Stills from The Age of Awakening
The annual drama of 2021 is "The Age of Awakening". In the theatrical performance "The Great Journey" celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, actors Yu Hewei and Zhang Tong reproduced the wonderful fragments of "The Age of Awakening" in the drama and dance "Breaking Dawn".
Shaping positive characters in revolutionary dramas has always been a challenge for actors. However, the audience's evaluation of Zhang Tong is that although he and Li Dazhao are not completely similar, they are extremely "god-like". "The boy of Yan Zhao's generous and tragic song, he stands in the picture like a tower." Zhang Yongxin, director of "The Age of Awakening", described Li Dazhao, played by Zhang Tong, in this way.
Actors who don't experience the struggle can't play a good role. Zhang Tong was the proud son of Tianzhi in the computer science department of Nankai University, and then went to study alone at the Lyon Theater Academy in France; he was once a member of the group performance at the entrance of the North Film Studio, and he was also the first post-80s to win the Feitian Award for Best Actor. When faced with doubts and falls into a low point, he has nowhere to hide like ordinary people, and after rekindling his hopes and strengthening himself, he is like a Zen person, clearing all attachments.
Loving to think, but also suffering from the pain of philosophical reflection, Zhang Tong accepted that sugar cane does not have two sweets, "but as an actor, it is best not to conflict between thinking and acting." ”
The contemplation and impulsiveness of the polytechnic man
Zhang Tong
Nankai University in the middle of summer, the trees are verdant, and the lotus flowers of Horseshoe Lake are in full bloom. Siyuan Hall, Xiushan Hall, Jialing Academy, a century-old building is silent, witnessing the wandering and epiphany of generations of young students. In 1999, NTU ushered in another new generation. Due to his tall stature, Zhang Tong is particularly conspicuous in the crowd. When everyone was still curious about the new campus, the road from the Muzhai Library to the dormitory had been remembered by Zhang Tong.
"A life without reflection is not worth living." I don't know what day It was, Zhang Tong read this sentence that Socrates said to the young people in the Republic, "At that moment, there was a feeling of being hit, or being named." He said. It's like a lighthouse suddenly lit up on the sea in the dark of night. This sentence pointed out the direction for Zhang Tong's life after that, and summarized and ended his previous doubts.
Zhang Tong was born in a bungalow courtyard in Tianjin's Heping District. The hutongs are narrow, but they are a good place for neighbors to chat. Adults stood at the entrance of the courtyard in hurdle vests smoking cigarettes and playing mahjong, while the elderly sat on the matza and chatted while fanning the grandchildren.
"Since I was a child, I have loved to talk to my father and listen to him talk about a lot of things out there." Zhang Tong said that his father was a person who sought innovation and change, worked as a worker, a driver, a head coach of a driving school, etc., and when he was a truck driver, he often came back for half a month. It was rare to see his father, so Zhang Tong gathered around to chat. "He's not locked in rules and regulations, and he lives a casual life."
The more you listen, the more you think. For example, 6-year-old Zhang Tong asked on his grandfather's sixtieth birthday: "Where do people go after they die?" "I just want to know what the grown-ups think."
Thinking all the way, the study is naturally not bad. In 1999, Zhang Tong was successfully admitted to the Department of Computer Science of Nankai University. Entering university life with excellent grades, as well as his doubts about life.
These doubts eventually fermented into wandering.
"The living environment at university is completely different." Zhang Tong told me that my parents were not around, and that my contacts with classmates from all over the world and a lot of leisure time became a good fermentation ground. Teachers with very different personalities in college classes and their respective philosophies also convey a far-reaching idea: don't accept superficial phenomena.
"At that time, walking on the campus of Nankai, looking at the students who were in a hurry, I would always jump out and ask myself: Is this my life?" What will I look like in the future? Who is going to say that I should live this way? ”
The stones thrown into the horseshoe lake rippled in layers, and Zhang Tong could only watch in a daze. These profound philosophical questions have plunged this freshman into a trance and confusion.
By chance, Zhang Tong attended a lecture entitled "On the Value of Young People's Lives." "Teachers from the historical, contemporary, ideal, realistic, material, spiritual ... The multi-dimensional narrative opened my eyes. The night the lecture ended, he tossed over in bed and pondered for a long time.
The text in "Republic" gave Zhang Tong the greatest faith and support. "I'm going to say 'no' to everything that binds me." He made a bold decision that surprised everyone and even today: drop out of school and study abroad. "There is no reason to stay away from your parents, or even a little farther away from your current living environment."
It was an age of negation for the sake of negation, where to go abroad, how to get money to study abroad, what to study abroad... All doubts were torn apart by the persistence of the teenager. Because it was cut first and played later, Zhang Tong's parents were "powerless to return to heaven" after learning the news, but they actually sold the only house in the family and supported their son to go to France.
