In our country, there are many excellent special actors, and Gu Yue is one of them. In the past, Gu Yue was very well-known at home and abroad, and the reason was that as Chairman Mao's special actor, he interpreted chairman Mao's image as a beautiful portrait, as if Chairman Mao had never left us.
But Gu Yue is not the only Chairman Mao actor, in addition, the image of Chairman Mao created by Tang Guoqiang is also very popular, but in terms of appearance and acting skills, Gu Yue is the closest to Chairman Mao. During a filming process, Gu Yue met Chairman Mao's daughter Li Ne, who came to visit the class, who was touched by Gu Yue's image and even hugged him and cried out, which made people moved.
In July 2005, Gu Yue came to Lingui County, Guangxi Province, and together with several special actors, participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a film and television base. After participating in the activity, Gu Yue went to Shenzhen with his wife and then returned to Foshan.
Gu Yue participated in the event
On the evening of July 2, Gu Yue suddenly had a myocardial infarction, and the situation was very critical. The family sensed that something was wrong and immediately called 120. When the ambulance arrived, it was 11:08 p.m., and Gu Yue, who was already critically ill, took the doctor's hand and said, "I can't do it, I can't do it." ”
The doctor quickly carried him to a stretcher and began to give him first aid. But since then, Gu Yue's body has begun to turn black and gray, his breathing and heartbeat are very weak, and he has entered a state of near death.
After three hours of rescue, Gu Yue's electrocardiogram was still a straight line. Doctors have been using pacemakers for cardiac resuscitation and even electric shocks, but to no avail. Gu Yue's family had no choice but to accept this sad fact. Gu Yue passed away at the age of sixty-eight.
On July 5, at the Guangzhou Funeral Home, his family held a memorial service for him. Gu Yue's body, dressed in a green military uniform, lay on a lily-filled spirit bed to receive a farewell from relatives and friends.
The scene of the ancient moon memorial service
Many of his former comrades-in-arms and colleagues came to remember him that day, including Lu Qi, who played Deng Xiaoping, Guo Fazeng, who played Liu Shaoqi, and many leaders of the Bayi Film Production Factory.
Gu Yue's wife, Zhang Yan, stood in front of the spiritual bed, shaking her hands and thanking the people who had come to mourn one by one, while his two sons and two daughters were lying on the spiritual bed and crying silently. In addition to his wife and children, Gu Yue's closest is his sister Hu Min, who has been dependent on him since childhood, and the old man has also been full of silver hair, and when he learned of his brother's death, he immediately fell into great sorrow, and fainted from crying several times.
Gu Yue's sister supported the coffin and cried bitterly
Gu Yue's colleague Lu Qi said in an interview at the scene: Gu Yue is a very good person, and people are better at playing. Lu Qi also said: Gu Yue's health has always been very good, probably because it is too good, do not pay attention to health and health care, often work all night when filming, often very excited after filming, always about a few people to play cards and chess all night... In order to lose weight in order to shoot a scene, he did not eat or sleep for several days in a row, which may have buried hidden dangers for his body.
In addition to relatives and friends, more than 300 Guangzhou citizens arrived at the memorial service on the same day, and everyone came to deeply commemorate this legendary film and television artist. Everyone's expression was very solemn, deep in love, and some people shed tears. The reason why these masses are concerned about Gu Yue is that he has succeeded in shaping the image of Chairman Mao beloved by the people.
People from all walks of life attended the memorial service for the ancient moon
Gu Yue once said that he wanted to make a hundred works about Chairman Mao. However, until his death due to illness, this number stayed at eighty-seven, and he was unable to achieve his dream after all, which also made the audience who loved him regret.
Gu Yue's original name was Hu Shixue, and Gu Yue was his stage name. In 1937, Gu Yue was born into an ordinary family in Hankou, Hubei Province. That year was the year when the Japanese invaded China in an all-round way, and countless families died and fled, and the Guyue family was no exception.
Gu Yue's father died in the War of Resistance, and her mother and two children lost contact, and the poor brothers and sisters became lonely and helpless wandering children. After a period of upheaval and displacement, Gu Yue and her sister came to Guilin, Guangxi.
At the age of six, a well-meaning person sent them to a local orphanage in Guilin. However, life in the orphanage is not easy, except for being free from the pain of frostbite, there is no happiness to speak of, and it is very common to be humiliated and scolded. It was not until later, when the People's Liberation Army hit Guangxi and Guilin was liberated, that Gu Yue and her sister Hu Min were taken out of the orphanage.
After leaving the orphanage, her sister Hu Min was selected to join the literary troupe because she could sing and dance, and her life has since settled. Gu Yue has been dependent on her sister since she was a child and is unwilling to leave her sister, so she found a miscellaneous job in the literary troupe.
