May 31, 2023 | Total Issue 3252
In the hearts of many people, Mao Xiaotong is the kind of actress who "will get better when you see her". Facing the camera, she is always sweet and excited, like a cheerful deer. But Mao Xiaotong, who has just entered the industry, is dull and does not like to talk, and in her heart, her cheerful personality is opened step by step by the role.
Open Mao Xiaotong's work list, you will find that this is a rather prolific model worker. In 13 years and 38 plays, he has played the concubine of ice and jade, the tsundere princess disease in urban comedy, and also played the pitiful scheming black lotus. After "Thirty Only", she appeared more frequently in the audience's field of vision, and most of the characters still retained the closeness of the girl next door, so that many viewers did not believe that she was 35 years old this year.
Until the hit of "The Legend of Yunxiang", most people finally realized that Mao Xiaotong had indeed changed from a sweet girl to a "sister".
The female characters in "The Legend of Yunxiang" are rich and distinct. A shrewd and atmospheric female guild leader, a ruthless female pavilion master... The picture language and plot design generously outline the different styles of women in the rivers and lakes, and are even evaluated by many audiences as "anti-male condensation" textbooks.
The heroine Shu Yanan (Kou Lianyi), who has a knife in hand and a clear love and hate, is undoubtedly the most impressive existence. This is not the first time that Mao Xiaotong has played the heroine, but it is the first time that the audience can see through the role that is closest to her true appearance.
"Chosen Worker"
When "The Legend of Yunxiang" first started, many viewers could not accept that a heroine walking sideways on the rivers and lakes had a sweet and young face, and as the series ended, most of these people who initially did not accept it were accepted by Mao Xiaotong's acting skills.
When he just received the role invitation of Shu Yanan, Mao Xiaotong was not worried that his temperament was contrary to the heroine, but more happy. She said that this book was found by the crew on its own initiative. "The producer said it felt like I had a tenacity in my bones, and I was very happy that someone could see a different side of me."
This tenacity is directly reflected in the shooting. Shu Yanan has quite heavy fighting scenes in the play, and Mao Xiaotong began to join the group for basic training very early. The fight scenes of this drama are the most enjoyable she has filmed, "When I first entered the industry, I shot a lot of costume dramas, and they all happened to be martial arts genres. Nangong Ling of "Tianya Bright Moon Dao", Guo Fu of "The Condor Heroes", and Zhong Ling of "Dragon Babu" all have martial arts, but it is the first time that martial arts are as outstanding as the male sister. ”
Because of his previous experience in filming, Mao Xiaotong knows how to make the action both beautiful and powerful. "Shu Yanan's weapon is a double knife, there are many close battlefields, a strong sense of strength, fast action, and high difficulty in shooting scenes. I have learned dance since I was a child, my physical coordination is good, and I can learn moves relatively quickly. ”
People who have learned dance shoot costume dramas, and their manners and movements are more eye-catching. But for actors, there are pros and cons to the basics of dance when filming action scenes.
Mao Xiaotong recalls her experience of filming when she first entered the industry, "The most different thing between dance and martial arts is the position of the center of gravity. To practice dancing, you should lift your breath and jump out of a light feeling, but the lower plate of martial arts should be stable, and the force should go down when spinning in circles. Don't make the audience look like you're just moving beautifully, but also be forceful, which is something to overcome. ”
Playing is the most time-consuming scene of costume dramas. Every time the actor is on the scene, he must learn new playing methods according to different situations and different character relationships. The director also has to adjust the shooting according to the set and characters, and a few seconds of play can often take several days. Shu Yanan's rainy night fight scene is a group drama of "one against ten", which lasts less than ten minutes and has been filmed for three big nights.
When it comes to this scene, almost everyone in the crew sighs at Mao Xiaotong's good physique. The overnight "fight" itself is a test of physical strength and endurance, and the rain makes the shooting difficult. "The camera should combine movement to capture the movement of the rain. We dug a puddle on the spot, and the actors were raining in the knee-high water. Because the clothes worn are cotton and linen fabrics, very absorbent, and the sticking to the body is quite heavy, you have to stop and twist the water in the clothes after shooting for a while. ”
At the scene of the viewing meeting, Chen Xiao recalled that night of rain, and the feeling of wetness and cold still made him "palpitate". Mao Xiaotong recalled with a smile, "The colleagues in the crew always felt that I would get sick after filming this rainy night, at least I would have a cold and runny nose, but in fact, I didn't have anything at all. ”
"Maybe it's because my nerves are tight when I work. Although the rainy night is cold, I haven't met such a cool character for a long time, and I was very happy to shoot, and the whole person was very excited. ”
Mao Xiaotong was ridiculed by colleagues for being born hardworking. "I generally don't get sick no matter how tired and bitter I am in the crew, but after the finish, my state relaxes and my body is easy to get uncomfortable. Just like last year, I finally had a week without traveling or filming, and then I was yang. (laughs)
Shu Yanan is "soberly sinking"
Shu Yanan is a rare "sister" heroine in martial arts dramas in recent years who is both intelligent and powerful. She pretended to be an orphan of the Shu family to gain Yunxiang's trust, and her real identity was actually Ling Yuan's eldest lady (Kou Lianyi), ranking first in the comprehensive index of force and brain power.
