Liu Yijun played He Yong, the leader of the task force, in "Sweeping The Black Storm", which is a rare "positive role" for him in recent years. (Infographic/Figure)
The 51-year-old actor Liu Yijun has a rare sense of youth, which is related to his state.
He has recently become obsessed with learning skateboarding, just starting out, but without a few lessons, he has the confidence to fly like a young man; the starring criminal investigation drama "Sweeping Black Storm" is still popular, he has unloaded the identity of He Yong, the leader of the anti-crime task force, and has been shooting for more than twenty days in the next crew, "Zhang Weiguo's Summer". Liu Yijun walks between home and the crew every day with flip-flops and backpacks. From the crew to the station for more than an hour's drive, he will use this time to read the script, repeat the lines of the day's scene, approach the destination, and then take out the script to familiarize it again, giving people the feeling of being like a candidate who is about to enter the examination room.
Since participating in the TV series "Romantic Journey" directed by Kong Sheng in 1999, Liu Yijun has been an actor for 22 years. But it wasn't until 2015, because of the explosion of the spy drama "The Pretender", that Liu Yijun, the actor of Wang Tianfeng, a high-ranking military commander code-named "Poisonous Bee", tasted popularity, when he was 45 years old. In the same year, he played Xie Yu, the Marquis of Ningguo, in "Langya List", a powerful courtier with a deep heart and deep calculations, but he was also an obsessive man who had a deep affection for the eldest princess, and the complex and multi-faceted nature of human nature was interpreted by Liu Yijun. With a few fires, Liu Yijun's strength was finally seen by the public.
Fans enjoyed the "archaeology" of the film and television dramas he had acted in, only to realize that he had so many scenes. As early as before playing with Liu Mintao in "The Pretender", the two played lovers in "Human Ghost Love", one is Ning Caichen, the other is Nie Xiaoqian. Liu Yijun started from a very high point and was one of the earliest male actors in mainland China to star in idol dramas. In 2002, the Film and Television Department of the CCTV Literature and Art Center produced a multinational co-production of "Modern Family", in which Liu Yijun played the male protagonist, Xiao Yuntian, a Beijing boy studying in South Korea, and played a small couple with Li Tailan, a Korean star who was popular at the time. At that time, there was no concept of "idol drama", and Liu Yijun's handsome image was once regarded as a template and benchmark for "idols".
After "Modern Family", his next hotly discussed screen role is "Parental Love" directed by Kong Sheng in 2014, in which he plays Ouyang Yi, an intellectual who is avant-garde and always catches up with the trend of the times. Although his role in the whole play is not much, but every appearance is a turning point of an era, an intellectual who was once so spirited and proud of the spring breeze, after walking through the "Cultural Revolution" and experiencing the wash of the great era, finally lost his face and had to bow to reality, and the sense of fate and tragic color of a generation of intellectuals were vividly displayed in Ouyang Yi, which was lamentable and also aroused empathy.
From "Modern Family" to "Parental Love", it spans ten years. In the past ten years, although Liu Yijun has been filming dramas every year, most of those dramas have not made much splash in the market, he has faded out of the public eye, and even rumors that he has been banned for offending big people.
"I've never been banned by anyone else, never, you must express it for me." This was Liu Yijun's only anxious moment in the long conversation with the Southern Weekend reporter.
He met Kong Sheng and Li Xue in this decade, and this list of directors has a long list of names. He studied each of the participating roles, split the words and deeds of the characters, and let the words and actions of the characters fit together seamlessly. Because of this, the directors were relieved to hand over the role to him.
Unlike the fierce and flamboyant villains who made him famous, Liu Yijun in life is very gentle, even a little shy, and there are many simple things in his personality. He once missed a scene that later exploded, and he was looking for him ten years before making "The Pretender". The other party decided to make him the male protagonist, but he agreed to a play of a good friend at that time, although he did not sign a contract, just a verbal promise, he still voluntarily gave up for the sake of commitment. If he had acted in that play, his popularity might have arrived ten years earlier.
"If I do a little bit in this circle, I can directly tell that person, there is a play looking for me, I like that play more, anyway, your play has not started yet, can you find someone else to play this role." 」 But I don't seem to even have the courage to think that if I were to do that, I would be an unjust person. Now that I think about it, it's all God pressing on you, don't be so anxious, wait a little longer, and completely root your roots. Liu Yijun said.
On August 26, 2021, Liu Yijun had several rival scenes with his daughter in the play on the set of Huairou's "Zhang Weiguo's Summer". Before filming began, he spent a long time communicating lines with the assistant director and dismantling the mental activities of a father. Filming officially began, and he quickly got into shape. There were several times in between, the surrounding environment was noisy, the staff had several arguments with each other over trivial matters, and he was always immersed in the role and unmoved.
