One day in 1992, 40-year-old Zheng Xiaolong accidentally saw a novel, was deeply attracted by it, and read it overnight.
The next day, he decided to adapt it into a TV series and direct it himself.
This drama is the later high-scoring play , "Beijingers in New York", which is now a classic, but in retrospect, it almost died.
The core issue is "money".
Because the background of the story of the play is special, almost the whole process needs to be filmed overseas.
But in China in the early 90s, going abroad was a very difficult thing, coupled with the high cost of living abroad, so to shoot this drama, money is the top priority.
The crew initially prepared 12 million yuan, which was an astronomical amount at the time, but after filming the crew, they found that the money was far from enough.
So the director Zheng Xiaolong led his team around, through mortgages and other ways, loans to shoot dramas.
Kung Fu paid off, and this drama was finally successfully completed, and once it was broadcast on CCTV, it caused an unprecedented sensation.
The story is based on the "going abroad to pan for gold" frenzy at that time, focusing on the musician Wang Qiming and his wife Guo Yan, through the experience of the two in the United States, let the audience see the change of an era.
Therefore, this drama is not so much a history of personal struggle as a microcosm of people in a special era.
In 1993, the drama premiered on CCTV, a fire overnight, and then was introduced and replayed by local television stations, and the ratings hit a record of 70%.
The theme song "Ten Million Questions" composed by Liu Huan has also become popular all over the country.
For Zheng Xiaolong, this "adventure" masterpiece not only allowed him to recover the cost in the end, but also earned seven or eight hundred thousand yuan, and even the major awards were soft.
Even in today's eyes, it is still an epic that is difficult to surpass.
In the blink of an eye, 28 years have passed since the premiere of this drama.
How are these actors and creators in the play doing now?
01, Jiang Wen
In the play, Jiang Wen played Wang Qiming, who vividly showed the authentic temperament of the Beijing masters and the artistic dedication of the cellists.
At that time, although Jiang Wen was only 30 years old, he was already a big name in the film industry, so when he first saw this TV series project, he refused.
But after reading the script, he changed his mind, so there was the first TV series in Jiang Wen's life.
After filming "Beijingers in New York", Jiang Wen read Wang Shuo's novel "Animal Fierceness", was greatly shaken, and decided to make this novel into a movie.
In 1994, Jiang Wen directed for the first time and made the best literary and artistic film in the Chinese film industry of that era, "Sunny Day".
After that, Jiang Wen focused on the path of directing, and also directed many good films, such as "The Devil Is Coming", "The Sun Also Rises", "Let the Bullets Fly" and so on.
And his most recent work is "Evil Does Not Pressure Righteousness".
In addition to the smooth success of his career, Jiang Wen also waited for the person who was destined in love.
In 2001, when filming "Heroes of Heaven and Earth", Jiang Wen met Zhou Yun, who was 15 years younger and graduated from Chinese opera.
In the subsequent contact, the two also admired each other's talents.
In 2005, after Jiang Wen divorced his ex-wife, he married Zhou Yun and gave birth to a child the following year.
After marriage, the two have a good relationship, life and career go hand in hand, and Jiang Wen, as a big director, has never had a scandal.
Some time ago, I also posted photos of myself and my wife and friends on the Internet, and it seems that I am still in a very good state.
However, Jiang Wen, who is 58 years old this year, has a lot less works than before, and the last "Evil Does Not Pressure The Right" was already a work from 3 years ago.
His own new work has been slow to move, but instead he starred in another fantasy film, "Turandot: The Origin of the Spell", but released a new trailer.
It is worth mentioning that the director of this film is Zheng Xiaolong, and I don't know if the cooperation between the two famous directors can bring new surprises to the audience.
02, Wang Ji
The actor who plays Ah Chun in the play is the actor Wang Ji.
In fact, this role, Zheng Xiaolong was originally ready to hand over to hu Huizhong, a powerful actor at that time.
However, the other party made two demands, the first is to exchange her film remuneration for the copyright of this play in Taiwan, and the second is to let "Ah Chun" become the first female protagonist in the play.