In the hearts of many audiences, Shu Yanan is a perfect woman who "has both a thousand golden bones and a fleur's heart", and bears most of the coolness of the plot. Especially in the finale, the bloody blade in front of the mother's coffin, and castration to the man who spoke filth, made many fans excited.
"Although everyone is very happy to watch, I feel more pain." Speaking of the ending, Mao Xiaotong's feelings are different. "My younger brother (Kou Yuanjie) did all the evil deeds, and did not hesitate to kill his mother in order to seize power, Kou Lianyi would definitely not let him go, but in the end, the knife was on his brother's neck, and when she heard him shout 'sister', her hands still trembled. Slit his brother's throat may be the most relieved moment in the whole drama, and it is also the most painful moment for Kou Lianyi. ”
Mao Xiaotong felt that Kou Lianyi's background was more bitter and more forgiving than Shu Yanan's background.
"Shuya's masculine personality is very outgoing, and I'll grab your neck collar if I'm not happy." But after she returned to Kou Lianyi's identity, responsibility and family mission were pressed on her shoulders, and in the last few episodes she stayed by Nangong Fang's side, which was actually very helpless and very aggrieved, but the plot did not over-exaggerate her entanglement and pain. ”
Shu Yanan's love is as forgiving and reserved as herself, and even breaking up with Yunxiang is speechless, closing the door and each "tearing a thousand lines". Many viewers feel that the emotional model of Shu Yanan and Yunxiang is very rare, and it is a pure love bred in two-way deception.
Shu Yanan and Yunxiang reunited by the river, and Mao Xiaotong couldn't walk out for a long time after filming. The lovers who had been away for a long time reunited by the river, Yun Xiang asked Ya Nan why she was still wearing the hairpin he gave her, and Yanan covered Yun Xiang's eyes at once after listening to it. "I added this gesture of covering my eyes temporarily," Mao said.
Yanan was very reluctant in his heart, but he had to show that the two would be enemies in the future. Before Yun Xiang said this, her heart had turned upside down, and covering her eyes was a very 'conditioned reflex' reaction, because she felt that she was about to be seen through by Yun Xiang. ”
In Mao Xiaotong's heart, Shu Yanan realized that his heart for Yunxiang was the scene of "confronting Tang Xiao in the inn". "Shu Yanan's heart is Mu Qiang, and she will have a good impression because of Yunxiang's superior wisdom. But the first time she realized this strange feeling in her heart was after she was rescued by Yun Xiang at the inn. Yun Xiang didn't know martial arts, and he rushed ahead of her desperately. ”
"So when Shu Yanan resumed this 'battle' later, he saw that Yun Xiang was very fierce to him. She knew she shouldn't fall in love with opponents with different positions, but she 'soberly sinks'. ”
The sobriety and strength displayed by the characters is only the tip of the iceberg, and the negative and complex emotions behind them need to be understood and digested by the actors. Mao Xiaotong was mostly impressed by her and Chen Xiao's rivalry scenes, both of whom liked their roles, and there were many improvised small designs on the scene, which added a lot of interest to this restrained love.
Mao Xiaotong said that Yun Xiang's classic "hug" and "poke" actions of Yanan were added by Chen Xiao himself, and were not in the script.
I want to "play enough" roles
"As long as Shu Yanan speaks, you don't need to read subtitles." Chen Xiao bluntly said in the live broadcast that Xiaotong is the "king of speech" of the crew, and "spit" she whispered to others on the spot, and she could hear it clearly through the screen.
Mao Xiaotong was a little confused by everyone's praise of the lines, which in her eyes are just the most basic compulsory course for actors. "After I worked, I didn't deliberately practice my lines, it was all a foundation laid by going to school. When I was in school, I practiced my breath every morning in front of a tree or wall. Maybe because my habit of speaking lines can continue into my life, how to say words in acting, how to talk in normal times. ”
"Experiencing a very different life is the most fascinating charm of the show. Mao Xiaotong feels that he is more easily attracted by stories with rich backgrounds, "It's like I've filmed so many martial arts, because martial arts is more about fate, about the world, not only love." ”
Before taking over "Thirty Only", there was also a fairy tale drama that found her, but Mao Xiaotong finally chose "Thirty Only". "Zhong Xiaoqin is the sweetest of the three women, but the marital difficulties and workplace difficulties she encountered are all things I want to express and resonate with the audience."
Performance is a two-way emotional flow between actors and characters, and Mao Xiaotong wants to break the genre, but does not want to tear off the "sweet" label. The character traits of "Little Sun" are now part of her own personality.
"The character still has to be a little farther away from himself." Mao Xiaotong thought seriously and said. "Far away, enough to act, you have more room to shape, and you enjoy the process of creating characters and yourself."
【Text/Kwai Chung】