At the end of June, it was raining heavily in Shanghai. Xu Junshuo, a first-year student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, hurried to the filming location in the Jing'an district. The rain was so heavy that the enthusiastic Didi driver gave him a coat to keep him warm when he got out of the car. When he dragged his suitcase and carried his school bag into the studio, it was just 1 p.m., the makeup was finished, the lights were in place, and the status was switched, he was Xu Junshuo, a musical theater actor. In the year of truly accepting the public gaze, following his undergraduate graduation and the graduation of "Sound into People's Hearts 2", Xu Junshuo stood at a "milestone" juncture. And this time, it's more like a memorial to a bizarre journey, "If it's a perfect score of 100, I'll give myself an 82." Very high. ”
Precision
The rocker pans slowly. In the real-time screen of the platform, the number of people online has surged, and the bullet screen is fast. Trapped in the cold winter of the theater due to the epidemic, online live broadcasting has become the primary maintenance for promoting plays and communicating with audiences. The small theater is arranged as a tea party, two sofas and a table, with a backlight board, photo wall and decorated bears, mini warm. Musicalians sit in a circle and take turns performing.
Special "warm-up concert". Xu Junshuo was one of the guests of the evening, and the introduction page cut into separate screens listed his major works since his performance on stage: the broadway musical "Almost Normal" and "Jincheng Spring" Chinese edition, the suspense musical "Interview", the musical light comedy "European Blog"; the single "Stars", "Life Class", "Exchange", "Zhixia", and "Gravity", the Korean drama "The KING: Eternal Monarch" Chinese version of OST, independently translated and matched by Xu Junshuo. A beautiful report card.
Of course, there is another masterpiece that does not strictly belong to the theater: the annual chief of the second season of Hunan Satellite TV's "Sound into People's Hearts". He was the youngest of them all. In addition to the brilliance of the title attachment, this chief has another meaning to Xu Junshuo, "Refresh the cognition, suddenly understand, it turns out that I can also do (something) and do it well." ”
Similar cognitive refresh, there is also in 2015 with the first in the country to be admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In June 2019, Xu Junshuo graduated with a bachelor's degree and was sent to the shanghai conservatory of music with the first result of the first year of his major. In July, he appeared on the stage of "Sound into People's Hearts 2", became the final principal in October, and at the end of the year, the 10th Internet Bull Ear Everyone's Festival, Xu Junshuo won the title of the most anticipated singer of the year. The year that was jokingly called "the first year of debut" by the agent, the applause of flowers and sharp scrutiny coexisted, and the gallop was normalized. And the journey of digital series is also like an open gap, revealing details about Xu Junshuo himself.
When he explains what these refreshes mean to him, the words and phrases strive to be precise and almost verbose. Because of rigor, Xu Junshuo always pursues precise to tight expression, and there are standard limits in language and behavior. In his opinion, "I am not a person who has been a good student since I was a child, nor do I have the confidence of a good student." "Conversations pop up from time to time," here's another premise. "Say so, but it has to be combined with reality." "There's one more point to add." And so on, which are preconceived situations or supplementary conditions.
He never resisted telling, was willing to express, was good at expressing, but also instinctively worried about expression. This part stems from his keen and delicate sense of self as an expressor, hoping not to be misunderstood; part of it is due to his meticulous nature, inertia is deeply rooted in thinking, and he does not want fragments to become the basis for definition, "fragments are easy to interpret, and easy to be one-sided." They do not constitute a complete me. In addition, there are several specific triggers: translation, debate, chamber production. The need for a precise grasp of different expression contexts, logic, and creativity - the stronger these abilities, the higher the line of accurate expression in Xu Junshuo's heart, and the greater the scope of expression, language, words, music, their own state, and the details of stage presentation.