For the second condition, Zheng Xiaolong was difficult to accept, and later he also thought about finding Hui Yinghong to play, but after weighing it, he found that the other party was still not suitable for the character.
At this time, Chen Daoming recommended Wang Ji to Zheng Xiaolong.
At that time, Wang Ji had already sent her photo to Zheng Xiaolong, but after a whole month, Wang Ji did not wait for Zheng Xiaolong's reply.
In desperation, Wang Ji directly called to find Zheng Xiaolong, which was told that "Ah Chun" had been replaced, wang Ji was naturally very angry when she heard it, and directly scolded Zheng Xiaolong.
Coincidentally, a few days later, Wang Ji received a call from Feng Xiaogang again, saying that the original actress was not filming, and saving the scene was like putting out a fire.
In this way, Wang Ji successfully entered the crew.
However, not long after entering the crew, Wang Ji found out that she was pregnant.
In order not to delay the progress of the shooting, she did not tell anyone, when she was busiest, she slept less than three hours a day, and even ate well.
After this drama became popular, Wang Ji won the "12th China Television Golden Eagle Award for Best Actress".
Soon after, her son was also born, perhaps because Wang Ji was overworked during her pregnancy, and the child was diagnosed with a rare form of autism at the age of one and a half.
Not only do you need to take medicine every day, but your intelligence will also be greatly affected when you grow up.
After that, Wang Ji took care of her children on the one hand, and on the other hand, she worked hard to earn money to treat her son.5
The role she played is also very popular with the audience, and after starring in Li Shaohong's "Red Pink" and "Thunderstorm", Wang Ji also won awards for her excellent acting skills.
Wang Ji, who is 59 years old this year, is still active in the film and television circle and has works to meet with the audience almost every year.
Some time ago, she also co-starred with her daughter Gao Liwen in the movie "Migratory Birds" about the relationship between mother and daughter.
03. Ma Xiaoqing
Ma Xiaoqing played the role of Ning Ning in the play.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Ma Xiaoqing was very popular.
She was one of the earliest child stars in China, and at the age of 11, she starred in Xie Jin's "Ah! The role of "Xiangzhu" in "Cradle" is well known to the audience.
In 1987, she was admitted to the theater, but soon dropped out of school to make a film.
In just two years, she has participated in many heavyweight works, such as "Stubborn Lord", "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Hometown Romance" and so on.
After the launch of "Beijingers in New York", the role of Ning Ning brought Great popularity to Ma Xiaoqing.
However, after this drama, she gradually faded out of the film and television circle, and there were fewer and fewer works to participate in. In 2000, she seemed to have completely "withdrawn from the circle" and even returned to shanghai from Beijing.
In the following six years, although she often received invitations from some directors, she refused.
In 2006, she began filming her directorial debut, "Girl", which had a good reputation.
However, after this work, she "disappeared" again for 4 years, and did not meet the audience until 2010 through "Reunion".
However, after this work, she never appeared in the audience's sight again.
Some people say that she has experienced two failed relationships to be so disheartened.
At the age of 53, she is still unmarried, but on social platforms, she has shown a "rebellious" temperament.
Combined with the video and the words, it gives people a very weird feeling!
04. Yan Xiaopin
The heroine of the play, Guo Yan, is played by Yan Xiaopin.
Yan Xiaopin is a "star second generation" who is a child of the Eight Classics, and her father is called Yan Xiang, an old drama bone who has been acting for decades.
Her mother, Xu Shuelian, is also an actress, and under the influence of such a family atmosphere, Yan Xiaopin has been interested in acting since she was a child.
At the age of 17, she was successfully admitted to Nortel, and received a contract in her sophomore year, and won the best actress in the "University Student Film Festival" with "Sun and Rain".
At that time, Yan Xiaopin was slightly famous, and his career was also in an upward period.
But as soon as she graduated, she married her first love on campus, Lightning, and went to the United States to accompany her husband who studied abroad, while she herself worked as a host on the local Chinese television station.
