Zhao Benshan repeated after 10 years of "idleness": he played werewolf killing 6 times in 9 days, saying that these 10 years were the best

"The Legend of Que Daomen" aired in mid-August, the sitcom Zhao Benshan's first starring work in 10 years, in which he played the roles of cook and chief, and the two seemed to be in conflict. In and out of the play, a kind of intertextuality is formed, peasants and rich people, small people and big artists, different identities point to the same person.

Text | Xie Mengyao

Editor|Chu Ming

Ten years apart

What have you been doing in this decade?

Usually, this should not be the opening of a character interview. The time span of this question is too large and may be confusing for the other party. But this is the question I blurted out when I saw Zhao Benshan. After all, in front of him, there is a person who has been away from the center of the stage for ten years.

Instead of answering, he went straight to the feelings. "I think it's been a better decade than before, and I've really calmed down. A new way to live."

What way to live?

"Stir-fry, whole vegetable field, press a jar of sauce." He smiled and looked out the window. "After that's over, let's do some work here and pull out the grass."

Ten years on, what has not changed and what has changed is equally obvious. Like many of his peers, he has a bulging belly and is much fatter than the last Spring Festival Gala. But the face was almost the same as in memory, and the mustache on his lips was also there, except that his hair was white and the corners of his eyebrows were dyed with silver frost. Since his 20s, he has played the elderly, and his screen image is always old. Now, at 66, he is a real old man.

It was an afternoon at the end of August, and like a young freelancer's routine, Zhao Benshan had just gotten up. We are in Benshan Media Film and Television Base, a 300-acre park, located in Sujiatun, a suburb of Shenyang. His company is here, and he eats and lives here. A few years ago, he converted a simple kang house for workers into a house with two spacious halls. Everything is designed according to the old rural style, with garlic and chili hanging at the entrance, the character Fu on the wall, a large red quilt on the kang, and mottled red bricks forming the floor. There is a squat toilet in the house.

Everyone still uses the previous name, calling this place "Xiao Kang". Zhao Benshan does not really live here, but lives alone in a suite on the top floor of a hotel in the park. But he spends most of his day here. There is a well in the courtyard, and the water is injected into the reservoir below, which is pumped up for use. Outside the courtyard is a vegetable field, orderly planted with peppers, coriander and other vegetables, there is a special person to take care of, and a circle of mosquito grass is planted on the side. In summer, enjoy the shade in the yard, and there are few mosquito bites. On the day I visited, Zhao Benshan had just installed a new pavilion in the yard. Wearing a straw hat and against the noon sun, he directed the workers to load and unload.

This may not be true idyllic, closer to a man-made landscape. But for Zhao Benshan, this is the life he longs for.

Life slowed down. Now, he does everything slowly. He walks slowly, eats slowly, and responds when others greet him. "There are so many things. Where to go to the flash click, I'm enough, it's too empty for me. Those fames and fortunes are outdated to me." He said, "You have to go back to the roots, you have to find yourself, you have to find yourself, you can't find yourself, you don't exist."

Strictly speaking, he did not return to the countryside. The office has not been set foot in a few years, he has stepped down from his official position, but he is still the top leader of Benshan Media, and the president team comes to "Xiao Kang" every three to five times to report to him. The group's signature "Country Love" series series, he starred in every year, has 15 films. In recent years, he has also picked up the old drama "Liu Laogen" filmed more than ten years ago, and has filmed 3 more as a director.

He did disappear from public view. For the most part, it was his personal choice. Since announcing his future retirement from the Spring Festival Gala on Guo Degang's program "Guo's Show" in early 2013, he has not participated in any programs, parties, or interviews.

The opportunity for "People"'s visit was the broadcast of the costume martial arts comedy "The Legend of Que Daomen". Zhao Benshan starred with a group of apprentices. He plays two roles by himself, and he is Ximen Changhai, the head of the Magpie Dao Gate with outstanding martial arts, and Ximen Changhai, the cook who is also a nest of nests. The play has achieved a good reputation on the Internet, and it has also made Benshan Media successful outside the comfort zone of rural dramas for the first time. The whole group is excited.

But first of all, let it be clear, don't ask questions around Zhao Benshan. "The reason why I didn't come out was to be honest, I didn't want to be prosperous again and push me to a height again." He got straight to the point, "It doesn't make sense to me. I've eaten the one that is cold in the high place, and I don't want to look back."

It was a deliberate decision. "People" was contacted through "The Legend of Que Daomen" director Tang Tiejun, and Zhao Benshan initially agreed to talk about it. But the next day, "Teacher Zhao said that he still didn't come out," Tang Tiejun relayed, "Can you find other actors?"

Regarding the Legend of the Magpie Dao Gate, one question precedes all the questions. Why did Zhao Benshan participate in this drama?

Formally asked, he resigned, but getting along and gossiping was another matter, and he welcomed me to stay longer. "You have come all the way here, I will not accept you, you will be very disappointed." I understand you too." He said. There was a sincerity in his words, and even if he refused, he did not feel any stiffness. Eye contact is always an important part of his conversation. When he laughs, he gets used to having a freeze frame that lasts a few seconds, the corners of his eyes squeezed together, and his mouth grinning. The moment the laughter was stretched, he always turned his head and looked for the people around him. Eye to eye, look at each other and smile. You may be embarrassed to be stared at by him.

He is easy to get closer to people. On the afternoon of our first meeting, he naturally asked about my personal and family situation. Every word does not fall to the ground. He turned the back collar back and showed me what brand it was, which he had bought in Hong Kong not long ago. Seeing me wearing short sleeves, he was worried about the cold at night, so he casually took a windbreaker of his own and draped it over me. "Here you go." He said with a smile, looking up and down again, "Do you want long pants?"

He asked Tang Tiejun to accompany me to the city at night to watch a performance at the Liu Laogen Grand Theater, and then returned to the base after the end, and he called out several leading actors in the play. "I'll cook a few more dishes, drink some wine, and talk to everyone." He said.

Photo courtesy of interviewee

Mountain

When the "Legend of the Magpie Daomen" was first established, the role of the master was prepared to be played by Cheng Ye. The director of the film, Tang Tiejun, felt that Zhao Benshan should be invited to play the master. In and out of the play, they are all masters and apprentices, which is both interesting and natural. During a walk with Zhao Benshan, he put forward his ideas.

"What else do I play, I don't act." Zhao Benshan's words blocked him back.

This is not surprising. In the past ten years, he has only participated in old IPs such as "Country Love" and "Liu Laogen", but they are all last resorts, and his role has long been tied to them. He deliberately reduced the scene and put the main line on other characters. Previously, Song Xiaobao, Wen Song and other apprentices directed their own movies, and they did not dare to invite the master to participate.

Tang Tiejun, 43 years old, is in charge of the group's film and television projects in Benshan Media, and is a calm and patient person. His aides said he had never been seen lose his temper. After joining the company for 14 years, Tang Tiejun understands Zhao Benshan's handling style. Don't challenge the old man immediately after he announces his decision, "He has 10,000 words to refute you." He diverted from the subject. But after that, as long as he has the opportunity, he will talk to Zhao Benshan about this play.

Martial arts sitcoms have been out of the market for years. Since the phenomenal response to "The Legend of Wulin" broadcast in 2006, the last attempt to make an impression was also "Dragon Gate Dart Bureau", 10 years ago. And this time the background is set in a northeastern martial arts world, and everyone speaks northeastern dialect. Zhao's family class is both born as two actors, "so it will not violate the harmony," Tang Tiejun said.

Initially, the script was handled according to traditional unit dramas, and the screenwriter was the behind-the-scenes team that produced the comedy variety show "Happy Comedian", and wrote 40 sketch-style ideas for 40 episodes of the drama, and the funny bridges between a master and several apprentices with different personalities. Tang Tiejun believes that it is necessary to join the main line to make this drama closer to a serial drama in which the plot continues to roll forward and the characters continue to grow. Another group of screenwriters responsible for writing the main line joined, and in the original story, a main line of resistance was designed. The villains Cao Gonggong and Gao Da Mao also appeared as new characters. The parallel structure between each episode of the unit drama is broken, and many previously designed bridges are no longer used, producer Li Chunjing recalled, and the two sets of screenwriters "fight every day".

