Wen 丨 Hare
Report丨Xiong Jieling Chen Siyu
"China Film Report" 丨Interview with Yan Chengxu
Yan Chengxu posted a Weibo earlier, with the text "My child is here." ”。
But in the follow-up, he did not officially announce the major events in his life, but instead expressed his apologies in the comment area, "The staff said that it was inappropriate to post it like this, let me bring the MV link, sorry."
For a while, the majority of netizens were surprised.
Such eye-catching publicity sparked heated discussions. Yan Chengxu himself is once again caught in the vortex of controversy.
The "child" he mentioned on social platforms refers to the new work "Summer Flower".
The play tells the story of He Ran, a young girl in the flower season in the final stage of her life, who meets Xiao Han, a horticulturist who has lost confidence in life, and the two have met unexpectedly many times and harvested the story of love.
Yan Chengxu, born in 77, and Xu Ruohan, born in 98, have a difference of 22 years between the two who are in love with each other.
46-year-old Yan Chengxu is still acting in a romantic drama, is it appropriate?
There is a supporting view that the beauty capital is enough to support him to continue to perform love scenes. But there are also objections pointing out that immersing himself in the comfort zone of idol dramas since "Meteor Garden" is not a good thing for him as an actor.
In the face of various controversies among netizens, Yan Chengxu did not shy away.
In a conversation with China Film Report, he likened himself to a singer, arguing that "Meteor Garden" is a famous song and "Summer Flower" is another work. Yan Chengxu said that he met the most suitable character at the best age, and he knew what he was doing and pursuing...
PART.
01
"Daoming Temple" did not choose Yan Chengxu at the beginning, nor did "Xiao Han". The latter was originally selected by a certain traffic artist, and it became Yan Chengxu. "It's a fate, just right." Yan Chengxu said with a smile.
He likes "Xiao Han" and believes that the character's experience is a microcosm of his life state in the past few years. Therefore, I especially want to play this role well, "(intensity) is a little more afraid of greasy, less worried about not being able to play taste, so I still did a lot of homework for him." Yan Chengxu used "giving everything he had" to describe the process of getting close to the character, and he put a lot of effort into his appearance and figuring out his heart.
"How can a person who can do carpentry be fat?"
In his understanding, "Xiao Han" has certain requirements for himself. Outside the play, he also asked himself to eat boiled vegetables to maintain his figure, to imitate woodworking and sawing wood. When doing carpentry, his mouth bites something, which is also what he has observed in real life.
He said he was trying to experience the way Pie performed. In the past ignorant years, playing a domineering president relied on using body language to highlight the personality of the characters. But as far as "Xiao Han" is concerned, how to present a state of losing confidence in life, a lot of things have to be put away and "acted", so he changed his daily performance and became "difficult to get along with".
When everyone thought that Yan Chengxu, who has always shown people with sunshine, can always get along with everyone, he stayed on the set for a long time immersed himself in a gloomy state and lived with the mask of "Xiao Han".
The staff around him couldn't help but ask him, "Why don't you talk, are you unhappy?" ”
Yan Chengxu did not explain much about this.
But in changing this matter, he did struggle and fell into contradictions. He asked himself, "Does Yan Chengxu want to be a good actor, or do he want to continue his previous state?" ”
The female partners around are getting younger and younger, Xu Ruohan in "Summer Flower" and Shen Yue in "I Like You So Much" are both new-generation actors after 95, but they have long passed the age of forty, "It should have been greasy a long time ago, but what should I do?" ”
Young and brave to try, there is room for mistakes, but getting older makes the limitations of the role inevitable, which he knows very well and cannot change. The only thing he can change is himself, the way he performs.
So he was silent on the set, wanting to push himself to another realm and try to separate himself from the so-called idol Yan Chengxu.
"What else can you do for the character?"
It's a phrase he's particularly fond of lately. He knows that everyone has a lot of expectations and imagination for himself, and admits that his past performances are really a little superficial.
After all, whether it is "Meteor Garden", "Love Never Forgets", "I Like You So Much", or the movie "A Little Touch", there are always voices lingering, saying that Yan Chengxu is spinning in the idol drama routine. Even the current "Summer Flower" still has this kind of evaluation.
"Everyone thinks this is another idol drama, and no one is optimistic that you can play this role well." Talking about the comments around him, Yan Chengxu had a somewhat self-deprecating tone.
Fortunately, when he reached a more experienced age, he gradually realized. Now I have more of a firm belief in my heart - always believe in what I do, and then continue to go in the direction I want.
PART.
02
"Summer Flower", with a Douban score of 7.1, has a constant controversy in word of mouth. The plot is clichéd, logical loopholes, and smooth tone have all become the reasons why it has been criticized by the public.
Some viewers pointed out that the setting of "a family girl falls in love with a down-and-out uncle" is unrealistic, this is "a romance novel without a nutritious running account", "a vulgar drama wearing an idol drama coat", "Xiao Han" is difficult to bring too many blessings to Yan Chengxu, and when he mentions this "ageless male god" again in the future, he will still feel that he is "Daoming Temple".
Because the role of "Daoming Temple" in "Meteor Garden" is well known to the audience, in his more than 20 years of acting career, the types of roles played by Yan Chengxu are indeed not rich, and for the label of "middle-aged idol", he frankly said that he is looking forward to trying different challenges.
He lamented that he met the "Daoming Temple" at the best age and received a gift from God, but this gift brought him restraints and "tied" him for many years.
When "Meteor Garden" was launched, everyone around him praised him, "You acted very well!" ”。“ It's good to hear this kind of thing once or twice, and after listening to it a hundred times, you will believe it." Yan Chengxu described this belief as "terrible", and at the time it was somewhat "unworthy of virtue".
After becoming famous overnight, the drama continued, but many did not dare to take it, and Yan Chengxu at his peak longed for a role that could surpass the "Daoming Temple", but he never met, and often felt as if he didn't know what to do. "I thought I was staying in a beautiful castle, but one day, the castle will break."
Looking back now, he also reflects on his concern for the eyes of others that day, too afraid of the consequences of failure, and did not bravely move forward, and the so-called idol baggage overshadowed his intuition as an actor.
Yan Chengxu has not been particularly prolific in recent years. Especially since 2015, the starring works are only "Summer Flower", "A Little Touching", "I Like You So Much" and "Best Ex-Boyfriend".
He said he wanted to slow down and continue to settle. Instead of constantly worrying about the bad market, fewer and fewer good scripts, and other things that cannot be changed, at least you can start to contact the performance again.
Yan Chengxu self-analysis, now the cognition of performance is completely different from the idol traffic period, more and more like to communicate with artists who love performance, but also let urge themselves to improve their performance methods, "This is the only thing I can change and accumulate." ”
For a long time, as long as Yan Chengxu appeared in the public eye, there were always curious voices asking him, "Have you tried to break through now?" ”。
And he always answers, wanting to speak with his works. Because no matter how much you say, if there is no way to bring the work to everyone to see, it is also in vain.
Don't want to be defined by the world's eyes anymore, and hope to prove his possibilities to more people, Yan Chengxu looks forward to playing a "super villain".
You know, playing the villain as flesh and blood and supporting the audience's empathy for the character is an achievement.
How far can the 46-year-old go further?
Probably time will tell, and expect the results.