Ensemble
Although he was small, Gu Yue was very clever and clever, and was deeply liked by the members of the literary troupe, and eventually he was also absorbed into the literary troupe and began his literary and artistic career. It was also at this time that Gu Yue, who loved to draw and write poetry, thought of giving himself a pen name, so he split his surname as a signature of the work, which has a name that everyone is familiar with today.
At first, Gu Yue did not realize that he and Chairman Mao looked very similar, until one time he went out on business. On the train back, Gu Yue noticed that there was a passenger on the other side who had been staring at him.
Gu Yue thought to herself: I have no words on my face, why does this person always stare at me? Seeing that this passenger was still staring at himself, Gu Yue couldn't help it, so he asked him, "Why are you always staring at me?" All stared all the way. ”
The passenger smiled sheepishly and then said, "I think you're a lot like him." ”
Just when Gu Yue was wondering, the passenger took out an oil painting and unfolded it to see that it was the painting "Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan", which was very popular at that time. After the old man said this, Gu Yue was also surprised, and he felt as if he did have some resemblance to Chairman Mao.
Back in Kunming, Gu Yue himself went to buy an oil painting of "Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan", took it home to look at it, took a mirror and kept referring, and took a comb to learn Chairman Mao's hairstyle and comb her hair back. Looking at it, Gu Yue herself was also happy, and she and Chairman Mao were indeed very similar.
Then, Gu Yue ran to find her sister, and Gu Yue said mysteriously, "Sister, who do you think I look like?" With that, he unfolded chairman Mao's oil painting in his hand and placed it in front of his sister.
Hu Min looked at it for a while and said with surprise: "It is indeed quite similar." At this time, Gu Yue was only surprised that he was a little similar to Chairman Mao, and did not know that he would change his life destiny because of this.
Until 1978, the Ministry of Culture issued a document to recruit a group of special actors throughout the country, including Chairman Mao's special actors.
Gu Yue, who was the head of the cultural section of the Kunming Military Region at that time, could not help but be overjoyed after seeing this document, and he wanted to sign up, but he quickly withdrew, because he felt that he was not from a science class, and his acting was not exquisite enough, not to mention that he was still playing Chairman Mao.
Old photos of the ancient moon
Just when Gu Yue was cowering, Hu Ke, then vice minister of culture, came to the Cultural and Labor Department of the Kunming Military Region to inspect, and it was Gu Yue who was in charge of receiving him. At the first sight of Gu Yue, Hu Ke found that Gu Yue and Chairman Mao were very similar, and he secretly said in his heart: "Like, too similar!" ”
Soon, Hu Ke came to visit Gu Yue's home. Hu Ke first chatted with Gu Yue about his family routine, and then cut to the point and said: "Have you seen the special actor group unified recruitment documents issued by the central government?" ”
Gu Yue understood at this time that Hu Ke had come to him for this matter, and he replied, "Minister Hu, are you trying to persuade me to participate in Chairman Mao's audition?" I don't want to hide from you, I have thought about this, but my acting skills are afraid that I will not pass the pass. ”
Hu Ke advised him at this time: "Acting skills can be learned the day after tomorrow, and your face is the best acting skill." Besides, just let you try, can you choose it, or afterword. ”
At this time, Gu Yue's wife also advised him: "I think this is a good thing." Gu Yue pondered for a moment, and finally agreed.
Gu Yue and his wife
Because the special actors who participated in the election had to send a makeup photo first, Gu Yue was afraid that he would not meet the requirements and be returned, so he ran to the Yunnan Provincial Repertory Theatre to try on the costume. When Gu Yue put on chairman Mao's costume in the drama troupe's "Xi'an Incident". The makeup artist exclaimed, "You are more like Chairman Mao in our regiment!" So, Gu Yue took a few photos and handed them to Hu Ke to bring back to Beijing.
At that time, the Bayi Film Studio put the candidate's photos on Marshal Ye Jianying's desk, and there were more than twenty of them. Marshal Ye Jianying looked at it for a while, and at a glance he took a fancy to Gu Yue, and he even felt that this photo was a picture of Chairman Mao himself. In this way, Gu Yue was selected by the Bayi Film Studio and became Chairman Mao's special actor.
The profession of special actor has also been around for a long time. In 1928, when the Soviet film master Eisenstein was shooting "Lenin in October", he used special actors to create lenin's image.
In the 1950s, a number of Soviet films entered China, including "Lenin in October", and Chinese was surprised to see a political leader played by an actor on the screen for the first time, who looked and spoke exactly like the prototype.
Lenin in October
However, because Chairman Mao was still alive at that time, the films involving him were generally expressed in artistic techniques and were not directly interpreted like in the Soviet Union.
It was not until 1976, after the death of Chairman Mao, that our country learned from the Soviet union's practices, and the use of special actors in film and television dramas to portray leaders was put on the agenda.
