On the first day of the new year, the comedy film "Exchange Life" starring Zhang Xiaofei and Lei Jiayin will meet the public as scheduled.
This is Zhang Xiaofei's second starring work in the true sense since she starred in "Hello, Li Huanying" directed by Jia Ling in 2021.
Since she became popular, there have been many statements about the resources that will be docked next, but there has been no substantial progress.
Until "Exchange Life" is finalized, another TV series "Good Things Become Pairs" cooperated with Huang Xiaoming is also about to be broadcast, and various promotional materials are online one by one.
However, Zhang Xiaofei, who has not "met" with the audience for two years, can continue the previous box office myth?
1. Obscurity
It is said that "red qi can nourish people", and this sentence is vividly embodied in Zhang Xiaofei.
Before becoming popular with "Hello, Li Huanying", Zhang Xiaofei could only be regarded as a sketch actor in the third tier.
Although she follows her good sister Jia Ling all day, participates in various variety shows, and can also attend the Spring Festival Gala every year, her coffee position can be imagined in the entertainment industry where worship is high and low.
It is precisely because of this that when recording "Youth Reunion", Zhang Xiaofei was questioned by classmate Yuan Shanshan in public for "snoring".
When participating in the recording of the show, she was also snubbed by other stars and even the program team, and later it was Jia Ling who found out that the staff moved chairs - and now looking at the photos still feels too realistic.
Indeed, Zhang Xiaofei was still a little-known "little transparent" at that time, she was admitted to the Beijing Film Performance Department in 2005, and Yang Mi, Yuan Shanshan and Jiao Junyan were classmates.
Prior to this, Zhang Xiaofei had many years of experience in learning dance, and at the age of 11, he drifted north alone to study dance at the Central University for Nationalities.
Just felt that the career of a dancer was too short, Zhang Xiaofei also changed tracks after graduation, was admitted to Beiying, and impacted the entertainment industry.
Compared with the "child star" Yang Mi and the "school flower" Yuan Shanshan in the same class, Zhang Xiaofei's fame is naturally not so easy.
Although she began to participate in movies in her sophomore year and officially debuted, the scripts she got were basically without splashes.
How to say it?
In terms of appearance, although Zhang Xiaofei became popular and was called the "ceiling of the comedy group", if it is viewed in the entertainment industry, it can only be regarded as a middle-to-upper posture.
She belongs to a dignified and virtuous girl, and she does not walk in the now popular white thin and young style, but she is very popular with middle-aged and upper-age audiences, so she can be called a "mother actor".
Therefore, Zhang Xiaofei before filming "Hello, Li Huanying" has been living very hard in the entertainment industry.
In the first stage, she had no income because she had no appointment, and she was so hungry that she forgot when she had eaten her last meal.
In addition, her acting dreams have also been frequently questioned, and she was once evaluated by a female producer: "There seems to be something wrong with your face..."
After becoming popular, Zhang Xiaofei also responded to the bizarre encounters he encountered in different program groups, such as being asked to eat a piece of watermelon within 2 seconds.
The successive encounters made her lose confidence in whether she could become an actor and doubt.
Until Zhang Xiaofei entered the China Broadcasting Art Troupe and began to work as a host, so he met Feng Gong's apprentice Jia Ling.
Jia Ling, who is 4 years older than her, was also born in an ordinary family, and because she has a love for acting, she became Beipiao - her acting road is also bumpy, so she can deeply empathize after meeting Zhang Xiaofei.
At that time, although Jia Ling had become Feng Gong's apprentice, she was actually not very famous, after all, girls said that crosstalk was rare.
But it was not until 2010 that she was finally able to attend the Spring Festival Gala and was noticed by the audience for her performance of "Big Talk".
After that, Jia Ling and Zhang Xiaofei became friends, and also became what she called "nobles".
2. Overtaking in corners
At the beginning of 2012, Jia Ling was invited to participate in the Spring Festival Gala in Beijing, when she was rehearsing the sketch "A Woman's Nth Power", but an actress was missing.
At that time, she immediately thought of Zhang Xiaofei, but the other party hesitated again and again because he had not acted in a sketch, but finally acted smoothly with the encouragement of his friends.
After that, Zhang Xiaofei, who graduated from the formal acting department, began to take a different path to popularity.
She appeared in many of Jia Ling's sketch works, and also appeared on the Spring Festival Gala a few years later, starring with Feng Gong in the sketch "Little Cotton Jacket".
But in fact, although Zhang Xiaofei cherishes these opportunities to keep showing his face, he also does not forget to "play soy sauce" in various film and television works.
A long time later, she once bluntly said on the show that she was "very afraid of being labeled as a 'comedian' and would never be able to act in movies again."
However, unfortunately, in those years, Zhang Xiaofei successively starred in TV series such as "Flame" and "Ma Xiangyang Goes to the Country", and the response was always average.
In 2015, after attending the Spring Festival Gala, she participated in the recording of the reality comedy show "Happy Comedian" as a member of Jia Ling's team.
In this show, Zhang Xiaofei followed for a total of 3 seasons and participated in 23 sketch works.
Among them, "Girl Who Loves to Laugh", "Qiannu Ghost", "Super Detective", "Flying Over the Old People's Home" and so on have left a deep impression on the audience.
Undoubtedly, at this time, the public's impression of Zhang Xiaofei as a comedian deepened.
Although she was worried about this, her fame did rise and she became a "familiar actor" in the audience's heart.
In 2016, Jia Ling established Dabowl Entertainment, and Zhang Xiaofei also became her first female artist to sign.
