"Premier Zhou is here!"
In 1965, the 27-year-old Wu Yanshu heard a shout when the drama "Liu Hulan" starred in came to an end.
She was very excited and overjoyed, and waited very nervously for a handshake with the Prime Minister.
The general handshake is from left to right, but to her surprise, Premier Zhou walked straight to her in the middle, the first one shook hands with her, and also patted her shoulder, nodded to her, and expressed appreciation.
Wu Yanshu was excited,
"I burst into tears."
To her, it was like a dream.
When the lights came on again, the prime minister was gone, and everyone was standing there, all dumbfounded, and everyone was completely immersed in the memory, as if it were a myth.
Premier Zhou's affirmation of her, Wu Yanshu was deeply impressed, until 2022, she still has endless memories.
Until the age of 84, on the road of acting, Wu Yanshu's pursuit has not stopped.
Wu Yanshu with the movie "Mom! "" won the best actress in the "Temple of Heaven Award" of the Beijing International Film Festival.
"Mom is the sea, I'm a drop of water, Dad is a whale that can't swim."
This is the movie "Mom! The whole vein of ", the 85-year-old mother taking care of the 65-year-old daughter who has Alzheimer's disease, the story seems simple but full of many undercurrents.
The elderly, the sick, the women, the single, the film discusses many marginalized groups, this is the story of the vulnerable groups, this is also the story of the elderly.
Wu Yanshu, the actor who plays her mother, is really a wonderful person, whether it is in the play or outside the play.
The 84-year-old Wu Yanshu showed us that age is really just a number, and she can still shine in performance.
In films such as "Flowing Golden Years", "Beijing Meets Seattle 2", "Love and Affection", "See Nara Again" and so on, she has dedicated her outstanding acting skills.
After experiencing the second nomination of the Golden Horse Awards, "Lianzhuang nomination for the second time", the 79-year-old Wu Yanshu won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2017 for the movie "Relocation".
These honors are the greatest encouragement to Wu Yanshu at this age, and it is also a blessing that she can get more performance opportunities.
She said that "fame means another job opportunity.".
Wu Yanshu is very immersed in acting, almost obsessively love acting.
She is often asked if she has any unique skills in living to this age.
She said, "Nothing exquisite, I am very casual", sleeping is not exquisite, eating is not exquisite, everything is adjusted according to filming.
Only acting is exquisite.
"I love acting, and no matter how many times the director asks me to act, I feel like i'm enjoying it every time."
Mom! In one of the scenes, the mother wanted to turn over the window to open the door for her daughter, and originally only needed this action, but Wu Yanshu went too deep into the play, and after breaking the glass, she actually climbed through the window full of broken glass with her bare hands and wanted to jump.
This frightened the director, and a bunch of people rushed up to help Wu Yanshu down.
During the filming of "Flowing Golden Years", there was an emotional explosion scene, which Wu Yanshu looked forward to for a long time.
But the director suddenly said to her:
"I don't think I'll shoot you."
He was worried that Wu Yanshu's heart-rending performance at such an old age would affect his body.
But how could Wu Yanshu be willing:
"Shoot me! I prepared this scene for a long time. ”
In the end, under her continuous persistence, a very wonderful performance was presented.
That scene, as the director said, will indeed be difficult to play, but it is worth it, and the people on the set are moved, which proves that this scene is necessary.
Wu Yanshu often enters the role like a mad demon, so she can often make people on the set "tear up".
After 63 years of acting work, Wu Yanshu can be said to be a "living fossil of performance".
But what many people don't know is that Wu Yanshu, who was born in 1938, is a veritable show.
His father studied at Waseda University in Japan, and his mother was an intellectual in the department of Chinese and home economics.
My father had very advanced, very enlightened, very modern ideas.
After her mother gave birth to Wu Yanshu, her father told her:
"Children are more than mothers, don't give birth to too much, now the medical conditions are very good, boys and girls are the same."
So in that era when acting was still part of the "three teachings and nine streams", when Wu Yanshu, a 21-year-old who had been obsessed with Xiulan Temple, Audrey Hepburn and Mei Lanfang since childhood, said to her father: "I want to go to the Shanxi Drama Theatre!" Without hesitation, her father agreed and helped her speak to her mother:
"Don't worry, let her go."
Unexpectedly, Wu Yanshu was really "God appreciates rice and eats", and she was admitted as soon as she took the exam.
In this way, as a drama actress, she has been doing it for 30 years.
When she thought she could stay in the acting role until she was old, she was told to become a director.
At that time, there was no new director to take over the drama theater, and she had to go to the top class.
"I didn't want to be a director, but I had to obey the leadership at that time."
Wu Yanshu, who became a director, almost lost all opportunities to act, but she was blessed by misfortune.
