Directed by Xin Shuang and starring Fan Wei, Qin Hao and Chen Minghao, the 12-episode life suspense drama "Long Season" will end tonight (May 1) with a Tencent Video member, with a Douban score of 9.3 so far, becoming the highest-rated suspense drama in the past five years. The story of the play takes place in the northeast industrial town of Birch Forest, from the perspective of Wang Xiang and several other "old people" to pursue the truth of an old case more than ten years ago, and in the process of chasing the murderer, they also look back at their lives and the changing times.
As Wang Xiang did in "The Long Season," Fan Wei said that the older an actor gets, the more he wants to try complex roles. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Wang Xiang, played by Fan Wei, is the core character of the play. As a highly respected train driver, he caught up with the tail of birch steel glory and glory in the first half of his life. However, with the advent of the reform of state-owned enterprises, his son Wang Yang committed suicide in a criminal case, and the second half of his life entered a downward trajectory from autumn to winter. But even if he has been worn away by the years and has become a good-natured elderly taxi driver, he will not miss any clues to trace the truth of his son's suicide.
In the play, Wang Xiang's age spans a lot, from a spirited middle age to a peaceful and still stubborn old age, almost completely changed a person, and behind him is a generation of long northeast history. Fan Wei said in an exclusive interview with the Beijing News that he saw the shadow of his father and brother from the middle-aged Wang Xiang. The elderly Wang Xiang is more difficult to play than the middle-aged Wang Xiang, because his character level is more complex, the appearance seems dull, and the heart is never calm. "Actors, the older you get, the more you want to play a complicated person."
Once Upon a Time in the Northeast: I saw the shadows of my dad and my brother
In "The Long Season", the "broken corpse" from more than ten years ago was scattered around Huagang Steel, and the case was also inextricably linked with the people in Birch Steel, especially affecting Wang Xiang's family. More than ten years later, Birch Steel has ceased to exist, and Birch Steel people are scattered in all corners. Wang Xiang re-investigated the old cases of that year, and many of the people he joined forces with and met constantly during the investigation were old guys of Hua Gang. While pursuing the truth, he also recreates to the audience the silhouette of the birch steel that has disappeared, and the back of an era that has gone far away.
Wang Xiang, played by Fan Wei in "The Long Season", was originally a well-known train driver in the factory, but because of the decline of the factory, he became a taxi driver. The picture is from the show's official micro
Beijing News: How did you get involved with "The Long Season"? It is said that the "original story/screenwriter" of this drama, Teacher Yu Xiaoqian, was originally written according to your Wang Xiang.
Fan Wei: Yes, maybe he (Yu Xiaoqian) thinks (I play Wang Xiang) age, all aspects are more suitable, just focus on that feeling. This play was originally called "Winter Blade", which is another tonality. Later, director Xin Shuang made it very special after getting the script, and he still wanted to find me to play Wang Xiang. Before the script was finalized, he talked to me about the direction of the whole story, including the characters, and the style he wanted to present. As a post-80s generation, I don't know if it was because of sensitivity, paid special attention to the northeast life when he was a child, or did his homework very solidly, and his grasp of that era and drama was too accurate.
Compared with the previous version, the story framework of Wang Xiang's search for the truth of the true murderer in this play has not changed much, but the overall style has changed a lot. For example, now in the golden autumn it tells a sad story in a laughing way, which is a concept that did not exist in the past. Strictly speaking, this play is not just suspense, it uses a suspenseful shell to say a lot of things, all of which are said and integrated particularly well. Such suspense, indeed I have never seen it, is particularly moving. In addition, the role of Wang Xiang is particularly rich. Actors, the older you get, the more you want to play that kind of complex person.
Beijing News: Everyone knows that you are from the northeast and have experienced the era presented in the play. Is there a place that birch steel and the people in birch steel find very familiar?
Fan Wei: As a Northeasterner, I am particularly touched by Wang Xiang's situation, his changes with the times, his mentality, and the ups and downs he faced. In him, I saw a lot of shadows of my dad and my brother. They were working at a state-owned wool textile factory in Shenyang, and my father took over when he retired. My father's generation did have a sense of pride and pride, just like Wang Xiang said in the play: "Where is yellow, even if the birch forest is yellow, we can't be yellow in the birch steel." "Very bottomy. My brother caught up with the "pride" for a while, but I have experienced the ensuing restructuring of state-owned enterprises and their hardships after being laid off.
