He has played a variety of roles throughout his life, which are colorful. Some are positive characters such as Zhang Defa in "Kunlun Iron Horse", the communication platoon leader in "Heroes and Children", and Geng Dadao in "From Slave to General"; there are also negative characters, such as Zhang Wei, the director in "Tear Stains"; Cui Ming, a class enemy in "Pearl on the Sea"; and Su Zhe, a secret agent in "Handcuffed Passengers". Since then, he has played a variety of characters with rich and complex personalities, such as Ma Lianfu in "Sunny Days", Pan Yuankun in the madman Pan Yuankun in "Sea Prisoner", and the White-browed Eagle King in "The Dragon Slaughter in the Heavens", all of which have left an unforgettable impression on the audience. He is Shao Wanlin, an old artist of the North Film Studio.
In recent years, Shao Wanlin has rarely appeared in public, but his enthusiasm for movies has not changed. Last month, 80-year-old Shao Wanlin appeared at the premiere of female director Lu Xiaoya's new film "Unbelievable", and the two were classmates in the actor training class of Changchun Film Studio. He was touched by Lu Xiaoya's enthusiasm and came to the scene. Recently, the reporter made a special trip to Shao Wanlin's home to visit this old artist and listen to his story about his rich life in film and television performances and his happy old age after retirement.
<h1>Accidentally starring in "Sunny Days" was recognized by the national audience</h1>
Shao Wanlin's home is located in a small area south of the Chinese Filmmakers Association in the North Third Ring Road. Every Wednesday of the week, Shao Wanlin would come to Jinji Hundred Flowers Cinema to watch a movie, a habit that has been maintained for many years. Here, he often meets director Zhu Dan, whose "Nankou 1937" is the latest film so far starring Shao Wanlin. Originally, this movie was to find Zhang Lianwen to star, but Teacher Zhang Lianwen was not in good health at the time, so he introduced Shao Wanlin to the crew. Shao Wanlin, who plays the heroine's father in the film, was killed by Japanese soldiers. There are not many scenes, but Shao Wanlin enjoys such a performance. Daniel Zhang Hand, Xie Fang and other artists have also made cameos in the film released in 2016.
Shao Wanlin was born in 1939 in Ye County, Shandong Province. In 1958, the 19-year-old Shao Wanlin was admitted to the actor training class of Changchun Film Studio and became a classmate with Lu Xiaoya. In 1960, Shao Wanlin played the male lead for the first time. He played an intellectual youth in "Xiujiangshan" directed by Zhou Yu and written by Zhang Tianmin, and the opponent played was He Xiaoshu, a flower of the long shadow at that time. At that time, the posters were printed, and they were waiting for the release, and at this time, the notice came, and the film was stopped. "This is a turning point in my acting career", looking back on the past, Shao Wanlin sighed a little, "If this play can be released, maybe I will have more opportunities to play the male lead in the future." However, in 1961, he played Zhang Defa in "Kunlun Iron Horse". This character is considered to be the main role, which is also an important role in his career as an actor.
In the summer of 1972, Shao Wanlin was on family leave in Beijing. At this time, the troupe called him and asked him to report to the film crew of the movie "Sunny Days" in Hebei County. There was a lack of a mass actor in the group, and Shao Wanlin went. At the beginning, I was running to be a mass actor, and as a result, there was something wrong with the actor who played "Ma Lianfu", the crew needed to be replaced, the assistant director looked for someone everywhere and did not find it, just Shao Wanlin's teacher Huang Ling was there, "You are looking for it, shao Wanlin is not quite suitable?" This kid can. Shao Wanlin said, "Can I do it?" Teacher Huang said, "You can, you can try!" ”
After trying the scene several times, the crew was quite satisfied. Later, a sample film was taken and sent to the factory, and the factory finally decided on Shao Wanlin. "I picked up a character."
The release of "Sunny Days" made the national audience know Shao Wanlin, and his role of Ma Lianfu almost became a synonym for him. On the day of the interview with reporters, he was recognized by two spectators at the bus stop, "They came up and asked, are you the actor who played Ma Lianfu." "Most of the audience that recognizes him is fifty or sixty years old. Knowing he was, they pulled him along and began to nag.
