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Curator A
Editor|Gonzo Curator A
preface
When it comes to the name Chen Hongmei, the younger generation may not be familiar with her, but the older generation should be familiar with her.
In the 80s and 90s of the last century, Chen Hongmei was known as the "head of Hua Dan" of Shanghai Film Studio and was a very representative new star of that era.
She has starred in many excellent movies, such as "Desert Camel Bell", "Female College Student Dormitory", "Foreigner" and so on, her serious attitude and extraordinary temperament left a deep impression on the audience.
When her career was booming, she married a high-ranking child outside the circle, and some people questioned her at that time, will an actor be happy to marry a high-ranking child?
Dedicated old drama bones
As an actress, in terms of filming, Chen Hongmei's dictionary has never had the words "perfunctory" and "improvisation".
When she was still attending a training class at the studio, the director of the film "Desert Camel Bell" named Chen Hongmei to participate in the starring role.
Chen Hongmei, who has not officially stepped into the film industry, was excited, and when she learned that the crew was going to Xinjiang to film, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night like a primary school student about to go on a spring outing.
But filming is not about traveling for fun, and Chen Hongmei's first drama gave her a dismount.
The crew took a train for three days and four nights before they arrived at the locations of Shanshan, Xinjiang and Turpan, and as soon as she got off the train, she was shocked by the style of the northwest.
In front of you is the endless desert Gobi, there is not the slightest bit of greenery, the sun is scorching every inch of skin, the wind and sand are rising, not to mention that in those days, the conditions were very difficult.
Chen Hongmei plays the geologist Liang Ying in the film, starring Jiao Huang, Wang Hui, Pan Hong and others, even if she is among these popular actors, Chen Hongmei's heart is still half cold when she first arrived in the northwest.
However, Chen Hongmei is not a purdah lady who can't bear the slightest suffering, although the filming work is very different from her imagination, but as an actress, she does not slack.
At noon, when the sky was against the big sun, when there was a slight mistake or the effect was not satisfactory when shooting the clip, the director asked for a reshoot, no matter how many times it was repeated, Chen Hongmei never complained.
When eating, Xinjiang mainly eats naan and mutton, and the crew had to go to the countryside to follow the customs, but Chen Hongmei and Pan Hong couldn't stand the slightest smell of mutton, so they had to eat porridge and green vegetables, and then eat some naan pads to pad their stomachs.
The filming was extremely physical and exerting to the actors, and the dietary intake was unbalanced, and Chen Hongmei was so hungry and dizzy during the filming process that she almost fainted on the spot.
Until the August 1st Army Day, the crew went to the nearby garrison base to express condolences and celebrate the festival, and the comrades of the People's Liberation Army sent some pork to the crew as a gift in return.
Chen Hongmei and Pan Hong, who had not tasted meat for several months, were so happy when they learned about it, the crew chef specially packed more than a dozen buns for them to eat.
Chen Hongmei was really hungry, steamed hot buns were served on the table, Chen Hongmei grabbed six large buns and swallowed them in her mouth regardless of the heat, holding up unbearably for two or three days.
But for Chen Hongmei, this may be the most delicious bun she has ever eaten in her life.
"Desert Camel Bell" was finally completed, and Chen Hongmei, who returned to Shanghai, saw her role appear on the big screen, lifelike, and she suddenly felt that the hard days were not in vain.
After this bitter shooting experience, Chen Hongmei's understanding of the profession of actor has become more profound.
An excellent actor is not a sightseeing game, behind the glamorous image on the screen, is the hard work and sweat that ordinary people can't see.
A point of hard work, a point of harvest, with this mentality, Chen Hongmei officially stepped into the film industry and learned all the way humbly, she constantly polished herself in one work after another, becoming a new star of that era.
Chen Hongmei is extremely serious and responsible for her role, striving for authenticity, and during the filming of "Shanghai Morning", Chen Hongmei's character was kicked down the stairs and rolled down the stairs.
The director asked for a stand-in, Chen Hongmei resolutely refused, and the director could not persuade him to pad a few layers of cotton wool in the stairwell, but after filming, Chen Hongmei's body was still blue and purple.
Such diligence and pragmatism, hard work and grievances, has forged Chen Hongmei's sonorous drama, and her quality is also closely related to her origin.
The dream of an actor for the children of workers and peasants
Many people can't tell Chen Hongmei and Zhang Zhihua apart, thinking that they are too similar, and it is easy to get confused when they are young, and some even think that the two of them are the same person.
The difference between the two can be seen from the eyebrows, nose tip, and chin, especially now that they are older.
In fact, if you look closely, you can see that the two are very different, in terms of laughter, Zhang Zhihua is more subtle and elegant, and Chen Hongmei is brighter and brighter, which is related to her growth experience.
Born in 1957 in Shanghai, China, to an ordinary worker family, Chen Hongmei was a "little pistachio" in the mouths of relatives and neighbors since she was a child, because her smile was particularly contagious.
When she was a child, her favorite thing was to watch movies with her parents after work, no one in her family was from an artistic background, but everyone loved to watch movies, and Chen Hongmei also yearned for actors on the screen.
In particular, her smile is bright and atmospheric, and her facial features are Peugeot, these innate conditions also make the family feel that this child has the potential to become an actor.
When she was studying at Shanghai Xinhu Middle School, she secretly prepared for her future dream, joining the school's radio station as an announcer, deliberately practicing her Mandarin.
