"Stop, stop!"
In 1982, when the famous director Yang Jie was filming "Journey to the West", he filmed the scene of the four masters and apprentices passing through the Wuji Country.
At that time, the role of the Black Chicken King was played by the famous actress Xiang Mei, during the filming, director Yang Jie found that there was one less actor to play with Xiang Mei, so he invited Li Jiancheng, a powerful actor with superb acting skills.
Because this is a scene after the assassination of the Black Chicken King, Li Jiancheng needs to take props to strangle Xiang Mei's neck, and before filming, Xiang Mei specifically instructed him: "Built, you have to be careful later, remember to be merciful to your subordinates." ”
Li Jiancheng patted his chest and said, "Rest assured teacher, I have a measure and promise that I will not hurt you." ”
As a result, when filming, because Li Jiancheng was too involved, Li Jiancheng, who was too deep into the play, strangled Xiang Mei's neck and directly rolled His eyes at Xiang Mei.
Director Yang Jie saw the situation and immediately asked him to stop, but Li Jiancheng didn't seem to hear it, until the staff pulled him away and didn't realize what had happened.
Afterwards, Li Jiancheng fell into a deep self-blame, and he kept apologizing to Xiang Mei: "To the teacher, I'm sorry, I was too cruel..."
Although Xiang Mei was once unconscious by Li Jiancheng, she not only did not blame him, but felt that he was a manifestation of dedication and admired him very much.
Xiang Mei's efforts were not in vain, after the hit "Journey to the West", the role of the black chicken king she played in the play was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and she, who had developed very well, quickly became popular.
Later, Xiang Mei successively participated in classic works such as "University in Exile", "Blue Archive", "A Thousand Miles of Dreams" and won film and television awards such as the Golden Phoenix Award with these works.
However, many people do not know that she became popular in middle age, and before that, she was not only questioned about her poor acting skills, but she also received a monthly salary of only 48 yuan for 22 consecutive years...
Xiang Mei, whose original name was Wu Xiangmei, was born in 1937 and was a native of Gong County, Henan Province, but she spent most of her life in Beijing, and she was called half a Beijinger.
She lived in a very well-off family, her father Wu Zhaofa was an intellectual who returned from studying in the United States, and her mother Huang Yuehua did not study abroad, but she also graduated from the famous Chinese and Western girls' high school at that time, and was very knowledgeable.
But unlike most families, although Xiang Mei's parents are high-level intellectuals, they never ask what their children must learn or what kind of people they want to become.
Therefore, from childhood to adulthood, Xiang Mei and her siblings have been living carefree.
When she was a child, she especially liked art, and after going to middle school, she also entered the school's amateur drama troupe as an actor with artistic dreams, but she did not expect to form an indissoluble relationship with the profession of an actor, and really became an actor after many years.
After graduating from middle school, Xiang Mei, who had a particularly good academic performance, was admitted to Tianjin University and studied in the Department of Architecture.
According to the trajectory of her life at that time, she should not become an actress, and the world is so unpredictable.
One day, she was studying in the house, when suddenly someone slipped a letter into the crack of the door, which was an invitation letter sent to her by director Xie Jin.
Xie Jin is a very good director in the mainland, and his works such as "Red Detachment of Women", "Garland Under the Mountain", and "Wrangler" have been deeply loved by the audience.
When she first got the letter, Xiang Mei was particularly surprised, because she did not know each other at all, and later learned that when she went to Beijing to play before, a distant relative said that she was suitable for being an actor, so she recommended her to Xie Jin, and she did not expect to really attract Xie Jin's attention.
Not long after that, Xiang Mei, who had not yet graduated from college, participated in the work of "Women's Basketball No. 5" directed by Xie Jin, and accidentally entered the show business circle and became an actor.
Because Xiang Mei and Xie Jin did not act when they cooperated, let alone an actor from the class, many people questioned her acting skills, and when compared to these people, more audiences were fans of her simple and natural acting skills.
In addition to being loved by the public, director Xie Jin is also particularly optimistic about her development and has also introduced her to work in the Shanghai Film Studio.
It's just that after Xiang Mei came to the film studio, before she could develop her acting career, she first harvested love and met her husband Chi Xidao.
Chi Xidao, 8 years older than Xiang Mei, is a native of Nanpi, Hebei Province, and he entered the shanghai film studio after graduating from the art department of Shandong University.
Working hard, he started step by step from the bottom and successively served as the head of the creative collective, deputy director and executive deputy director of the Shanghai Film Studio.
Chi Xidao was mainly responsible for behind-the-scenes work in the Film Studio, and when he was young, he also looked sunny and handsome, and his handsome appearance was no worse than that of the young actors in the Long Film Studio.