Evaluating the past year on a 100-point scale, he gave 82 points, "The deduction of points is not because I regret it, but there are objective limitations at this age that I cannot break through." This is the premise. Then he snapped his fingers and carefully cut the 18 points that had been deducted, each small point was specific to the venue and the activity, sophisticated as if he were a senior grading teacher: 5 points left blank, giving a better future. 4 points are deducted in the presentation of naturalness, 4 points are deducted in the sense of proportion, and 5 points are deducted in the balance between the two.
Balance is a big problem. The degree of naturalness and the sense of proportion are contradictory, the former is a loose life, the latter requires fine processing and packaging. "Acting, communicating, completing the work of the artist, everything I have an expression requirement for myself," but there were many concerns in the early stage of the show, there was a kind of distortion illusion, "afraid of not being decent enough, and afraid of being too decent, unnatural." I don't feel like myself. ”
At the beginning of December, the Changsha station tour, "because it was the first one, I wanted to do it well, and as a result, I sang the words and strings." That song is still his own translation of "Glory Surrenders for Me", which is funny and embarrassing to say. The stage presentation of this scene is also not used on the previous show, "too musical, TV recording did not use this version." Backstage rehearsals, they also used The Switch's handle as a prop, and the lanyard hung on the hand, simulating the situation of the pocket watch hanging, looking for feelings. There is a seriousness in the laughter.
In mid-January, Xu Junshuo sang "Let Her Land". Memories spring up on the closing night— the first stage, the tour, the ups and downs along the way; back even earlier, two years ago, weibo wrote "She didn't have fireworks." From his youth to his famous city, this old song accompanied him many ways. The song was completed with a crying voice, and as soon as it was over, Xu Junshuo used his sleeve to wipe his tears. Crying and apologizing, this did not conform to the expressive effect of his mind. "I want to be sincere and natural, but the emotional loss of control is the embodiment of no measure." It's so unprofessional. ”
During the recording and touring of the show, Xu Junshuo made a detailed design for each performance, brooch, bracelet, pocket watch, blowing leaves, including translation and matching, all with exquisite thoughts. Regardless of whether he will cut it out or not in the later stage, or include other versions, he always prepares a lot in advance. He said it was a kind of reverence for stage art, cutting out details that may not have been noticed at all, "not for the sake of design to deliberately add a little design into it, nor to make it for people to see, but these designs can give themselves the confidence to better support the performance." ”
Those days were "prepared and bittersweet." The recording task was heavy, preparing for the tour and rehearsing the musical "Interview", and there were several extreme backs and forths in the itinerary, "I have done it with all my strength." Xu Junshuo did not deduct his own effort points. But everything is complete, always powerful and difficult to reach, try not to add trouble to colleagues and staff, which is also his requirement for himself. Several of the staff members who participated in the tour said, "[He] hosts and can hold the field." "It's not hard to work together."
observer
Starring in the Chinese version of the suspense musical "Interview" is a stroke of Xu Junshuo's return to the home battle. A murder case ten years ago, a mysterious labyrinth of the mind, a fierce conflict of multiple personalities, love and destruction, with the plot laid out the cocoon. Returning as a musical actor, he was fully released in this play.
Every side of sinclair's character, every personality, "is both the character's innermost struggle and the other self we may have." He uses different voice lines and vocal methods to highlight the transformation, and also uses the flow of emotions to express the reverse dissection of the self. In an interview in May this year, Xu Junshuo mentioned how to shape Sinclair, "to observe those who have greater emotional ups and downs in life, they will also observe themselves, and when there are mood swings, stop thinking about the speed of speech, and specific expressions." ”
In the first episode of the show, Xu Junshuo said that he liked musicals because he wanted to live many times. And like the old song, "want to extend their timeline." He sees the past as an unknown without involvement, "and I'm curious about what the world was like before I was born." These old songs, film and television dramas, and literary works are the evidence that I went to explore before I existed in this world. "Curious about life and the course of time and space, sensitive and focused, he is good at seeing subtle details that are not compelling. Italian director Fellini once said that everything has miracles, just observe with your heart. When it comes to acting, amplifying a certain aspect of the personality, it is closer to a separate gaze: he creates the character, and also observes the self who becomes the character.