Tang Tiejun told Zhao Benshan that this drama will be different from "The Legend of Wulin" in some places. It will be shot live-action and the space will be greatly expanded. Action scenes are not "mouth cannons", to come to the real thing, the actors need to go to WIA, and there are professional martial arts instructors responsible for this part.

"I know that Mr. Zhao loves art, and I try to talk to him in a detailed and fun way to arouse his desire to act." Tang Tiejun said. The only one who changes the old man's decision can only be the old man himself.

After three and five beatings, after a while, the mountain that stood still was finally shaken. Zhao Benshan let go, he can participate.

But soon, he repented. The producer and broadcast platform of the play is Tencent, and the other party quickly contacted Zhao Benshan, "The teacher must be played by you." The two producers rushed to Shenyang and coaxed for a long time, and the old man re-agreed.

After returning from a vacation in Hainan, Zhao Benshan retreated again, and he was not interested in playing a hero. He proposed that the scene should be less, and it would be enough to play a small person, such as the "sweeping monk" in the sect. This sets a difficult problem for the screenwriter, how can a drama revolve around a sweeping ground?

A screenwriter named Sun Yu suggested, why can't the hero have a twin brother who is a cook? The head of the house went to carry out the anti-war mission, and the cook who did not know martial arts pretended to sit in the Magpie Dao Gate. The plot unfolds in a dislocation conflict in which the cook becomes the boss. In order to enhance the credibility of the cook who does not leave, the screenwriter also weaves a blind date story line for him, and a matchmaker character with a dual identity also enters the game.

"You didn't promise to play a little person, this happens to have a little person - the cook." Tang Tiejun said to Zhao Benshan. Zhao Benshan likes this kind of design. Over the years, whether it is sketches or film and television dramas, he has played mostly such characters who are cunning and flawed, but are essentially kind and honest. "Playing a big man, he has no psychological basis." Tang Tiejun said.

After the script was changed, Zhao Benshan had more than 200 scenes, less than the average 300 of other leading actors, but he still violated the instruction of "fewer plays". "They didn't hold it, they wrote a little too much." Tang Tiejun reported to him. "That's not a!" Zhao Benshan stopped doing it when he heard it. The script was changed again: the master went to retreat in the back mountain shack at every turn, and there was no need to be present for some scenes, and the lines were assigned to the apprentice. In a few episodes, Uncle Junior temporarily came to take over the scene that belonged to Master.

According to Zhao Benshan's request, his scenes were deleted to less than 80, in fact, there are more than 120 of his plays. When asked, Tang Tiejun perfunctory, "Let's discuss."

In the process, the apprentices also lobbied one after another: "Master, you have to play, this character will be written for you." "We can all be together, we can still eat, we have to get along, we have to be happy, we stay in one place for two months." "If you don't take the lead, this thing won't attract attention."

"If you don't 'fool' Master so much, Master really won't act." Apprentice Wen Song recalled.

In this way, even deceived and coaxed, the master entered the group.

Photo courtesy of interviewee

Filming

In July 2022, "The Legend of Que Daomen" was launched in Qipan Mountain near Shenyang. The courtyard of the main scene is built on a grassy area in the mountains. It is the hottest time of the year, when the temperature is close to 40 degrees. The costumes are thick and have to be worn in several layers. It takes more than an hour to put on makeup and add a plate. Due to physical reasons, Zhao Benshan cannot blow fans, let alone air conditioners. Only by wiping the sweat over and over again, the clothes can easily get wet. "Master suffered in particular, and his chest was full of hot prickly heat." Wen Song said.

As the oldest member of the entire crew, he was taken care of not having to get up early like everyone else, usually coming in the afternoon, and the play was scheduled in the afternoon and evening. But staying up late is inevitable. It was common to finish work at one or two o'clock, and on one occasion, he photographed until 4:30 in the morning.

"At the very least, it is more happy in the creative process, and it is not as annoying as I imagined." Zhao Benshan said.

Although he is not a director, when he is present, he naturally leads the scene. For the first month, he kept a particularly close eye on the scene. "I calmed down and fixed the portrait and outline of each of their characters." In his words, the master brother of the drama is characterized by cute, the second senior brother played by Song Xiaofeng is Biao, and the little junior sister played by Li Xiaohe is two, these words sound similar at first glance, each has its own grasp. He told Wang Xiaohu, who played the prince, that this role is the follower of the villain, and it is necessary to be different, speaking in two voices, "In front of him, you play normal, after you leave him, like a father-in-law, the little faction is propped up, and the little voice is strangled."

In front of the master, the master and brothers competed together, and everyone secretly worked hard. Cheng Ye recalled that he couldn't help but want to hold some props in his hand and compete for attention. "Without me (lines), I still have this on my lips." He made the appearance of bucktooth in the duo's turn.

But this is precisely what Zhao Benshan spent the most effort to control. He stressed to his apprentices over and over again that he should shape the characters with his heart, not to make appearances, and not to use too much force. Especially those bridges in the play that borrow ancient irony, "fake at a glance, they are all really acted, which is funny."

Zhao Benshan believes that the ability of the apprentices is not only what the public currently sees, but the theater path can be wider. "I understand them, it's hard for these actors in our family to come out (filming) outside, and when he (the director) uses him outside, he has to play and act with his teeth and claws when he gets there." Zhao Benshan told "People", "It's boring to jump the characters out."

In the script design, the three apprentices played by Wen Song are biased towards sissy, which inherits the image he created on the stage of previous sketches. But Zhao Benshan let him act seriously. Wen Song wanted to add some funny baggage to himself, but he was called to stop. He felt extremely unaccustomed, "this character tied me up".

The masters and apprentices of the entire sect are strange, and in a sense, Wen Song is the only normal person. This is in line with the setting of "straight people and weirdos" in the popular comedy variety show "Annual Comedy Competition" - Zhao Benshan has not seen this show, and he can't say those comedy theories, his handling is only based on experience and instinct.

"You have to take care of your own character, because you are a person who fled from a refugee, and after a lot of winds and waves, you look down on everything." Wen Song recalled what Zhao Benshan said to him, "You just act like this, believe me, you will get different feedback."

The master controls the general direction and also picks out the details. He told Li Xiaohe that it was necessary to get up and leave the table steadily, although he spoke in a northeastern dialect, but the colloquial words such as "uh-huh, dry ha" should be replaced, all in order to conform to the tone of the costume drama.

Later, the tidbits of him showing Song Xiaofeng how to step on an empty stool went viral on the Internet, in fact, such guidance happens all the time. "Whoever has a slightly wrong eye, Master will teach it hand-in-hand." Wang Xiaohu said.

In his early years, when he mentored his apprentices, he was quite strict. Cheng Ye remembers that when he filmed "Mr. Kanto Dai" in 2009, the words he played the three strings were made up by the master on the spot. "He sang it to me, and immediately I had to sing it, my God, my brain was big at that time." Cheng Ye said, "How can you write down every word on the spot." After Cheng Ye sang wrong twice, the master became angry: "Why are you so stupid?"

But now, Zhao Benshan's style has changed, and he rarely criticizes people. "A lot of details, my master finished performing again, I performed again, and Master said it was very good. Maybe it's a lie, it gives me confidence, so my sense of faith is particularly strong." Song Xiaofeng said.

In one scene, Ximen Rou, played by Li Xiaohe, met Yang Guo pretended by Song Xiaofeng, she wanted to look down at the book in her hand first, shouted "Guo'er" in surprise, and quickly closed the book. It seems simple, but she lacks screen experience and always can't complete these actions naturally and smoothly. NG five or six times, Zhao Benshan also personally demonstrated twice, still can't. Even so, he was not in a hurry at all. "It's okay, don't get on fire," he teased her, it had only been a few days since it was turned on, "Now the change (acting) is also in time."

