Interview with Leung Ka Fai|The "One Thousand and One" side of "The Thousand-Faced Movie King"

"No one will recognize me walking on the road, no one will be curious about me, but they will recognize my character."

When Leung Ka-fai said the first half of the sentence, there was silence for a few seconds at the interview scene, and the faces of everyone except him were full of shock and doubt visible to the naked eye. It was not until he finished the second half of the sentence that people found that when Leung Ka Fai was mentioned, what came to mind was indeed not his gesture when he accepted flowers and applause, but his similar but completely different faces on the screen.

The Xianfeng Emperor, who looks absurd in "Listening to Politics", but is actually complicated and unspeakable in his heart, made Liang Jiahui firmly grasp the hearts of the audience when he was just starting out and obscure. The transformation of Sven's weak Lo Ka Yew in "Prison Storm" from forbearance to outbreak is also portrayed realistically and meticulously under Leung Ka Fai's interpretation. and Tony, a rich young master in "Lover" who failed to harvest love; Duan Wang Ye, who is simply funny in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: East Becomes West", and wants to become an immortal; The domineering deputy commissioner of the police force in "Chill" Li Wenbin and so on. Each character that changes from time to time is enough for people to remember and fall in love with Leung Ka Fai.

The movie "I Love You!" was released shortly before noon! , Leung Ka-fai also lived up to the praise of the "thousand-faced actor", contributing the most tears to the few scenes. Xie Dingshan, who is old and ordinary but always believes in love, can join hands with his loved ones, even if he reaches the end of his life, it is a new life. As an actor, Leung Ka-fai is content to be able to experience and perceive another person's life in the shortest possible time, but after breaking out of the aura of role and actor, he is just an ordinary person like Xie Dingshan.

Although the helpless parting was sad, it also allowed Leung Ka-fai to see through life earlier, allowing him to embrace precious love and the future with a normal heart, together with his brother's unfinished parting.

"Just by biography, I can publish more than 160 books"

When elephants get old, they go to the woods and go to a secret place to die quietly. That place is called the Elephant Tomb and is the final destination of the elephants.

This one appeared in the movie I Love You! ", the slightly sad and sad story of "Xiangzuka" foreshadows the final ending of Xie Dingshan and his wife in the twilight years of the film. But for Leung Ka-fai, this seemingly "Bad Ending" is actually a tacit "two-way rush". As Xie Dingshan said in the film, death is not the end in their eyes, but rebirth. "Neither of them wants to see the other encounter any hardships and pains in their lives. So they are not making decisions for each other, but their mutual love and tacit understanding make the final choice. ”

Leung Ka-fai, who starred as a special actor this time, did not have too many scenes, but his in-depth understanding and portrayal of Xie Dingshan, a supporting character, was not inferior to any role in the past. In his heart, he had even already imprinted Xie Dingshan's plain but warm life like a horse lantern. met his wife Zhao Huanxin in the factory and gave birth to three lovely children, but after being laid off, due to the low level of education, the income was limited, and the difficulty in raising three children increased little by little, and his wife's illness also came unknowingly...

"These life processes are all I thought about, and it is these little bits and pieces that accumulate into everything you see on the screen about this character now." Leung Ka-fai said with a smile, "It's a pity that I didn't write them down, otherwise I would have made so many movies, and more than 160 books would have been published just by biographies." ”

Perhaps in the eyes of many people, actors only need to play the role they are responsible for and take the step in front of them steadily. But Leung Ka-fai seems to be able to plan the remaining ninety-nine steps while taking the first step. Just like he recommended Ye Tong to play his wife in the film this time. In addition to fitting oneself to the character, so should a partner or opponent. After getting the script and the role, Liang Jiahui quickly sketched Xie Dingshan's appearance in his mind, but for Zhao Huanxin, who was in love with him, the image still seemed to be blank.

When director Han Yan asked him for Zhao Huanxin's opinion on actor selection, Liang Jiahui flashed countless people who had partnered with him in his mind, and finally firmly chose Ye Tong. The two met young people and played husband and wife in "Marriage Don't Talk" very early. Coupled with a slightly similar life experience of "debut is the peak", it is undoubtedly an excellent choice for the two to interpret a period of married life in their later years.

"There are many people who have played my wife in the past movies, and there are many people who have played my lover, but the person who fits the role of Zhao Huanxin in the film, I still want Ye Tong." Leung Ka-fai said bluntly, "And at that time I felt that the director was skeptical, until after the makeup was set, the clothes were put on, and the two of us stood together, the director felt, right." ”

Of course, Leung Ka-fai did not "think" about it, to play the "Chang Wei Jiao" who was completely different from other people's life experiences, but soon he felt that he seemed to be a little greedy, after all, the presentation of the protagonist often requires more effort and effort. However, no matter what, Leung Ka Fai has never stopped exploring the next unknown character, and he is always full of enthusiasm to sculpt his "one thousand and one" side as the "thousand-faced actor".

"I went from being an 'actor' to being the 'actor' I am today."

"She is not 'lazy', she has a higher pursuit, she is different from me." Leung Ka Fai said.

