Explorers No. 2 of the |
Editor| Explorers No. 2
"Elder Wei, you can take on this role!"
This is what director Zhang Jianya said in 1991 when he knelt at Wei Zongwan's house.
Wei Zongwan was 54 years old that year, just a nobody, and he didn't understand why Zhang Jianya was so persistent.
It's like he didn't understand that Zhang Jizhong wanted him to play "Sima Yi".
The 94 version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was being prepared, and the role of Sima Yi gave several directors a headache for a long time.
Because they really don't have a good candidate.
Looking at the anxious alliance, Zhang Jizhong seemed relatively calm in his heart, because he already had a suitable candidate, that is, Wei Zongwan.
It's just that the matter has not been negotiated yet, and it is not convenient for him to be too ostentatious.
The first time he contacted Wei Zongwan was by phone, and as soon as the other party heard Sima Yi, he refused without hesitation.
There are two reasons for this:
First, he can't ride a horse.
Second, he came from a drama background, and he always thought that Sima Yi needed to draw a big white face, and the character image was not good.
For Wei Zongwan's resignation, Zhang Jizhong felt that it was because he was not sincere enough to be rejected.
So he bought tickets overnight and rushed to Wei Zongwan's house.
Facing Zhang Jizhong who came to the door, although Wei Zongwan was very moved in his heart, he was still not interested in the role of Sima Yi.
Later, it was under Zhang Jizhong that he agreed.
For Zhang Jizhong 's approach, Wei Zongwan was very incomprehensible: "I'm not a big coffee, as for letting you take a trip?" ”
It wasn't until Zhang Jizhong said something later that Wei Zong was completely aware and couldn't laugh.
"Locked" dreams
Don't look at Wei Zongwan who still lives in a rental house, in fact, he was born in a big family in Shanghai.
As the child of a large family, Wei Zongwan not only did not continue his brothers' "serious career", but even fell in love with opera deviantly.
In those days, drama belonged to the lowest level of society, and singing was generally the children of poor families, in order to mix and eat.
And Wei Zongwan, who is the son of a rich family, prefers to like singing, and this matter is simply self-defeating and under-beating for the Wei family.
Although his parents were very opposed, Wei Zongwan did not give up.
Therefore, during that time, it was often seen that the Wei family's family members ran to the theater garden to "make trouble".
The reason for this is because they want to "tie" the young master Wei Zongwan who secretly ran out and go home.
Looking at Wei Zongwan, who "repeatedly taught and did not change", Old Man Wei gave him two choices: either go to school to learn knowledge, or go to work as a worker in the factory.
In that era, being a worker was equivalent to holding the "iron rice bowl", which was not only decent, but also had a stable salary.
Although Wei Zongwan was unhappy in his heart, he chose to become a worker.
The daily work of the assembly line made Wei Zongwan lose hope in life, and he felt that if he continued to do this, he would be "wasted".
Just when he was at a loss, the admissions brochure of the Shanghai Theater Academy came into his eyes.
Wei Zongwan, who saw Jian Zhang, was so excited that his whole person was trembling, and he felt that his heartbeat was about to overflow.
Without hesitation, he secretly signed up without telling his family.
In the days since, he goes to work during the day and reads at night to cope with exams.
Although the days were hard, it was worth it for him.
After taking the exam three times, he finally got the acceptance letter.
Wei Zongwan was 21 years old that year, and after four years of "stumbling" in the factory, he finally got his wish.
The chosen one? The chosen one!
After quitting his job at the factory, Wei Zongwan decided to tell his parents about it.
He knew that this would make his parents unacceptable, but he did not expect their reaction to be so big.
After telling the ins and outs of the whole thing clearly, Wei's father immediately severed the father-son relationship with him.
And his mother, who had always supported him, sighed again and again this time, and never said a word for him.
Even his brothers "sneered" at him, threw him out of the house, and occupied his room.
Wei Zongwan, who was kicked out of his home, knew that if he wanted to sing, it would be impossible to rely on his family for living expenses.
He calculated the money in his hand, but fortunately, in the past 4 years in the factory, the money he saved was more than enough to pay for tuition.
In this way, Wei Zongwan embarked on the road to the Shanghai Theater Academy.
"Some people are born to belong to the stage", Wei Zongwan is such a person.
Although he was often scolded by the leaders when he worked in the factory, as long as he stood on the stage, he was like a fish in water and radiant.
No matter what kind of character, as long as it is handed over to him, it is like drawing out the soul of the character.
Even the teacher did not expect that such a dumb-headed little man would have a unique view of acting.
In less than two months, he became a figure in the academy and a good student in the eyes of teachers.
And Wei Zongwan, who found a sense of value, is also becoming more and more confident and dares to express his understanding of performance and lines.
Wei Zongwan, who has been a proud son of heaven in school for four years, thought that his career would be smooth sailing after graduation.