At night, Zhao Benshan walked back to his accommodation from the set, which was a 2-hour mountain road. A large group of apprentices followed him, chatting along the way, and their respective cars followed. After he returned, he cooked a few more dishes and called everyone to eat in his house. The ingredients have been prepared in advance, and he only needs to take charge of the spoon. The identity of the cook in the play continues. His favorite dishes are chicken shaved tofu and sauerkraut, and the most popular is fish stew in a large pot. Miso is essential for every meal.

Cheng Ye sometimes finishes work late and receives a call from the master. "Why haven't you come back for dinner yet?" I'll leave you two fish." In fact, the crew has a box lunch, and Zhao Benshan hopes to get all the apprentices together as much as possible in this way. He didn't want to leave anyone behind. Song Xiaofeng used to return to the RV after acting, rather than sitting among the other actors - he explained to "People" that he was pondering the lines - Zhao Benshan was dissatisfied with this, "Why are you always slipping around?"

"My master has always said that being together is like a family, so that good works can come out. Because people are angry, happy together, nagging, you have funny things will collide." Li Xiaohe said.

Song Xiaofeng's most memorable scene was when the apprentices gave the false master Ximen Chang their birthday and each said their blessings. This is a rare birthday, Zhao Benshan suffered hardships when he was a teenager, and later never had a birthday in life. The camera returned to Master's old face, wrinkled with joy, and tears flashed in his eyes. At that scene, reality and drama seemed to merge into one, and everyone was immersed in it. "In the play is his group of apprentices, and outside the play are also this group of apprentices. After so many years, I have deep, deep feelings." Song Xiaofeng said.

For the apprentices, this is a rare opportunity to get along with the master day and night. On weekdays, most of the unfamous apprentices are stationed in foreign theaters in rotation, and those who become famous fly all over the country and return only when they encounter festivals. There are only a few people who really accompany Master. Since Wen Song visited his teacher in 2008, he only spent a week with his master when he filmed "Country Love". This time it was much longer, lasting 73 days. It was already September after filming, and I was going to wear a military coat in the mountains at night.

Photo courtesy of interviewee

banquet

At 10 p.m., "Little Ondol" comes alive. In the afternoon, Zhao Benshan shouted in the group, and the apprentices returned one after another. Yang Shulin, Wang Xiaohu, Tian Wa and other actors performed a duo on Liu Laogen's big stage, and the curtain ended at 9:30, and rushed back without stopping. Song Xiaofeng drove from Changchun, he took advantage of the gap between filming abroad to return home, and arrived at 2 a.m., but "no matter how important things are not important to my master." Among all the starring actors, only Song Xiaobao was not there, and he went back to his hometown to mourn.

"Now that this scene is finished filming, it's pretty good." Zhao Benshan introduced "People" and the purpose of my visit to the apprentices, "You must cooperate seriously. If you want to say it, come (base), don't let people find you."

If you're like me, you already feel cramped in the same room with so many Benshan Media stars, and when they gather around and add WeChat, it must be a more frightening scene. Familiarly, they asked me where I came from and my date of birth. "I'm '86." Wen Song said: "That's really brother, it's right to call your brother." "We're just a day away, have a drink, and dry it." Tian Wa said, "You are half."

During this time, the master was happy, and the Douban score of "The Legend of Que Daomen" rushed to 8.1 points, exceeding the rating of all dramas in Zhao Jiaban in 20 years except for the first part of "Ma Dashuai". This is just a drama rated B by Tencent, and the publicity fee is only 2.6 million yuan, but major media and film and television self-media are talking about it. Zhao Benshan is watching this drama at every meal, watching an episode several times, and loudly coming out from time to time.

At this dinner, in addition to the apprentices, Zhao Benshan also invited several friends. The base cafeteria made some appetizers, but Master still couldn't help but cook. He put on his apron and sat down in front of the stove, with a large basin of soy milk in front of him, freshly ground at home. He stirred in the basin with a large spoon and slowly poured the bottled brine. "Brine point tofu, one thing down one thing." He said to himself, "This is an old rural practice, and now it is all lost." After that, he made the fried sauce in a wok.

Zhao Benshan is making tofu. Photo: Xie Mengyao

A friend's daughter came to see him. His easy-going was obvious, and he kept asking about her upbringing and learning. As he asked me before, he asked his friend's daughter the same question. "Girl, help me see, what brand is this." He turned his collar upside down, like an elder who didn't know fashion and was worried about buying the wrong clothes and making jokes.

At the dinner, Zhao Benshan talked loudly with his friends, and the apprentices rarely spoke. But the master will lead the topic to the apprentice. "I can see that the filming is over, and he was holding back in his heart until the beginning of the year." He pointed to Wen Song. "But what do you think now?" In the future, you can make martial arts movies." Wen Song smiled. Sure enough, as Master said, after the broadcast, Jiang Yulang portrayed by Wen Song was not deliberately funny, but a more brilliant and hotly discussed role.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhao Benshan stood up and spoke to his apprentice.

"Walking together between our master and disciple is the fate given to us by God, and each of us must be serious, remembering that fate connects us at this moment. I treat each of you as a child and nothing else. I will not be a master alone, to talk about the decisions of the apprentices, or the outstanding shortcomings and mistakes. Making mistakes is temporary, and life should allow anyone to make mistakes, and also allow him to give him a chance and time to correct them. It doesn't mean indulgence, let him know, like Sun Wukong, after refining pills."

This was obviously an impromptu speech, some words were not meaningful, some were scattered, but Zhao Benshan spoke non-stop, without leaving a breath, and the wine glass was raised in his hand. He was not drunk, and more than half a pound of liquor was far less than when he was drunk.

"Then there is a perseverance, people must really make friends with their hearts. Even if you are fooled, it is life. Tell yourself that there are no regrets. Life gives us fairness and injustice. Remember friendship."

"You always remember the word gratitude. If the word gratitude is removed from life, this person is a numb person, a person who is not interesting, and a person who is not worthy of being unworthy of being handed over. If there is a conflict in the end, we will not do anything harmful to others."

"We need to be honest. We must not be carried away by profit. This is my warning to you. It's not that I have two money, tell you don't make money, give it to me. If I don't do it, I will always satisfy you."

In the early years, Benshan Media held staff meetings almost every week. Zhao Benshan went up to talk for half an hour to more than an hour, and in addition to specific work, he talked about handling things, winning people's hearts, and stressing discipline. But there hasn't been a conference in the last 10 years. On this night, the old days come back to life, and everyone, along with the guests, listens quietly. He's not talking about a sense of old age, if you've seen all of his interviews, he talked about it 10 years ago, he talked about it 20 years ago.

"In fact, this life is very short, some people may be radiant, some people are escaping death, and everything will be experienced. Let's not be afraid of life. When we are leisurely, when we are at our best, you must think of the moment when you drop the price, which is arranged for you by God. We should remember not to look at the jokes of those who enter suffering. That is the test of life that you should accept, you go from sunlight to darkness, darkness back to sunlight. Remember that this is the process, don't take chances, there are no lucks in life, and there are no inevitabilities."

Are these words retracing personal experience, or are they talking about common truth? He didn't point through. And again, he mentioned his current state.

"Fire or not, I don't care now, I'm still on fire, then it's not on fire." Why is the reporter here, but don't interview me, in this stage, the aura almost burned me. I have experienced the Spring Festival Gala for more than 20 years, and at the moment of setting off firecrackers, I have persevered for so long, I have enough to go from a farmer to today."

Farmer, this is his eternal label. He became famous, rich, had an industry, joked that he was a "spoiled farmer", but what was in his bones did not change. Backstage of the Spring Festival Gala every year, he took out the sauce and put it on the table, and the smell comparable to stinky tofu and snail powder smoked everyone away, and he was not embarrassed at all. The peasant is not a specific identity, but an identity, so when he was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, his proposal focused on the countryside rather than entertainment, so he moved the stove and torch into the house.

"I hope you will always remember that our Zhao family class is a group of farmers, and we are a group of poor people. To this day, we must cherish our poor destiny. We all rolled over today, don't be satisfied. A folk art, a person of our identity, is respected before society. Respect is the most precious thing, and it cannot be bought with money."

