February 27, 2023 | Total Issue 3160
I don't really care about labels. The audience was very impressed by my role as the villain Feng Xiaosheng in "Under the Sun", which is a great honor for me. To put it bluntly, isn't it natural that every character is labeled after a performance?
Whenever I get the script, I always draw a portrait of the character in my heart to measure my "fit" with him. This is a skill that I learned when I was a student at the Beijing Film Academy before. Although the actor has to have a thousand faces, the actor has limitations, and more or less will have some interconnection with the character he plays. The so-called one person with a thousand faces is inseparable from this major premise.
I have always felt that acting is nothing more than the pursuit of two extremes, either using closeness to narrow the distance with the audience, or using "strangeness" to arouse the audience's curiosity. Not getting stuck in the middle without going up and down is often the most embarrassing.
"Who says a good doctor can't have a good family?"
"Did you wear makeup today? I thought it was plain face. ”
After untying the heart knot of his original family, Ning Zhiqian (played by Peng Guanying), who was determined to grasp career and love with both hands, made many fans shout "Whoops!" Please Ning Zhiqian keep this rhythm and don't stop! "Not only do you like it, we also like you to talk like that!" "Chasing wife with a mouth is sweet fried! The enlightened Doctor Ning was indeed extraordinary. ”
From the wooden and silent in the early stage, to the thoughtfulness and pampering in the later stage, Ning Zhiqian's leap on the emotional road was just right by actor Peng Guanying.
In the popular urban emotional drama "I Heard You Like Me", Peng Guanying plays Ning Zhiqian, a divine surgeon at Beiya Hospital. Compared with the previous characters with distinctive characteristics, Ning Zhiqian's blunt sensitivity is more prominent. Perhaps it was the coldness attribute of the profession of a doctor, Ning Zhiqian's mood swings and thoughts, which were always hidden behind his reddened eyes and under his lips that wanted to say back.
Just like in the play, Ning Zhiqian said to the crying Ruan Liuzheng (played by Wang Churan), "You still have ten minutes to be sad about the last patient." From now on, take responsibility for the next patient. ”
Peng Guanying in life is different from the silent Ning Zhiqian. He has the heartiness and frankness of a Northeasterner and does not avoid questions. But he has no lack of delicate side, thinking carefully when thinking about problems, and giving answers with determination and sincerity.
Talking about the details when shaping the characters, the design that accidentally burst out during the shooting, Peng Guanying looked light and breezy. In his eyes, this is all a job, not a topic worth highlighting. Talking about the tight work arrangement, Peng Guanying said bluntly: "Isn't it good to be busy with work? There are producers and directors who are willing to trust me and give me opportunities, and it just so happens that I have a feeling for the characters and the story, so I can't miss it. ”
The following is the narration of actor Peng Guanying.
Ning Zhiqian is a character who is very close to the audience
Whenever I get the script, I always draw a portrait of the character in my heart to measure my "fit" with him.
This is a skill that I learned when I was a student at the Beijing Film Academy before. Although the actor has to have a thousand faces, the actor has limitations, and more or less will have some interconnection with the character he plays. The so-called one person with a thousand faces is inseparable from this major premise.
When I first read the script of "I Heard You Like Me", I felt that I and Ning Zhiqian were "close to each other". I can imagine every movement, every expression, and even the slight change in Ning Zhiqian's tone. In addition, his love story touched me very much and made me have the desire to interpret. In this way, it was decided to take him.
In the process of communicating with director Yang Yang, the director said that he hoped that I would try to mold Ning Zhiqian as much as possible to make the audience have a "sense of intimacy", which happened to be the idea that came up when I painted the characters.
I have always felt that acting is nothing more than the pursuit of two extremes, either using closeness to narrow the distance with the audience, or using "strangeness" to arouse the audience's curiosity. Not getting stuck in the middle without going up and down is often the most embarrassing. When building a character, I have been testing the scale of "closeness" in him.
Ning Zhiqian is the chief physician of the Department of Neurosurgery of Beiya Hospital, who is young and ambitious and has a successful career, but has a failed marriage. He must have had problems balancing work and family, and has experienced a lot of setbacks, how can he wander outside of life? He can be proud, he can be wrong, he can even put up a shelf, but he can't be dull and stunned.
"Small accidents" often occur on the set, which play the role of the finishing touch.
There is a scene where Ning Zhiqian just sent away his son Ning Xiang (played by Ling Chen), and was taken advantage of by his love rival Xue Weilin (played by Li Zifeng) when he was about to eat with Liuzheng, coupled with an arm injury, unable to cook, he could only go home and make do with a bowl of noodles. During the performance, I accidentally broke the fork, but the director didn't stop shouting, and I thought: Then you might as well eat this bowl of noodles with the fork head and finish this scene.