But who would have thought that he had just graduated and was severely beaten by society.
After being assigned to the Shanghai People's Theater, Wei Zongwan started the days of running tricks, and when he was lucky, there were one or two lines, and if he was unlucky, it was a pure background board.
In such a day, Wei Zongwan will be ten years.
It stands to reason that Wei Zongwan, who has such strong professional ability, should not be mixed up to this point?
The reason for this is still related to his appearance.
In his words: My face is like the peel of an orange, and I haven't changed much in the past few years, I looked like this when I was in school.
Although the appearance does not conform to the public's aesthetics, but with professional ability, how to run for ten years.
To put it bluntly, Wei Zongwan is too "proud" and "stubborn".
At that time, in order to be able to act, many actors either invited the director to eat or invited the producer to eat.
And Wei Zongwan spent all these "knots" on study.
In his opinion, he is the bottle of century-old wine, the horse of the maximum, and people who admire him will naturally come to him.
I never expected this, so I waited until I was 44 years old.
The hard work pays off
In 1984, Wei Zongwan won the public's recognition through the role of "veteran and old man" in the movie "One and Eight".
As the cinematographer of this film, Zhang Yimou has just graduated, and this is the first film he has made.
When he saw Wei Zongwan's performance, Zhang Yimou's mouth never closed.
After learning that this was his first time acting in a movie, Zhang Yimou was even more surprised and praised.
"The first time I acted, I played so well!"
Although it is the first time to act in a movie, Wei Zongwan has been precipitated on the stage of the drama for more than 20 years.
In 1987, Wei Zongwan, who was nearly 50 years old, performed the drama "Thinking of Wrong".
Throughout the two-hour performance, he played alone with emotion and impassion.
With the role of "Monk O'Neill", Wei Zongwan finally ushered in his own spring.
Not only did he include the editor of Jiefang Daily as his fan, but even the leader of the newspaper personally invited him to participate in the newspaper's party.
In 1989, Wei Zongwan was rated as a "first-class actor".
It was also at this time that he starred in the one-man sketch "Single Bathroom" while the iron was hot, and won the first prize of the national sketch competition in one fell swoop.
It was also at this time that the folk had the saying "Southern Wei and Northern Zhao".
Wei Zongwan in the south, Zhao Benshan in the north.
People are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong, and after becoming popular, Wei Zongwan's threshold at home will be broken by various directors.
Although those decades have not been satisfactory, Wei Zongwan still carries the arrogance of the rich young master in his bones.
Therefore, for these books that he did not like, he rejected them one by one.
It wasn't until 1992 that Zhang Jianya asked him to shoot "Sanmao Wandering" that he reluctantly agreed.
Why say reluctantly, because Zhang Jianya, who was rejected once, knelt directly in front of him.
With this play, Wei Zongwan won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Time flickered to 1994, the year Zhang Jizhong was preparing for the filming of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
For the role of Sima Yi, he only thought of Wei Zongwan.
Until filming began, Wei Zongwan didn't know why Zhang Jizhong was so attached to himself.
It wasn't until he asked later that he understood.
It turned out that Zhang Jizhong had to be because he had seen Sima Yi's portrait, and Wei Zongwan looked a little like Sima Yi, so he "cared about him".
After everything settled, Wei Zongwan threw himself into the study of the character.
In the first three months before filming, he began a retreat.
In addition to consulting history books and taking notes every day, it is to find Sima Yi's mental activities and feelings.
Even he didn't realize it, and some of his little habits were changed invisibly later.
After the release of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it won the "Golden Eagle Award", "Feitian Award" and "Annual VVTV Cup Special Prize".
and Sima Yi, played by Wei Zongwan, has also become one of the classic roles in film history.
Until now, there are still many audiences who miss the role he played.
In fact, Zhang Jizhong and Wei Zongwan's fate is more than this.
When "Water Margin" was first filmed, Zhang Jizhong staged the drama of "Three Gu Maolu" again.
Not only that, he also played a "heart eye" with Wei Zongwan.
When signing the contract, Zhang Jizhong changed the date of the contract to the lunar calendar date in order to let Wei Zongwan make more scenes.
In this way, he filmed for more than a month.
However, this has happened more than once, when Chen Kexin directed "Name Casting", Wei Zongwan was also unknowingly added a lot of scenes.
Although Wei Zongwan is a person who treats the script very seriously, once he makes a decision, he will be very tolerant.
Even if he is paid low and has more scenes, he also enjoys it, because filming is an indelible love for him.
He once set himself a rule: never accept advertisements for the rest of his life.
It is this passion for filming that makes him still live in a rental house until now.
Now 84 years old, he has not been idle after settling his two daughters.
In addition to traveling to various places with his wife, he also makes guest appearances in film and television dramas from time to time.
Perhaps for him, acting is a lifelong thing, and he can't abandon it, let alone be reluctant to abandon it.