"Say peace and happiness to everyone." Master was full of pride and drank all the wine in the cup.

Zhao Benshan and his apprentices in the "Little Kang". Photo: Xie Mengyao

Yan Shi

People are already familiar with the origin of the banshe. It was the first month of 2001, and at the invitation of He Qingkui and Gao Xiumin, Zhao Benshan went to the most famous theater in Changchun to see the duo turn. At this time, the star of the Spring Festival Gala, who also wore a gown and danced a handkerchief and sang in two, has been away from this art for more than ten years. That night, the old feelings returned, he was extremely moved, gave tens of thousands of yuan in tips, and accepted Zhang Xiaofei as an apprentice. Searching for talents, building a group, and filming a two-person TV series, he didn't sleep all night, and all kinds of visions came to his mind.

Later, it all came true. The decline of culture was revived, and in turn, created wealth for him.

The apprentices of Deyun Society were hall runners, doormen, shop assistants or security guards before entering the door, while the Zhao family class was an art investment master, who had been crawling in the rivers and lakes for many years and had seen various scenes. "They are exquisite, everyone is extremely smart, and they are quite difficult to deal with." Zhao Benshan said. "When they first came in, they carried social habits. In the later stage, almost all of these problems were removed." There are the kind of apprentices who make mistakes and go crazy with alcohol. "Master, you expel me, you smoke me, you beat me." At this time, there is no other way but to slap twice.

Initial strict management is necessary. The master sets the rules, there is performance discipline, there is a code of conduct, and the apprentice will be fined for violating it. Corporal punishment was also carried out, kneeling in front of all the division brothers and being disciplined. But it is futile to talk about facts out of the environment, these are rural babies in the northeast. "When I was in my twenties, I talked back to my uncle at home, and my mother made me kneel." Cheng Ye said.

The dance team is another management model, most of them are 20-year-old secondary school graduates, just like attending boarding school, they are not allowed to go out of the base gate, they are not allowed to smoke and drink. "Go out and target a lot of people, don't let the bad guys fool you." Xiao Yuhang, the former dance captain, said, "The teacher is so well protected, we have not been in contact with the pits of society, the dark side of the world."

Downstairs in the suite where Zhao Benshan lived, there were several rooms, and the apprentice made a mistake and lived in it. It is a "cliff of thought" for you to reflect, and it is also conducive to cutting off bad circles. "It's time to perform, what to do, but you are not allowed to go home and live by yourself, I have to watch you." Wen Song said, "Master really thought about it, so he went to the room and talked to them."

I asked Zhao Benshan what specific mistakes the apprentices who lived in those houses had made. "All types will commit it." He replied, immediately starting another topic, boasting that Tian Wa, whose reputation was not as good as that of other senior brothers, "The character is extremely upright, extremely particular, and I borrow money from him when I have difficulties, and I lend money to people when he goes up and out, and he dares to take 100,000 or 200,000."

I'm trying to pull back, did any of the mistakes made by the apprentice touch your bottom line? "Some of the things that can't be touched have been touched, and they have all been educated." He covered the silence between conversations with laughter.

Like what? "All kinds of things happen. You must be peaceful for him, not let it be magnified." He went around in circles.

Then just ask directly, take a slight example, such as life style? "Once they become famous, they don't complain about them." He defended, "This thing is very tempting, it's a little famous, it's all up." That has to be mentioned often, and reminded of it. Sometimes reminders don't work."

Give up, Zhao Benshan will not expose the short apprentice. In public information, you never find him talking like that. Past media reports portrayed him as a strict teacher who was not angry and self-threatening. But unlike Guo Degang, Master never expelled anyone from the Master. "Because the northeast is not the same as other regions, there is a quack complex, and they actually take this issue very seriously." He said, "Don't explain." Your own family, if you step on him again, he won't even be able to walk. Allow mistakes to be made."

In episode 27 of "The Legend of Que Daomen", the villain Song Xiaobao has amnesia and mistakes the cook for his father. After some teaching, the cook sighed happily: "This child is not bad by nature, he can be saved." This is to turn what Zhao Benshan often said into a line. There seem to be only two types of children in the world in his eyes: "kindness" and "not bad, there is salvation."

"Some people do something excessive, Master said forget it, they are all children." Ge Shanshan, who played the role of Ye Siniang in the play, said.

What the master is most worried about is that the apprentice has made bad friends, and if he touches the red line, everything will be lost. The company has a team responsible for drug investigation. "We do urine tests all year round." Wen Song said, "I don't know when, ask where you are, now take a plane or high-speed train to raid (check)."

Another key point of urging is taxation. In 2018, the local tax incentives were adjusted, and the entire film and television industry was self-checking and declaring, and the apprentices had to make up nearly 100 million yuan in taxes, and the master paid it. "They have the money, they don't have that awareness, it's hard to spit out, I'm afraid something will happen to them." He said. Did that money be returned? "What else? He has long had to spend money, buy a house, install a calf, and not necessarily take it out if he loses his family."

Of course, his early majesty is true, but to a large extent, it is also the people around him who shape this image. The master and apprentice did not know each other, and the grassroots actors were nervous when they saw the respected artists. "In the past, they didn't dare to sit and talk to me." Zhao Benshan said. The master was also busy, not as many opportunities to contact the apprentice as now, and the distance naturally caused awe. "Far away. At that time, there was little communication, and I did not dare to step forward." Wen Song said.

"Although we said that we were not apprentices, doing administrative work, before we walked to Teacher Zhao's side, it was also a state of extreme admiration and felt unattainable." Tang Tiejun said.

In the early years, he needed this majesty and inherited this majesty. "I run such a big team, if they don't respect me," he said in an interview many years ago, "maybe this company will be difficult to do, and it can't be stopped." The subordinates were originally mostly scattered people who walked the world (that is, husband and wife), each with their own thoughts, in the words of Ma Ruidong, the current president of the company, "all individualism", and the master wanted to twist them into a rope.

Now, the apprentices are mature, he has a lot of peace of mind, and shouts in the WeChat group of 167 people if something happens, "If you find something bad, notify urgently." Even so, you have to pay attention to the method. "They have a halo on them, they have to pay attention to their proportions, and they have to take care of their face emotions."

Photo courtesy of interviewee

family

Each apprentice recalled the first moment of fame, all related to the master. Cheng Ye was recommended by him to act in Zhang Yimou's movie "Three Guns" in 2009. Song Xiaobao is in 2011, the master took the performance of the Liaozhi Spring Festival Gala sketch "Blind Date". Wen Song's path is different, he was performing abroad in previous years, and the master did not know much about him, and it was the director of "Happy Comedian" who chose him to be on the show when watching the performance in Beijing. The internal plan is that in addition to Song Xiaobao, who led the team, the division brothers rotated every two episodes to push everyone to the front of the stage, but the first two episodes were recorded before they were broadcast, and the director felt that Wen Song had audience popularity and wanted him to continue to participate.

"If you say so, then I believe it, and Wen Song will stay there." Zhao Benshan agreed. He is fair but also reasonable. That show eventually made Wen Song.

Two-person turn is an art that is easily despised. Almost every actor can tell a story about being smashed by a big brother offstage on a wine bottle, "We've all had it," Song Xiaobao told me. In addition to wealth and fame, Master also brought them one thing: dignity.

Zhang Xiaofei, who took in early 2001, was actually his third apprentice. In the 80s in the Tieling County regiment, he received Li Zhengchun and Lu Yao. After so many years of intercess, Li Zhengchun switched to small business, and the relationship has been maintained. When filming "Liu Laogen", he called them to act, "What was collected in the past, not a single one can be left behind." Li Zhengchun died early in 2006. The master gave the family 100,000 yuan, and later gave money every New Year. Children are also recruited into the company.

"He did not honor me, but I honored him." Zhao Benshan said.