From "Almost Normal" to "Interview", as a thread that runs through, Xu Junshuo will deliberately let himself "stay" in his life to maintain a fit with the role. Sinclair's role is more extreme than Gabe's. The days of rehearsal last winter were the closest connection between Xu Junshuo and the people in the play, "My family is not very big, and I will feel very depressed and uncomfortable lying in bed." "Blowing cold air is one of the few means of extraction. It's about 40 minutes from home to the rehearsal hall, and he rides a battery car back and forth every day, "going to be a little more awake." Both musical masterpieces point to complex and extreme human shaping, and as far as the actors themselves are concerned, "staying" is not so pleasant. Several times, fans left him a message: Can you play a sunny role next time?
Choosing a script needs to be considered comprehensively, and in terms of character setting alone, Xu Junshuo does not deny his preference for the ultimate role. "I'm very aggressive and have a temper, but A lot of times I've relented. Acting may be an expression of inner emotion. The things in the personality are difficult to suppress, and he does not feel that the negative emotions generated by it are a burden, "Yes, otherwise it will not be good." This expression includes a sense of truth and self-relief, which will be revealed in front of and behind the scenes. Colleagues in the studio remember that in the discussion about work, Xu Junshuo can make overall planning and have a global view, "without a tough side, he can't do this, he is a person with a temper." ”
Colleagues interviewed also mentioned Xu Junshuo's real, unpolished sharpness, not a commodity of entertainment industrialization, and there is no single constant texture public exhibition. Sensitive, temperamental, indigestible emotions are all present in him. Self-awareness is very stubborn, and whenever Xu Junshuo observes himself as a character, he will have intensive introspection to think about the causes of those attributes.
childish
Xu Junshuo debuted on the stage of "Sound into People's Hearts 2", singing the ending song of the TV series "Golden Powder Family" "Let Her Land". On that day, he also deliberately pinned a lily brooch on his name tag, which symbolized the "strong qu on the portuguese vine" in the play. His superb perception is also vividly reflected in this song, and producer Shang Wenjie said that he understands what he is singing. Later, in Beijing, Xu Junshuo cried and sang "Let Her Land", saying that it was no longer what it used to feel, "It has many memories of mine." Immediately after, he punched himself in the face, trying to hold back the tears, "Xu Junshuo is funny!" Suddenly the audience laughed.
Creating atmosphere and destroying sensationalism may seem like the opposite, but they are all he is good at. In addition to the evaluation of precision, aura, delicate sensitivity and other evaluations related to the profession, "Sound 2" has a memory point so far: he is keen on earthy videos. As the leader of Guagua Paradise (Xu Junshuo Singing Group), he not only has the professionalism of the leader, but also leads the members to liberate their nature, and the earthy terriers such as "Nest Head" are like happy viruses, and the laughter points are dense everywhere they pass, and even those who are much older are "taken away" together.
"But this is my real life, fun," he laughed, he immediately retorted with an example, "I don't just look at the earthy taste." Once, when I was wearing makeup, I clicked on a video of a Foreign Ministry spokesperson watching and cared about national affairs. Then the makeup artist was shocked and said, I have put on so much makeup, the first time I have seen someone in the dressing room watching a video of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! The tone was still quite admirable. "He's kind of proud, like a kid.
There was also something fun on the day of the shoot. There are two cats in the shed, one cat is asleep on the side, pillowing the coat that didi driver sent Xu Junshuo, and has been rubbing Xu Junshuo's star bag. The other noisy, on-site debugging equipment gap, it took advantage of the lack of preparation to pick up the equipment, jump on the sofa, around Xu Junshuo around, close to sniff his shoulder.
