Yan Chengxu, 46 years old, what happened to acting in idol dramas?

Yan Chengxu seems to be a person who has stayed in place for 22 years, or even longer. He doesn't seem to have a midlife crisis, and still has the original appearance of a teenager.

Author|Scarlett, Editor|Ding Yu

No one can make time stand still, except Yan Chengxu.

In the new drama "Summer Flower", Yan Chengxu's appearance is still exactly the same as 22 years ago. As a result, not long after the episode was updated, the topic of #言承旭 full 40 minus 20# was on the hot search. He is 46 years old this year, as if he is still the idol of that year, shining in idol dramas.

Even his character is more or less reminiscent of memories related to "Meteor Garden" that year. The only difference is that this time he is warm and soft.

It may be that the image of the "hegemonic originator" of Daoming Temple is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and Yan Chengxu's personality that has been circulated in his early years is also difficult, temperamental, and will not love, even his nickname is "Tyrannosaurus", making people think that this is the original him.

In fact, Xiao Han, played by him in "Summer Flower", is more like the self that Yan Chengxu has gradually begun to show in recent years - not good at words, introverted, hoping to pursue perfection but always feeling that he is not good enough, making him cool with a little shy under his cool exterior, and more innocent and sensual inside.

Some people say that Yan Chengxu, who is almost 50 years old, has no pursuit and is still acting in an unchanged idol drama. But for many viewers, Yan Chengxu, who stopped in place, is just right, he doesn't need a midlife crisis, let alone sleek and greasy, he just needs to continue to be himself.

As always hormonal

On February 13, the drama "Summer Flower" was broadcast on Tencent Video. The play tells the story of He Ran (played by Xu Ruohan), a young girl who is seriously ill, who falls in love with a forced uncle. The love between them, with a fairy tale color divorced from reality, is full of beautiful and romantic emotions.

It is precisely this kind of setting that is really the most suitable for Yan Chengxu. The director knows what the audience sees before they stop, so in the dreamy light and shadow embellishments and a large number of dusty backlit shots, he fully shows Yan Chengxu's angular face and strong and superior chest muscles.

Although Yan Chengxu has always been like this, it is clear that "Summer Flower" is more capable of shooting, or will fully show the strengths of using actors. Yan Chengxu's handsomeness is vividly displayed under the director's film-like lighting and mirror, which makes people think of falling in love for the first time, or wanting to fall in love.

Xiao Han is mature and tolerant, and the girl He Ran is bold and active. Coupled with the countdown to terminal illness, the girl will fight hard, because the birth is as brilliant as a summer flower, only once.

What is even more touching is that after the main creators patiently and slowly laid out the scene of ten episodes of women chasing men, they suddenly flipped over in the tenth episode and gave the audience a glimpse of the male protagonist's perspective - he was actually moved in the morning, he knew everything, but because of the restraint of love, he has been silently paying behind his back.

It is always the easiest for an actor to play a role that is close to personal characteristics, and standing there, it is already the character himself. Coupled with the beautiful natural scenery of Hainan Island, slightly chaotic but very retro art design, in the transparent lighting and lens, the brilliant sunshine and the gentle sea breeze seem to be able to blow to the audience through the screen, with the grasshopper's 1990 song "Half a Snack", the audience will be taken back to the past in an instant and enter this dream.

Of course, the most dreamy thing is the various close-ups of the straight face, Yan Chengxu's hair, sides, and muscle lines are enlarged and displayed one by one, and even no film director has filmed him like this, an absolute hormonal handsomeness.

So all the scenes about love in the play seem so real and credible in an instant, so the emotions quickly go up, hooking people to see the straightforward initiative of love, prodding and being prodded, and escaping pulling. In other words, it is easier for the audience to see love in its purest form, and then project himself into it.

This is the ultimate mystery of romance dramas, providing immersive dreams, and the hormones of destiny love.

In fact, no one will really learn love in film and television dramas, but there will always be people who need to watch people on TV talk about love. The kind of chemical reaction that does not hesitate and does not ask the source makes up for the sweetness of surprises that do not exist in reality. Like a girl in the flower season getting a haircut on the side of the road, you can meet the handsome No. 33 "hair washer" bridge, which probably won't happen in a few lifetimes. The real age difference between the two leading actors is 21 years, but when it comes to the play, there is no sense of violation.