A popular saying is that Zhao Benshan bought houses for many apprentices. More precisely, it was the apprentices who managed the master to borrow money to buy a house. "The old man is a person who is particularly sympathetic to the weak, and he will solve problems for you." An San said. When the price of Wanda's house was reduced, the master lent 8 million yuan in one go. There are many people who don't pay back. "He doesn't squeak yet, I can't ask for it, if I don't give it, forget it." Zhao Benshan said.

A vine is tied to hundreds of gourd babies with their own unique skills, and he is a grandfather. Every New Year's holiday, the apprentices return with their children. The courtyard is full of people, it is the rural running water table, and the daughters-in-law cook in the kitchen. You have to grab all the dumplings, and you don't have a pot. The two have a conflict, he wants to mediate, and generally stands on the woman's side. It turned out that he persuaded and did not persuade him to leave, and later he also figured out that if the two were willing, "If you take care of it, then you will destroy the happiness of others."

The apprentices took the initiative to call him Daddy. "I said to you, go back and obey your true father first, and then say this when you come back." He said. Later, he felt that it was better not to bark, and there were a few sweet mouths that never changed. He thought of a trick and told them that the fortune teller had been calculated, and it was not good for my own son to call it like this.

Over the years, the list of apprentices has continued to grow. He actually didn't plan to take it, his head was knocked on the ground, that was a lifetime thing, but if he didn't take it, he couldn't do it. "The first few have standards, and when he came here in the later stage, he felt that he was not an apprentice, and he couldn't stay here, and his heart would be uncomfortable." [But] if you can't pass the big mark in art, you can't take it."

The two turned actors are mostly husband and wife, and the husband worships the teacher, which means that the family has entered the door. This also prevents too many disciples from being criticized. After Ge Shanshan divorced, "fame" felt awkward. Someone helped her talk to Zhao Benshan, and she also wanted to worship a teacher. "People are so big, if people don't mention it, we don't dare to mention it." Zhao Benshan joked. Now, Ge Shanshan's identity is no longer someone else's ex-wife, but Zhao Benshan's No. 104 apprentice.

I asked Zhao Benshan how to distinguish between so many apprentices who treat you sincerely and which ones cater to you for the sake of interests. "First of all, I have to be sincere with people, and try to level a bowl of water as much as possible." He said.

Is there a tendency to follow the flames, for fame and fortune?

"Yes." He replied, thought about it and said, "Most of them, you have to figure out the purpose of their worship, and when you come to come up with a name, that's normal." Just like if you go to another unit now, of course, there are more than you gave you in the past unit, and you have to develop. Don't think about this, selfishness is too heavy, thinking about this is tired, don't think about the useless. Everyone wants to survive."

Will anyone live up to his emotions?

"If you are cold, you will have to suffocate." You run this company, and you have to open the door and make your heart bigger. No matter how careful you are, can you still live? I can't do it. Because you understand human nature, you don't shudder. Their purpose is to lean on a big tree, and when your yellow roots are withered, they feel that this time is suitable to leave, leave and leave, this is nothing. There is no unbroken banquet in the world, you must want to open it."

Assuming that there is a financial conflict, Zhao Benshan does not want to use the law to solve it. "Why do masters and apprentices want to go to court? Once the law is passed, what you, the master, has failed."

He talked about a business-independent apprentice. "He has to make two bucks, you have to give him this time." Seeing that society is not mixed, I will collect it when I come back later." He said. "I'm telling everyone now, don't say he's gone. I want to say, "He is no longer my student, he may have developed better", and this is not okay for him, even if I say it. I don't want to hurt people. If he breaks the law, I can't accept it, I can tell everyone that he has been gone for a long time."

In the early days, actors took 40% of commercial income, but now it is generally 80% or 70%. The epidemic has not been easy in recent years, and the apprentice is live streaming outside to bring goods, let them go, "as long as he doesn't bring fakes." Cai Weili and others co-made the brand "Wang Lao Seven Sauerkraut", and the live broadcast sold very well. Wang Laoqi is the name of the character he played in "Country Love", how should the IP belong, Zhao Benshan does not pay attention to these.

I heard that he (Cai Weili) recently bought a villa, Tang Tiejun said. "He was hardworking, he started selling at six or seven in the morning and sold it until midnight. This kind of selling method, ordinary people can't stand it."

Then the words of "hard work", Zhao Benshan praised the other advantages of the apprentice. "Cai Weili is a serious person with good character. Very simple and loyal, the daughter-in-law was always in love, holding hands. This man is excellent."

Photo courtesy of interviewee

Game

Another night, "Xiao Kang" was full of people again, and loud music sounded between them. People sat around a long table full of snacks. There are no stars this time, and most of the people present are two-person turned actors who live in the base dormitory. They are engaged in an activity. For the past year and a half, the event has become an integral part of life. Usually after 10 p.m., the actors finish the play and end the live broadcast work, and they come to "Xiao Kang".

The name of the event is: Werewolf Kill.

Zhao Benshan sat at the head of the table on the north side, the fixed seat that belonged to him, which was the most advantageous position to observe the overall situation. He found that those novices became "wolves", either talking too much or not saying a word. He is observant, both inside and outside the game. "Every day who has a little expression, he will see it, what, he cares." Li Xiaohe said. At the dinner party before, he was talking to the guests, and I sat in the far seat, quietly pressing my phone with one hand. "He must be searching for you online." He said suddenly. I awkwardly admitted.

The origin of the game is that the company and the platform developed a werewolf killing variety show - he did not know that Mi Wei had done the same project 7 years ago - the variety show was not done, but the habit of the game was maintained. Recently, an upgraded version of the "Blood Stained Bell Tower" with more complex rules was introduced.

"Don't write it in your manuscript, it seems that there is no serious business all day long." He was a little embarrassed, "I can't play twice a month." But the apprentices all gave the opposite statement. During my 9 days in Shenyang, he organized werewolf killings for 6 nights.

How can an old man who is over his ears enjoy a young man's game so much? For Zhao Benshan, this is his way of connecting with people. After all, he doesn't have many options. He lived in seclusion and rarely stepped out of this large courtyard. He is not good at using social media, the Weibo password has long been forgotten, and the private message was mistakenly sent out as public content, and it has not been deleted so far. There are only 504 WeChat contacts. He loved basketball so much that the company built two indoor and outdoor courts, and played in teams every night, but in recent years he has given up when he can't help it. Later, it was changed to a walk, and at 90 o'clock at night, when there was no one on the road, I walked from the back door of the courtyard to the direction of the airport, more than 10,000 steps back and forth. He lived neither the life of an entertainer nor the life of an ordinary person, he seemed to be stuck at the junction of two worlds.

He retires from the big screen, but the werewolf killing brings him back somewhat, and he finds something like a performance in it. During the process, there is always a confused, confused look on his face, which is a protective color, and he admits that acting skills come in handy. When filming, the eyes are particularly important, and the inner monologue is presented in this window, he concluded, you can't blink casually, every blink has to be in rhythm. In the game, the eyes are equally critical, and whoever is lying, "one look can tell it".

Once, the whole of China watched him play a role on the highest stage, Uncle Niu, Kurotsuchi or Da Yu, and he had the ability to "eat" other characters. Those collective performances are all called Zhao Benshan sketches, not Song Dandan sketches, Gao Xiumin sketches or Fan Wei sketches. Now in this small room, he plays different card roles, and the drama "Please Close Your Eyes When It's Dark" is staged, everyone is an actor, and each other is the audience. He loves being a villain and the excitement of the game is doubled, but this night, he keeps drawing good guy cards.

In addition to the fixed group of people around him, different people were invited by him to participate in this bureau, sons and daughters, executives, friends. "You have to play too." He called out to me. In one round, I drew "Wolf", which could not withstand questioning, and was caught in the first hand. He pointed at me and laughed: "This kid is real, we trust him fully, he must not have bad intentions."

He will always be the center and dominant, in any room, on any occasion. Whether it's in the company, on set, at dinner, or in the game right now. When he rose, he couldn't remember the name of the young man, so he directly greeted "that little fat man" and "the one with glasses". At halftime, the elder An San quietly said to a young apprentice, "Don't kill the old man. You can't win without his presence." Zhao Benshan always survived to the end. Only the son participated in that time, and he "killed" his father as soon as he came up.