"Going to France was decided on an ad hoc basis, and then going to the Lyon Drama Academy was even more wrong, and I never thought about studying acting before." Twenty years later, Zhang Tong spoke of the impulses of the time, with self-deprecating words, but these thoughts disrupted and rewritten his life at that time. A "yin and yang error" cut off the previous troubles and opened up unlimited space for a new life.
"Going to Lyon seems to have a definite number." France is a revolutionary country in its bones, so at the Lyon Theatre Academy, Zhang Tong also learned questioning and criticism. "For example, when creating a character, they will shape it from many aspects, even the flaws, inadequacies and confusion of the character, rather than just creating a glorious positive image. They believe that under the premise of grasping the essence of people, this can make the characters more three-dimensional and full. ”
History is both accidental and inevitable. Zhang Tong, who does not accept superficial phenomena, reflects on and questions life, always walks in his own inertia, even if he "escapes" to France and chooses a major that he has never understood before. The young Zhang Tong did not know how crucial this inertia would play in his future acting career.
Impulse comes at a price, and it soon follows.
Due to the lack of consideration of many factors such as family economic conditions, Zhang Tong studied at the Lyon Drama Academy for two years and had to withdraw from school again to return to China. "I escaped a lot of laps and finally got back to square one." But time has changed, and for his impulses, his parents can only rent a house and squeeze into a house with others.
Back home, the parents didn't complain. The shaved ice made by her mother is still the ingredient of the past, but Zhang Tong can't eat the sweetness. "It is precisely because my parents did not say anything, that kind of silent support and love for my son, which made me feel even more guilty." He said that in the few days when he returned to Tianjin, he felt that he had grown up all at once.
Wei Monk "Bright Sword"
28,000 yuan, Zhang Tong looked at the extra money in the account, did not hesitate at all, and sent it back home. "I am happy in my heart, which shows that I can support myself and feel a little less guilty about my parents." When Zhang Tong talked about the salary given by the "Bright Sword" crew, it was still very relaxed.
It was in 2005, and within three years of his return to China, it was the first official salary.
After returning to China in 2002 and making a short stay in Tianjin, Zhang Tong decided to go to Beijing to seek more opportunities. In Beijing's Daxinghuang Village, Zhang Tong shared a bungalow with a monthly rent of 100 yuan. Settling down, he paid an 800 yuan registration fee and entered a group acting company. Without notice, he squatted in front of the North Film Studio with many extras and waited for the opportunity. It's just that the chances of being caught are too small. Sometimes he would also introduce himself, telling the other party that he had studied at the Lyon Theater Academy in France, but in exchange for no one to believe, some people also replied with a simple and rude "roll" word.
"At that time, there was no gap in my heart, because everything was cleared, and I was at the bottom of the bottom." Perhaps he really grew up, Zhang Tong was particularly aware of his situation.
Stills from Bright Sword
Looking for more opportunities, he began running the crew with his own photos and resumes. One afternoon in December 2004, Zhang Tong knocked on the door of the "Bright Sword" crew. Seeing the tall boy in front of him, the director asked, "Do you want to play a monk?" "I don't want to act!" Playing a monk in the anti-war drama, not fighting but chanting the scriptures is too boring! ”
Fortunately, the director had a good feeling for him and let him read the script before deciding. Zhang Tong was impressed by the role in a relatively quiet seat at his desk, an Internet café. Late at night, he dialed the director's phone: "This role, I will play without money!" ”
After the broadcast of "Bright Sword", Zhang Tong finally saved a lot of audience popularity with the role of "Wei Monk". Although this is only a small person, the courage and cleverness revealed in him have already made "Wei Monk" a classic.
But the "sword" that was revealed was really a double-edged sword - proving Zhang Tong's strength and limiting his play path. After that, Zhang Tong received most of the war dramas and period dramas, although he got rid of the embarrassment of having no drama to act, but the awareness did not increase with it.
After that, he starred in the war drama "Iron Pear Blossom", the revolutionary drama "Wuliu Town", "Chuanxi Bandit Chronicle", "Father and Son Soldiers", etc., all of which are the same style. More unfortunately, when filming a TV series in 2010, Zhang Tong was often reprimanded by the director in front of the others in the crew, and his self-confidence was seriously frustrated, and he suffered from major depression. When his illness was uncontrollable, he wanted to end his life twice.
When faced with doubts again, Zhang Tong, who was 1 meter 83, was beaten down. "Career, ideals, abilities, the cost of family... It was as if everything was a negative answer at that time. Fortunately, love has created a buffer zone for Zhang Tong. His wife, Guan Siting, the girl who was confessed on the way to the bathroom, gave him the strongest support at a critical moment.