The photographer stepped forward to stop it, and Xu Junshuo hurriedly waved his hand, "No need, just be happy with it." Then greet it, "Pippi, come here." "Pippi is a big orange and it's beautiful. He looked at it for a while and suddenly thought, "Hey, why do dogs need to slip, but cats don't?" Without waiting for anyone to answer, he muttered to himself, "Maybe the cat is more homely?" "Lazy?" "Prefer to be clean?" Everyone laughed.
Childish performance is everywhere, even in the heavy work, Xu Junshuo did not give up simple and real happiness. Even the tiniest cracks he could catch a little pleasure. Including liking the earthy taste, he said in an interview during the show that the recording day is very tiring, and it will be very decompressing to watch it, and it is very happy. Moments of bad mentality are not nothing, but, "Dry (fourth sound)!" ”
Under the precise expression is the simple childishness. Xu Junshuo has many contradictory and opposing characteristics, sometimes distinct, sometimes obscure, but not thin. In the increasingly complex environment of the media, the label sells well, and he belongs to one of the people who are not bound by a word. Those changeable and complex breaths did not interfere with each other, but only lurked around him, quietly blending.
Tree of Life
In 2018, Xu Junshuo, as a student of a vegetarian, appeared on Hunan Satellite TV's music variety show "I Want to Sing with You", composed his own music, and sang Mu Xin's poem "Tongqian". He has always liked Mu Xin, an artist whose age, background, and experience are far away from him, who has enlightened him with thoughts and words. In the 1990s, Mu Xin taught the history of world literature in New York, and the lecture notes were collected and published in "Literary Memoirs", which contained a sentence, "Literature is lovely, life is fun, and art is sacrificed." ”
When he was young, Xu Junshuo did not know how to "sacrifice". He spent nearly a decade in the Fuzhou Little Jasmine Choir, "very beautiful, every Saturday to sing is happy, not much criticism." "In junior high school, I took three years of writing classes, the teacher was very good to him, I didn't learn in high school, and the teacher has been collecting writing materials and hot exam questions, sending him emails every month." Learning to blow leaves also has a talent, others may take a month or two to blow a leaf, and he, "Daddy's car drove five or six hundred meters I blew." ”
Of course, there is also the hard work of learning. In the six or seven years of blowing leaves, he practiced with his teacher on the top of Gushan Mountain in Fuzhou, and the cold and heat were unimpeded, and he also injured his spine because he fell from the mountain. The back straightens for a long time and it hurts. But most of the experience of art in childhood was bright, cultivating skills, cultivating the state of mind, becoming more patient, "Some things are not done to see the results." ”
The cultivation of artistic state of mind is more reflected in his reverence and respect for things. Art is a life experience, not the existence of "things", even when telling, Xu Junshuo is also treated in a personified way, "My studies and career, music, words, I will respect, or say, love." Spend a lot of thought in it, like hurting your own child. ”
As for "sacrifice", Xu Junshuo believes that he has not yet developed to that point, and his perception of "artistic sacrifice" comes from the gaze of the spectators, or the feelings of others. From childhood to adulthood and artistic contact and companionship, is to "get" more. He remembered that when he was an undergraduate, the teacher of the professional class was very strict, "My master is from the northeast, whose ancestral home is from Inner Mongolia, and he is very strict with me." "Similar to his parents' approach to education. In the process of getting along, he will think a lot, think a lot, like when he was severely disciplined when he was a child, he was afraid that he would not meet that standard. "It's not because I'm tired or anything, I think too much, but I also understand that smoothness is luck, and unhappiness is the norm." That's how his adaptation to stress is slowly honed. Even at high pressure, shoots can protrude from gaps.
When recording "Sound into People's Hearts 2", Xu Junshuo had a nickname of "Little Tree" because of his initials Xjs, "Banana Tree". Time passes day by day, and the root system grows in invisible places, whether it is a wilderness or a forest, but where there is such a land under his feet, he can always take root and grow into a thriving tree.
【Written by】Special Contributor Wang Zi Carp
【Photo】 Courtesy of Xu Junshuo Studio
【Author】 Wang Zi Carp
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client
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