In retrospect, time is even a little scary fast. Today, the people who are still watching Yan Chengxu may be the same people as they were 20 years ago. It's just that they are no longer mesmerized by the DVDs brought back from the rental store during the summer vacation, but holding iPads and mobile phones and rewatching the male god of 20 years ago falling in love on the screen.

The audience of that year, from elementary school students and middle school students at most no more than college students, has become today's workplace workers and even mothers, children have reached the age where they can watch idol dramas, everyone is old, but you see, he is still not old, as always hormonal.

And from another perspective, opening the love drama of the old male god is still a very safe choice. A familiar face of an idol, a little new plot, some beautiful scenery, can soothe the busy and tired heart. Kill time on the way to work, or catch your breath in the gaps of life, see the love pull of others, safe and relaxed, eye-catching and comfortable.

People who stay where they are

Compared with simple idol dramas, life is obviously much more complicated.

Although there is no standard and perfect guide to behavior, "what to do at what age" is like a mantra on everyone's head. But few people have seriously thought about why they should do "what should be done" at this age, and what is "what should be done".

In this environment, people do not have the right to stay where they are and grow slowly, but everything is urged to accelerate in a hurry. But Yan Chengxu may be such a person who stayed in place.

His father died early when he was 12 years old, and his mother worked hard to raise him and his sister alone, and he had to work part-time to support the family from an early age, and after graduation, he had to earn money to support the family, as if forced to grow up overnight. Then became a model, entered the entertainment industry, and became an overnight celebrity at the age of 24 because of "Meteor Garden" and became an idol all over Asia.

A few years at the peak, and then unable to transform, career declined, and when he participated in "Brother Through Thorns" in 2021, he was still "Daoming Temple", and he would still be asked by the program group to say that line: "If an apology is useful, why do you want the police?" ”

In this way, Yan Chengxu may stay in place longer than people think.

In a reality show such as "The Brother Who Broke Through the Thorns" that shows a person in an all-round way, it is difficult to maintain each appearance with parts or personalities, so everyone shows the character of the "real person" to the maximum, and Yan Chengxu's sincerity in it can be seen.

Compared with other brothers at this age, others are either mature, intelligent, and emotionally intelligent, or professionally pursued and extremely standard, but Yan Chengxu is just like a person who comes here to make friends, he is busy making friends, observing others, and himself.

No artist does not need popularity, and many people want to complete the re-popularity, but it is clear that what Yan Chengxu wants more is an experience, this kind of reopening himself and knowing himself, which he has never had before.

The entertainment industry is of course Vanity Fair, and Vanity Fair has never been an easy place to mix. People with long and stable positions here for thirty or forty years can be described as rare, and they are all absolute kings who are extremely talented and also very hard-working, and diligently work hard for a moment, and even their willpower, emotional stability and self-control are definitely far beyond ordinary people.

And to achieve such self-awareness is very clear, emotional intelligence and IQ management are all in place, and lucky people, even if they are not extremely advantageous in appearance or artistic talent to do the entertainment industry, go to any other industry, can also become the leader.

But stars are also people, and there is also an ordinary side, so more people come and go in the entertainment industry. Some people get popularity too early when they are young and become popular overnight; There are also people who have crossed like shooting stars, disappearing into circles and never to be seen again; There are also people who have been diligent for decades, and people only emerge in middle and old age.

Some people will get carried away, while others have difficulty facing the gap and cannot figure out their own cognition and positioning; There are also people who are always prone to a kind of self-pity, after all, the daughter-in-law who has survived for many years has become a mother-in-law, and the suffering has been really eaten.

But Yan Chengxu seems to have found that kind of self-consistency, he can't see the gap between red and not red on his body, when he is red, he is himself, and when he is not red, it is still like that.

What's more, even if he stays in place, he is not really not popular. As soon as Yan Chengxu appeared, all the topics still revolved around him. He went to Liu Genghong's live broadcast room to dance, and he had a fever after jumping, and then this topic was on the hot search, and his abs were also on the hot search. He went to Sina and Tencent with the heroine to sweep the building, and the response was still as enthusiastic as it was more than 20 years ago, and he still responded with a little shyness.

