Some people ridicule that after the age of 40, Mei Ting is "blackening", completely shattering the gentle elegance of the past, and constantly challenging more complex and extreme roles: mental patients, vicious queens, "ruthless" mothers, crazy "undead"... Mei Ting likens the creation of a drowning person to survive in a desperate situation, she is cruel to herself, and she is not afraid of age and aging. Mei Ting said: "Every stage has beauty in each stage, and now I am the perfect stage to shape characters with experience. ”
After many years, Mei Ting and An Jia and the roles were reversed. Liao Suifang, played by Mei Ting in the new drama "The Daughter Who Came Back", painted bright green nail polish on herself, and then took up the knife and cut off her nails together with the belt. 20 years ago, Feng Yuanzheng's "An Jiahe" was a childhood shadow, and now, Liao Suifang is an adult shadow - the same group of people have grown up watching Mei Ting's play.
A still from "The Daughter Who Came Back"
Mei Ting felt that her mind was becoming more and more open. Since "Don't Talk to Strangers", Mei Ting has become accustomed to the audience's distress for the character and will empathize with the actor: "Being remembered by the audience is actually the greatest happiness of the actor." ”
Therefore, Mei Ting will take videos of herself applying nail polish to interact with the audience. Recently, the drama "The Seventh Day" toured, and everyone's rehearsal warm-up game also became "Look who dies" to pay tribute to Liao Suifang: as soon as Mei Ting took the stage, she glared at whom, and who fell to the ground with a very cooperative "ah".
Stills from the drama "The Seventh Day"
Mei Ting's transformation began earlier. The mental patient of the online drama "Madhouse" and the drama "Diary of a Madman" and "Red and Black" have been widely praised, but Mei Ting frankly said that no actor can always succeed, Liao Suifang has tried the villain before, Empress Xun of "Langya List 2", but the results were not satisfactory, she reflected:
Stills from the drama "The Seventh Day"
"At that time, I came back after giving birth, and as soon as I heard that I was going to play the villain, I rolled up my sleeves and prepared to do a big job, now that I think about it, the positioning of the role at that time was too conceptual, and the layers of the character should be dug into a richer way, rather than letting her be bad on the surface." Therefore, Mei Ting absorbed the lessons learned and did not define Liao Suifang as a villain at the beginning, but a "living person" with flesh and blood: a mother who loved her son deeply, a woman who could not be loved.
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Even though it has been almost 30 years since the filming of her first TV series, Mei Ting said that she still feels uneasy when she meets each character, and she will be anxious before she joins the group and meets the audience. She always holds a student mentality in her performances, will repeatedly review her works, discuss gains and losses with teachers, and pay attention to barrages, messages, especially bad reviews.
"Every failure is an opportunity for introspection, so I'm not afraid to talk about failure. The success is of course fascinating, and the feedback from the audience, directors, and partners is: you are amazing! Praise is nourishment that nourishes me, gives me strong self-confidence, and makes me feel that all my efforts have not been in vain. However, failure is also an opportunity for me to reflect, improve, and do my next role better. Mei Ting said.
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1
Between gains and losses
Mei Ting often lamented that there was not enough time and energy. Although Mei Ting rarely has specific age anxiety, in some moments, such as physical strength is not as good as before, the need to balance work and family, and the failure to complete a role to 100% of her inner expectations, just like every ordinary working mother, Mei Ting has also had career anxiety: "I will reflect that if I give me enough time to prepare for this role, I can play better." However, unlike writers, actors can fight alone, and most of the time, teamwork, various realities make me powerless. Mei Ting said that after getting married and having children, the new life experience made her face up to her gains and losses and accept the imperfections of life.
A still from "The Daughter Who Came Back"
When she was young, Mei Ting was very strong, and before choosing to have her first child at the age of 38, Mei Ting was a typical financially independent and independent-minded career woman, but that's it, her life was also reshuffled because of the arrival of her child. Two years later, the second child was born, because of her weak body, Mei Ting once held her daughter's leg and fell softly, her daughter's brain door was hit with a big bag, Mei Ting collapsed and cried, that picture will never be forgotten. Mei Ting thanked the elders and husbands of both sides, including the childcare sister-in-law, and the highest record of 12 people living together to help raise children, so that the two children could smoothly pass the run-in period of accepting each other, accompany each other, and grow up safely.
Mei Ting does not regret that she has truthfully recorded her busy and anxious parenting in variety shows, which may be relieved to female audiences: "I also came over like this, we are all learning to be parents for the first time, don't be too anxious." ”
Now, Mei Ting's daughter is 9 years old and her son is 7 years old, the two children are close, and occasionally there are small conflicts, Mei Ting also learns to let go and let them solve problems independently in the way between children. Mei Ting is slowly adjusting the work-life balance, and she also admits that she still has less time at home, and she still has to spend as much time as possible with her children before they enter puberty.
Black dress Prada
Mei Ting said: "Family is a haven for me, like a particularly large scale, falling on me, making me very stable inside, no matter how tired and aggrieved people are outside, as soon as they return home, everything is fine." Mei Ting agreed with that sentence, having a child has a weakness, but at the same time there is armor. Mei Ting does not deny that she has lost some opportunities because of marriage and childbirth, including actors she especially wants to work with and a particularly good script.