After the scene was filmed, a dozen boards, he quickly returned to reality, and the work-life switch was very comfortable. Our interviews moved through several places as he worked, and finally froze downstairs at his house. It was already dusk, and the downstairs hall was full of people, including neighbors pushing strollers and pets, and people who had just finished their lives and were full of heat, and he naturally integrated into their ranks, which was part of his daily life.
'I always like to say that my life is like going to a football game, I belong to the second half of the goal, the first half did not even touch the ball, just follow the full field; in the second half I started to score, maybe I can play in extra time, I can score a few more goals." He told Southern Weekend Reporters.
The following is Liu Yijun's dictation.
<h3>"Will he blacken"</h3>
Playing a villain for a long time, this time in "Sweeping Black Storm", I finally played a positive character, He Yong, the leader of the 9.15 special case team and the anti-crime policeman. I talked to real anti-gang crime front-line policemen. There is a Huang Hongfa family in Hainan, they bully and dominate the market, I have done a program on the same stage with the Hainan police who beat up this family, and I have also chatted. I have also seen many cases, and everything is integrated in my mind, including the recognition of the police, which is also my accumulation over the years. For example, I'm sitting in the car right now, and a car next to me is parallel to us, and I accidentally see a policeman driving, and I'll take one more look at him—how old he is, whether he's going on a mission or has already left work, whether he has children, boys or girls, what kind of look he has on his face, is he relaxed or thoughtful... I will always reverie, and this accumulation will eventually be integrated into the role I play.
"Sweeping Black Storm" is a special industry drama, which has a lot of suspense plots and confusing plots. It is necessary to break through the fog layer by layer to catch the real murderer, and in the middle of this, the leader of the special case group must be more courageous than courageous, and have courage and strategy. I already have a courage in my name, so I want to strengthen his side. I added a lot of foggy elements to the character of He Yong, so that the audience wondered if I was with them in the end, or whether there was a real boss behind me, and whether he would one day be blackened. I want to create this psychological concern for the audience. I was very happy, and the audience felt it all.
For example, in one scene, I told Lin Hao (a young criminal police officer played by Zhang Yixing) that you went to investigate the nightclub, and he was just about to leave, and I said, "Come back, (whisper) Remember, this matter can only be reported to me in a single line, not to anyone." ”
I acted in "Great Prospects", in which I played an evil person Zhang Wanlin on the beach, in that play I was very outward-looking, at that time I chose a very dangerous way of acting, if the performance can not be done, others will think that you are a pompous person, I still acted like that, the evaluation is not bad, but some people say that Liu Yijun played the bad guy is violent, staring at the eyes or something, in fact, I have other ways of performing. I can also express it in a particularly restrained way, and He Yong is like this.
The first time I played a villain was in 2004, in Wang Wenjie's "Great Qing Official", I played the Qianlong Emperor's side, known as the world's first villain Na Shan, although there are some twisted and perverted things in the heart, but he is still very sympathetic and pitiful, I think the reason why the director chose me to play Na Shan, probably to see that I have this kind of thing that can cause sympathy from others. Bad and evil can be acted out, but the innate kindness and compassion cannot be performed. I have something good in myself, and then I play an evil one, and good and evil are superimposed on this role, and this role will be very rich, and the director may also want this character to have this richness.
Liu Yijun, who played the military commander Wang Tianfeng in the TV series "The Pretender", played a fierce villain who will also touch his feelings when he leaves. (Infographic/Figure)
<h3>"Playing the villain, I have no life experience."</h3>
I know that many viewers know me because of "The Pretender", the military command agent, the "poisonous bee" Wang Tianfeng, the whole film is beaten and killed, especially fierce, but there is a military school farewell scene, showing Wang Tianfeng in the entire cold and ruthless vein, but also a warm person. I was going to amplify that scene, to delicately separate his heart.
In the script, it is written that Mingtai, played by Hu Ge, is about to graduate and leave the military school, so I took off my watch and gave it to him, saying: "Give it to you, keep it as a souvenir." "But how to act, the script did not say. I asked for a handkerchief in advance, and after the watch was taken off, I wiped it with the handkerchief, and after wiping it, I winded it, heard the sound of the watch ticking, and gave it to him. Finally, Mingtai accepted it and said, "Teacher, I don't want to see you again." In fact, this is a childish remark. I raised my hand, patted him in the face, and said, "Well, it's better not to fall into my hands in the future." This sentence should be tightly fitted with the action of slapping the face. The first time I didn't do it well, I immediately said, "No, do it again." "Hu Ge is also very sensitive, he asked me if I think the timing of the face pat is a bit out of touch, I said yes, do it again." Well, it's better not to fall into my hands in the future. "I shot it three times, starting with the "to" of "preferably not", shooting three times in a row, and this happened over and over again. The seemingly simple face-slapping action reflects a person's psychological state, like a very, very sophisticated instrument that requires the actor's breathing, your heartbeat, and the concentration of your eyes.