In 1979, the movie "The Great River Rushing" was filmed in China, in which "Chairman Mao" stood on the embankment of the Yellow River and said to the heroine Li Mai: "Comrade Li Mai, please come and talk to us about the situation of the Yellow River, is it okay?" " scene. At that time, chairman Mao was played by actors.
However, there is only one scene about Chairman Mao in "The Great River Rushing", and the line is only this one sentence, but this work has set a precedent for playing a leader in China. So he is also a good actor, but he is not very similar to Chairman Mao, nor is he a special actor in the true sense.
Chairman Mao played by him in "The Great River Rushes"
At the same time as the filming of "The Great River Rushes", the Ministry of Culture has begun to look for Chairman Mao's special actor, and it is through the search for a needle in a haystack that Gu Yue has become Chairman Mao's special actor.
The process of Gu Yue playing Chairman Mao was not smooth, the first time he acted, he was very nervous, although after many rehearsals, but he was still very uncomfortable seeing the camera that was about to shake his face, so that when he said the lines, he was very flustered.
The director shouted "card" over and over again, and a lot of film was wasted, and the director gradually lost patience and said sarcastically to Gu Yue: "How did such a face grow on you?" ”
Gu Yue was very ashamed in a word, but he could not refute it, and could only make up his mind to make up for his acting skills. On the set, Gu Yue can be seen everywhere humbly asking others for advice, and it is also under his efforts that his first work "Xi'an Incident" was successfully completed.
Since then, Gu Yue has not been satisfied with the existing achievements, in order to better interpret the image of Chairman Mao, he has watched Chairman Mao's information film hundreds of times, imitating his every move.
Once, Gu Yue noticed Chairman Mao's smoking movements, and he found that when Chairman Mao smoked, the cigarette was sandwiched in his fingers, because Chairman Mao's hands were very large, and the palms of his hands would cover his mouth when smoking. Therefore, Gu Yue remembered this action and learned chairman Mao's way of smoking. When he performed this action to the director, he was also praised by the director.
Gu Yue played Chairman Mao smoking in "Xi'an Incident"
In order to get close to Chairman Mao's image, Gu Yue even ran to Chairman Mao's hometown of Shaoshan, Hunan Province, and lived in a hometown, where he ate and lived with his fellow villagers every day. Because Gu Yue is from Hubei, his accent is very different from that of Hunan people. After some time, Gu Yue was able to speak the authentic Shaoshan dialect.
Through long-term repeated practice, Gu Yue had a good grasp of Chairman Mao's demeanor and movements, from walking to smiling, from raising his hand to frowning, just as Chairman Mao himself was still alive.
What is even more amazing is that Gu Yue also learned a hand of Chairman Mao's calligraphy, and when filming "Marshal Zhu De", there was a scene in which Chairman Mao wrote an inscription for Zhu De, and Gu Yue refused to stand-in, personally splashing ink himself, so that all colleagues present were amazed.
Ancient Moon calligraphy works
Gu Yue's progress was seen by everyone, and the director who had originally ridiculed him also exclaimed after seeing his performance: "Is this Gu Yue? ”
In order to play Chairman Mao well, Gu Yue suffered a lot. One of the characteristics of Chairman Mao is his unique "back" hairstyle, which is actually not difficult to do, the difficult thing to do is that when Chairman Mao was old, his hair was already relatively thin, and Gu Yue was still young after all, and his hair was very thick.
Sometimes to play the appearance of Chairman Mao's old age, you have to wear a wig set for Gu Yue, but many of the cosmetics and glue at that time contain alcohol, and Gu Yue is allergic to alcohol, so that when he wears a wig set, his scalp will be allergic the next day, and then he will start to inflame, and after a week, the skin on his forehead will fester.
Gu Yue also began to try to eat spicy, three meals a day are indispensable to chili peppers. At first, Gu Yue's face was red with spices, and he had to drink cold water while eating peppers, which also caused stomach problems.
When filming "The Story of Mao Zedong", Gu Yue jumped into the water in the winter, and even though his body was already frozen and shivering, he still tried his best to act happily. By the end of the shooting, Gu Yue came up from the water and had collapsed to the ground, shaking into a mess. After that scene, Gu Yue was bedridden for a whole week.
When filming "Four Crossing Red Water", Gu Yue was on the fat side, but Chairman Mao at that time was very thin, so Gu Yue lost twenty-five pounds a month. When "Father" began filming, in order to play Chairman Mao, who was in his sixties, Gu Yue ate another twenty pounds in one month.
Stills of Gu Yue in "Four Crossings of Red Water"
Gu Yue's efforts have made him a great success, and his works such as "The Founding Ceremony", "The Story of Mao Zedong", "Chongqing Negotiations" and many other works have won him the honor of best actor of the Popular Film Hundred Flowers Award twice. And he himself has gained the love of countless audiences.
