Do not deliberately fight for anything, "do your own things steadily, do things that match your ability", when the ability is strong enough, what you want will naturally come and come naturally.
Author|Liang Lu\Editor|Lone Pigeon
It's time
2023 is the 10th year of Zhang Xincheng's debut, some things have changed a lot, such as works and fame, while some places are still the same, such as complete trust in people.
If life is a long-shot movie, Zhang Xincheng's image seems to be like this: all the hard pursuit of ideals exists in the depths of the road that time travels; All the emotion is hidden behind the silent and gentle eyes.
10 years ago, he came into contact with the entertainment industry because he played a role in the youth campus public welfare movie "School Bus", and the following year he was admitted to the undergraduate class of musical theater performance of the Musical Theater Department of the Central Academy of Drama with high scores, and moved towards the road of professional actors. Now, he is the best of the new generation of actors, moving through the lives of more and more characters and impressing the audience.
■ Stills from the movie "School Bus"
He teased Yu Zhouzhou on the playground of Zhenhua Middle School, was with his fellow villagers in the compound of the county party committee, and struggled to beat the ball out on the ice rink; He experienced the day he became a woman, and also wore ancient costumes to show his youthfulness in the rivers and lakes... These lives are like a circle, and their overlapping parts become a point, a dot connection, and a path he has walked.
Now, he is on a new point, looking at himself 10 years ago.
His real theatrical film "So Many Years" will be released on April 28. This is a complex and realistic enough life situation movie, Zhang Xincheng wants to express a person's dissatisfaction and expectations. "It's a relatively energetic drama, I think love is not the main thing, the most important thing is a person's growth, and the span of 10 years."
A reporter who interviewed Zhang Xincheng saw his stubbornness, "How do you know I can't?" In his account of the blogger, Zhang Xincheng said he felt "it was time." In the past, everyone always said that he was Xiao Xianrou, and the movies he found were all books of love and idols, and he has been waiting for a suitable role. "So Many Years" is coming, and it's time.
■ Poster for the movie "So Many Years", released on 4.28
Zhang Xincheng has strong management ability for "Zhang Xincheng". At each node, he knows what he needs. After the goal is anchored, he will do his best. He even counted down his life at the age of 25 – if he had 80 years of life, he counted himself to have 55 years, 20,075 days, every day counts.
This management of himself has been engraved in his behavior habits since he was a child, and half of it may come from his parents' educational concept of hoping for his son to become a dragon. When he was a child, he left his parents alone and entered the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy with excellent grades. Other children will be sad, but he won't, and he has earned a breath of air coming out of the harsh environment of the past.
The child's playful nature, coupled with his good grades, began to skip school. The teacher called the parents to Beijing. His father took him to the gate of the Beijing Film Academy and asked him to look at the students passing by, saying that each of them was more handsome than him, and the conditions were much better, "What are you?" ”
So the time to play was exchanged for learning English, practicing the piano, the air full of pressure was like a tightened rope, and the traces of self-control remained on his body for a long time. He doesn't allow himself to be wrong and wants to be as perfect as possible.
When he starred in the movie "School Bus", he was 18 years old, because he was not confident enough, the performance could not be let go at all, and people scolded him in a hurry, "I can't carry a school bag well." In those bad days, Zhang Xincheng took good care of "Zhang Xincheng", and after being hit, he quickly comforted him that there are two sides to the coin, and things have to look on the good side.
At the age of 22, "Hello, Old Times" went online and became popular in the north and south. Lin Yang on a bicycle, surrounded by the midsummer wind, the sun peeked through the shade of the trees and stroked his hair. Zhang Xincheng has become a clean and sunny school grass in the hearts of boys and girls on campus, and more people reminisce about their youth from him. No one said he couldn't even carry his bag well.
■ "Hello, Old Times" as Lin Yang
"What have you gained and lost in these 10 years?"
He reacted for a while and said very calmly, "Attention, some money, some respect." What was lost? Lost freedom, lost time. The joy between setting and achieving a clear goal is lost. ”
In the past, when I set a goal, I saved money to achieve it, but the actor is always that this thing is not over, and the next thing follows, "There will always be endless things to deal with, and everything you do is responsible for yourself." "This industry is not a place for absolute order, it needs to be put in, run and flow with it, and sometimes time is eaten up.
When he first became an actor, the happiest thing for him was to be able to go to a strange environment, wander around, like a vacation, and meet a lot of friends. But now he has a lot to accomplish and think about how to present the character well.
