Goodbye, Zhou Haimei, you're not just Zhou Zhiruo

On the evening of December 12, Zhou Haimei's studio sadly informed the public that Zhou Haimei had passed away on the 11th. This is a sudden and unspeakable sadness for the studio, her relatives and friends, and the audience who loves her.

Much has been said about her physical condition. It is rumored that Zhou Haimei suffers from lupus erythematosus, an immune system disease, and I personally responded in an interview: No. But when she was studying, Zhou Haimei had a problem with low platelets, and when it was serious, she fainted and was sent to the hospital.

In a 1992 issue of the old publication "Contemporary Television", it was written: Zhou Haimei was about 15 years old, and suddenly suffered from subcutaneous hemorrhage. This peculiar illness improved at the age of 18, and because of the illness, Zhou Haimei's studies were intermittent.

Excerpted from "Hong Kong "Sister Level" Star Zhou Haimei", Author: Xiaomin, Publication Title: Contemporary Television, November 1992.

Another rumor is that Zhou Haimei got lupus erythematosus when she participated in "Across the Seas" in 1998, so the screenwriter changed the ending of the female number one, and the filming was often topped by the heroine's stand-in, and only the back of her head was shot. And Zhou Haimei's later statement was: I was busy falling in love at that time.

Zhou Haimei's marriage and love scandal was a sweet spot in the eyes of the Hong Kong media in the 90s of the 20th century. The entertainment reports of the year were true or false, and they did not care about the evidence or sources, but only wanted to tell the most "sexy" stories. In fact, it may not matter whether there is such a love affair or not. Celebrities' privacy is easily sold as a business, and using this to divert attention is also one of the ways for them to protect themselves.

(Photo/"Back to When I Was Unmarried")

Zhou Haimei is of course special. She's not just beautiful. Netizens' concern for her also proves that she is a bright corner in the public's memory.

For many years later, Zhou Haimei was no longer the heroine. Now she is talked about by the audience from time to time, and her existence is still a symbol of beauty - black hair, red lips, bright and smart, and her eyes will shine, like a star in the 90s of the 20th century. But looking closely at her demeanor and the roles she has played, her inspiration to the screen is far more than that.

The beauty pageant failed Zhou Haimei

Zhou Haimei is a "loser" in the beauty pageant.

In 1985, she went to participate in the beauty pageant, and there were two versions before and after: one was that it was written in a magazine, because she was not in good health a few years ago, and her father saw that she was such a lively person who did not exercise and had no energy, so he signed up for her;

Now on the short video platform, you can still see the clips of the beauty pageant of the year. 19-year-old Zhou Haimei has lively curly hair, and when she smiles, she will show a row of snow-white and neat pretty teeth, and even the fleshy gums can be seen. The other contestants tried their best to walk in a dignified manner, and she jumped and jumped like a rabbit out of the cage.

As a result, Zhou Haimei didn't even win the "30 into 15" competition. The other defeated players were crying backstage, but she ran to "congratulate" the promoted players. In her 50s, in an interview with "Face to Face with Celebrities", she talked about her memories when she was 19 years old, and the row of playful teeth showed again.

When Zhou Haimei appeared in the new TV series, there was a barrage that said that Zhou Haimei was "whistle teeth", which was a special beauty that attracted her attention back then, but now it is the focus of the audience with anxiety about her appearance.

Even though the beauty pageant results were so average, TVB still saw her. Her first role is the little sister in "Yang Jiajiang", a young, crying but a little ghost with the spirit of a general, a bright, playful and brave girl.

The eve of the awakening of "Zhou Zhiruo".

Zhou Haimei's first popular role was not Zhou Zhiruo, but Ah Hua in 1989's "Intolerable Love". It is also this drama that created the big villain in the history of Hong Kong dramas, Ding Youkang (played by Wen Zhaolun) who will do whatever it takes to pursue his goals.

It was the era when Hong Kong dramas swept East Asia and Southeast Asia, and it was also the golden year when Hong Kong drama scripts loved to "break through" and had the broadest vision. Love and hate, life and death, individuals seem to have infinite autonomy over their fate, but the times are like a storm, rolling them into the most suitable myths for broadcasting.

(Photo/"Big Trouble")

is different from urban leisure and workplace life after the millennium, Hong Kong dramas at this time have a broader imagination. But the audience can still see the traces of love from the scripts of that year.

Ah Hua is a bitter woman, from her life experience to the ending, she is pitiful, and she can be called a kind of half-new Lin Daiyu.

She came to Hong Kong from her Macau family in Luotuo and sent people under the fence. The kind woman first fell in love with the evil man Ding Youkang, but fortunately she was "sober" and found that the other party just had a plan, not because of love. She quickly withdrew and saw Ding Youjian, a man beside her who was silently dedicated, willing, responsible, and able to endure hardships. They sweetly filmed a delay, breeding a true and loyal love, even if Ding Youjian was guilty of his younger brother for two years, Ah Hua waited for him to come back.