"But life is about gains and losses, and if you lose in one place, you will gain in another, and don't try to gain all the good. Moreover, people not only have careers, but also lives. Especially when we are actors, the source of performance is drawn from life. ”
Mei Ting will be very pleased to see someone take stock of 10 classic female roles in 2022, including her role as Liao Suifang, but she also confessed that she needs to continue to improve. Mei Ting longs for a performance like Kate Winslet in "East Side Nightmare", whether it is the big screen, the small screen, or the small theater, as long as it encounters it, it must be firmly grasped. "So it's okay, although there are regrets, there is still a chance, because I want to act for the rest of my life." Mei Ting said with a smile.
Black dress, high heels Prada
Children are also the motivation for Mei Ting to work hard. Mei Ting's daughter and son both like to watch Mei Ting's plays, last March, when Mei Ting performed the drama "Red and Black" in Beijing, her son also came, in fact, his son came to Mei Ting's drama scene with his sister when he was very young, but he didn't have much memory. In the afternoon, Mei Ting said the wrong line during the rehearsal, and her son laughed at her: "Mom, you are too dish!" Before the opening of the evening performance, my son saw that the theater was full and said in surprise: "So many people know my mother!" At the end of the performance, the curtain call was thunderous, and the son said proudly: "Mom, you are amazing!" Mei Ting's daughter inherited her mother's acting talent, and she has already starred in the movie "Broken Bridge" at a young age.
"Broken Bridge" stills
2
Become Liao Suifang
"To shape a character, walk into this character, and finally become this character, we rely on directors, screenwriters, camera, art, costumes and other jobs to help actors establish a sense of faith. At the same time, at the moment of shooting, the reaction given by the opponent actor, all the feelings that the external environment gives you, whether it is cloudy, rainy or sunny, temperature, humidity, cold or hot weather, and even the physical state of the day, will bring different stimulation and bursts to the actor, making the role richer. Mei Ting said.
"The Daughter Who Came Back" also has a special creative experience, where the actors do not know the ending until the finale. After Mei Ting finished the killing, she also asked the actor Du Yusen, who played her son Zhuo Zhuo: "Is my mother dead in the end?" After some reasoning, the "son" replied to the "mother": "It should be dead, because I also filmed the scene of going to the grave of my mother." After the drama was broadcast, netizens had some open interpretations of the ending, and Mei Ting also said with a smile: "I also hope that Liao Suifang is not dead, and another sequel called "Mother Coming Back" will be made!" ”
A still from "The Daughter Who Came Back"
Mei Ting said that although through the secondary creation and secondary dissemination of netizens, Liao Suifang's several famous scenes of hideous eyes and bloody self-harm were highlighted, making the audience feel that this is a "blackened" Mei Ting, but in fact, to create this role, Mei Ting still starts more from the heart, establishes the character little by little and then passes it on to the audience.
Mei Ting did not regard Liao Suifang as a villain, and even Mei Ting had deep compassion for this character: "Although Liao Suifang's life seems to have done some struggles, most of the time, she is involuntary and dominated by others. She was deeply in love all her life, and her first love was abandoned when she was pregnant, and she was cornered to marry her current husband Li Chengtian. Liao Suifang is a woman in the small place of Tanling, men will chase her, women will be jealous of her, and she has no true friends. Later, he had a silly son, and he became the laughing stock of others. But Liao Suifang still loves her son, because this child was originally healthy, but after being accidentally disabled, he was bullied by the children around him and could not go to school normally. As a mother, Liao Suifang is really distressed. ”
A still from "The Daughter Who Came Back"
Mei Ting pointed out that although Li Chengtian is willing to raise his son with Liao Suifang, in fact, he also has selfish intentions. Just recently, the crew photographer came to see Mei Ting's play, the two were still chatting, the scene where Zhuo Zhuo had a fever and was sick, there was a hint in the original script, Li Chengtian's bicycle chain was broken, under normal circumstances, he should quickly repair it and send his son to the hospital, but he squatted there and smoked a cigarette unhurriedly. Because there was a family planning policy in that era, only if the first child was disabled, Liao Suifang could have another Li Chengtian's own flesh and blood. Some viewers noticed this detail, but the emphasis of the feature film does not seem to be enough.
A still from "The Daughter Who Came Back"
"Liao Suifang's biggest problem is fear. She is afraid to face life head-on, and I think the most important ability in life, the most important ability we should have, is love. The opposite of love may not be hate, but fear. Mei Ting said, so Liao Suifang's fate, from the time she chose a loveless marriage, planted the seeds of tragedy. Li Chengtian has his selfishness, and Liao Suifang must feel it in the details of their lives, so the death of his daughter has become a secret buried in Liao Suifang's heart, and a series of subsequent events are intertwined.