Zhang Xincheng has never hidden his anxiety, and he frankly told everyone that he is a "work-only" actor, who cares about the script and whether he has "inventory" in this year. He never relaxes his management of himself.
For him, "it's time" is the time to enter the life of another character.
"Entertain the living
In the impression of the outside world, Zhang Xincheng is a sunny and cheerful big boy full of energy, and the reporters who have interviewed him have a common feeling that Zhang Xincheng is a very nice person. When describing him, the words that appear most often are "rich" and "live" - rich inner world and "inner entertainment living person".
On Weibo, Zhang Xincheng is very active, he fits, camps, participates in poetry reading activities, and does not set "only half a year visible". He marks the moments one by one, and the wonderful thoughts that come out after drinking or acting, such as: watching "Arrival" alone in the middle of the night; When I went to Qingdao to film, I returned to the campus when I filmed Lin Yang...
At the beginning of 2017, Zhang Xincheng made a special plan, he decided to say a "crazy thing" every night to record the process of his attitude change in life. Talking about the plan again, he said embarrassedly, it was a bit stupid in retrospect. But from the onlooker, these crazy words are actually an attitude of his view of the world, a rich universe he has built for himself.
He hid himself behind scenes composed of words, as he wrote, "Always tell yourself that at least one moment is mine." ”
He once wrote a mini-novel:
The moment he closed the newspaper, he fell silent under the dim bedside lamp, as if thinking about something. Russia, after a relaxed sigh, the originally locked brows also stretched, accompanied by even a trace of contemptuous micro-expression, took a cup of semi-hot green tea, he took a sip gently, sighed, slowly glanced sideways at his wife who wore gold wire-rimmed glasses and calculated the family accounts: "I saw this just now, the young man graduated from high school and his friends started farming with tens of millions a year, hehe, I think when I first worked, my friends begged me every day, let me go with him to engage in this breeding, At that time, I couldn't look at wow, you said I was going out at that time, how many billions of assets have been there now? "Recalling the events of that year, his face was still full of pride, like a top rich man."
"But you didn't." The wife said.
In a simple and delicate scene, Zhang Xincheng observes a phenomenon from the perspective of a critic: people scoff at too many things, thinking that if they did it then, it must be a different encounter now, but the point is that you didn't do that, and if you went back then, maybe you still wouldn't do it. He accurately sketches a narcissistic and somewhat proud husband, a wife who seems to have long been accustomed to her husband's virtue, and the continuity between each movement of the characters is smooth and natural.
He likes to take pictures, but he doesn't like to evaluate pictures with good or bad looks. He is good at capturing scenes, and he hopes that the person who sees the picture can read a story from it, which is the best.
One Spring Festival, he shared a photo of his grandmother smoking. In the picture, the grandmother leans on a steel pipe, her hair is neatly combed, the corners of her eyes are deeply wrinkled, and she is bringing a cigarette to her mouth, not knowing what she is thinking. The city, the wrinkles, the smoke, these elements flow in a photograph, like a poem. When talking about this photo, Zhang Xincheng said that her grandmother was a very strong woman and sometimes a little rebellious. This verve is captured by the photo.
■ Zhang Xincheng shared his grandmother's photo on Weibo
In 2020, on his 25th birthday, Zhang Xincheng wrote a sentence: "Loving the world is equal to loving yourself." In the past, he felt that the world had many rules and rules, and he would be particularly cautious and careful to follow the rules, but later found that when he embraced the world, he could actually get the love of the world, "If you close yourself there, it will be easy to melt in." ”
He has always maintained a high degree of perception of the outside world, and the softness of his heart drives him to get along with the world. On Weibo, everyone affectionately calls him "Entertainment Industry Publicity Committee" because he always haunts the Weibo of many actors and helps them forward their work Weibo. He admits that he is a good gentleman in life and willing to help his friends without hesitation. And he himself, only when he has a last resort, will go to his friends for help. He explained in a somewhat boyish tone, "good face."
The sensitivity to other people's emotions was also hidden by Zhang Xincheng in the performance. The audience gave Zhang Xincheng an adjective of "this Zhang acting fried" to show his recognition of his acting skills. For example, when starring in "The Day It Became You", Zhang Xincheng wanted to exchange souls with actress Liang Jie and shape the role, he first asked "how this person will feel in this place, how will she do it at this time", and then according to the information obtained, he went to play. The show became popular after it was launched and became a dark horse in the drama market.
