Source: Overseas Network
【Chickasaw Island Press】
Recently, the chaos in the show business circle has aroused heated discussion in society, and Chickasaw Island has also issued a number of articles criticizing. In fact, in addition to these strange chaos, there is also a group of people who adhere to the belief that "the drama is bigger than the sky", willing to be lonely, and play every role with heart and affection. They are called "drama bones" by the audience.
Recently, XiaKedao interviewed Feng Yuanzheng, vice president and actor of the Beijing People's Art Theatre. What does he think of today's showbiz? What does a qualified actor need? Let's take a look.
Chickasaw Island: Let's start with a small question. You now hold a lot of positions in society, such as members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice president of Beijing Renyi... What is your favorite title?
Feng Yuanzheng: My favorite name is teacher. The teacher's responsibility is to teach and educate people, not only to teach you business, but more importantly, to teach people.
When I give a lesson to a student, the first thing I ask is, what do we do? If you want to be a star, I don't talk to you, you talk to the agent, because the star needs exposure, needs to create a topic. If you are an actor, the first thing you have to focus on is the business, sound, stage, shape, table, you must study hard. If you can't even meet the most basics, then you go out of the campus is an unqualified product.
Xiakedao: How long do you think it will take for young people from the moment they step into the gate of Beijing Renyi to become a qualified actor?
Feng Yuanzheng: Not necessarily, many of our actors have more than 10 years to have a role, and they have to run the dragon set first. Entering Beijing Renyi is called an actor of Beijing Renyi, but it may take a while to become an actor who is in demand on the Stage of Beijing Renyi.
Chickasaw Island: What do you think is the performance style of Beijing Renyi?
Feng Yuanzheng: I don't think this can be described in words, or there is no definite formula. The plays of Beijing Renyi, especially the "Tea House" that reflects the lives of ordinary people, and the "Player" that we are about to rehearse, are very grounded, and you will find that the actors live very much on the stage, without contrived performances and exaggerated dramas. This is a unique style of Beijing Renyi.
If there really is a stereotype, how can there be Pu Cunxin, Wu Gang, Chen Xiaoyi, Xu Fan, and Song Dandan? These are all actors of Beijing Renyi, all with their own performance styles, but they are all unified on the stage of Beijing Renyi.
The rehearsal scene of "The Player"
Xiakedao: Before you said that Beijing Renyi is the least important to appearance.
Feng Yuanzheng: Yes, so I am fortunate to fall into Renyi, if Renyi did not want me, I guess I may not be an actor a long time ago.
Chickasaw Island: In your understanding, what is the difference between drama and film and television drama?
Feng Yuanzheng: Drama takes time and requires you to be patient. The film is a bit like a play, but it's not as long in time as a play. TV dramas are more like fast food, it needs to be made quickly, served quickly, eaten quickly, and can be full, but the aftertaste may not be so long.
Drama has high requirements for actors, not only to have acting skills, but also to have better cultural accomplishment. It is very difficult to keep reading, keep absorbing, and constantly improve yourself.
I keep giving the example of Wu Gang. When he was in his 50s, because he played Secretary Dakang in "The Name of the People", I said what did he do in the first 30 years? acting! Play each role well. An actor can hold his breath, this is the spirit of craftsmanship. Drama actors must be able to withstand loneliness, endure loneliness.
Chickasaw Island: In your opinion, what self-cultivation should an actor have?
Feng Yuanzheng: The profession of an actor needs to be constantly learned, and you need to constantly break yourself and reshape yourself, because the roles you receive are different. Idols, it is enough to look at "me", do not have to look at others, play everything is "me", are the "me" you like. But I think the actor is a lot of people seeing you, and the first reaction is the name of the character you play. In the past 10 years, fortunately, some people know that my name is Feng Yuanzheng. In the next 10 years, basically seeing me, the first reaction was anjiahe. Of course, I'm also lucky that a character in a TV series can be remembered for 20 years, which is a kind of happiness.
Chickasaw Island: Showbiz has been a phenomenon in recent years. Some actors are not good at acting, but because they are famous, have traffic, or simply look good and have a lot of scenes. What do you think of this phenomenon?
Feng Yuanzheng: I think it is very normal, things develop to a certain extent will always produce bubbles. But everything will have a reincarnation, and so will the showbiz, and sooner or later it will return to the strength faction, because people's aesthetics are improving. There are many excellent films in China, such as Chinese films from the mid-1980s to the mid-90s, when our shooting technology was not so advanced, but at that time, our aesthetics, cognition and attitude of doing things were in a good state, and there was a spirit that supported us. It's not like money is backing it up now.
Art is timeless. Looking back at many old movies, you will feel that it is a work of art, and when you watch it today, you will feel very shocked and like it. Why? There is a spirit behind it.
The first film I made was "Youth Festival", and I stayed in Yunnan for 7 months to make a movie of more than 90 minutes. And now you can make a movie in 30 days, 20 days, what is the quality?
"Youth Festival" (Source: CCTV)
Chickasaw Island: But now the showbiz circle likes to hold small fresh meat, high-value actors, is this a kind of reverse elimination, squeezing out the survival opportunities of those actors who have strength but not much fame?
Feng Yuanzheng: It will definitely squeeze out some of it, but it won't last long.
To be honest, I especially don't like the title of small fresh meat and old bacon, which is actually ironic. The little flowers are still good to listen to, what old bacon, I think it is into the food store. I can only sarcastically say that I am old bacon. But I don't like the title very much, it degrades the profession of actor.