At the age of 17, Chen Hongmei has become a personable, dignified and atmospheric woman, with femininity and heroism between her eyebrows, but she has not found the opportunity to enter the circle, and she feels that her dream is still far away.
Suddenly, one day, when Chen Hongmei was having a meeting in the school auditorium, the head teacher quietly called her to the office, and without telling the reason, Chen Hongmei went to the office in confusion.
Two strange women sat in the office, looking beautiful, and they handed Chen Hongmei an article to read aloud.
Suddenly called over to read the article, Chen Hongmei was even more puzzled, but also embarrassed to refuse, she read the article with a pleasant voice, Mandarin words are round, and the two strange women nodded in approval.
A few days later, the head teacher called Chen Hongmei to the office again and told her the good news: Chen Hongmei passed the initial test of the actor training class of the Shanghai Film Studio!
It turned out that the Shanghai Film Studio resumed filming and urgently needed to expand the cast team, so it was preparing to recruit a group of new students from factories, schools, and rural areas, and the two strange women were movie stars Wang Danfeng and Zhu Manfang.
Chen Hongmei was very happy to learn that she was selected, and went to participate in the re-examination two days later, but she did not see the admission notice.
Chen Hongmei was about to graduate from high school, and when the young people wanted to go to the mountains and countryside, Chen Hongmei felt that it was hopeless to become an actress, and wanted to stay in the city, so she had to apply for the flight attendant.
She was born with superior conditions, stood out among the female students, and was quickly notified by the airline to be admitted, but on the day of admission, Chen Hongmei changed her mind and politely declined.
It turned out that she thought twice about it, and still didn't want to give up her long-held dream, and she wanted to enter the Shanghai Film Studio to become an actor.
However, the news of Shanghai Film Studio was delayed, and the airline was politely rejected by herself, and Chen Hongmei had to go to Shanghai Fengxian Farm after graduation.
Chen Hongmei had just arrived at Fengxian Farm for a few months, and the admission notice from Shanghai Film Studio was sent, and the news that Chen Hongmei was going to be transferred back to the city also spread in the farm for a while.
The old workers on the farm are very unbalanced, why did Chen Hongmei return to the city just a few months after coming? Gradually, colleagues began to be jealous of Chen Hongmei.
Chen Hongmei then felt strange, why didn't everyone talk to herself? Late one night she heard crying from the dormitory next door, and she knew it was an old colleague crying, and she understood everything in an instant.
Instead of hating them for squeezing herself, Chen Hongmei sympathized with those old colleagues, listening to the faint crying, and her heart was very unpleasant.
Until she left the farm, no colleague came to see her off or a car, so she had to walk on foot with her luggage, but she encountered a large truck on the way, and the kind driver drove her back to Shanghai.
She kept thinking about the driver's kindness, until Chen Hongmei wanted to go to the driver after she became famous, but she never got news.
Years later, Chen Hongmei graduated from the training course and officially became an actress, this year Chen Hongmei fell in love with a high-ranking man, but the family and everyone felt that Chen Hongmei was not wise.
Marry a high official
There are many female stars in the entertainment industry who marry the children of high-ranking officials, but the result of these marriages is either cheating, domestic violence, and finally divorce, which is very unhappy.
So at that time, many people were not optimistic about Chen Hongmei's marriage, thinking that the man was from a high-level cadre, and although Chen Hongmei was a popular movie star, he was born in a family of workers and peasants, and the two were very mismatched.
But Chen Hongmei does not think so, she does not fancy the man's family background, but the man's own personality quality, she feels that the other party's character is very good and self-motivated.
And halfway through her filming of "The Flying Son-in-law", the bad news came from home that her father was seriously ill and hospitalized, and her father died early after ineffective rescue, pushing Chen Hongmei to the abyss of grief, and she needed an emotional sustenance.
Facts have proved that Chen Hongmei really did not look at the wrong person, many actresses in the same period were married and separated, and Chen Hongmei got along very well with her husband, who took care of her.
In the early years, Chen Hongmei was too dedicated to filming, resulting in a knee soft tissue injury, which was treated for many years, and by 2017, her knee injury became more and more serious, and her husband had to take her to the hospital for treatment after leaving work.
At home on weekdays, her husband also helped her bake electricity and do physiotherapy, and after more than two years of care, Chen Hongmei's knee injury finally improved.
When Chen Hongmei was filming outside, he took care of his daughter at home and took care of housework, no matter how late his wife came home, he warmly welcomed him.
After retiring, Chen Hongmei and her husband have been working together for decades, and they are still as loving as ever, and her husband has cared for Chen Hongmei for decades, so that she can still maintain a good temperament.
In 2023, Chen Hongmei will be 66 years old, her good husband is also nearly seventy, her daughter is also married and has a family, and the old couple has become a grandparent.
Chen Hongmei and her husband lived a low-key and ordinary life in Shanghai, and for her today, ordinary is happiness and joy.
epilogue
Looking back at Chen Hongmei's path as an actor, she is active and enthusiastic in front of and behind the scenes, and she is an old drama bone and a good actor in the hearts of the audience, and a good teacher and a good role model in the hearts of junior actors.
She is not only a good act, but also a person, as a public figure to lead by example, she also volunteers when she is sick, actively transmits positive energy, and transmits warmth to more people.
In the words of teacher Chen Hongmei, it is:
"I am an actor, but also a small candle, I hope to use my weak light to influence some people and exert positive energy."