"The Day It Became You" as Jiang Yi
Because he can exchange positions, he can perceive the emotions of others, and can also feel the character and psychology of the character, and Zhang Xincheng, the "good gentleman" in life, has achieved the "good actor" Zhang Xincheng in the play, allowing him to walk step by step on the road of acting.
Have stamina
In the past 10 years, with youth works such as "Hello, Old Time", "Da Song Youth History" and "Rock Sugar Stewed Sydney", Zhang Xincheng was well known to the public, and then the labels of "small fresh meat" and "idol" were also attached to him. He didn't want everyone to define him like this, and then took on different styles of plays such as "Radiance" and "Cloister Pavilion", but everyone said, why does this actor accept all the plays?
He knows all these different voices, and when talking about anxiety, he said that he was thinking about it during the epidemic. At first, I took on different types of plays, I wanted to break the definition, but in retrospect, I was a little hesitant, "Is this decision a little problematic?" ”
■ "Radiance" stills
"(Young) that may also be my temperament", there is no need to compete with yourself, there is no need to deny yourself, you have to shape yourself into something because of what you want to become. After being surrounded by heavy voices and struggling for a while, he heard the echo in his heart, "What age to do what age, don't rush to cross." ”
Before, because the positioning was not clear, "I want to shoot this, I want to shoot that, this also has to be a little edge, that is also a little edge", now he knows what he wants, so he is not affected by external sounds.
He talked about the first two days, when he went to the airport to do the check-in, there was a big brother next to him, and the other party shouted very loudly, "That guy", and later changed his words, "That little actor, Internet celebrity". When he heard it, his heart did not wave, so let them go. He feels that people always have to go through a process, and the important thing is that "I am who I am, I just do my own thing".
For actors, what matters is the passion for the performance, the passion for the work, and the enthusiasm often comes from curiosity, a desire to achieve. Zhang Xincheng's criterion for choosing a play is "having stamina", and it is precisely this transformation of enthusiasm.
"It's something you can't forget, something you want to achieve but don't achieve, and something you want to be dissatisfied with." Or something you've experienced, but haven't experienced enough. If these factors are present, they will give you stamina. He explains, "It's the same with learning, I think this thing has stamina, and I keep thinking about it." ”
■ "Rock Sugar Stewed Sydney" as Li Yubing
What is stamina? "It's either something beautiful to the extreme, or something that's destroyed to the extreme." In the case of food, real foodies will always favor foods with less cooking process and extremely fresh taste, and their rich taste and final aftertaste are more attractive. "Just like I like to eat sweet, it satisfies you quickly, it's easier to get people on top, but I think things that have stamina will scratch you." Zhang Xincheng said.
Just like the feeling of filming the TV series "The Cloister Pavilion", late at night on the day of the finale, he posted a Weibo, with only one sentence: "The favor of Dionysus." For him, Dionysus is a very sensual god of drama, representing a sensual creativity, and this drama has changed Zhang Xincheng from an originally rational person to a more emotional person.
In the past, he was always cautious in the face of some things, and his brain automatically popped up "NO!" ", block yourself in advance. But The Cloister Pavilion changed him. He cooperated with actors such as Deng Jiajia, and there were many rich attempts on the scene, and in the collision with each other, the content of whimsy came out. A rational person sees a new direction and feels a new power.
■ Cheng Cheng in "Cloister Pavilion"
In addition, Lin Yang in "Hello, Old Time" and Li Yubing in "Rock Sugar Stewed Sydney" are all "stamina" characters, pushing Zhang Xincheng forward little by little, full of exploration of the performance, to meet more scenery.
And life will also give a response to those who work hard. One day in 2022, on the way to filming "Dark Fire", Zhang Xincheng received a video call from Hou Hongliang, chairman of Noon Sun, and director Kong Sheng, who invited him to star in Lin Zhiwei in the company's new drama "County Party Committee Compound". As the golden signboard of domestic dramas, the actors selected by the noon sun are to some extent an affirmation of acting skills. This drama also gathers Hu Ge, Wu Yue, Huang Lei, Li Guangjie and many other powerful actors, Zhang Xincheng is the young face in it.
Just entered the crew, Zhang Xincheng is not easy - he is acting in idol dramas in the definition of the outside world, which seems to be incompatible with here. But soon this pressure was dissipated, and the actors in the same crew helped him. Actor Wu Yue played more with him, and one day after filming, Wu Yue said, "Xincheng, I think why are you so relaxed in acting?" He said in amazement, "Teacher, I feel that you are also very relaxed." Wu Yue said, I was nervous to death.