After filming, I watched the playback, and Ning Zhiqian's cramped appearance just set off his embarrassment.
In terms of career, Ning Zhiqian is very powerful in his professional field, and how to find his sense of professionalism as a doctor is the point I need to work on.
Director Yang Yang has previously filmed a medical drama called "Heart Technique", in order to familiarize myself with the director's style and the feeling of playing a doctor, I specially watched this drama again, and also found some other medical documentaries. In addition, there is medical guidance on the shooting site, and the actors will be taught on the spot at any time, adjusting the details, etc., which has helped me a lot.
Ning Zhiqian is a doctor with a strong sense of responsibility and is very attractive at work, which is why he can attract a group of little girls in the hospital. Whenever he faced doubts from the outside world, he could always calm down, "I'm sorry, I'm an expert here." ”
This is also the case, as Ning Zhiqian's father Ning Shouzheng (Yao Anlian) said, "Zhiqian is the authority of the national divine surgery. "So in my work, Ning Zhiqian has a complete methodology, I just need to prepare my sense of belief in my heart."
And in terms of personality, Ning Zhiqian is flawed. He is often misunderstood. The audience didn't understand some of his behavior when watching the play, in fact, I did the same when I read the script.
But this is precisely one of Ning Zhiqian's characteristics - reticence. From the divorce of his parents, to the death of his mother, to his divorce from Ruan Liuzheng... If we look at the character experience alone, this person is actually quite pathetic. But in the process of entering the character, I think his point is not "miserable", but "independence". Because of loneliness, he is not used to sharing his feelings with others, and he does not know how to express his feelings in his heart.
He is actually a very traditional man, like we often meet in life. They are not so cheerful, they are not very willing to speak, they are misunderstood and unwilling to explain, those who understand naturally understand, and those who do not understand do not need to waste their lips and tongues. This reticence blocked some noise from his life, and also brought many episodes.
Ning Zhiqian's character is consistent. Although he is a growing character, his changes are not reflected in his personality, but in the relationship between the characters.
The relationship between the characters weaves the changes of Ning Zhiqian
I want my understanding of character relationships to be comprehensive and accurate. During the shooting, I constantly communicated with director Yang Yang, and often discussed details and ideas with the rival actors.
On the set, the director is the "conductor" who controls the overall situation, and all our soldiers will follow the director's plan. Before the filming of each scene, we will get together and talk about our ideas on the table, so that the director can choose which scene whose idea is desirable and whose idea needs to be adjusted. Only by solving all the problems in advance will the actual shooting be smooth.
The most important thing is the relationship between Ning Zhiqian and Ruan Liuzheng.
In the play, their story is divided into two parts, six years ago and six years later. But no matter which paragraph, I can be sure that Ning Zhiqian loves Ruan Liuzheng.
After Ning Zhiqian was dumped by his ex-girlfriend Dong Miaomiao (played by Du Yuchen), he must have been moved in the face of Liuzheng who wholeheartedly accompanied him to heal his injuries. But to get married, love alone is not enough, but also to have a common rhythm of life and synchronized future planning. This is the crux of their early relationship problems - not on the same channel.
Six years ago, Ning Zhiqian was already a doctor who could stand alone in Beiya Hospital, and his professional excellence made him know that the root of a person's life is always himself. He never said anything like "I'll raise you" to the kite, not because he couldn't do it, but because he didn't want to.
In his heart, he wants to achieve not only himself, but also the koto. If we can "teach people to fish", why "teach people to fish"? He wants a future where one plus one is greater than two, not equal to two and less than two. And he also sees the potential in the kite body, so he will always urge the kite to enter graduate school, and don't always be stumbled by family affairs.
At that time, Liuzheng chose to "wash her hands and make soup" for Ning Zhiqian, gave up the opportunity to study abroad, and delayed her graduate school entrance examination, which also made her stand still for a while. Coupled with the fact that Ning Zhiqian is a person who is not good at expression, the distance between the two is bound to become farther and farther.
In fact, there is no problem with their love, but unfortunately love has gone into two parallel lines, and finally divorced.
And six years later, the change in the kite made Ning Zhiqian gratified, and also made him rekindle the love hidden in his heart.
Did you say that Ning Zhiqian has changed?
In fact, no, six years later, he is still bent on sending two more SCI papers with the kite, and he still "says one thing and does another", the front foot just secretly photographed the sleeping face of the kite, and the back foot bluffed people and said "you just snored".
But can it be said that he has not changed at all?
Nor can it. He began to be willing to express his love to the kite and was willing to show affection occasionally. The relationship thing is like this, the two sides may not meet at the best time, but fate will definitely not let them miss each other.
The relationship between Ning Zhiqian and his father explained the cause of his personality.