She gained a new perspective on acting that she had never had before, and because of her status as a director, her analysis and understanding of the role was deeper:
"To be an actor, you only need to analyze one person, to be a director, you need to analyze everyone, even if it is a mass actor." 」
This also laid the foundation for her later superb performances.
At the age of 65, Wu Yanshu retired as a drama director.
For about seven years, she sent away her father, mother, and husband one after another.
But she did not fall into a slump, on the contrary, she was very indifferent to life and death.
The most precious thing that life brings is life, not length, but quality.
Man is bound to die.
"What are you afraid of, you just do it well, if you die, you will die, what's the big deal, I have a good time today, why should I think about tomorrow?" 」
So she continued to open a new chapter in her acting without concern.
Wu Yanshu is an independent old lady.
She "left her daughter and grandson alone" about big and small things:
"Anyway, they will suffer losses, everyone will experience it for themselves, and if they make a mistake, they will know what the right choice is."
More importantly, Wu Yanshu wants to fight for her career.
Who says that the elderly have no career anymore? Who says older women can't be independent anymore?
Wu Yanshu let us see that when people are old, they can still have a lot of possibilities.
Why is the 84-year-old Wu Yanshu still so energetic, because she has never been burned out.
A good state is not idle, but busy.
Now she has been running all over the set, with the longest rest time of only a dozen days.
She never felt that at her age, she should be careful.
During an underwater scene, the director and producer said they were going to carry her back.
She strongly objected, saying "I don't want it!" 6 times in a row. ”
"I'm still young, I don't need my back."
When she first returned to the acting industry, Wu Yanshu never thought that she would be recognized, and she was very pleased when she was affirmed.
For every performance, she cherishes it very much.
"There are very few leading actors at my age, and I will go wherever I need them." Now that I still have acting and the director is willing to use me, I am very satisfied. ”
But she is not very reckless to "ignore her age", Wu Yanshu does not want to add a lot of trouble to others because of her age.
So she often gives herself a physical examination before each film.
In case something happens, it will bring a lot of work to the whole crew, not only the front has to be deleted, but also the back has to be deleted.
At this point, Wu Yanshu is very stubborn:
"I'm responsible for the crew."
In addition, in order to allow herself to have more energy into the performance, Wu Yanshu often insists on exercising.
Flat support, playing basketball, Xiao Yanfei, she is very good at it.
"I'm going to be an actor, and I want my arms and legs to be a little more flexible."
Not only should the body be in a good state, as an actor, Wu Yanshu also maintained her curiosity.
"I think young people don't necessarily all have to look up to the older generation, because the times are different, the living conditions are different, and the things they come into contact with are different, but we who are old must learn from young people."
What young people do, she does.
Most people will think that my past experience is reasonable, but Wu Yanshu said, "But it is that era", and everyone has to keep pace with the times.
"I think when you're old, you have to keep up with this era, otherwise you'll be abandoned by this era, and you can't act."
Watching vibrato, brushing videos, learning online language, taking a taxi, booking tickets, booking hotels, she can be fully independent.
Going out with her daughter, in the crowds, she would always go to see what was going on, so every time she would be said:
"Mom, don't go to crowded places."
When it comes to this, she always seems very "proud".
For Internet buzzwords, Grandma Wu Yanshu also has a set.
Hou Minghao, playing her grandson in a play, their relationship is very good.
One day, he sent a circle of friends:
"Fell into the pit."
Pictured is a motorcycle.
She thought to herself:
"Oh, this kid is really unconscious, he fell into the pit on a motorcycle, I have to talk about him."
Wu Yanshu just wanted to send WeChat, and she thought to herself, will this be a network language, so I went to Baidu to search.
She understood that it was the meaning of "too obsessed with this motorcycle".
Wu Yanshu also muttered to herself, fortunately, she did not go to train others.
When people are old, they can still maintain a state of studiousness, maintain curiosity, and maintain vitality.
When filming, some people often say to her:
"Ah, how unfilial are the people in your family, you are 84 years old, and you want to come out and act?"
Each time she felt like she had nothing to say, just a long sigh.
Everyone is an individual, so it's good to go it alone.
The elderly also have their own freedom.
Wu Yanshu said:
"Exercise, be independent, don't go to your children for a little thing."
What makes me very emotional is that in the mouth of an 84-year-old Wu Yanshu, who was born in 1938, heard:
"Women must have their own careers, exercise well, and strive to be an independent woman."
What age anxiety, appearance anxiety, and even death anxiety, in this nearly hundred-year-old grandmother, all do not exist.
It's not about being young, it's about being decent at your current age.
Don't say age gracefully, but be graceful in every minute and every second of the moment.