After more than three years of hospitalization, medication and psychological treatment, as well as the company of his family, Zhang Tong's condition began to improve. Later, in order to return to the screen, Zhang Tong began to work out and worked hard to diet and lose weight. A good lifestyle opens a virtuous cycle of life. He began to look at himself and life itself positively and objectively.
"When I'm out filming, I often sit alone in my room." A set of travel tea sets is enough to support Zhang Tong's entire spiritual world. "I once tried to escape, but found that escaping to the ends of the earth may not necessarily reconcile with myself. I imagined the whole world questioning me, but in the end I realized that it was just an illusion. Suddenly, one day, in his solitude with himself, Zhang Tong had a deeper understanding of Socrates' words: "Living in your own essence is worth it." ”
Zhang Tong, who understood the "negation of negation", stood up again.
In 2018, at the award ceremony of the 31st Feitian Awards, when the Outstanding Actor Award was announced, the close-up shot given to Zhang Tong directly conveyed the unexpected state of his face. After taking the stage, Zhang Tong said vaguely and modestly: "I did not prepare the award speech, nor did I know that I could win the award." "This trophy is not for me, it is for heroes who died for the Republic!" Indeed, Zhang Tong's excitement had been "squandered" the day before - because he was nominated for the Feitian Award, Zhang Tong sent a long Weibo thank you.
The work that made Zhang Tong win the Outstanding Actor Award was "Desperate Defender Division". In the play, Zhang Tong plays the male protagonist Chen Shuxiang, the commander of the Thirty-fourth Division. "As a general, he would have several people sacrificed in one order. So I showed his soft side in the play, out of reverence for life, anxiety and anxiety in decision-making and deployment. It is also through such an attempt that we can get closer to the essence of Chen Shuxiang's heart. Such a unique interpretation made Zhang Tong the first winner of the Post-80s Feitian Award for Best Actor. You know, at that time, he was competing with him, but Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei and other absolute strength factions.
"Empathy is more important to playing a role than playing a different type of role. The so-called width and narrowness of the drama road are nothing more than their own obsessions. The performance itself is a process of becoming a bad void, and when the actor closes the curtain, it should be cleared to zero. "Zhang Tong told me that during the time he was alone in the hotel, he examined himself and the character's heart countless times." I don't really like adding concepts before a performance, just like I don't like to tag myself. I think it is already precious to perform and live in essence. ”
"At that moment, my husband and I became one."
Zhang Tong played Li Dazhao in "The Age of Awakening".
Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, young Mao Zedong, Cai Hesen, Deng Zhongxia, Chen Yannian... The TV series "The Age of Awakening" recreates the grand background and historical scrolls of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
This drama makes many young viewers can't help but have an illusion: Mr. Li Dazhao, played by Zhang Tong, who has often had large lines in the play, crossed time and space to tell people of that era about people and events of that era.
"When I left Beijing, I read the paper published by my husband on the 31st of this newspaper, entitled 'Study more problems and talk less about doctrine', and some feelings occurred. Some of them may be invented with the propositions of the gentleman, and some of them are our confessions to society. Now write him out one by one, please sir correct!
“...... Some of the above miscellaneous writings are exactly the same as Mr. Wang's opinions, and some are slightly different, which has taken up a lot of space. If you are not in a good position, please give advice. Let's talk about that later. ”
This is the beginning of Mr. Li Dazhao's "Re-discussion on Problems and Doctrines", and the firmness of doctrine and the modesty of personality are hidden between the lines.
At the beginning of the 20th century, when everyone was asleep in the "iron room", a few people woke up first. Just like the dawn of darkness and light, the light of faith that broke through the "iron house" a hundred years ago still shines brightly today. Li Dazhao and Hu Shi are both opinion leaders of the New Culture Movement, and each has very different life experiences. They have their own ideas, and they have their own wanderings. Different people meet different doctrines. The "difference in ways" between the doctrines will cause gentlemen to "not conspire against each other", and will also cast the sympathy of gentlemen... Human nature, in that age of awakening, was the most abundant.
A hundred years later, it will be the most difficult to reconstruct this period of history in a scenario.