There were 5 survivors left on the field, and for the voting session, a dramatic scene happened. Zhao Benshan wanted to nominate someone, but Jiang Yishan objected. She insisted that the person had been verified to be a good person. The actress, who joined the company in 2006, has a straightforward personality and is serious and competitive when playing games, and once suspected Wen Song of cheating, and the two had a big fight.

"I nominate, why doesn't she agree?" Zhao Benshan was happy, and everyone was happy. By rule, nominations are not restricted. "I want to mention good people too."

"As soon as you raise your hand, everyone else has to lift." Jiang Yishan said.

"Then I can't chop off my hands either." Zhao Benshan continued, and the audience laughed again.

"Teacher, you're playing like this." Jiang Yishan said. As the two went back and forth, their voices became higher and higher, and the atmosphere became tense. Everyone looked at each other, and no one played round.

Jiang Yishan left the table with a bang. Zhao Benshan stood up and was also angry. "Why are you still anxious, what are you?" But he immediately calmed down, and his voice lowered, "It's not good, this behavior is not good."

"What am I playing, pull down." He flipped the cards over, and for the only time tonight, he drew the wolf. "I don't vote for good people, I vote for my own people?" There is no point in going on in the game. "It's hard to smoke a wolf." He muttered. The night ended hastily.

"Don't write about it. She usually respects me all the time. She is a reasonable person and a very kind person." Zhao Benshan later said to me, "We won't care about writing this thing." She is a hot spot, and the audience will scold her. She can't think about it, and you destroy her as soon as you do it. It's going to cause trouble anyway."

Zhao Benshan and his apprentices play werewolf killing in "Xiao Kang". Photo: Xie Mengyao

fear

He was afraid of causing trouble. The apprentices knew that he didn't like to take pictures now, so he didn't ask for a group photo. The guest came to the "little kang", raised his mobile phone to take pictures everywhere, and the apprentice would politely remind him to put it away. The Internet is too easy to get into trouble. A few days ago, a friend took a video of his yard cooking and posted it on the Internet, which triggered another round of discussion about the price of his outfit.

People around him say he has always been a cautious person. At the opening ceremony of Liu Laogen in 2003, at the end of his four-minute speech, he said: "I hope that the fellow villagers in Shenyang will always remember that I, Zhao Benshan, will not cause trouble to you. I will move forward healthily little by little. I don't need anything, all I need is that I can do well and be safe." Words that were easily ignored by listeners at the time were distant echoes from the end of the tunnel.

Once upon a time, he was the northeastern version of Gatsby, surrounded by stars, and there were always a bunch of celebrities visiting the base. He lived every day to applause and cheers, and the media interviewed non-stop.

Hiding, for Zhao Benshan, is not only an abstract methodology, but also a concrete state of life. He lives in the park, and the crowd and the sound of disturbance are outside the fence. The Performing Arts Building could have outsourced the venue for program recording, considering that the audience was entering the entire park. Some of these places were converted into dormitories.

But it still can't resist the intruders. Once the company held an event, after which three or four different partners came back to drink at "Xiao Kang". A person took a group photo and recorded a video, added Song Xiaobao and others' WeChat, and opened a bottle of Maotai to toast everywhere. After three rounds of drinking, he ran to the other room to lie down, everyone felt strange, asked each other, no one knew, he came in the poplar car. Shouting the man, it turned out to be a passerby, and everyone twisted to the police station. Zhao Benshan was very angry when he was supposed to be detained, and the next day he thought, "Forget it, let him go."

Throughout the year, he did not have the opportunity to go out to eat and eat, and there were many street foods that he had not tasted. Later, someone thought of this and bought back baked cold noodles for him from outside. He likes online shopping and surfs Douyin live every day. Beer snacks are bought online, stir-fry stoves are bought online, and even the pavilion in the courtyard is bought online. More than a dozen couriers are delivered every day.

Almost everyone captures moments when he may be alone. Sometimes it was dusk under the dark sky, he pulled the erhu, sometimes in the dead of night, he sat in a huge suite and drank alone. But that was all hypothetical, what his real experience would be, he never said.

In August 2021, Yu Yuexian, who played "Xie Dajiao" in "Country Love", died in a car accident. Because he did not show up at the funeral, some people questioned him. His fear is that if he leads the team to rush over, it will violate the epidemic prevention and control policy. So many journalists are also there, which may trigger public opinion, and Yu's family, who wanted to keep a low profile, could not be at peace.

At that time, all the actors of the theater had just finished 15 days of home quarantine - because an out-of-town audience member was sunny on the way back - Ge Shanshan decided to give "Xie Dajiao" a ride herself. She took four or five hours on the Green Train and drove again. The next day, the elegy written by Zhao Benshan also arrived. People around said that Master stood in the courtyard and wrote all night until dawn after 4 o'clock.

When Master is quiet, he rarely makes mistakes in writing a pair of words, Ge Shanshan thought, people do not know his grief.

Photo courtesy of interviewee

Cassing

When playing Werewolf Kill, there was another game for me: identifying the characters of "The Legend of the Magpie Knife Gate". The leader of the Five Poisons Sect, the head of the Lonely Sect, the first shoemaker in Liaodong, the apprentice of the Tianchi Gang, the descendants of Ke Zhen, the maids, and the guards, they are all present. It is not so much that the characters in the play appear around, but that Zhao Benshan has turned the people around him into characters. Even the driver of Poplar Forest played a eunuch in the play.

This casting method does not start today. Cheng Ye recalled that when he first started in 2006, he acted in "Today's Ascension". "I played with Yang Shulin, but I didn't act, and I didn't know where the camera was. I have to take Master a little hard belt."

Familiar faces on the screen such as Jiang Yishan and Bi Chang were once members of the dance team of Liu Laogen Theater. In the theater, they never had the opportunity to dance solo, but danced the opening group dance and the accompanying dance. "The teacher is a person with a strong sense of responsibility. He thinks that when children enter the company, they can give opportunities as much as possible to make their lives better." Xiao Yuhang, who was the captain of the dance team in the early days, said. Of the company's more than 150 signed actors, only a handful are recommended from outside, starting from the theater.

This is about Zhao Benshan's performance philosophy. His acting is often improvised and does not follow the lines. "My master's acting is very relaxed and life-free, so we still act according to the words, he acts according to the emotions, and acts according to the live atmosphere." Cheng Ye said. He is not superstitious about academics. After all, he himself is also a wild road, relying on pondering and imitation, and his acting skills have been refined. After so many years, he has never let his actors receive professional acting training, even if there is no short-term crash course, but before the start of "The Legend of Que Daomen", everyone received a month of martial arts training.

He always emphasizes the word truth, believing that his true colors are the best. "You're going to make me play a doctor, it's hard, I have to pretend." He said. This probably explains why he used to use the name of the longevity drama "Country Love" to call the group of people around him, calling Meng Lingyu Pi Changshan, and Ge Shanshan being called Wang Yun, and the characters and actors were fused together.

But just like choosing the difficult mode to enter the game, you will face more re-reading after failure. Zhao Benshan always teaches on the spot, sometimes a play takes hours. Someone can't teach it at all, then it can only be changed. "It is certainly unrealistic to accompany a newcomer actor at the level of Chen Daoming. But in our family, everyone's level is not so different." Xiao Yuhang said.

The duo turned actor is not highly educated. An anecdote circulating inside is that once upon a time when filming, an actor said the phrase "I am a samurai of the Empire of Japan". Zhao Benshan listened strangely, and when he read the script, the apprentice read the dash. Similar embarrassment also occurred in the filming of "The Legend of the Magpie Dao Gate". Wang Xiaohu plays a eunuch, and when he wants to say something with court language and crepe, he gets stuck many times and is so angry that he pumped his mouth. "I'm still herding cattle at home when I'm 20," Wang Xiaohu said, "There is no problem with rural lines, and we haven't said those words when we encounter culture."