After the gift, I walked forward first, and Mingtai said, "Teacher, can we see each other again in the future?" I stood still, in fact, I was very uncomfortable, but when my head turned around, I smiled: "Maybe, it may be you who meet again." Mingtai continued, "Then it is best that we don't meet in the future." I turned and walked forward to hear a sentence of "Teacher, take care", I did not look back, there was a change in my face: "Those who do our business do not need to say goodbye." Everyone was very touched by this scene, when Hu Ge posted this clip on Weibo after performing, and then Jin Dong also posted it again that day.
This was also the case when I made "Langya List", which was also the work of Kong Sheng and Li Xue. In the original script, Xie Yu, the Marquis of Ningguo, originally did not have so many warm things for the eldest princess, and I deliberately wanted to drag Xie Yu in a good direction. I remember very clearly, Kong Sheng said: "Yi Jun, he is a bad person, you don't have to go back there to make up for it." That's what he said. I said, "I didn't look for a remedy, you let me act in this way, of course, I will also play it according to the original script, and then you will go back to pick it." "Kong Sheng this is particularly good, he listened to my advice, acting, he did not let me set the original script must be performed again, but used what we agreed on, so now presented Xie Yu is a politician, a strategist, very ruthless, but at the same time has unlimited care and love for the family, to the wife, this time has been recognized by many female audiences.
There is a reason why I treat Xie Yu in this way, first of all, I did not feel that Xie Yu was a bad person, I remember that there was a sentence in my line: "Fu Bao Prince, itself is a great righteousness." "It's just that I feel like I'm doing the right thing, and that's number one. Second, I said to my son, "What is right and what is evil, and where is the difference between good and evil above the court?" If I don't work hard to help the prince and succeed in this road, it will be difficult to ensure that our whole family will not be expelled from the capital and exiled, and the women will be sold as official prostitutes and official slaves, and the men will be distributed, killed, and chopped, and this family will not be scattered? So this character you helped him find the foundation of a family. What was the impetus for his career? It is for the sake of the family, so that there is empathy with modern people.
Because of playing these roles, everyone calls me a "villain professional", in fact, I don't like such a title, I think this world is not a black and white world, I don't want the audience friends to use a particularly simple good and bad to evaluate a person, and this kind of thing does not affect the actor, whether you play a good person or a bad person, that is too one-sided. What we want to present is a complex person, or a complex side of human nature, I want to show a lot of evil, a lot of good, let others see that there are such complex contradictions in this world, people are the contradictions of good and evil blended together, the audience has a deeper understanding of the reason why people go to good or evil, understand the causes and consequences, in order to better seek good and avoid evil.
For playing a villain, I have no life experience, and it is indeed a big contrast with myself, but through my observation of life, there is also part of the imagination, the most important thing is the borrowing and transformation of emotions. For example, I was not satisfied before the age of 40, after the age of 30 I knew the hardships of life, and then I kept working hard, working hard until I was 40 years old, working hard for more than ten years, you felt that it was not easy, suddenly there was a character to come to you, it was a villain, there was this cathartic plot, your dissatisfaction in life, or there was something depressing, just through the plot, through this role to get released, this release is very crazy.
When Liu Yijun played the villain Xie Yu in the TV series "Langya List", he always tried to drag this character to the good. (Infographic/Figure)
<h3>"He represents a class, an era"</h3>
I am old friends with Kong Sheng and Li Xue, and Li Xue said in an interview with "People" before, "Liu Yijun is a more old-school literary and art worker, and he will never take the initiative to ask you to give me a role and give us pressure." But he reminds you all the time that he still wants to act well. That's what he said. We both have this kind of concern for each other, but they feel no pressure. I am a person who is unwilling to burden others.
I only had one role with Kong Sheng, which was "Parental Love". It was just after the New Year, I returned to Beijing from other places, I went to his studio to see him, after entering the studio, I saw the photos posted on the wall, the actor wrote the names of several people in the play, but there were no photos, empty, I asked, "Which play are you shooting now?" He said, "On this play, a realistic theme, write about the process of a couple from young to old." "I asked when it would be filmed and he said it would be filmed in April. And I said, who am I playing? He pointed out, "You play this." "One finger is fixed, and I played the role of Ouyang Yi in "Parental Love".
Kong Sheng knows me very well, if he gives this role to others, he may not be at ease, if it is a big name, if the time is particularly tight, there may not be so much time to play steadily, he knows that if he gives me this role, he will be relieved.
