Not long ago, mainland star Zhao Wenzhuo celebrated his 50th birthday.
Zhao Wenzhuo has been in the show business circle for nearly 30 years, but looking back at his long star path, it is difficult to understand.
In 1993, at the age of 21, he was discovered by Yuan Kui and Jet Li from Beijing Sport University, and became a hot new action star with the roles of Nine Gate Admiral Ordo in "Fang Shiyu" and Huang Feihong in "The Wind of the King".
Director Xu Ke once attached great importance to him, allowing him to participate in many works such as "Green Snake", "Dragon City Fighter", "Golden Jade Mantang" and so on.
Unfortunately, Zhao Wenzhuo, who was in love with Mei Yanfang at the time, did not work hard enough, and had a conflict with Xu Ke when filming the martial arts film "Knife", and then the two parted ways, and there has been no cooperation so far, and Zhao Wenzhuo's drama path has also been greatly affected.
After entering 2000, Hong Kong films declined, and Zhao Wenzhuo also sank in the TV series.
After this, Zhao Wenzhuo began to enter the network university, and in recent years, his popularity has risen slightly due to joining variety shows such as "Brother Who Cut Through Thorns".
In January this year, he returned to the big screen again, but the new film "Tattoo" only grossed 1.863 million yuan at the box office, which put his future in an embarrassing situation.
Compared with Zhen Zidan and Jet Li, who are nearly 60 years old, Zhao Wenzhuo, who is just 50 years old, is obviously still in the year of fighting, and the status of the jianghu is also there, and he can still be called "big brother" by the younger generations anywhere.
But the name of "big brother" can not be exchanged for resources, whether he can regain his strength, we really have to seriously put a question mark.
In fact, among the mainland stars who rose in the 1980s and 1990s, Zhao Wenzhuo was already relatively lucky.
At least he has been a superstar for 10 years, his life is guaranteed, and he has a son and two daughters after marrying his beloved wife Zhang Danlu.
There were many popular mainland stars like Zhao Wenzhuo in those years, and they also became famous in the last century, each with extraordinary skills, but after experiencing changes in the times, their fates are now very different.
Pi ge will take you today to review together, the 7 "mainland stars" who grew up with us in the 80s and 90s, more than 20 years later, how are they living now.
First place: Wang Yawei
After Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple" caught fire in the mainland, throughout the 80s, many martial arts movies emerged in the mainland, although the quality was uneven, there were also classics with great care.
In 1986, the Western Film Studio launched a film based on Feng Jicai's novel "Divine Whip", which expressed its reflection and criticism of history through the shell of a martial arts film, and its artistic achievements were also quite high.
The casting of this movie is transparent to the seriousness and simplicity of the creators of that era, and the protagonist Shen Whip Silly Ii did not look for a young and handsome "small fresh meat" to play, but found Wang Yawei, the first captain of the Chinese national boxing team.
He was the champion of the 1984 and 1986 National Wushu Sanda Competitions, and he was tall and powerful, and he did not practice routines but had excellent skills.
The setting of the character of Silly Two is a person with a low IQ, for Wang Yawei, who is participating in the movie for the first time, he does not need too complicated performance, but can cover up his own acting skills.
Therefore, "Divine Whip" seems to be a movie tailored for Wang Ya.
It is worth mentioning that the villain glass flower in the film is played by Chen Baoguo, who just debuted at that time, and his acting skills stole the limelight of the protagonist and added a lot of color to the movie.
This film is also the only work in mainland China that truly restores the history of the Boxer and Boxing movement, and its success also makes people remember Wang Yawei.
However, it is a pity that at that time, the mainland martial arts films encountered a bottleneck in development, and Wang Yawei's own interest in becoming an actor was not high.
After this film, he quit the film circle, and it was not until 2019 that he made a cameo appearance in the movie "Hunting", after which he "disappeared" again.
Therefore, "Divine Whip" and "Hunting" have become Wang Yawei's only 2 film and television works so far.
At present, he is working in the Police Sports Combat Training College of Chinese Public Security University, as an associate professor, focusing on the teaching of combat.
Second place: Wang Qun
Beijing Shichahai Sports School has produced many kung fu stars, the most representative of which is Jet Li.
Although Jet Li is the luckiest one, he is not the first, and before Jet Li, his brother Wang Qun had already emerged in the film circle.