In 1992, the crew of "Beijingers in New York" was filmed in New York, and Yan Xiaopin only wanted to meet with his old friend Jiang Wen.
But on the set, she was favored by director Zheng Xiaolong, and Jiang Wen also encouraged her to audition.
At that time, Yan Xiaopin, who had lived in the United States for three years, was very in line with "Guo Yan" in terms of temperament and image.
In this way, Yan Xiaopin agreed to join the crew and returned to the show business circle with this work.
In 1994, after she and her husband returned to China, they received an invitation from the TV series "Evil Debt", playing the female number one Mei Yunqing.
After the drama was broadcast on Shanghai Television, it also set a record of 42.62% of the ultra-high ratings.
After that, Yan Xiaopin was active in the show business circle and participated in many works in succession.
Although it is difficult to be as popular as "Beijingers in New York", her acting skills have also been recognized by countless audiences.
Now 56 years old, she has not changed much from her past appearance, and she is still elegant.
In addition to taking care of her family, she also has several works to meet with the audience every year, and she has a proper family career.
05, Liu Xiaoli
Liu Xiaoli is the mother of actress Liu Yifei, and in "Beijingers in New York", she made a cameo role, which is the fringe role of female N in the play.
Liu Xiaoli, who was born in the northeast in 1959, has been a beautiful embryo since childhood.
At the age of 11, she entered the Wuhan Song and Dance Theater to learn dance.
At the age of 17, she became a professional singer and dancer, and with her excellent dance skills and good appearance, her career developed well.
In the 1980s, she met An Shaokang, a french professor at Wuhan University, and the two quickly came together and entered the palace of marriage.
In 1987, at the age of 28, Liu Xiaoli gave birth to a daughter and named her An Feng.
After this, Liu Xiaoli did not choose to retire to take care of the family, still focused on her career, and finally at the age of 30, with dances such as "Spring River Flower Moon Night" and "Death of the Swan", she ushered in the peak of her career.
After making a cameo appearance in "Beijingers in New York", in 1994, she won the "Five One Project Award" and the Wenhua Performance Award for her song and dance drama "Chu Xiang", and truly entered the ranks of artists.
However, three years later, her marriage to An Shaokang also ended.
In this way, 10-year-old An Feng changed her name to Liu Yifei with her mother's surname and lived with her mother.
When Liu Xiaoli was 40 years old, she immigrated to the United States with her daughter, and when she lived in New York, she did not give up her acting ideals, and sometimes made cameos.
During this period, she also ushered in her second marriage, the other party was a Chinese lawyer, but unfortunately, this marriage did not last long.
After that, Liu Xiaoli never thought of getting married again, but put all her hopes on her daughter Liu Yifei.
In 2002, Liu Xiaoli took Liu Yifei back to China, and Liu Yifei also successfully became famous overnight with the role of Bai Xiuzhu in "The Golden Powder Family".
Since then, Liu Yifei has starred in costume dramas such as "The Legend of the Immortal Sword", "Tianlong Eight Parts", "Divine Eagle Hero" and other costume dramas, and successfully ranked among the first-line actresses.
In 2008, Liu Xiaoli encouraged her daughter to transform into a film actor, and then Liu Yifei played the heroine in the movie "The King of Kung Fu", it is worth mentioning that Liu Xiaoli also made a cameo role in this movie.
With the gradual stabilization of her daughter's career, Liu Xiaoli also completely gave up her career and became her daughter's full-time agent, and now that she is 62 years old, she may have more possibilities behind the scenes of film and television in the future.
06. Zhou Lihua
Playing Xiumei in the play is actress Zhou Lihua.
In fact, before participating in this drama, she had some works, but most of them were some supporting roles.
But it is undeniable that Zhou Lihua's acting skills are very recognized by the audience, which is also an important reason why Zheng Xiaolong invited her to join.
However, Zhou Lihua herself was very hesitant, because once she decided to go to the United States to shoot a movie, the three-year-old young son was left unattended, but fortunately, her sister Zhou Lina promised to help, which made her go smoothly.