Mei Ting has adhered to the mentality of students in her performance, not only at each role preparation stage, including after meeting the audience, but also reflecting and discussing with the teacher. Mei Ting believes that the completion of a character is not the moment of completion, but after getting feedback from the audience. Mei Ting and Du Yusen, who plays her son Zhuo Zhuo, go out of the same house, this time, the teacher is very happy for them, but still very sharp to ask Mei Ting questions, the teacher believes that Liao Suifang still has something to improve.
"He thinks all my facial performances are very good, but sometimes the body is too straight. I am reflecting, "Parental Love" When I played the elderly scene, I once asked the director to make me a cotton vest to wear inside the coat, it was in the hot summer when I filmed, I filmed for a few days, and I covered the prickly, but it was the help of this prop that made the bloated and swollen posture of the elderly more accurate. Mei Ting analyzed.
A still from "The Daughter Who Came Back"
When Liao Suifang did the character setting, the main creator once emphasized that Liao Suifang was the "factory flower" of that era, and her clothes were very beautiful and exquisite, and she used to lead the style of the town, and every word and deed could attract people's eyes, so Mei Ting's standing posture would also be deliberately upright. "I think the teacher should be talking about some scenes, for example, Li Chengtian drank pesticides, Liao Suifang went to take care of Li Chengtian, Li Chengtian rejected her, and she wanted to go home to cook for Zhuo Zhuo. At that time, Liao Suifang, all her secret videos were seen by the people of Quantanling, and she had fallen to the bottom and was on the verge of collapse. Perhaps at that moment, Liao Suifang's posture should be more tired. Mei Ting agrees with the teacher's suggestion, but because she has been busy with drama performances recently, she can only communicate with the acting teacher online, and she hopes to meet him when she returns to Beijing after finishing her work, and she needs to find a quiet place to chat completely one-on-one.
Black dress Prada
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Born to die
Yu Hua's novel "The Seventh Day" Mei Ting read in 2013. "I was pregnant for the first time and a female friend of mine sent the book." Mei Ting recalled that on the one hand, it was a welcome to a new life, and on the other hand, there was a story about death, "a very symbolic moment, life and death were originally two sides of the same coin." So when director Meng Jinghui decided to adapt the novel into a drama in 2022 and invited Mei Ting to star, Mei Ting agreed without hesitation.
In Mei Ting's opinion, the experience of starring in "The Seventh Day" is like walking on thin ice and full of difficulties. Mei Ting is also the first challenge to sing in front of the audience on the stage, once appeared in the drama "Diary of a Madman" Mei Ting performed an opera, but there is a curtain, like singing in a mask, the actor's psychology will be buffered. "The Seventh Day" is difficult to face the audience, and this song is very peculiar, not a song that pursues good sound, but the catharsis of the character's inner emotions, which does not need a beautiful singing voice, but requires the ultimate expression to fit the character's current broken state of mind.
Stills from the drama "The Seventh Day"
"The Seventh Day" is a special invited play of the IN unit of the 76th Avignon Theater Festival, founded in 1947 by French theater director Jean Villars, aiming to let elegant theater art out of the palace and into the people, has now become a large stage for the concentrated display of modern European drama. Mei Ting remembers that the performance was held in a theater converted from an open-air old monastery, and 10 years ago, Mei Ting had been to the Avignon Theater Festival in France, and at the same venue, she had seen a particularly powerful French version of Hamlet as an audience, and she never dared to fantasize that she would one day stand on this stage. "The creative process of the character is always restless, painful, and anxious, and the moment you really face the audience, you will have confidence." Mei Ting recalled with a smile that at the curtain call, director Meng Jinghui came over and gave her two thumbs up, and at that moment she knew that it was done.
Stretch coat by Proenza Schouler
Shorts Edition
Mei Ting looked at the photos on her mobile phone, and there was a picture of herself playing "Liao Suifang" reading the novel "The Seventh Day" with her "bloody and blurry" fingers. When "The Daughter Who Came Back" was filmed in Chongqing, it was preparing for the establishment of "The Seventh Day", and Mei Ting sighed that it was fate, and the two cherished characters arrived one after another impartially. The new drama "The Right Way to Open Life" that is being broadcast during the Spring Festival is the second collaboration between Huang Bo and Mei Ting after the movie "Mozart in Outer Space", this drama tells about the pressure and confusion of middle-aged people, Mei Ting was deeply impressed by her crying scene, for which Huang Bo joked with Mei Ting: "It's hard to act in a TV series, I still want to do some comedy, but as soon as I return home, it becomes a tragic style." And after the national tour of "The Seventh Day", Mei Ting will have a rare vacation, go home to spend time with her children and family, and after enough electricity, expect to see the next role.
A still from "The Right Way to Open Life"
Photography / Zhang Chao
Planning/ Zhang Jingxuan
Image / Puan
Coordinator/Chen Liuning
Makeup/Lorraine Chen Kaiqi
Interviews, texts/honey three knives
Producer/Zhang Yujing
Styling coordinator/Fred Sue
Styling assistant/Faye
Venue acknowledgement / Hangzhou see Xixi Resort Hotel
Special thanks/Chinese jewelry
New Media Editor/Timmy
Graphic typesetting/River