In 1979, Hong Kong Phoenix Pictures went to Shichahai Sports School to prepare for the action film "Treasure From Saiwai", when jet Li, who was only 16 years old at the time, was unexpectedly selected because he was too young, and Wang Qun, who was 3 years older than him, was selected to play the role of "Divine Hand Zhang" in the film.
The main actor in the film is actually Zhang Fengyi (playing Jing Tianlei), the divine hand Zhang is only the second male, although the role image is clear, the role is very limited, and there is no deeply impressive performance.
In contrast, Jet Li later starred in the role of The Monk Jueyuan in "Shaolin Temple" not only as a male protagonist, but also with a very three-dimensional image, which caused a national sensation after the release of the film, and Jet Li became famous.
It was "getting up early in the morning and catching up with a late episode", Wang Qun failed to become famous with "Treasure Hunting Outside the Plug", and later missed "Shaolin Kid" and "North and South Shaolin", but he also had his own masterpieces.
"Thirteen Sisters of the Heroine", "Golden Dart Huang Tianba", "Divine Servant", "Invincible Mandarin Duck Leg" are his masterpieces, in the late 80s, in fact, his development is better than Jet Li.
In 1991, Jet Li and Xu Ke collaborated on "Huang Feihong", ushering in the second spring of their acting career.
Director Zhang Xinyan, who had discovered Jet Li, also wanted to follow the trend to make a Huang Feihong movie, so he found Wang Qun, and the two collaborated on "Huang Feihong's Boy Serves the Country", and Ji Chunhua and Qiu Jianguo also participated in this movie.
Unfortunately, Wang Qun did not have a handsome image like Jet Li after all, coupled with the fact that the movie story was not well made up, and the box office was very poor after the release.
After that, Zhang Xinyan decided to stay in the mainland to shoot TV dramas, and Wang Qun, Yu Hai, Ji Chunhua, Qiu Jianguo and others all became his team, working together on "Tai Chi Master" and "New Shaolin Temple".
Later, Wang Qun also participated in "Young Zhang Sanfeng" and "Golden Silk Rain", but unfortunately, on January 3, 2008, he died of a sudden myocardial infarction in Beijing at the age of 48.
Third place: Wang Jue
The movie "Shaolin Temple" in Beijing Shichahai Sports School selected a lot of "small fresh meat" to participate, in addition to Jet Li, Wang Jue, who plays a half-empty monk, is also responsible for the appearance.
Later, "Shaolin Kid" Wang Jue also participated, but only played a small role, and also made a stand-in for Jet Li, who was injured, and turned over several heels instead of him.
Wang Jue also performed a martial arts program on the Spring Festival Evening of CCTV in 1983, which left a deep impression on the national audience.
It is said that the stars who have been on the Spring Festival Gala can be red, and Wang Jue is no exception.
Later, someone asked him to act in movies, playing Li Hu in Li Xuejian's "The Great Detective", and starring in "Kangxi Big Trouble Wutai Mountain" and "The Unknown Three Heroes".
In 1993, Yuan Heping asked him to participate in "Huang Feihong and Su Qi'er", which is also a film that follows Xu Ke's version of "Huang Feihong", in which Wang Jue plays Huang Feihong.
His appearance is the same as Jet Li,but at that time, his body shape was already a little fat, and although he was the main actor, he was snatched up by Zhen Zidan, who played Su Qi'er.
After the release of the film, it did not cause much repercussions, and the box office was only 7.01 million Hong Kong dollars, and only a very vague version can be found on the Internet so far.
Because of this failure, Wang Jue also felt that he was not suitable to stay in the film and television circle and chose to retire.
After that, it seems that there was no news of him for a long time, until 2019, a network action movie "Blood Fist dragon tiger fight" invited him to participate in a role, but it was only a cameo, and there were few shots.
Fourth place: Hu Jianqiang
Among the action actors who debuted at the same time as Jet Li, Hu Jianqiang from the Zhejiang Provincial Sports Team is the most qualified one.
Hu Jianqiang has a square face, his figure is taller than Jet Li, his figure is also stronger than Jet Li's, and his muscle lines are clear and clear. Hu Jianqiang has won the national martial arts championship, and his knife, stick and southern fist can be called the "three best".
In "Shaolin Temple", Hu Jianqiang plays the monk Wukong, with many scenes, and there are also many wonderful fight scenes that fully demonstrate the martial arts skills.