Because of his performance in "Sunny Days", in 1973, Shao Wanlin was transferred to Beijing.
It is also because of filming "Sunny Days" that Shao Wanlin met Zhang Lianwen. At that time, the crew slept in the Chase Bunk, and Shao Wanlin and the lead actor Zhang Lianwen slept next to each other. Since then, the friendship between the two has been very deep. On January 4 this year, Zhang Lianwen passed away. At the farewell ceremony of Babaoshan Mountain, the reporter met Shao Wanlin, who said that Zhang Lianwen was the friend he had the most contacts after he was transferred to the North Film Studio.
<h1>At one point, I didn't want to play a spy in "The Handcuffed Passenger"</h1>
Entering the North Film Studio, he met Director Li Wenhua and actor Yu Yang.
In terms of calculation, he has the most cooperation with director Li Wenhua. Almost half of the more than twenty films directed by Li Wenhua have been with Shao Wanlin. In "The Legend of clay people", Shao Wanlin not only played a role in the film, but also served as an assistant director. In the movie "White Pigeon" starring Hong Xuemin, the script was written by Shao Wanlin.
When filming the TV series "The Nations of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty", Li Wenhua told Shao Wanlin that you can develop into a director in the future. In the play, there are two scenes, "The Princes of Beacon Theatre" and "Zheng Zhuang Digging the Ground to See the Mother", which were originally directed by Director Li Wenhua, but he could not get rid of something, so he gave this task to Shao Wanlin, which was Shao Wanlin's first independent director. This is also the first play performed by dancer Yang Liping.
Shao Wanlin later also directed the TV series "Mulan", and he co-directed "The Joy and Sorrow of the God of Wealth" with Zhang Lianwen, which is a 6-episode TV series written by Yan Geling's father Xiao Ma. He once wanted to develop into a director, but finally found that his temper was too urgent, and the director was the core of the film crew, requiring administrative ability, creative ability and imagination, including tolerance, "these I am weak." Later, he decided not to be a director anymore.
In 1979, when Yu Yang was preparing to shoot "Passengers in Handcuffs", the regiment informed him to go and find Yu Yang. But after he read the script, he felt that he could not act, "I have played enough negative characters." Yu Yang was reluctant to let him play well, and talked to him again, telling him, "Actors should try a variety of roles, Su Zhe's role will be played according to normal people, don't face it." Because the character of Su Zhe in the film was hidden at the beginning. ”
After thinking about it again, Shao Wanlin agreed. After acting in the play "Passengers in Handcuffs", Shao Wanlin agreed with Yu Yang's statement and felt that actors should try more roles.
Before Li Wenhua directed "Sea Prisoner", Shao Wanlin had already set his sights on the theme of "American Chinese Workers", and he had deep sympathy for the history of Chinese workers' suffering in the United States, he found information from the First Historical Archive, began to create a script called "Floating Hell", and prepared to cooperate with Zhang Lianwen and Li Xin to shoot. However, when the script was to be published in October, the script of "Sea Prisoner" was already published in "Film Literature", and due to the similar theme, the publisher refused to publish "Floating Hell", and the play was eventually aborted. But fortunately, Li Wenhua found Shao Wanlin and Zhang Lianwen, except for the clear Daqi playing Tang Jinlong in the film, the rest of the roles let the two choose by themselves. In the end, Shao Wanlin chose the role of Pan Yuankun, a madman. "I think the character has a good sense of hierarchy, at first it was a normal person, then it went crazy, and then it got better." "Sea Prisoner" was released in 1981, and the role of Pan Yuankun greatly broadened Shao Wanlin's performance space and left a deep impression on many audiences.