Difficult is never the real him, just an externalized manifestation of how to face it because he is overwhelmed and does not know how to face it.

Imperceptible seriousness

To some extent, Yan Chengxu is like Xiao Han, the male protagonist of "Summer Flower", who does not take the initiative and avoids expression. I don't know if the main creator of "Summer Flower" took a fancy to this and asked him to play this role. But at least, Yan Chengxu expressed that taking on this role was a happy encounter with Xiao Han.

He mentioned in the interview that he saw the script of "Summer Flower" in the variety show recording before, and then was moved by the role of He Ran - the kind of love and enthusiasm for life, not repeating every day, but willing to experience different lives and feelings of bravery.

Then, the audience discovered that Yan Chengxu, who was not good at expression, may be more willing to talk about works and performances than people think. In the process of promoting the new drama this time, he has always shown a seriousness, even if this inner seriousness is more hidden and imperceptible than his own overly dazzling appearance.

On February 8, he posted on Weibo that "my child is here", making people mistakenly think that "there are new children in the entertainment industry". He was trying to promote new works, but people had other misunderstandings, and the heat caused was considered hype. But he explained in the comment area in a serious way: "The staff said that it is inappropriate to post it like this, let me bring the MV link, sorry." ”

He has his own understanding of the character, such as Xiao Han's loneliness. He tried to enter a more self-centered state through watercolor painting and graphic design. Therefore, although the setting given to him in "Summer Flower" is a "rough uncle", Yan Chengxu transforms this "roughness" into an inner sense of brokenness, which makes people feel that the slightly contrived lines suddenly become so reasonable.

He said that he loves acting, he also said that he is afraid of being stereotyped, and he is always reflecting on himself, slowly taking small steps within what he can bear. It is probably because of this seriousness that Yan Chengxu does not have a middle-aged greasy body, but is still clean and refreshing, with the original appearance of a teenager.

He apologized for the wrong Weibo, perhaps too unfamiliar with this purposeful "business", saying that he "didn't use his phone at all" to prevent outside interference. Even if it is posted on Weibo, it is very rare, and it is easy to see the content he wrote in 2021, which is obviously not out of publicity but the bits and pieces of mood he recorded every day, the fear of running away from the first day, and the reflection on whether he behaved properly during the day while lying in bed in the middle of the night.

It's rare for a male star to dissect himself so calmly. Like this embarrassing feeling of not being able to sleep with a toe button sheet, probably every embarrassed person will resonate, but I didn't expect Yan Chengxu, who was in his forties, to be the same.

But he still persevered, from Yan Chengxu, who wanted to escape every day and continued to hide, to Yan Chengxu, who finally said what he wanted to say. Even when the brothers called together to invite the lucky audience at the end, he was more enthusiastic than at the beginning, smiled sincerely, and took the rare initiative.

Finally he wrote:

"I'm not a person of words

Even if you want to say hello simply, I don't know why, the only thing you can say is "Do you want to eat toast?" "Do you want to drink water?" ”

These 133 days, like a Muggle who mistakenly received an acceptance letter, entered a magical world,

I'm stupid, slow-fitting, crying,

Everything you do will only fight with yourself,

In the midst of countless embarrassments, I was forced to grow up with courage that I did not deserve.

But I hope that I can still be seen by everyone,

There are such guys who don't follow any rules,

Never bow your head, even if it is misunderstood and denigrated by many people,

Even if it's just stupidly insisting on bravery. ”

This seems to be a portrayal of most of his life, since he entered the entertainment industry, became popular, and became a Muggle who entered the wizarding world, he has never changed, slowly loves to cry, is very stupid to learn to adapt, in the embarrassment again and again, with courage to persevere, has he been forced to grow up like he said? Maybe not, but he still stood where he was, uncompromising, unchanging, as he himself said, stupidly holding on, hoping to be seen.

He is very lucky, this text is put on Weibo, millions of people will always see it, his character is broadcast, and tens of millions of people will see it, which makes his insistence on standing in place a little meaningful.

Or not just for him, but for those who are the same, who stand where they are, who don't change with time, who don't do what they should do at the right age.

This road is not so lonely, and if someone insists on it little by little, it will shine. Even if there is only a faint firelight, you can find your own brilliance in the brilliant flying of the summer night.