Thorn Qin King", he played a day on an icy wooden board 30 centimeters wide and 14 meters above the ground without any protection.
"Jing Ke Thorn King of Qin" Wang Zhiwen as Concubine Yi
Filming "The Longest Shot", he wore a coat weighing more than 20 pounds in the summer, sweating profusely, but his face did not sweat.
"The Longest Shot" Wang Zhiwen plays the killer Lao Zhao
In the TV series "Mobile Phone", Yan Shouyi (Wang Zhiwen) said to his niece in the dream showbiz: "The reason why those actors become good actors is not accidental. ”
According to Huang Jianxin, "Stars can be packaged and can be exchanged for stubble, but a good actor needs a lifetime of cultivation." ”