Each role in each drama is personally finalized by Zhao Benshan, and the same is true of "The Legend of Que Daomen". Among them, Ximen Rou's choice surprised everyone. 10 days before the start-up, he told Li Xiaohe: "There are a lot of dramas for you this time, you have to seize the opportunity." You play my daughter." Li Xiaohe sweated when she heard this, and she later thought that Master had notified so late, she must be afraid that she would be cranky.

Li Xiaohe was born in 1986 and entered Benshan Media in 2018, which is the last batch of actors recruited. Before entering, the couple sang for more than ten years in pairs, running south and north, there was no fixed theater, "some days they moved the land", after entering, they were stationed in foreign theaters, rotating a city for several months, but the income at least stabilized until the epidemic stopped the performance. There were no layoffs in the company, and her husband went to work in the company's purchasing department, while she volunteered to stay in "Xiao Kang" and become a helper, doing some chores and receiving guests with two other actors, An San and Erhei.

Her only acting experience was playing a ticket inspector in "Liu Laogen 5". There is only one play, no script, Zhao Benshan told her on the spot, and it was over once. "You have talent, maybe you should eat this bowl of rice." Master said.

Tang Tiejun later told Li Xiaohe that the role was highly competitive, and "many professional (actors) dug holes to support relationships." The producer recommended several Northeast funny actresses with their own traffic, and one of them was even willing to do it for free. Zhao Benshan's daughter has also been suggested to be considered. He refused.

Li Xiaohe is honest and simple, and she can also feel it when playing werewolf killing, and she easily trusts her. "If you come to play this Ximen Rou, you almost don't have to deliberately perform, because you are this person." She relayed to me the reasons why Zhao Benshan chose her.

"Que Daomen, this river, these people look like this, and suddenly a very beautiful girl appears, which is not in line with this family. I can't be too young, I have to be in my 30s, because I'm in my 60s." When talking to "People", Zhao Benshan gave another reason.

If you keep asking, there is also a consideration that he hides at the bottom, "After all, their family life is more difficult..." The protagonist's salary is a lot of income for Li Xiaohe, who has not performed in theater for three years.

After the start of the show, many ugly words appeared on the Internet, scolding Li Xiaohe for being ugly, old, and too sharp. She was sad. "The ugly girl I chose, it's not that I don't know you're ugly." Why do I still choose you, because you have characteristics. We don't take the idol route, we're a comedian." Zhao Benshan said to her. For other people, maybe it will not be so comforting, but this is the way Zhao Benshan speaks, with a kind of self-deprecation and banter. "Black is red, which proves that someone can remember you, and I am afraid that others will not remember after you finish acting, then it will be performed in vain." You acted very well, at least your character is looking for the right point."

Photo courtesy of interviewee

Employment

A sentimental person, many people around him evaluate Zhao Benshan like this. If his sensibility is measured by whether he loves to shed tears, it is a wrong direction, and he is not prone to tears. Sensibility is reflected in the unconventional playing of cards in some matters. "He's an artist, and everything goes with feelings." Xiao Yuhang said.

The company originally had a football field, and when interest in football waned, he converted it into a golf course. A boss gave him a good horse, and he became interested in raising horses again, and successively bought a dozen horses, and the land became a horse farm. Usually no one has the courage to go up and ride, and the horses are kept in captivity to graze. He later calculated that it would cost a lot of money to raise these horses, so he regretted it and gave them all away. The stables were converted into an art gallery with some root carvings inside. The horse farm became a vegetable field, and "all the staff shouted for grass". Today, the floor is paved with stone tiles and turned into a square.

The executive went with him to Disneyland in the United States, and he asked everyone to ride a roller coaster. "This little bit of guts, if you don't go up, you will leave the company later." He said. After sitting around, Liu Shuangping was so frightened that snot and tears came out (he insisted that it was blown by the wind), and another vice president's wig cover was thrown away.

The story of Tang Tiejun joining the company is another proof of Zhao Benshan's emotional actions.

In 2008, Tang Tiejun, who worked at Guangdong Tietong Company, used his lunch break to write a letter to Zhao Benshan, talking about his views on his sketches, and wrote more than a dozen pages with no other self-introduction except for his age and name. The 29-year-old veteran has no literary experience, he just likes Zhao Benshan's sketches. He didn't even write the specific address, only "Shenyang Zhao Benshan Collection". He left the phone.

Some time later, he received an unfamiliar call from the voice he knew all too well.

At that time, letters came in sacks, and Zhao Benshan couldn't read them at all. By chance, he noticed Tang Tiejun's letter. He was struck by a touch. "I analyzed my work a lot, but I knew he was quite accurate, and I said this is a talent." Zhao Benshan recalled "People".

The two talked on the phone for half an hour. If you have time, you can go and see our Liu Laogen big stage, Zhao Benshan said. When I open Liu Laogen's big stage to Guangdong, I will definitely go to see it, Tang Tiejun said. Hanging up, he thought the two would return to two parallel lines. A letter, exchanged for a phone call, is already magical.

Two days later, Liu Shuangping, president of Benshan Media, contacted him and asked him to go to Shenyang. After seeing several theaters, the president also took him to Beijing to see the location of the new theater. Later, invited by Zhao Benshan, Tang Tiejun resigned from his job in Guangdong in 2009 and joined Benshan Media. "He didn't look at my ID card or my diploma. I didn't talk about my position, I didn't say how much treatment I gave you." Tang Tiejun said. The artist's characteristics were revealed, and Zhao Benshan actually did not think about the specific arrangements next. It just so happened that there was a vacancy in the position of the head of the office, and Tang Tiejun, a native of Hunan who could not even drink liquor, was so topped.

A few years ago, a small talk, this experience was announced by the reporter, and it became a kind of urban legend, and Tang Tiejun was quite displeased. He prefers to treat it as a private memory. During the conversation, he tends to lower his ego. In addition to his habit of chewing betel nuts, his overall temperament is like that of a laboratory researcher. I asked to see the letter several times, but he hesitated, but still couldn't find it.

One evening, in front of me, Zhao Benshan chatted with Tang Tiejun, and the topic turned to the latter's early career. 100 push-ups were fined for no reason from the troops; "publish articles when there is nothing to do, and be favored by the leadership", transferred from the combat squad to the organ; Then there is the simplicity of human feelings, "I have never given gifts to leaders, and I don't know much." Zhao Benshan listened with interest and asked two questions from time to time.

"You graduated from high school?" Zhao Benshan asked.

"Actually, I'm a secondary school." Tang Tiejun touched his nose, "I came from the undergraduate exam."

After serving as the director of the office for half a year, Tang Tiejun was promoted to vice president, the youngest in the president's office, and also served as the director of the art committee, focusing on the formulation and control of art standards. In fact, before his promotion, he had little intersection with Zhao Benshan. "He mainly heard, and he must have inquired about it."

I asked Zhao Benshan whether there was a risk in this airborne way of employing people. "They're the officers, and the officials don't need you to let him go." He felt that the position you put for me was not right, and I was very angry in my heart, and he personally left."

In fact, unhappy endings rarely happen. Today, the three vice presidents of the company, including Tang Tiejun, are from Hunan, Hebei and Sichuan, none of them are from the northeast, none of them have a relationship with the two, they have entered the company on the front and back feet, and over the years, they have all taken root in Shenyang. Zhao's class culture is famous, but Zhao Benshan has long used cross-border outsiders. The earliest signs of the turn began in 2007 when Liu Shuangping was invited to become president of Benshan Media, a master of philosophy from Wuhan University who was assistant to the head of the Chinese song and dance troupe.

"Southerners are very meticulous, they don't communicate in the same way as actors, at least not so hard when talking. Northerners are rough, and contradictions will arise after a long period of management. The two northeasterners have talked for a while, and if you want to talk to the southerners for a while, even if you don't speak well, they will understand the difference between these regional cultures." Zhao Benshan said, "Southerners are relatively less courageous in doing things. If a group of northeasterners do this, maybe the company will do yellow, be bold, just do it, and none of them will cool down. We need people to cool down."