When the "Founding Ceremony" was broadcast, many old people went to see this film with excitement, and even more so, they also went to see "Chairman Mao" . When Gu Yue shouted in the stadium, "Chinese people have since stood up!" The audience applauded thunderously.
When Gu Yue went to Changsha, Xiangtan, Shaoshan, and other places in Hunan to look for the leader's style, he was warmly welcomed by the masses, as if Chairman Mao himself had returned.
In 1993, Gu Yue went to the United States with a Chinese film delegation to participate in the film exhibition, and as soon as he got off the plane, he was surrounded by reporters, and no matter where he went, there were people following him.
When the premiere of "Armageddon" was held at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, when Gu Yue stepped on the stage, the applause was even more enthusiastic, and everyone cheered "Long live Chairman Mao!" Gu Yue, who couldn't help but shout out, "Long live the people!" It also triggered the cheers of the whole audience.
At that time, there were not only Chinese, but also blacks and whites in the audience, but everyone loved Chairman Mao, which showed the great influence of Chairman Mao, and we could also see that Gu Yue played chairman Mao's image extremely successfully.
What is more indicative of the success of Gu Yue's interpretation is his meeting with Chairman Mao's daughter Li Ne. At that time, Gu Yue was preparing for the filming of "Out of Xibaipo" in Hebei, and Li Ne also happened to be in Hebei, so he came to the scene.
When Li Ne saw Gu Yue, Gu Yue had just finished performing a play, and the costumes had not changed. At the first sight of the two meeting, Li Ne was already stunned, and Gu Yue could see the surprise and sadness in Li Ne's eyes.
Li Ne pulled Gu Yue to sit with him and told him a lot about Chairman Mao's love for himself when he was a child, and when he was in love, looking at Gu Yue, who was very similar to his father, Li Ne couldn't help but cry loudly and hugged Gu Yue, just like he was holding his father.
Before leaving, Li Ne bowed deeply to Gu Yue, which was both a thank you and a recognition of him.
After becoming famous, Gu Yue still maintains a humble nature, no matter what occasion, as long as an audience asks him for an autograph or a group photo, he will gladly agree. Sometimes, eating outside will also put down the dishes and chopsticks to do these things.
In this regard, his wife advised him not to be so casual, but Gu Yue said: "Chairman Mao is the chairman of the Chinese, and the people love not me, but the chairman." ”
With the development of the times, China's film and television industry has been increasingly affected by Western blockbusters and entertainment films, and the status of special actors is not as good as before. Compared with commercial actors, their income is very meager, sometimes even no remuneration, only bonuses.
The classic work "Armageddon" was filmed for three years, but the actor only received a prize of three thousand yuan. Some actors have also begun to transform in order to make a living, and Gu Yue is still sticking to it.
Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai in Armageddon
At the same time, some non-special actors also began to involve Gu Yue's field, such as the well-known actor Tang Guoqiang also began to play Chairman Mao.
Although Tang Guoqiang is not very similar to Chairman Mao compared with Gu Yue, due to his excellent acting skills, he has also won the recognition of the audience with his work "Long March".
For Gu Yue, Tang Guoqiang once commented: "The actors who play Mao Zedong each have their own strengths, and Gu Yue's appearance cannot be copied." ”
With the development of the times, the actors of the leading characters no longer pursue the shape of the like, but more of a god. In the "Great Undertaking of the Founding of the People's Republic" released in 2009, only Liu Jin, who played Zhou Enlai, is a special actor, Tang Guoqiang is half, and as for others, they are very different from the image of historical figures. After the "Great Cause of Party Building", I can't see a special actor.
Tang Guoqiang
As early as the nineties, Gu Yue had noticed the changes of the times, but he did not care about these, he was more concerned about the historical mission on his shoulders.
Gu Yue once said: "Playing the chairman is my lifelong task, I will continue to act, and now I most want to play the role of some little-known elderly Chairman Mao." Because this history cannot be left blank, we are responsible for future generations. ”
In 2005, Gu Yue played the image of the eighty-fourth Chairman Mao in "Uncle Kurban Goes to Beijing", which was also his last time to play Chairman Mao. Soon after, he died of a myocardial infarction. And his wish to play Chairman Mao 100 times in his life can no longer be realized.
Gu Yue once said: "Thought is the soul, skill is the means, and life is the foundation." Only when you understand it deeply will you be able to act truthfully. "As a special actor, Gu Yue changed her life because of her appearance and became a well-known and famous actor.
But what really makes everyone remember him is not his face, but his professionalism. In order to play this role well, he has spent almost half his life of energy, has been with a modest and cautious attitude to study, but also with a tenacious and hard spirit to demand themselves, do not expect whether the return is rich, but really regard this work as a cause, a cause that carries forward the pioneering spirit of our country.
Ancient Moon
His professionalism and sense of historical mission are worth learning from many new generation actors.