Since Gu Yue's death, he is still active on the screen, and the actors who play Chairman Mao with the highest recognition from the audience are Tang Guoqiang and Wang Xia, and among the actors who have played the young Mao Zedong, Wang Xia is even more dominant.
Stills from Wang Xia's "Jinggangshan"
Wang First played Chairman Mao in 1989. Before that, Wang Was a Yue opera actor and drama actor.
Born in Hangzhou in 1958, Wang Xiao was admitted to the dance class of Zhejiang Provincial Art School at the age of 12. Not long after studying ballet, Wang Xia became obsessed with Yue opera and then transferred to the Yue opera study class. At the age of 13, he was selected by the Yue Opera Reform Crew (the predecessor of the Zhejiang Yue Opera Troupe) to become a Yue opera actor. In 1978, Wang Xiao was admitted to the Central Red Flag Yue Opera Troupe and specialized in singing Xiaosheng.
Yue opera TV series "Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui"
In 1983, at the age of 25, Wang Xiao was admitted to the Central Experimental Drama Theatre (the predecessor of the National Drama Theatre) and became a drama actor. In addition to performing dramas, he also took over TV drama works such as "Liaozhai" and "Three Words and Two Beats".
Stills from "Autumn Harvest Uprising"
If it were not for the appearance of the movie "Breaking New Ground", Wang Xia would most likely have been developing in the direction of "idol power actors".
In 1989, the Shanghai Film Studio prepared to shoot "Breaking New Ground", which told the arduous process of patriots in founding the Communist Party of China. The crew launched a carpet search across the country, and 12 of the 13 delegates attending the meeting had found suitable actors, but Mao Zedong's actors were slow to decide.
Filming is about to begin, and the list of actors is marked, "Young Mao Zedong" is played by actor Wu Gang, yes, this "Wu Gang" is the "Secretary Dakang" that we are familiar with.
Stills from "Groundbreaking"
One day, deputy director Hu Lide inadvertently flipped through a resume sent by the National Drama Theatre, and the actor in the photo had a facial contour that looked very similar to Chairman Mao's youth, and he immediately asked people to contact the actor to try on makeup in Shanghai.
After receiving the notice, Wang Xia rushed to Shanghai urgently. After 3 hours of costumes, the "Mao Zedong" in a long shirt appeared, which immediately attracted the attention of the audience, and Hu Lide nodded frequently. In the words of a crew member, "If you hold up an umbrella again, it is simply the young Mao Zedong in the oil painting "Mao Zedong Goes to Anyuan" who walked out of the painting."
In this way, Wang Xiao replaced Wu Gang and became the role of the young Mao Zedong.
Playing the great leader Chairman Mao, Wang Xia is particularly stressful, before that, he did not understand Chairman Mao's character and preferences, so he asked the crew for five days off and made a special trip to Hunan. He successively went to Yuelu Academy, Orange Island Head, First Normal School, Xinmin Society, Yang Kaihui's former residence... Every time you go to a place, you will have a deep exchange with the locals.
On his last two days in Hunan, Wang Went to visit Chairman Mao's former residence, visited Chairman Mao's cousin Mao Zelian, and met Chairman Mao's former neighbor, Mrs. Tang Ruiren.
Tang Ruiren handed him a crutch: "In 1959, when the chairman went up the mountain, he still had a crutch, so you should also learn from the chairman." Wang Xia took the crutch and followed the old lady up the Elephant Trunk Mountain.
After 20 minutes, they stopped in front of an ordinary grave, which turned out to be the joint tomb of Chairman Mao's parents.
Tang Ruiren knelt in front of the grave and said in Shaoshan dialect, "Grandpa and Grandma, Runzhi sees that you are coming." Look, he knelt beside you. Wang Hao quickly knelt down. But this person is an actor, he looks the same as Runzhi, and Grandpa and Grandma want to bless him with the success of his performance in the spirit of heaven. After saying that, both men prostrated their heads three times.
Stills from "Mao Zedong Goes to Anyuan"
Later, the appearance of Wang Xia and his role of Mao Zedong filled the gap in the image of young Mao Zedong. Since then, he has successively played the young and middle-aged Mao Zedong in film and television works such as "Autumn Harvest Uprising", "Sunrise in the East", "Mao Zedong Goes to Anyuan", "Red Cradle" and so on. For the sake of Chairman Mao's image of being thin in his youth, Wang Xiao had hardly eaten a full meal in twenty years.
Stills from "My Long March"
Today, Wang Xia is over the age of Hua Jia, and the image of Chairman Mao he plays has also gone from youth to old age. Many people will say that Wang Xia's role as Chairman Mao must have been familiar with it for a long time, but Wang Xia does not think so. He regards every interpretation as starting from scratch: "Before I perform, I not only have to read Chairman Mao's works and find his materials, but also understand the background of that period and the relationship between the characters around him, and comprehensively understand his inner growth and changes. ”
Stills from "Red Cradle"
On the issue of retirement, he even made a bold statement: "On the road of playing Mao Zedong's Long March, I will walk for a lifetime." ”