When I was a child, I lived in a small alley, and although it was not a special dormitory area for family members like Hua Gang, the workers in the factory lived together. Wang Xiang's strength at home, the strength he faces his daughter-in-law and children, is exactly the same as the Northeast masters in our alley. In addition, Wang Xiang was also a train driver, which was equivalent to the big craftsman in the factory at that time. The big craftsmen who live in our alleys all eat small stoves at home, and they have a special sense of superiority, and I can capture their state.
Beijing News: What details were added to Wang Xiang based on his own experience and observations?
Fan Wei: The details were all reminded and collided with each other by me and the director on the spot. For example, Wang Xiang's daughter-in-law wanted to go to the factory hospital to take a film to check her body, and Wang Xiang said: "What kind of film, the hospital is opened by your family, you should quickly take a cucumber for me!" "Such a way of speaking is encountered on the spot, and indeed Northeasterners will talk like this, both humorous and expressive. Including Wang Xiangguan's child, Wang Yang (played by Liu Yitie), wrote a poem, he used to teach people how to write, and the result made him slip away. The son was impatient, and he immediately straightened his face and began to educate. These are the husbands and fathers we see in our lives.
Beijing News: So "snap your fingers, blow a small trumpet, tick and tick", such a joyful "poem" was made up on the spot? (Note: The poem written by Wang Yang in the play: "Snap your fingers, he said.") We snap our fingers with a resonance, distant things will be shattered, and the people in front of us will not know at this time..." The original author is Ban Yu, the "literary planner" of the play)
Fan Wei: Yes, I wrote it with the director on the spot. It turned out that the script was written that Wang Yang snatched the book for writing poetry, and then Wang Xiang told him to get down to business. Later, I felt that there was still room for this paragraph, and after discussing with the director, I tried to make up a small smooth slip, which also reflects the feeling of the father and son of that era. There is a gap in their understanding of literature and art, Wang Xiang believes that poetry should rhyme like a smooth mouth, and young people like Wang Yang think that poetry is not like that at all.
Character development: The elderly Wang Xiang is more difficult to play than the middle-aged stage
"The Long Season" presents two Wang Xiang of different ages - one is the middle-aged Wang Xiang who is still working as a train driver in Huagang Steel, who is spirited, dares to speak out, and has a strong sense of ownership of the factory; The other is that after the birch steel is gone, the elderly Wang Xiang, who drives a taxi, has been smoothed out by life and lives a dull life. According to the setting in the play, the actual age of the elderly Wang Xiang and Fan Wei is closer, but he said that he played the elderly Wang Xiang more apprehensively, because the middle-aged Wang Xiang is something he can see and touch, and the character level of the elderly Wang Xiang is complex and needs to be restructured.
Beijing News: Middle-aged Wang Xiang, elderly Wang Xiang, which Wang Xiang is more difficult to perform?
Fan Wei: I think it is more difficult for the later old Wang Xiang. The middle-aged king in front of me can be seen and touched. As I said before, Wang Xiangte in front is like my father and my brother, they were full of blood and spirit, and then faced the helplessness of being laid off, and the gap in dignity and other aspects, I can find that when I was a child, there were all over the alleys like that.
But the old Wang Xiang is indeed more complicated and thoughtful. He needs to be gentle on the surface, he can't talk as quickly as in the past, and his more exposed personality must also be collected. He himself is also making adjustments, and compared with the middle-aged Wang Xiang, he seems to have changed a person. The actor is actually quite afraid of acting in this seemingly bland play, you have to press yourself to act, but he looks plain on the outside and can't calm down on the inside, which I think is quite difficult to act.
For Fan Wei, although the elderly Wang Xiang is closer to himself in age, his heart is also more complex and difficult to interpret. The picture is from the show's official micro
Beijing News: What makes you think about shaping the elderly Wang Xiang?
Fan Wei: The division of several levels of the elderly Wang Xiang made me bother, and I often discussed with the director. For example, before the "murderer" that Wang Xiang thought had not appeared, in the relationship between him and Gong Biao (played by Qin Hao), he was a brother-in-law and a big brother with high driving skills, and he was above Gong Biao in all aspects and was in a relatively strong state; With the development of the situation, especially after Xiaolu (Gong Biao's adoration object) had an accident, he felt sorry for Xiaolu and Gong Biao, and would intentionally or unintentionally show weakness in front of Gong Biao; When he found that he could not complete the task of "chasing the murderer" on his own, and he had to ask Gong Biao and Ma Desheng (played by Chen Minghao), he was more restrained and weaker, hoping that everyone could help; Later, a lot of changes happened to these two old friends, and Wang Xiang's mentality towards them also changed... There are many layers of the whole character.