Why doesn't Ning Zhiqian know how to deal with feelings and how to love people? It was his parents' failed marriage; When the mother made a move of redemption, the father decided to leave. This is an insurmountable gap between their father and son.
When dealing with this relationship between the characters, Teacher Yao and I both wanted to act to the extreme. I handled it more distantly and coldly, Teacher Yao was more guilty and retreated, and together we presented the relationship more accurately. Only by tightening the "buckle" between the two people in the early stage, the subsequent "unbutton" can be moving.
The relationship between Ning Zhiqian and his love rival Xue Weilin and his old friend Xiao Er (played by Chen Zhen) has enriched Ning Zhiqian's "upright" and arrogant personality.
Ning Zhiqian and Xiao Er are small, and the two have played from childhood to adulthood and know each other very well. Therefore, the audience can see that Xiao Er can often become Ning Zhiqian's "mouth substitute", or tear down his stage when his mouth is hard, or help him solve when he is sluggish, and always expose his inner monologue.
As for the relationship with Xue Weilin, we hope to handle it more easily in the way adults treat feelings.
Although they are love rivals, they do not point fingers at Mai Mang, but will damage each other, and even occasionally play tricks. Ning Zhiqian did not clearly distinguish the positions of the enemy and us, and never clearly told the other party, "This is my territory, you go out." With a "challenger" mentality, he first waved his hand calmly, welcomed the other party to fight, and then won the battle step by step with great confidence, so that the other party could clearly see his "out" process.
These two character relationships contribute a lot of laughs to the series. For example, when Ning Zhiqian saw Liuzhen taking good care of the injured Xue Weilin, he began to act uncharacteristically after the vinegar jar was overturned, and he did not leave in Xue Weilin's ward; Ning Zhiqian saw that Xue Weilin, Liuzheng and Ning Xiang were all wearing white T-shirts, and quickly took off the sweatshirt that was put on the outside of the white T, for fear that the restaurant waiter would misunderstand that they were a family of three...
Ning Zhiqian was childish after being jealous, a little contrasting and cute. This is a plus for the characters, and it also subtly adjusts the tone of the story.
Labels are recognition
Entering this industry can be said to be a coincidence.
Before I came to Nortel to study, I didn't have any "star dreams" at all, and my concept of an actor was very vague. At that time, I just thought that I was still very young and had something to learn. Just in time for the art test recruitment, I went to try. I was really admitted and luckily entered this industry.
I'm very content, I have been filming for so many years, regardless of the size of the role and the number of scenes, at least I am not idle, it is already very good. The big things and small things experienced during the period, rejection, selection, stuck in the bottleneck period, etc., I think it is a kind of grinding, if a certain direction does not work, then change the article. God is always fair.
And who doesn't encounter setbacks and unsatisfactory situations at work? I really feel lucky to be able to persist to this day and act in so many plays.
After working for a long time, I can feel that my self-regulation function is getting stronger and stronger. Actors are very emotionally invested in their characters, and for me before, saying goodbye to the characters was very painful. For example, Ning Zhiqian, if I had acted a few years earlier, I might have been sad and sad, and I chanted two sentences to the character:
"Brother, my ability is limited, and some places are not in place, but I can only accompany you here!"
There will always be regrets about acting, I may have cared more about it in the past, but now it is more indifferent, as long as I make sure that my current state is committed and sincere, it is enough.
I don't really care about labels. The audience was very impressed by my role as the villain Feng Xiaosheng in "Under the Sun", and I am very grateful for everyone's support and recognition, which is a great honor for me. To put it bluntly, isn't it natural that every character is labeled after a performance? New characters will always bring me new growth, tear or stick, just leave it to the audience.
After "Under the Sun", I took "Two Conjectures of Marriage", the images of Yang Zheng and Feng Xiaosheng can be described as different, but I know in my heart that they are all characters who are "close to me". It is difficult for actors to find image positioning in all stories, and this is the limitation mentioned at the beginning.
But whenever I have the opportunity, I will try to try different characters within a limited scope. After all, the nature of this job is changeable, I have to deal with different character souls, but also deal with different staff, and I am willing to accept challenges.
If there are still genres I want to try in the future, then I really want to try suspense dramas.
The performance method and character shaping method of suspense dramas make me more challenging. How do I wrap the characters in "detraced" performances; How to release the mystery little by little with clues and attract the audience's attention; And how to pull the audience's sense of panic and substitution... These are all things I want to try.
Costume dramas have not been performed for a long time, and there have not been many performances before, and I hope to perform again when I have the right opportunity.
Next, I also have a spy war drama "Thin Ice" and a medical drama "White Castle" to meet with you.
I can't promise everyone that Peng Guanying will definitely win awards and act in blockbuster projects in the future, but I can feel my conscience and say: in the face of work and characters, I will definitely take it seriously as always, keep honest and pure.
【Text/Yichen】