When he heard that Ye Tong, who was not prolific in film and television works, was described as "lazy", Leung Ka-fai immediately refuted. Ye Tong in his eyes has never been a person who is slack about acting, and she has her own standards and ideas for each work and role she takes. But for Leung Ka-fai, who married and had a daughter soon after entering the industry, "actor" was more given the label of "career", and making money to support his family became the meaning of his filming for a long time.

But as he stayed in the industry for more and more time, the meaning of the word "actor" gradually became fuller in Leung Ka Fai's world. If the matter of being an actor is compared to a subject, then in different research stages of life, Leung Ka-fai has different methods and conclusions.

Leung Ka-fai, who stepped into the road of acting by mistake, had an early experience like a dream. As soon as he entered the industry, he won the Best Actor of the Hong Kong Film Awards with the movie "Listening to Politics", and jumped into the clouds overnight. But then he was banned and reduced to relying on stalls to support himself. After all the hardships, he regained his identity as an actor. Leung Ka-fai looks back on his more than 40 years of acting career, and the first half of the decade or so is mostly full of confusion, confusion and hesitation. Did I do what I could today? Should I continue? He was constantly swirling around these questions.

A still from "Listening to Politics"

It was not until his acting career entered the middle and late stages that he gradually realized that the profession of an actor also had a sense of loyalty and mission like a police doctor. "The film is a holistic creation, and everyone in every department is paying for it. If I just enjoy the fruits of success as an actor, it will definitely not work, and I must be loyal to this profession and give more in my position. "So I slowly changed from an 'actor' at the beginning to an 'actor' like today, and the word 'actor' contains the changes and progress I have experienced over the past 40 years." ”

As an actor, every moment you develop a sense of mission and strive to do it, you also gain a wonderful sense of experience in the lives of others. And Leung Ka-fai also clearly knows that the starting point of all this comes from the director's firm choice of him. Now, even if he has the title of actor on his head, even if his acting skills are beyond doubt, Leung Ka Fai is still grateful to every director who gives him the opportunity to perform. "Actors are the director's tools, they let me experience another person's life in the shortest possible time, that kind of real emotion, that other people can't enjoy."

"I create characters on the screen, and no one will recognize them when I walk on the road"

Birth, old age, illness and death are the processes that everyone must go through when they come to the world, just like "I Love You!" Xie Dingshan and Zhao Huanxin, who walked hand in hand, were like that. With the gradual aging and the invasion of illness, it may be difficult for people not to fear death, especially after experiencing the separation from their loved ones, the kind of "resistance" to life and death will invisibly penetrate deep into the marrow of people. But in the conversation with Leung Ka-fai, it can be found that he seems to be a special existence.

Regarding the matter of death, Leung Ka-fai had smelled its "breath" up close when he was a teenager. He was only 16 years old at the time, and he personally experienced the death of his 9-year-old brother. From learning of cancer to finally leaving, Leung Ka-fai was with his brother almost every day, chatting and playing with him, and watching his life pass by bit without any means.

"I watched a 9-year-old child from the most lively stage, to everyone pushing the wheelchair to play, to him lying flat and unable to move, slowly began to experience pain, and finally reached a semi-comatose state, and had to be given strong painkillers..." Speaking of this past, Leung Ka Fai's eyes turned slightly red, "So at that time I knew very well that this was life." ”

But this cruel thing for a 16-year-old boy did not become a shadow in Leung Ka-fai's heart, nor did it make him fear death. In his opinion, no matter how lucky people are, the mileage of life is only more than 20,000 days, and if you worry about this every day, you will be stuck in the countdown forever. Although his brother's departure made him sad, from another level, it also became a "booster" to promote Leung Ka Fai's growth.

"I can become the so-called 'thousand-faced actor' today, which is actually a blessing for my brother, because of him I can see such a thorough life." At this moment, Leung Ka Fai is gentle and firm, "I feel that he has been blessing me in the end, and now I am completing our brothers' lives with him every day." ”

Now 65 years old, Leung Ka-fai insists on his cultivation and sowing on the road of performance, while also approaching the center of the whirlpool of cultural trends. Not only will he watch the short videos that young people love today, but even Jiang Tao, who is known as "Hong Kong's top stream", has also heard of it, and Leung Ka-fai took this opportunity to "complain" a little. "So now I don't want to go out on the street, because it seems that everywhere I go, my fans will block it."

However, when asked if he was chased and surrounded by fans like this when he was young, Leung Ka-fai unexpectedly gave a negative answer. This is not a modest statement, but what he thinks of himself, after fading the shell of actors and actors, is an ordinary ordinary person, even if he walks on the road, no one will recognize him, let alone be curious about him. Leung Ka Fai said that what people expect is always the role he creates on the screen, not the person "Leung Ka Fai" himself.

"If a show like 'Brother Against Troubles' invited you, would you attend?" This was the last question Leung Ka-fai was asked near the end of the interview. He showed interest in this almost without hesitation, and then responded mischievously that if the TV station invited him, I am afraid that he could only arrange a "grandfather who broke through the thorns".

——Written by: Wang Xuening