After Xiang Mei entered the long film studio, Chi Xidao has been taking special care of her, not only helping her at work, but also greeting her warmly in life, and they have come together not long after they met.
In 1959, Xiang Mei, who was in love with Chi Xidao, happily married him, and gave birth to a son for him in the second year after marriage, named Chi Jing.
After the birth of the child, Xiang Mei, who has always pursued a stable life, wanted to stay at home and be a good wife and mother, taking care of the family and children for her husband.
However, her husband immediately vetoed her idea after learning of her idea, he was particularly optimistic about Xiang Mei's development prospects, in order to make Xiang Mei work with peace of mind, he took the initiative to take on the task of taking care of the children.
Seeing that her husband repeatedly persuaded herself to go out and develop her career, Xiang Mei, who originally wanted to return to the family, could only agree to her husband's arrangement.
With the encouragement and support of her husband, Xiang Mei successively filmed classic works such as "Red Detachment of Women", "North Country Jiangnan", and "Night Flight".
Among them, the work "Red Detachment of Women" was also filmed with Xie Jin, the director she cooperated with for the first time.
Unfortunately, her career has just improved, and before Xiang Mei and her husband can be happy, her career has encountered a bottleneck period.
In the whole decade from 1966 to 1976, Xiang Mei did not shoot a single film or television drama.
During this period, she could only rely on the 48 yuan salary paid to her by the North Film Studio to subsidize her family every month, until 1979, in the third year of the special period, after she participated in the work "Gunshots of the Secret Bureau", she received a salary of 48 yuan per month for 22 consecutive years, which rose to 59 yuan per month.
After returning to the big screen again, the accumulation of many years of thick hair made Xiang Mei soon usher in the golden period of her career again.
Since 1980, she has successively filmed "Blue Files", "Piano Boy", "Flowers That Never Fade", "Lilac Villa" and other works.
With a series of works and a vivid role, she quickly became a popular actor at that time.
However, when it comes to what really makes her enter the family, it is still after the broadcast of "Journey to the West" in 1986, she played the role of the Queen of the Black Chicken in the play, because every smile is impressive, she also completely became popular.
Because Xiang Mei is nearly 50 years old at this time, many people say that she is "later red" for her popularity, saying that she is a late bloomer, and for such a statement, Xiang Mei frankly accepted.
However, what is surprising is that not long after her career has just taken off, she is anxious to fade out of the show business circle and disappear from the public's eyes.
She struggled for most of her life and failed to become popular, so she made her career improve in middle age, why should she give up her career?
In fact, the reason is very simple and realistic, she is mainly for the family.
Because her husband had always encouraged her to develop her career when she was young, she entrusted him with all the affairs of the family and the task of taking care of her son, and for so many years she neglected to accompany her family.
When she achieved certain achievements in her career, Xiang Mei looked back at her life and finally realized that although she had made a name for herself in her career, she had neglected her life, which was completely more than worth the loss.
In order to make up for the debt to the family and still feel guilty about her husband and son, since 1992, Xiang Mei has chosen to retire from the show business circle.
Although she was only in her fifties at the time, she has since focused on her family and life.
At first, she would shoot one or two works a year, but as she got older, she didn't want to continue to toss.
In 2008, after being invited many times, she finally agreed to participate in a medical drama, and as a result, no matter how she memorized her lines, she could not memorize them.
Later, after going to the hospital for examination, I found that she was 71 years old at the time and had a cerebral infarction.
Since then, she has not participated in new film and television dramas.
Since retiring from the show business circle, for so many years, Xiang Mei has spent all her thoughts on accompanying her husband and son, especially for those who have loved her all her life, willing to take care of her and care for her husband, she has been using practical actions to return the company of the other party.
In 2020, her husband Chi Xidao, because of his old age, suffered from various elderly diseases and suddenly fell into shock when he got up in bed in the middle of the night to go to the toilet.
During the period when her husband was ill, she always stayed by his side, and whenever her family asked her to rest, she resolutely rejected them, she said: "He is 8 years older than me, I want to take care of him, and make up for what I owed him when I was young." ”
In addition to being with her wife, her son has always been by her side and taking care of her, although she lacked his companionship during his childhood, but her son especially understood her.
Whenever I mention my son and daughter-in-law, thinking that they have always responded to her needs, Xiang Mei will be particularly happy and proud to say: "My old age life is very happy, my son and daughter-in-law are very filial, and my wife is with me..."
Time flies, Xiang Mei, who has debuted for many years, is now 85 years old after running around for most of his life.
She is now far removed from the competitive circle of show business and is living her life positively and optimistically in the way she likes.
She lived happily in her old age and lived as she wanted.