In 1984's "Shaolin Boy", in addition to Jet Li, Yu Hai and Hu Jianqiang played Tianlong and Earth Dragon respectively, both of which had very important roles, and Hu Jianqiang also "paired" with Ding Lan, who played Erfeng, which impressed the audience deeply.
Of course, Hu Jianqiang's best performance was in Shaw's film "North and South Shaolin".
Hu Jianqiang plays Zhao Wei, a lay disciple of Southern Shaolin, whose role is similar to Jet Li's, and his acting skills have also been well played, and his Southern Fist skills have also been fully demonstrated.
Originally, following this path, Hu Jianqiang would have a bright future, but after that, he retreated into the background.
In 1988, "Yellow River Hero" starred in Chenghui and Hu Jianqiang served as an action designer, although he also played a role, but there were not many scenes, not even a name.
Since then, he has also participated in the filming of the film "Lone Traveler" and the Japanese film "Shogunate", both as an action designer and also played a small role in the film.
Analyzing the reason why Hu Jianqiang retreated behind the scenes, perhaps he was low-key and did not want to be a star.
In 1991, Hu Jianqiang went to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, where he engaged in martial arts promotion and teaching.
He worked on the film Drunken Fist 3 in 1994 and immigrated to Manchester, USA in 1995, where he still teaches Shaolin martial arts.
Fifth place: Qiu Jianguo
"Not afraid of his eagles and dogs, he often sleeps with tigers and leopards under the jungle." The blood is not damaged, and I ask for my heroic wish. ”
This song "Fulfill My Hero's Wish" is a representative work of Hong Kong singer Ip Chun Tong.
Whenever the impassioned music sounds, I believe that the post-70s and post-80s netizens will definitely think of the movie "NanQuan King" with the theme of dragon boat racing and Southern Fist, which is a martial arts movie starring Qiu Jianguo.
Qiu Jianguo is a native of Guangning, Guangdong, from the Guangdong Wushu Team, who was nicknamed "King of Southern Fist" for winning six national martial arts competitions.
In 1984, The Chinese Film Industry's "Southern Boxer" was tailor-made for him, in which Qiu Jianguo showed the true kung fu of the hard bridge and hard horse, coupled with the awe-inspiring image of righteousness, which made the audience shine and gained countless fans.
In the same year, he starred in "Guangdong Tieqiao III" in Hong Kong, playing Liang Kun, the "Iron Bridge III" in the "Guangdong Ten Tigers", which also caused great repercussions.
1986's "Thirteen Sisters of The Heroine" is a 3D action movie starring Ding Lan, with Qiu Jianguo and Wang Qun both playing supporting roles in the film, but there are also wonderful martial arts scenes.
In terms of appearance, Qiu Jianguo is not outstanding compared to Jet Li and Wang Qun, but his Chinese character face is very suitable for playing the role of "Wei Guangzheng".
Unfortunately, this good impression left by Qiu Jianguo on the audience could not be maintained, and a phone call from Jet Li in 1991 completely changed his acting path.
In Jet Li and Xu Ke's "Huang Feihong", the actor of the villain role "Shahe Gang Leader" was delayed in settling down, and Jet Li recommended Qiu Jianguo to Xu Ke.
Then Jet Li made a phone call to Qiu Jianguo's home, and Qiu Jianguo, who had not made a movie for a long time, took over the role without considering how long.
As you can see, "Shahe Gang Lord" is the worst martial arts character in the "Huang Feihong" series, but the ugliest character.
Qiu Jianguo's performance completely subverted the positive character image of Gao Dawei'an before, which shocked the audience who liked him.
Although this is a performance of his superb acting skills, many mainland film fans have difficulty accepting this change in image.
Because of the unsuccessful transformation, Qiu Jianguo's acting path has become narrower.
In 1993, he starred in "Southern Boxer 2: Qizhuang Shan He", hoping to return to a positive image, but because the film production was too rough, he failed to achieve the expected results.
In 1997, when Qiu Jianguo participated in the TV series "New Shaolin Temple", he died of nasopharyngeal cancer in August 1998 at the age of 41.
Sixth place: Sun Jiankui
Sun Jiankui from the Shandong martial arts team is proficient in boxing and knife skills, and in the movie "Shaolin Temple", he played the monk of Sekong with a drunken stick in one hand to impress the audience.