It was the only time I asked someone for a role, and because I hadn't read the script either, I asked who I was playing. But after I said yes, I had to act well, and since then, I have been anxious all the time. Although Ouyang Yi only has a few scenes in "Parental Love", after getting the script, I know that this role is very difficult, basically belonging to the triple jump, once he appears, he will bring out ten years of life experience, and then he will bring out the experience of the next decade, he used to be so arrogant, arrogant, and once he came out, he has been delegated, and as soon as he appears, he is rehabilitated. But his experience over the years has not been written for you, you have no chance to lay out, and the state of the character depends on the actor to master.
The most difficult thing is the scene where my family sits at the wine table when I return from rehabilitation—my daughter-in-law An Xin (Zhang Yan), my sister-in-law An Jie (Mei Ting), her husband Jiang Defu (Guo Tao), and Jiang Defu's sister Jiang Dehua (Liu Lin) have a reunion dinner at the same table. I used to be such a proud person, looking down on the big old man Jiang Defu, but now I have become a frosted eggplant. I remember my daughter-in-law scolding me, "I'll call you Old Ou, Old Ou!" "Snap" scolded me, and then I had a twist, that is, I lowered my head, was silent for a while, and then looked up and said, "You're starting to mean me too, and you don't look down on me either." "And then little by little it exploded.
At the beginning, I didn't think about how to act, fortunately, the scene was performed more than a month after we started filming, we transferred to Qingdao after filming in Beijing, and I didn't shoot immediately after arriving in Qingdao, so I kept thinking about how to shoot this scene. Suddenly, one day, I found out through a piece of music how to shoot this scene. That piece of music is an episode in a movie I have acted in, "Warm Pearls", called "Dream People Are Not Old", "Crying children want to sleep, there are more crops than grass, waiting people don't know, people from afar are back", the music comes together, you immediately feel that something penetrates your soul, and you feel connected with Lao Ou, until the time of filming that day, this feeling in your heart is very full, and it is finished in one go.
Before eating, I also designed a section of my own, that is, when Mei Ting came to pick me up, I was very mechanical, a bit like a prison prisoner, standing straight. At that time, when I was acting like that, the executive director also said, Yi Jun, will you be a little too much? I said no, just act like that. Sometimes it's just about sticking to it, because no one knows the character's things better than you do at this moment, and I only have to behave like this, and then the crying that comes to eat at home makes sense.
Not long ago, I was filming in Xiamen, shooting another play in the noonday sun, the director was Sun Molong, one of the executive directors of "Parental Love" at that time, and we talked about this scene. Mo Long said that at that time, at the monitor, Kong Sheng burst into tears, and I didn't know about it until a few years later. Then I talked to Mo Long, I said "Do you remember when you were doing the post-production, I finished recording my lines, I said can you let me watch a play", Mo Long said remember, I said I was also alone in the recording studio, watching that scene, after watching the tears flowed, after coming out, I couldn't help but call Kong Sheng immediately, I said that I rarely watched my own plays when I acted, I said thank you very much. Kong Sheng said, "Ouyang Yi is not just a person, he represents a class, an era. He was also particularly excited.
Now that the audience loves to say that "the spring of the uncles" is coming, I think it is the audience's aesthetic improvement, their horizons are broadened, and they are not satisfied with particularly simple roles and performance methods.
I have never had any so-called idol baggage, so naturally I can go to a small restaurant and eat casually. Don't you all say that I am a "drama throwing face"? When I went to the restaurant, almost no one recognized me. Some time ago, I was filming in Leye County, Guangxi, and I lined up in the morning to eat a snail powder, and no one recognized me. After I bought it, I sat there to eat, and some people asked me if there was anyone in the opposite seat, and I said that there was no one, so he sat on the opposite side and ate, and we both didn't know each other, and after eating, we went our separate ways. I don't have any baggage, I don't feel like I'm particularly handsome, I just make some adjustments for the role.
Acting is now a job for me and a part of my life. If you asked me more than thirty years ago, what does acting mean to me? I must say it is an ideal, but I have been in this circle for thirty years, and I can't tell whether it is an ideal or not, but I know that you can't do without it. I still have a particularly strong desire to create, I think I still have the ability to bring surprises to the audience, so you say whether it is ideal, I don't know, it is a part of your life, just like the two have been married for a long time, the feeling is that the left hand touches the right hand, the waves are not alarming, but to cut it, you will feel pain.
I am a contradiction in myself, everyone must not be confused by my surface, my thinking is jumpy, I do not want to always be in a well-defined place, the so-called safe zone, comfort zone to stay, I always have a spirit of adventure in my heart. I am willing to learn skateboarding, and I dare to try it in my fifties, so some people say that I have a sense of youth, and I understand that this sense of youth may be your curiosity about the world.
Southern Weekend reporter Li Yilan