Unfortunately, this drama did not help her become famous, just a familiar face, although she received works such as "Love Debt" and "Sea Breeze" later, there are still very few audiences who can call out her name.
And she herself is also very low-key in life, basically not participating in any TV shows.
Even on the Internet can not find her personal account, some people say that she gave up her career for the sake of her family, some people say that she has gone behind the scenes, the specific real situation is difficult for us to know,
Now that she was born in 1960, she is also 61 years old, and we can only wish her happiness here.
07, Feng Xiaogang
In the play, Feng Xiaogang made a cameo appearance in Wang Qiming's Hair Xiao, who had just turned 35 at that time.
Although the role is not heavy, to be reasonable, Zheng Xiaolong is definitely a nobleman of Feng Xiaogang.
Long ago, Feng Xiaogang was just a union propagandist, and under the promotion of Zheng Xiaolong, he became an art assistant, and later, he became an artist.
In 1991, he was named the second signed screenwriter in Encounter with Passion, and the sixth signed screenwriter in The Story of the Editorial Board.
Two years later, filming of "Beijingers in New York" began, and he was officially promoted to director with the help of Zheng Xiaolong and began to direct TV series.
After that, Feng Xiaogang knew a lot of big guys, such as Zhao Baogang, Ma Weidu, Ye Jing, etc.
In 1997, after Han Sanping sympathized with Feng Xiaogang's failure to open a company, he gave him 1 million yuan and asked him to make a New Year film.
Not long after, Feng Xiaogang returned with the first Chinese New Year film in the history of Chinese cinema, "Party A and Party B".
Wild killing 30 million box office, and Feng Xiaogang personal profit of 1.17 million, at that time, Beijing Chaoyang 300 square meters of house is more than 1 million.
After that, Feng Xiaogang was like discovering a new continent, mainly promoting "New Year films", and successively brought classic films such as "Big Names" and "No Thief in the World", and the director's status was close to that of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
As his fame grew, slowly, his mindset changed.
For example, scolding journalists, scolding film critics, and even complaining about "garbage audiences".
Correspondingly, his film "word of mouth" declined, especially "Only Yun Knows", which was commented by some netizens as "not knowing what to do".
At the age of 63 this year, he turned to the web drama "North And South", which scored only 4.8 on Douban.
To make matters worse, with Wu Yifan's arrest, his 1 billion VAM contract with Huayi Brothers in 2015 was mentioned again.
Obviously, Director Feng Da's recent life has not been good!
08. Ke Zhiling
In the play, Ke Zhiling plays David, the owner of a private sweater shop with deep feelings.
In fact, the character of David is an overseas Chinese in the original work.
And at the beginning, Zheng Xiaolong intended to let Chen Daoming play this role, but Chen Daoming did not like this role.
And Jiang Wen also suggested finding a pure American to star and create a cultural collision.
At this time, Ke Zhiling appeared in the sight of director Zheng Xiaolong, who was originally an American of Irish descent and a Chinese tong, which was itself a model of cultural integration.
Therefore, his performance in the play is very eye-catching.
After this drama, he quickly became popular, but he did not seem to have much interest in the profession of actor, but chose to travel to Asian countries to broaden his horizons.
But after that, he settled in China and began to take on some roles that fit his own image.
In 2009, he played the role of instructor in "My Regiment Leader My Regiment", and played with Duan Yihong, which was very exciting.
In addition, he also has many works, such as "Blood Battle Long Sky", "New Shaolin Temple", etc., and now he is also 58 years old and is still active in the film and television circle.
Perhaps it is because of the excellent acting skills of the main creative team of this drama that this drama has a soul and has achieved a classic.
Looking back, "Beijingers in New York" tells a story that shakes the depth and shows the ambition of that generation of young people who dared to fight.
Interestingly, Cao Guilin, the author of "Beijingers in New York", has now written another "New Yorkers in Beijing" and handed over the film and television adaptation to Zheng Xiaolong.
If filming really starts, the two sister articles are linked together, and it is really interesting.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: An Yan
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