In 1984's "Shaolin Kid", he became the leader of the bandits again, and the image of the evil Daoist leader of the cockfighting eye was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and also let the audience see his plasticity.
Sun Jiankui and Jet Li have a deep friendship, in the 80s participated in the "Shaolin Temple" trilogy and "Yellow River Hero", and also starred in an action film with science fiction elements called "Black Madman" in 1990.
When Jet Li filmed "Taiji Zhang Sanfeng", he invited him to play the villain Liu Jin eunuch in the film, and had a wonderful martial arts scene with Yang Ziqiong.
Sun Jiankui's image is relatively thin, and after his face is smeared with white powder, he has a gloomy feeling.
In "New Shaolin Five Ancestors", the Western Demon Monk Keba, played by him, not only has a pale face, but also painted purple lips, which makes people see at a glance that he is not a good person.
Although it is not a villain boss, it has a very personality and makes the audience unforgettable.
Perhaps he is not keen on acting in movies, after "New Shaolin Five Ancestors", Sun Jiankui was silent for a long time, and he did not contact movies for more than 10 years.
Until 2011, when Xu Ke and Jet Li collaborated again on "Dragon Gate Flying Armor", Sun Jiankui, at the invitation of Jet Li, came back to cooperate with Yuan Bin and Lan Haihan as the action stunt design of the film, and also played the role of Liang Cai.
Later, at the Hong Kong Film Awards, "Dragon Gate Flying Armor" won the Best Action Design Award, which is the highest achievement of Sun Jiankui in the film industry.
After that, he participated in the filming of "Painted Skin 2" and "Together", and he has been withdrawing from the film circle for a long time, because he is low-key and there is no news of him.
Seventh place: Xu Xiangdong
In 1985, Hong Kong director Xu Xiaoming came to the mainland to shoot the Shaolin Temple-themed movie "Kapok Robes", in order to compete with "Shaolin Temple", he found Xu Xiangdong, who is known for his eagle claw skills, from the Hebei martial arts team to star.
Xu Xiangdong is 2 years older than Jet Li and was 24 years old when he starred in this film, but he has thick eyebrows, big eyes, a handsome image, and a heroic posture.
"Kapok Robes" is based on the story of Liuzu Huineng in the "Tanjing", Xu Xiaoming "transplanted" the whole story to the Ming Dynasty, and then added Jinyiwei, making it a cool action film around "Kapok Robes".
The duel between Xu Xiangdong and Yu Rongguang is the center of the film's story, both of them are at the peak of their physical fitness, and the action shots they contribute are very enjoyable.
After the film was released in the mainland, it caused a strong response, and Xu Xiaoming quickly decided that the next film to be filmed would be "Mirage", adapted from Wesley's novel "Shadow".
Xu Xiangdong is naturally the best candidate for the male lead, but at this time he has no intention of making another movie, because he was admitted to the Beijing Institute of Physical Education and wanted to study.
Later, Yu Rongguang became the star of "Mirage", and Xu Xiangdong was proud of the spring breeze on the university campus, and after graduation, he studied abroad, becoming a doctoral student at the University of Paris No. 7 in France, which is the highest degree in the martial arts industry in the mainland.
After returning to China, it was already the 90s, and he plunged into the Hong Kong film circle, but he was no longer famous and could only play some small roles.
After entering 2000, the mainland TV drama market has developed, and Xu Xiangdong, as a kung fu master, has finally grasped the opportunity and played an important role in many TV dramas.
For example, in "Water Margin", he played Shi Wengong; in "Love Sword", he played Wang Wei; in "The Words of the Great Song Palace", he played Han Derang.
This year, he also starred in the movie "Youth is a Song", ranking first in the cast list.
The film tells the story of a group of promising young people who encounter wolves and cultural relics in the grassland, and from the stills, Xu Xiangdong should just be a friendly cameo, and the dress is not too much like an action scene.
But considering that Xu Xiangdong is 61 years old, we should not be too picky.
The 7 mainland stars mentioned above have all been amazing for an era, and now most of them have withdrawn from the film and television circle, like Xu Xiangdong, although he had a period of struggle in the 90s, he finally found his place in the mainland TELEVISION circle and is still very active.
It is a pity that Wang Jue and Hu Jianqiang, both of them had very good representative works when they were young, but they chose to leave after encountering setbacks and failed to leave more good works, which is their regret and the regret of our audience.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Bloody Dan Heart
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