Maybe I'm also quite pedantic, the first time I entered the group, I held a small book, and there were a lot of questions in it, all of which I needed to communicate with the director. It can be seen that I was still very apprehensive at that time. Fortunately, Director Xin Shuang told me everything, and then there was no problem. The director is a very meticulous person, and when we encounter a more important scene, we will use WeChat to communicate before shooting, so that we can have a bottom in our hearts when we get to the scene.
Beijing News: The middle-aged Wang Xiang and the elderly Wang Xiang each have a father-son relationship, respectively between his biological son Wang Yang and his adopted son Wang Bei (played by Shi Pengyuan). What do you think of these two father-son relationships?
Fan Wei: Wang Yang is the one he gave birth to, and Wang Bei is the one who "born" him. This may be a bit extreme, but it was Wang Bei who gave him a second life, so his feelings for Wang Bei are very complicated. And he relied on an instinct and an inertia towards his daughter-in-law and biological children. In the general environment of the Northeast era, everyone managed their children like this, and it was wrong for you to make them look like the current father, without majesty and not like a father, it was not like that. But after the accident, Wang Xiang really regretted it. I think his later feelings for Qiaoyun (Wang Xiang's girlfriend, played by Liu Lin) and Wang Bei were all to make up for the regrets he had for his wife and biological son Wang Yang before. It wasn't said in the play, but I acted like that. You think, how strong Wang Xiang was in the past, and how kind Wang Xiang was later.
In the play, Wang Xiang (played by Fan Wei) has feelings for Qiaoyun (played by Liu Lin) more to make up for his past regrets. The picture is from the show's official micro
Creator cooperation: The two Shenyang fellows have created a northeast atmosphere
Wang Xiang, Gong Biao and Ma Desheng (played by Chen Minghao) form an "elderly trio" to track down the truth of the old case more than ten years ago, and the sometimes vivid and humorous, sometimes spicy and mocking Northeast flavor dialogue between them leaves a vivid impression on the audience, and also makes people immediately believe the scene and character relationship of the story. Some viewers even commented that even if they only watched these three old men nagging and scaring each other, they could keep watching. In fact, the director does not require all actors to speak Northeast dialect lines, and Fan Wei and Qin Hao, two Shenyang people, are enough to support the northeastern atmosphere of this drama.
Beijing News: I noticed that you and Qin Hao are both from Shenyang, and the lines in the northeastern dialect were set from the beginning?
Fan Wei: Right. We are both from Shenyang, pure fellow villagers, and we speak the same dialect. The first time we met, we talked a lot about the past, and both of our families had a bit of a past in Shenyang, and it was very cordial to mention it that day. But both of us have been away from Shenyang for a long time, and sometimes we speak Mandarin instead of Shenyang during the shoot. For example, "crash" Shenyang people do not say zhuang, but chuang; "Fell a head," Shenyang people said. Sometimes as soon as he said he bumped, I would remind: "It's Chuang." It's quite interesting to remind each other like this, and naturally there is a language atmosphere.
Beijing News: Will other non-Northeastern actors learn Northeast dialect from the two of you?
Fan Wei: The director thinks that it is of course best to be able to speak Northeastern dialect naturally, if it is not, there is no need to speak Northeastern dialect, but it is awkward, just say the lines naturally. Like Chen Minghao (as Ma Desheng), he is not from the northeast, and his role can also be understood as coming to work in the northeast from abroad. In fact, with the two of us (and Qin Hao) lining here, it seems that this northeast environment is also sufficient.
Beijing News: When you are old, several of your leading actors have used special effects makeup. How does special effects makeup help an actor's performance?
Fan Wei: I think this elderly makeup, including Ma Desheng's, Gong Biao's, including Wang Xiang's, is of great help to the actors. Like Qin Hao's elderly makeup, I just started filming scenes with him when I was young. At that time, Gong Biao was a recent college graduate, assigned to the Birch Steel Factory, a polite young man. The first scene of the old age makeup shoot was more serious. We were both sitting in the cab of the taxi at the same time, and the sun was shining brightly on his face that day. I turned my head and was shocked, that realistic! The real orange peel on his face, the greasy feeling of a big belly, came out at once. The characters have changed over the years.
Wang Xiang's elderly makeup may not be so contrasting with the previous one. But his elderly makeup is particularly distressing at first glance, a bit like the style of our entire play - Wang Xiang is always smiling and kind when he is old, but this face looks particularly desolate, and it feels like several layers of meaning are hidden inside. When I see such a face, I am also very state and feeling.
During the elderly period in "The Long Season", the three leading actors (from left: Qin Hao, Fan Wei, Chen Minghao) all wore old age special effects makeup. The picture is from the show's official micro
Beijing News: What are the regrets about resuming the performance of this drama?