Liu Zide told me about another moment of Zhao Benshan's emotional decision. In 2010, at the graduation exhibition of Benshan Art College of Liaoning University, he played a killer, using the boy skills of learning Peking Opera in his early years, "even turning and tossing". The skill — probably not the performance itself — attracted the honorary dean in the audience.

"What's your boy's name?" After leaving the scene, Zhao Benshan pointed at him and asked. "Come to me, will you?" Then you leave a phone call, you come to the company in the next two days." Everything happened so quickly, among the more than 500 graduates of the college that year, Liu Zide became the only person who was recruited into Benshan Media.

This acting student sang in the theater, and with the foundation of Peking Opera, "nine cavity and eighteen tunes, seventy-two hi hi, you can come when you open your mouth", but the difficulty is that "the funny part cannot be done at all". The same quip, "I speak like the vernacular". He retired from the stage, and in the company's self-made film and television dramas, he never found a brilliant role. He worked as Song Xiaobao's executive agent for several years, and it became more and more painful. Watching the light of the stage shine on others, that feeling is not jealousy, frustration stems from oneself.

However, what Liu Zide wants to tell me is not a story of the gradual extinguishment of an acting dream, but a story of how a wanderer finds a place to belong. After working in different positions, he is now the Chief of Staff and this is a suitable position for him. It was precisely after abandoning the line that Zhao Benshan took the initiative to take him as an apprentice. He fell in love with an actress of the group, and the master heard that the little couple did not have a house yet, so he opened a much higher labor fee than he deserved, and gave a wedding house in disguise. "I am very satisfied, I will definitely not leave, I like places with a human touch." Liu Zide said.

"When everyone encounters a bottleneck, Teacher Zhao will think of finding you another way." Xiao Yuhang said. The same thing happened to her. After retiring from the theater's dance team, she was transferred by Zhao Benshan to be the theater manager, and also worked as an assistant director of the crew. Because the personality is too straight, the interpersonal relationship is not stable, "many people go to sue me, and I don't know how many layers of skin I have shed during the whole transformation." Today, she is the deputy director of the Film and Television Center, where she follows up and negotiates several projects.

Since 2019, Vice President Tang Tiejun has directed several online movies, which are not his interests, but since Zhao Benshan promoted it, he did it. Outside of administrative work, he continues to learn independently. During the filming of "Liu Laogen 5" in 2021, Zhao Benshan caught a cold and arranged for Tang Tiejun to take over for a month. Through this battle, his abilities were recognized internally.

Then came the "Legend of the Magpie Dao Gate". Just like the action force and the reaction force, it is precisely Zhao Benshan who pushes Tang Tiejun, who becomes a director, and in turn, pushes him to become an actor.

Photo courtesy of interviewee

Fun

What did this play change about Zhao Benshan? As if there was nothing. After that, he did not take over the drama and returned to the life of "Xiao Kang". He allowed "People" to approach him, and in the end he didn't talk about himself, "But when the whole play came out, this guy said everywhere, and the price dropped."

Essentially, he wanted to get away from the center of the conversation, where there was something he didn't understand and feared. Consciously or unconsciously, he will talk about the things he wants to avoid. Niu Niu, a daughter who does live broadcasting, came to "Xiao Kang" and talked about her performance from the tenth in the whole platform to the fourth, "The people in front were blocked, and I came up slowly."

"Don't sit first, you'll be unlucky on the first seat." He said lightly, "I have been on the cusp of the storm for half my life. It's not like I haven't rushed forward for ten years."

But those around you can also feel that some tiny gears are turning. The part of his soul that belongs to art and stage is awakening. In private, he did mention the possibility of leading the class to appear in big movies and stage plays in the future.

A more specific performance is that all the time, he is talking about "The Legend of the Magpie Daomen". Two or three hours of dinner, this drama can almost become a running topic. Chatting with apprentices, mainly recalling interesting things about shooting, feedback online evaluations, emotion and lyricism, Che Yi is inevitably speaking over and over again. But slightly different from Tang Tiejun, they will talk about the plot direction of the next part.

"By the time of the second part, everyone else thought that Ximen Changhai was gone, only you knew that he was still there, on a secret mission." Tang Tiejun said. He seems to be having a direct conversation with the cook character played by Zhao Benshan.

"The relationship between the characters and emotions have to be progressive, and it can't be like the original." Zhao Benshan pondered the changes in the cook, "He imitated his brother and began to play a hero." What are the eyes, he always imitates, but he is very pretentious."

They brainstormed and went on one by one. The more they talked, the more excited they became, the flint crashed, the sparks burst out, and the story went in many directions.

Are you happy? Did you have a good drink? Have you had a good few days? He kept asking me that. Happiness is the most important thing, be happy every day, even the worst days. He lost his mother at the age of 5 and his father fled at the age of 7, making him a de facto orphan. My childhood, which lacked family affection and grew up eating a hundred family meals, now looks back, "I didn't feel bitter, because I haven't seen sweet." Suffering is the background, which did not affect him to become a pistachio in school, and then he became the backbone of the commune's literary and artistic propaganda team, a celebrity of the county theater troupe, a star in the northeast, and finally became a generation of laughters and the king of the Spring Festival Gala. It's a long way. "Suffering comes entirely from pleasure, find pleasure, and make pleasure in suffering." He said.

Don't make everything so heavy. He talked to me about "Leaves Fall to the Roots", a 2006 film based on news events that almost won him the Golden Horse Award for leading actor, but he was not satisfied. According to his vision, he should first play with a group of real farmers. Secondly, the plot that is too sad to be modified, the corpse that carried all the way is actually a living person, "he teased me and saw how he carried me home". But is this still a realistic theme? He didn't care, "I wanted to make another version and bring this man to life."

One sunny afternoon, he practiced calligraphy in the courtyard. While he was talking to me, his pen did not stop, and he wrote the Heart Sutra. "This format is the hardest to master, like this control, you see, the horizontal and vertical trips are straight." He said.

People from the outside world of the small courtyard knew him through the Spring Festival Gala sketches and the Internet. But the people around are through those tiny details. Sauce that is always indispensable. Finely fried tofu. The dress that I never figured out the brand. The mantra, "Listen or not, listen or not". Rough but effective words of comfort. Curiosity and concern for everyone.

A figure entered the courtyard and hesitantly approached, it was Jiang Yishan. "I'm sorry, teacher, I reflected on myself, as soon as I played the game, I went up. I don't think I'm very suitable for playing games." She came to apologize for the faux pas in the werewolf killing game the night before.

"Why am I angry and apologized, it's pointless." Zhao Benshan smiled. "It's really not interesting without you, you have to have this seriousness." He squeezed his eyes. "I'll apologize to you, the teacher is not like an adult, let you win."

"They all said me, let's play games with the teacher, just let him go." Jiang Yishan said.

This is a small matter, Zhao Benshan has long been left behind. But the young man's apology was sincere. There is a new talk in "Xiao Kang". Later that day, everyone started chatting and inevitably replayed the game again. It's just that the apology raises a new question.

"If you want to let me, what are you doing?" Zhao Benshan muttered to himself, "Then don't coax me to play?" Don't be so neat."

It gets dark, and it's still some time before the werewolf killing game that starts as agreed. So, the TV turned on again, and only the last few episodes remained. After watching for a while, he felt a little tired, so he lay down on the kang, covered with a quilt, and showed his head to watch TV. The lights were turned off, only the light on the screen remained, and the volume did not decrease. Apprentice Er Hei sat in the corner, teasing the dog, waiting for the master's summons at any time. For the past 30 years, sleep has been a difficult task for Zhao Benshan, he often wakes up in the middle of the night, rarely more than 4 hours of continuous sleep. But now, with the background sound of fighting and killing, the snoring sounded. He did not see the surreal scene at the end of the play, the dialogue ended, and the image of the hero in charge gradually faded, leaving only the cook sitting alone.

Source: Episode "The Legend of Magpie Daomen"

(Thanks to Zhang Yue, Wu Yang, Xing Yiqiang for their contact help)