After his retirement, Shao Wanlin filmed a number of TV series, he played Yuan Tiangang in "Detective Di Renjie 2", played the Golden King of Dapeng in "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng", and played Dolgun in "Golden Que Residual Dream", etc., these costume drama roles often give the audience a sense of surprise. What is even more surprising is that the white-browed eagle king he played in the movie "The Demon Sect Leader of the Dragon Slayer in the Sky" starring Jet Li was rated as "the most domineering" by netizens. Shao Wanlin remembers that most of the play was set up in the studio of the North Film Studio, and there was an assistant director named Li Shijiang, who said that the film crew lacked one person, so he called Shao Wanlin. It was the early nineties of the last century, when Shao Wanlin only earned five or six hundred a month, but this drama was filmed on the day to give money, 250 yuan a day, filmed for nearly ten days, Shao Wanlin earned a small amount of money, "I am very happy, the original White Brow Eagle King's role is a lot, but then it was cut off." ”
<h1>Happy "golden marriage", proud "filial piety"</h1>
When the reporter interviewed, he saw that there was a family photo above the TV cabinet in shao Wanlin's living room. Shao Lao's wife, Liu Jie, was a singer in the Choir of the Central Orchestra. The son now works in an advertising agency, the daughter and son-in-law settle abroad, and the grandson is 25 years old. Talking about family, Shao Wanlin was very content. What made Shao Lao even more proud was his happy marriage. Shao Wanlin and his old partner Liu Jie have already passed the "golden marriage". He clearly remembers that the two were married on February 7, 1967, and have lived together for 52 years. "We are green plum bamboo horses." In 1957, 18-year-old Shao Wanlin was studying at Changchun Tenth Middle School, and once when he entered the school gate when he went to school, when he turned back, he saw two girls coming in, one fat and one thin, wearing flower jackets, and it turned out that Liu Jie and her sister went to school together. This turn made Shao Wanlin shudder. At that time, his class was separated from Liu Jie's sister by a door. Later, through inquiring, Shao Wanlin knew that Liu Jie was newly transferred.
In the summer vacation of 1957, the school organized an amateur drama team and arranged a play, Shao Wanlin played a cadre, liu Jie played his wife, the two met, and there was contact after that. After graduating in 1958, the relationship between the two became public. Shao Wanlin remembers his first date on Stalin Avenue (now Renmin Avenue) in Changchun, where a plane was mounted on a tower in the square. The two chatted in the chairs below until late at night. After 8 years of hot love, the two finally married. Shao Wanlin most admired his wife's generosity and did not care about some things. He believes that the most important thing for husband and wife is to tolerate and understand each other.
Shao Wanlin in life is still a big filial piety. He acted in drama at school at the age of 10, was in the drama class in high school, and later was admitted to the Harbin Drama Theatre at the same time, but he did not go, "I am the third generation of our family' single biography." My mother said, you are in Changchun, a little closer to our home. He eventually chose Long Shadow.
In 1977, his mother came to Beijing to live with him, and until his death in 2015 at the age of 95, Shao Wanlin took good care of his mother. One year, a TV series based on Mao Dun's novel "Home" found him, hoping that he would play the old lady in the play and go to Chongqing to shoot for 3 months. But at this time, his mother was sick, and Shao Wanlin proposed whether he could concentrate his play on shooting in twenty or thirty days, and when he got a negative reply, Shao Wanlin resolutely pushed the play away. This has happened several times.
Wash your mother's feet and accompany her to see a doctor. A son can do everything he can do. In 2015, the Heping Subdistrict Office elected him as "Filial Piety Star", and he was awarded the "Beijing Filial Piety Star Medal". During the interview, Shao Wanlin took out this medal and happily hung it on his chest for the reporter to take a picture, "My mother gave birth to me at the age of 19, and Filial piety came first, and I felt that I had fulfilled my son's duty."
"The Great Wall is still there today, and I don't see Qin Shi Huang in those days." He quoted a poem by the Qing Dynasty poet Zhang Ying to express his state of mind in his later years, "The most brilliant people should also think through this." I want to open now, it's good, the wife and children are very good! He said that he does not reject media interviews, on the contrary, he feels that interviewing these activities is also a kind of relief, "you recall what is bad, adjust your mood." "I myself am very satisfied, there is something entangled, human development can not be separated from the times." Various factors constrain you. I can do my favorite performance, and it's enough for the rest of my life. "He feels that the performances are endless, and he can't explore them all his life. But he was pleased that most of the artists of his generation had stood firm in terms of "morality".
Shao Wanlin, who has white hair, is still full of desire for acting, "At my age, some plays have taken a fancy to me, and I can also act." When he said this, his eyes revealed a burning heart of a child.
Source: Beijing Evening News Reporter: Wang Jinyue And photographed
Process Editor: Sun Yujie