Fan Wei: I plan to watch it all over again after it is all broadcast, but I can't say it yet. But I think it's a pity that it's all in places I didn't expect on the scene, and I came back and thought about it, oh, if only I wanted to act like that. But this drama, director Xin Shuang is a very serious and competitive person, so we basically have no regrets. I remember a big night scene, filming for half the night, he found that Wang Xiang's red sweater was wearing the wrong one (Note: The red sweater that Wang Yang bought for Wang Xiang, he wore it until his old age, and he was reluctant to lose it if it was broken; Later, Wang Bei also bought him an identical new sweater), and finally the whole scene was remade. First of all, the director does not want to leave regrets, and our actors will have fewer regrets, and there is really no regret when I think about it at present.
"Ma Dashuai": There is a spiritual connection with Van Debiao
After the broadcast of "The Long Season", the audience noticed that there were many "Easter eggs" related to "Ma Dashuai" hidden in the play. For example, the restaurant under Wang Xiang and Gong Biao is called "Gui Ying Style Barbecue", and Fan Debiao (played by Fan Wei) in "Ma Dashuai" is called "Gui Ying"; Wang Yang and Shen Mo (played by Li Gengxi) part-time "Victoria International Entertainment Plaza", the place where Fan Debiao served as a bodyguard in "Ma Dashuai" is also called this name. Even the doorman is played by the same actor, and in "The Long Season" he also asked Wang Xiang: "I see you are so familiar, have we met somewhere?" Fan Wei revealed that director Xin Shuang is a "fan", and the details related to "Ma Dashuai" were deliberately designed by him.
The doorman in "The Long Season" is the same actor as in "Ma Dashuai".
Beijing News: Are the details related to "Ma Dashuai" in "The Long Season" improvised on the spot?
Fan Wei: This was deliberately designed by the director. He especially likes to watch "Ma Dashuai" and is a "Biao fan", that is, "Fan De Biao fan". Almost 20 years have passed since "Ma Dashuai", and today's young people still like Van Debiao, which I think is quite interesting. I heard a highly praised comment on the Internet, "Everyone is Van Debiao, but to a different extent". Maybe everyone will find their own small problems, small problems, and small flaws in Van Debiao. Even Wang Xiang will have some points that can correspond to Fan Debiao, although they have nothing to compare. For example, Van Debiao went from the bottom up, from the countryside to the city, carrying his dreams to struggle, to struggle, to find the true meaning of life. Wang Xiang's father was the elder of Huagang and the man who dug the first shovel of soil when the factory was built, and his starting point was high. But his life is going down little by little, from the top down, the lost, the frustrated in life. But in the process of going down, he is actually constantly struggling, constantly struggling, constantly fighting, constantly searching for the truth.
Beijing News: Director Xin Shuang is a "Biao fan", did you know before acting in this drama?
Fan Wei: I didn't know before, but he expressed it to me the first time we met. During our filming, he sometimes wore a cultural shirt with Van Debiao's head to talk to us on the spot.
Beijing News: What was your feeling when you acted in the plays that paid tribute to "Ma Dashuai"?
Fan Wei: Wang Xiang and Fan Debiao are only a little connected in soul and spirit, but the performance must get rid of them. And the director Xin Shuang is very serious in the play, especially clean. I remember once when I said a line during the post-dubbing, he felt a bit like a "medicine box" (Fan Wei's role in the TV series "Liu Laogen"). Then he said: "Teacher Fan Wei, let's rematch this sentence, I listen to this sentence is very like a 'medicine box'." I said, "Okay, I'll rematch." That is to say, although Wang Xiang and Fan Debiao have a spiritual commonality, the director never wants me to act so that the audience has the association of Fan Debiao or "medicine box". He is also a Northeast kid, and he is very sensitive to this play set in the Northeast, and sometimes even if I don't find it, he will find it.
Life Sixty Beats Online Drama: The bigger you get, the more you have to touch new things
The audience's first and deepest impression of Fan Wei was the comedy sketch of the Spring Festival Gala. Later, he starred in film and television dramas, and the characters he created may have a comedy side, but comedy is not their background. Fan Wei believes that good comedy characters are unaware, and he never thinks of amusing the audience when he plays comedy, but is serious about shaping characters. When he first transitioned, directors did worry that his inherent impression of "comedian" would make the audience play, but after several works with serious themes, especially the movie "Nanjing! Nanking! After that, the audience did not laugh or dance, and this hurdle was crossed. Last year, 60-year-old Fan Wei began a new attempt, and the two online dramas "Long Season" and "Meritorious Achievements in the Northeast" have gained a good reputation.