In the same year, the two also became guest performers in the variety show "Comedy Story Season 1", and the sketch "Hello, Li Huanying" was taken out in the first issue.
This work is adapted from Jia Ling's personal experience, telling the story of her journey back to the youngest and beautiful era of her mother Li Huanying, and helping her mother pursue her first love, Ouyang Zhu.
After the sketch was broadcast, it was a great success, and Jia Ling began to think about enriching this story and putting it on the big screen - therefore, it also gave Zhang Xiaofei the opportunity to become popular.
In the three years since then, Zhang Xiaofei's works have been deeply tied to Jia Ling: she has been on the Spring Festival Gala several times in a row, and every year she has rushed to the hot search because of her good clothes.
In 2019, Jia Ling officially announced that "Hello, Li Huanying" was started.
She also once posted on social platforms about her original intention, in Jia Ling's case, this work is not simply for transformation, but to fulfill a dream and regret for her mother.
Therefore, "Hello, Li Huanying" actually carries more personal emotions about actor Jia Ling, so it seems quite sincere in terms of feelings.
As for why Zhang Xiaofei was invited to act, it is also very easy to understand:
The two are best friends and know each other; They have worked together for many years and have a tacit understanding; And she is also an artist in her own company, and it is only good to be popular.
Sure enough, "Hello, Li Huanying" was very popular before its release, and it was even more outstanding after its release, and the box office jumped to 5.4 billion.
Zhang Xiaofei has also become one of the actresses familiar to the public, as if she overtook on a curve overnight and reached the peak of her life.
Many netizens ran to her social platform and shouted: Mom! Mother! Mother!
But despite this, Zhang Xiaofei is still slightly embarrassed in the film industry:
At the "Night of Beauty" held in 2022, Zhang Xiaofei was assigned by the organizers to Hui Yinghong, Zhou Dongyu, and Yongmei - all film actors who have won the film.
But compared to these female stars, Zhang Xiaofei seems to be almost nothing.
3. Wait for a counterattack
With "Hello, Li Huanying", she won the most popular actress of the Golden Rooster the following year - it can be said that it was a highlight moment after Zhang Xiaofei came out of the circle.
But unfortunately beyond that, two years of her life were wasted, intentionally or unintentionally.
According to the logic of the normal entertainment industry, after becoming popular with "Hello, Li Huanying", Zhang Xiaofei should continue to work hard and strike while the iron is hot under the arrangement of the brokerage company.
In an interview, Zhang Xiaofei also set himself a small goal, and even said that he would act out themes that he had not tried before, such as idols, costumes, suspense...
But after all kinds of news came and went, it was "idle" for two years:
Initially, she was rumored to be starring in "Ode to Joy 3", but the show was finished and there was no her.
Later, it was rumored that he would partner Huang Bo to star in the movie "Xue Dad", but 2022 has passed, and everyone has not seen this work.
At that time, fans waited anxiously, and also derived an entry: "Has Zhang Xiaofei joined the group today?" ”
Indeed, in addition to the lack of new furnaces, even advertisements, variety shows, etc. have not been traced by him.
It wasn't until this year, when "Exchange of Life" starring her and Lei Jiayin began to be promoted, that everyone suddenly realized: "Oh, 'our mother' is still acting." ”
It is reported that after Zhang Xiaofei became popular, it was not that there was no script invitation, but the company believed that she should choose high-quality works that were more suitable for her, which led to a delay in popularity.
Fortunately, the co-actor of "Exchange Life" is Lei Jiayin of the recent fire, and judging from the various flowers and tidbits that have burst out, the two can also be regarded as sparks.
But the plot line of this work seems to be a bit similar to "Iron Fist of Shame" released five years ago and starring Mary Allen, which is a hilarious story with the theme of the male and female protagonists exchanging bodies.
The director is Su Lun, who Lei Jiayin has worked with before, and the response to "Living Together in Time and Space" at that time was also very good, and finally got 900 million at the box office.
In addition to "Exchange Life", there are 6 high-quality works released at the same time on New Year's Day: "The Wandering Earth 2", "Manjiang Red", "Nameless", "Chinese Table Tennis Jedi Strikes Back", and the cartoons "Bear Haunted, Accompany Me "Bear Core" and "Deep Sea".
It can be said that several works have their own advantages, and the competitors of "Exchange Life" should not be underestimated.
For Zhang Xiaofei, the biggest breakthrough may be the transition from "national mother" to "funny female nerve", but the core of acting still lies in comedy.
In addition, on the small screen, the urban drama "Good Things Become Pairs" starring her and Huang Xiaoming is also about to be broadcast, which is directed by Teng Huatao and matched by Zhang Jiani, which can be described as a strong lineup.
In the play, the heroine Lin Shuang played by Zhang Xiaofei is a woman with obvious personality changes:
From full-time housewives to workplace elites - this is also the theme that screenwriters prefer in recent years.
After the film was released, the evaluation was mixed, and the public generally believed that the plot was too similar to the "War of the Roses" broadcast last year and starring Yuan Quan.
Therefore, it is really difficult to say whether she can open the beautiful "first battle" of the TV drama market because of this drama.
Fortunately, in addition to "Exchange Life" and "Good Things Become Pairs", Zhang Xiaofei also has a "Saving Suspects" waiting to be released, in which she plays the role of a gold-medal female lawyer.
I still hope that she can reawaken the public's love because of these three works, after all, it is not easy to become popular in 15 years, and it is not wrong to maintain caution and original intention for the screen.
Bless "Fei Mama", can continue the continuation of the box office myth two years ago.