(Photo/"This Life and This World")

Ding Youjian, a man as loyal as an "old cow", was the ideal lover in the value of love back then, and never giving up was the definition of love back then. But Ah Hua is a hesitant woman, torn between love and future choices, and Ding Youjian is also worried that he is "not worthy".

Before their wedding, Ah Kin saw Ah Wah's letter to his best friend and hesitated to get married, and decided to run away from the wedding on the wedding day. The wedding fell through, and the ashamed Ah Wah wanted to escape from Hong Kong, China and go to Malaysia to develop his career.

The separation of the lovers stems from women's hesitation about their own choices and love, as well as from men's inferiority. Looking at it from a more modern perspective, women who don't choose love and leave will also live well, but the screenwriter created a plane crash that made Ah Hua fall deeper into the abyss-

Ah Wah, whose parents are dead and his lower body is disabled, is the only one left to rely on. At this time, Ah Jian has a new lover, and his career has improved, and the power between them has reversed, so the two fall into a "toxic" and entangled triangular relationship.

(Photo/"Shocking")

Although the situation of this character is not "modern" enough, Ah Hua at this time already has the shadow of "Zhou Zhiruo".

She dares to love and hate, even if she goes through the worst ordeal, you can still see the energy in this woman's body. She has a desire for herself, and she also has a side that fights for love. If it weren't for the screenwriter arranging the most demanding plot, she might have reinvented herself and could live comfortably.

And in 1989, the beautiful Ah Hua changed his fate and finally ushered in the end of his fall. The audience at that time had different judgments on the "morality" of Ah Hua's character, but their regret for her was real. From 1990 to 1993, Zhou Haimei was voted by the public as the most popular heroine.

How to achieve "Zhou Zhiruo"?

Later, when the crew of the 1994 version of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer" was looking for actors, they invited Zhou Haimei many times. Zhou Haimei didn't agree at first, after reading the original book, she felt that Zhou Zhiruo had done many incomprehensible "bad things", and she didn't want to act. But after several communications, Zhou Haimei still starred, and then there is a three-dimensional, plump, perhaps the least "evil" and most unhatable Zhou Zhiruo.

Perhaps the preface of the story is: Ah Hua and Zhou Zhiruo are not absolutely evil women. They have an inner energy. They are pushed by fate (plot), but they have a motive and desire to change the world.

(Photo/1994 version of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer")

Zhou Haimei's version of Zhou Zhiruo, although her life experience is scattered, she rarely frowns bitterly. The predecessor Zhao Yazhi played Zhou Zhiruo very beautifully, but it was too gentle, and Zhou Zhiruo played by Zhou Haimei was different. Even if Zhou Haimei is a playful and happy person every day, she also performs like this in many romantic comedies, but when she plays Zhou Zhiruo, her eyes have a sense of heroism, domineering and stubbornness.

Zhou Zhiruo has a universe inside, and before deciding to "blacken", she had her own ideals. Even in current terms, she is a little hot-blooded and a little sickly, and after "blackening", she also has her own set of rules. The so-called "goddess of revenge" has been there since Zhou Zhiruo.

Later, Jin Yong also exclaimed that if he had known that it was Zhou Haimei who played Zhou Zhiruo, he would have rewritten the ending and let Zhou Zhiruo and Zhang Wuji be together. There are many pearls and jades in front of them, and the 2019 version of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer" is indeed unwatched, but Zhou Haimei's role as the exterminator still makes people sigh. Although Zhou Zhiruo became the extermination master back then, if you think about it carefully, maybe no one understands the extermination master's journey better than Zhou Zhiruo.

(Photo/2019 edition of "Heaven and Dragon Slayer")

Zhou Haimei has also played many different "half-righteous and half-evil" roles in different dramas.

For example, in "Truant Dragon", she plays a dangerous woman - even if this film doesn't explain her too much, it shows more of a more "crazy woman" side. In the relatively unpopular 1993 "Male and Female", Zhou Haimei played a calculating woman. The film tells the story of two old men competing and wrestling with each other, and the background is the utilitarian side of love when the economy took off.

This drama was not highly discussed back then, but later Zhou Haimei's role was repeatedly circulated: black hair, red lips, black single skirt, and sharp eyes. She is shrewd, intelligent, both righteous and evil, not easy to be deceived, but she also has a true feeling, which is different from other women who "sacrificed narratives" and took the lead in modern times.

Born in 1966, Zhou Haimei has provided excellent characters and performance models for the screen. Looking back, how many characters are there now that can withstand the audience's chewing for twenty or thirty years?

Content Editor: Fili