So it was, Zhang Xincheng said to himself, since Teacher Wu Yue is so nervous, then it's not normal for me to be nervous, since everyone is equally nervous, then don't have too many worries. After this time, he completely let go of the performance.
■ played Lin Zhiwei in "County Party Committee Compound"
In fact, since his debut, Zhang Xincheng has given people the feeling of being natural and steady, he has the vitality of a young man, his image in the play is always very vivid, and at the same time he has a maturity that can grasp the proportions and be just right.
This kind of relaxation is the talent of the actor and the result of cultivation.
Success will come when conditions are ripe.
"Have you ever seen a Jim Carrey movie called Yes Man?" Zhang Xincheng asked the author. If you want to make a solo movie for Zhang Xincheng, he thinks it's this genre.
In "Yes Man", the protagonist Carl's family is broken, his promotion is hopeless, he does not like to socialize with others, and his life is a failure. At the suggestion of a friend, he came to an institution called "Mr. Good", and under the guidance of his mentor, he began to say "yes" to life, and his life ushered in a huge change. But there is a sobering ending to the story, which is that others cannot tell whether Carl's "good" is true or false.
And in this movie with Zhang Xin as the protagonist, the initial setting of the protagonist is not to refuse anyone, but after finally experiencing a series of events, his attitude and life have changed... The story was filmed like this, and he thought it was quite interesting.
The character biography is Zhang Xincheng himself, and the knot is that he must always pay attention to his identity and consider the feelings of others, and the key event is several blows. "It made me deeply aware of the consequences of presumptuousness." Zhang Xincheng said.
■ The movie "So Many Years", released on 4.28
Every good gentleman always seems to forget himself. Zhang Xincheng has a habit, he will analyze people's motivation to do things, care about the emotions of everyone around him, as long as whoever is depressed, he always thinks about taking care of that person. Aren't you tired? How is it possible, caring about other people's emotions above their own emotions is actually quite tiring, this is a problem, "Sometimes, I can't accurately express what I want, or say I don't want anything, because I will consider other people's emotions." Zhang Xincheng said.
What about your emotions? He still hasn't found a solution, "my emotions are exhausted." He sometimes wonders how he can live so tired. But soon, that sentiment disappeared.
When he was a child, because he loved to watch TV, he always did his homework very late, he was often criticized by his parents, and he was forced to practice dance by his mother. Later, he went to the Affiliated Middle School of the Beijing Dance Academy, thinking that he could get out of his family environment, but when his parents came to Beijing, he had to enter a high-pressure learning environment again. He gradually became out of place, and as a result, he was also subjected to cold violence by his classmates... Life is not going well, and the scars of growing up seem to remain in his body.
But Zhang Xincheng has always been a person with a gentle attitude towards the world, and to say that his biggest "rebellion" is to trust others unconditionally and regardless of gain or loss. In his words, he is a man who loves to be all in in life. Even if he had experienced a lesson and reminded himself to be more cautious in the future, but at that time, he was still him.
In the end, everyone is unique in this world, and the formation of a character is fate and luck.
■ Played Pei Zhi in "Basic Law of Genius"
Sometimes, Zhang Xincheng also envies "genius", in his opinion, the best state of a person is to live this life very luckily when he does not know anything, and inadvertently, he has done what others have planned to do.
But most people need to work hard to achieve their expectations. Life is a process of continuous growth and enrichment, and as an actor, it is unique that you can experience more types of life through characters.
This is also the reason why Zhang Xincheng likes filming, "I 'live' for a long time, because I 'live' the lives of dozens of people and learn more." ”
He feels that life is not about the time he sets aside outside of work, but about knowing what he wants to do and then approaching it, consciously and unintentionally. From childhood he was a natural person, "I don't say I have to finish something, when I have to finish it, I just tell myself in my heart that I may want to complete this thing, and then I don't care about it, put it there, I believe that fate and attraction will always push me up to that thing." ”
This attitude was also brought to his acting career by Zhang Xincheng. He didn't think about fighting for anything. "I do my own thing steadily, do things that match my ability." Don't cross the ability to do things that you can't reach. He is convinced that when the ability is strong enough, what he wants will come naturally and come naturally.
Before that, he had to prepare himself so that everything would flow like water.