The first time I received a call from the crew of "The Age of Awakening", Zhang Tong was also asleep. His head was groggy, and when he heard li Dazhao playing, he subconsciously refused the invitation of the other party. "I was probably saying 'don't want to act'. When you wake up, you think that there is an element of rejection and awe, as well as an element of not being sure about yourself. ”
A few days later, with trepidation, Zhang Tong came to the temporary residence of director Zhang Yongxin in the East Third Ring Road. At that time, director Yongxin had a cold that had not healed, but still insisted on meeting Zhang Tong. "When we meet, we just talk casually. He also asked some questions, but I couldn't answer them—my knowledge of Mr. Li Dazhao was still limited to the school textbook. Until the audition, Zhang Tong still did not make up his mind to play this role, "Mr. Li Dazhao is a groundbreaking figure when the Communist Party of China was founded, so it is too difficult to make this character both in line with history and vivid and vivid." In his body, the homeland, the individual, the ism, the ideal... Too complex and too abstract. ”
"But then I thought, this is a hard bone, I should go and nibble on it." It's because he's so complex that it's more challenging. The hard-working energy in Zhang Tong's bones finally narrowed the distance between him and Li Dazhao.
The Wan'an Cemetery at the foot of Beijing's Xiangshan Mountain is the starting point for Zhang Tong to learn about Li Dazhao. That morning, Zhang Tong walked into the Li Dazhao Martyrs' Cemetery with a flower basket. "Facing me was a white jade statue of Mr. Han, where I stood for a long time after the ceremony." Like carefully opening a single book, Zhang Tong, from the tomb of the martyr couple to the monument, from the inscription written by Comrade Deng Xiaoping to the inscription written by the CPC Central Committee, has read it word by word, and he is eager to engrave it in his heart.
In order to understand Li Dazhao's doctrine, Zhang Tong found a collection of essays and autobiographical references. Li Dazhao was familiar with the Communist Manifesto, and Zhang Tong went to see it; Li Dazhao was familiar with Capital, and Zhang Tong also studied it. "I don't dare to say that I have read it all, but I also try to understand more about its nature." In order to understand Li Dazhao's life, he followed in his footsteps and visited his descendants. "The Age of Awakening" not only shows the transformation and exploration of the character's ideological level in Li Dazhao's character line, but also shows many aspects of his life. Zhang Tong said: "While he has the country and the nation in his heart, he also has love for his family, his wife and children. Such a portrayal can make the character more three-dimensional and full. ”
Zhang Tong tried to put forward his own ideas for the script. In the play, Li Dazhao and his wife Zhao Shulan have several scenes, which were added at the suggestion of Zhang Tong. When Li Dazhao returned from Japan to see a child he had not seen for a long time, he did not express his emotions like a child, but adopted a restrained, distance-keeping approach, waiting, talking; in another scene, he confessed to his lover his political views and ambitions, as well as the dangerous consequences that might be brought about, and the lines were plain and powerful. "To this day, that scene still moves a lot of people. Those words were actually an explanation he gave to his family. ”
Slowly, Zhang Tong approached this giant of thought step by step. The day after the start-up, when hu shi and Li Dazhao were playing the debate between the problem and the doctrine, Zhang Tong's performance surprised everyone.
This is an extremely rare scene in a TV series: in 15 minutes, Li Dazhao alone explains the Marxist view of political economy. During this period, only a few lines from the students, the rest is Zhang Tong's lines of a few thousand words, mixed with political economy proper nouns. Before filming began, director Zhang Yongxin's tone was "understanding": "Don't shoot in one breath, where to break where to come, it's up to you!" As a result, the 15-minute play, Zhang Tong did it in one go. After the shutdown, the director was stunned for a few seconds and said in the monitor: "Let's applaud Teacher Zhang Tong with our whole group of staff!" ”
"This applause is an affirmation for me." But Zhang Tong went on to say that in fact, the scene was not difficult for him: "Mr. Dazhao's communist belief is very firm. Between me and my husband, it is this 'faith' connection. So when I was shooting, I felt that it wasn't me who was saying it, but the gentleman at the time who was saying it. ”
This laid the foundation for the shaping of Li Dazhao in the whole play afterwards. For Zhang Tong, this role is more of a spiritual baptism.
There is a scene in the play that shows Li Dazhao climbing the Great Wall with a freehand lens, symbolizing his continuous groping forward in the revolution. On the day of filming this scene, the crew chose a section of the Wild Great Wall, and everyone carried the equipment and insisted on climbing it. "The wind was very strong, the sun was also dry, the process was very arduous, and everyone thought of the Long March of the Red Army." Zhang Tong recalled, "I climbed to the top of the mountain, looked at the mountains and rivers in the distance, overlooked the green trees and red flowers under my feet, and at that moment of inexplicable emotion surged into my heart: It was with compassion for the toiling masses and great love for the mountains and rivers of the motherland that countless Communist Party members threw their heads and spilled their blood. The drama we are filming is back to the original intention and starting point of the party. ”
Zhang Tong still used to call Li Dazhao "sir": "At that moment, I became one with my husband, and finally knew why he believed in communism so firmly." In that era of awakening, this was the only way to save China. ”