Beijing News: From sketch stage to film and television drama, did the inherent impression of "comedian" cause obstacles?
Fan Wei: When I first made the movie "July of the Car Watcher", director An Zhanjun felt very bottomless. But after a few days of running in, he felt good, and then we won an award for that film. At first, there were indeed troubles, everyone would be worried, but after a few films, extremely serious films were also performed, and the audience did not jump or laugh, and this hurdle passed.
Like the movies I acted in, such as "Aromatic Journey" and "July of the Car Watcher", including "The Problem of Not a Problem", the characters in it have a little humorous element, whether it is black humor or whatever. But like acting in "Nanjing! Nanking! Mr. Tang, you don't have any humor. I think that's the biggest hurdle. If the subject matter is so big and serious, the audience has to have the feeling of jumping the play, it may be broken, and it will ruin me to act in the main drama. But that Kan'er had a very good life, and the people who chose me to act in the drama later did not worry.
The movie "Nanjing! Nanking! For Fan Wei, it is an important hurdle for transformation.
Beijing News: Actually, you haven't worried about this yourself, mainly because of the outside world's worries?
Fan Wei: Yes, I myself was ignorant and fearless at that time, because I did not act in comedy. There may be a comedian who plays comedy, and his mentality is - I am acting in comedy, my purpose is to amuse you, will think of shaking the baggage, will act a little more exaggerated. I think acting is serious, it's a kind of humor, it's a comedy. My most well-known sketches are "Selling Abduction", how serious the character is. Just because he is too serious, serious to the other extreme, he is funny. You can recall that none of the roles I played were "known to be acting in comedy at this moment." I think good comedy is that the comedy character doesn't know it, he doesn't know he's a comedy character. You laughed, and he didn't know why you laughed. Because I have this foundation, if the script gives the characters comedy, it becomes comedy; If I don't give him comedy, I act according to my personality. Maybe that's why this hurdle for mine will be a little smaller.
Beijing News: Last year, you were 60 years old, and you filmed two online dramas in this year, and the reputation was very good. What did you know about online dramas before? What are your new plans for work after the age of 60?
Fan Wei: If I can control it, I want to slow down the pace of work a little, but everything is spontaneous and natural. If you're okay, try to keep working. The greatest joy for people like us is work, and work is the best way to prevent aging.
In fact, I didn't expect that when I was sixty years old, I had two online dramas coming out. I used to make movies and TV series, and I didn't know much about online dramas, but then I suddenly found that the young people around me didn't watch TV very much, and I chased Internet dramas very much. I think that the older I get, the more I have to contact new things, so I tried to watch some online dramas at home and abroad, and the quality is indeed good. After the actor reaches a certain age, the quality of the work is quite real, and when I see that the work made by a director like Xin Shuang is very good, I am willing to try.
Beijing News: At this stage, what kind of script and characters will make you feel bright and particularly impulsive to shape?
Fan Wei: There are still feelings, like the role of Wang Xiang, there are quite feelings, and he is different. The older I get, the more I want to play this kind of more complex person, and I don't want to play the kind of flatter, more monochromatic role. If the role is more overlapping with the previous play, I don't think it makes sense, so old, why suffer from that.
Beijing News: When you're not filming, what kind of hobbies do you have to relax yourself?
Fan Wei: My hobby of relaxing is cooking, cooking and cooking. It's okay to listen to crosstalk, before you go to bed. Because I was tired of looking at my mobile phone, I turned off the lights and listened to crosstalk for a while, half an hour, 40 minutes, and slowly fell asleep. This hobby, the first is that I like it, I like to eat and cook, I like to listen to crosstalk, and I have some expertise in this area. For example, cooking, it is true that the things I make are different from others, they are better than theirs, and it is a little sense of achievement to eat well after cooking. What about crosstalk, I have said crosstalk in the past, who speaks well, who speaks well, who speaks interestingly, I can understand.
The rest of the other hobbies, such as reading, watching movies, etc., are actually related to work, and when I read a book and watch a movie, I feel that I am in a state of work again. When I was reading, something moved me, what concepts inspired me... When I watch a movie, I see that this is well acted, that the director is good, and the story is good, and I immediately enter the work state. In contrast, hobbies such as cooking and listening to crosstalk have nothing to do with themselves, and then they can understand a little, and they have a little specialty to be able to enjoy themselves and relax themselves.
Beijing News reporter Yang Lianjie
Chief Editor Wu Dongni
Proofreader Zhao Lin