Before many reporters asked me, you spend so much time every year acting in Beijing Renyi, how many opportunities to make money have been delayed? I said that this stage and rehearsal hall of Beijing Renyi is not something that anyone can enter casually. "Tea House" gathers pu Cunxin, Yang Lixin, Wu Gang, He Bing, Liang Guanhua, me, Gong Lijun, Song Dandan, these actors, if a company produces dramas, how can these actors be invited together? Only Beijing Renyi can, because they are the actors of Beijing Renyi. What a happy thing it is for so many good actors to act together, this is not something that money can measure, it is priceless.
From another point of view, the flow is good, the value is good, to this day you will find that the return. A few years ago an actor called me and said, "What to do?" Brother, this is all fresh meat. During that time, he did not receive a play for more than half a year. I said you earned enough money to live for two or three years? He said enough. I said you wait, you haven't spent all this money, the drama will come. Then he started taking over the play and called me. I said how? Don't panic now? He was right, as if he were back. Therefore, the actor has to rely on strength. Wu Gang is now also considered traffic, right? But he is the flow of ability, the flow of acting.
Chickasaw Island: When Teacher Wu was at its hottest, we also asked him to go live on Chickasaw Weibo.
Feng Yuanzheng: So as long as you have the strength, don't worry about market changes, sooner or later it will still be yours.
Beijing People's Art Theatre
Chickasaw Island: You said before that doing art is first doing morality, and doing drama is first being human. In the process of passing on the help of the older generation of actors, are there any specific teachings in terms of artistic virtue?
Feng Yuanzheng: The specific teaching is what is done, including my class teacher, Mr. Lin Liankun.
When I went to school, I had to give in observation life practice the next day, and we forgot about it. I made up a sketch with my classmates and acted very well. The teacher commented that Feng Yuanzheng you are very good. We were very proud and felt that we had deceived the teacher. But the teacher then asked: What is it made of? We were stupid at the time, and we could only say that it was made up. The teacher said: "It is a good editor, but it is not to observe life." Today's sketch does not count, before tomorrow's class, you two first hand in two observation life exercises. So, after class, we went to Beijing Station to observe life. The next day, when the class goes to class, each handing over an observation life exercise is considered to be a pass. Since then, I have felt that I can no longer lie to people in acting, and I can't cheat.
Virtue and art, why is virtue in front and art in the back? First of all, you have to be human. The old artist said that to be an artist is to be a person first, to be innocent and innocent, and to act seriously. It sounds simple, but it's hard to do. There are temptations outside, especially when the market is good, and a lot of drama is waiting for you. But how do you hold on to yourself? Concentration is required.
Xiake Island: In your own case, what is the day's practice schedule?
Feng Yuanzheng: Now sometimes I feel like I'm eating the old bottom, but I also have to practice. If I don't have time to wake up in the morning, I will come home in the evening to simply exercise, do squats, plank supports, handstands, and stay in shape. Like squats, 60-80 groups to do, plate support on 3 minutes like this, handstand is also, ten seconds at a time, do about 6.
When it comes to rehearsals, I set aside enough time for rehearsals every day. Go home at night, if it is a very familiar play, just go through it. If a new play needs to memorize lines, I recite lines every day. Acting in "Du Fu" the year before, I was the director and the main actor, and I didn't have time to memorize my lines. The script is half-written again, so when I got home, I basically started to do my work after 1:00 a.m. Sometimes my lover gets up at two or three o'clock and sees me reciting lines in the bathroom.
Interview scene
Chickasaw Island: You said that whether you can create a character with vitality, especially tests the skills of an actor. Now many actors have no life, no height of thought, and the roles they portray have no vitality. How do you think this can be changed?
Feng Yuanzheng: The most important thing is the school training link. Beijing Renyi recruits new students every year, the most headache is that it can't recruit people, and for two years our theater didn't recruit a single actor. Some fresh graduates, to put it in layman's terms, are unqualified products with graduation certificates. Basic skills are not practiced, lines are not good, singing is out of tune, this is still a candidate from a famous art college.
There is also the problem of booting. Some students do not study after going to school, and as soon as the agency signs, they have to go out to shoot dramas. The teacher said you have to learn. He said I didn't want to learn, and I would say it again when I was famous. Don't you want your diploma anymore? He said I don't want it, it doesn't matter. This problem is serious.
Finally, there is the expansion of enrollment, and art schools are places to cultivate performing arts elites. A year's acting department recruits eighty or ninety people to learn acting, which is a very scary thing. In the past we were 5 teachers with 15 students, what was it like? Now a teacher brings more than 20 students, and the vocal music class can't finish singing once, but it can't be sung for a few minutes.
Chickasaw Island: Shoddy.
Feng Yuanzheng: The bottom is not good, or there is no bottom. When I was a student in Beijing Renyi, I spent two hours a day, one hour in body, one hour in vocal music, practicing my voice, opening my voice, and reciting lines, for two years, but I had to practice this. What is Morning Gong? Morning exercises are basic skills. And then there's culture. The actor fights for culture at the end, which is true. You didn't read enough of those books, you didn't read those scripts, you didn't get to where you are today.
Interview/Unscrupulous, Point Cang
Finishing /mountain autumn
Shooting/Poplar, Anxian
Video Production/Ann First
Source: "Chickasaw Island" WeChat public account