"I've been looking for you for three days, why haven't you come back?"
This line is from Zhang Yimou's early movie "No One is Missing", and the line that Wei Minzhi, the female number one in the play, is looking for a lost child at school is even more touching.
At that time, this movie did not have any top stars, it was all shot by amateurs, but once it was released, countless viewers were moved to tears by the dialect on the screen, combed braids, and dressed rustic, but extremely stubborn "class representative" teacher.
And the protagonist "Wei Minzhi", which is her real-life name, became popular overnight and was well-known to the public.
In 1999, Zhang Yimou became popular with two "Mou Girls", one is Zhang Ziyi in "My Father and Mother", who is also the double queen of the Academy Awards and the Golden Horse Awards, and the other is Wei Minzhi, who has bluntly said "not good-looking" in front of the camera many times.
She is also known as the "ugliest girl", if it were not for Zhang Yimou, she might only be able to raise pigs in the countryside for the rest of her life, and Zhang Yimou's arrival changed her life, but she was also persuaded to quit the entertainment industry after becoming popular.
Time flies, 22 years have passed, Zhang Yimou's "Mou Girl" has gradually expanded, Zhou Dongyu in "The Love of the Hawthorn Tree", Ni Ni in "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins", and the popular flower Liu Haocun..... these people are now active in the entertainment industry, and their careers are steadily rising.
And what happened to Wei Minzhi, who was gradually forgotten by the entertainment industry?
01 was chosen as the heroine
Before 1998, Wei Minzhi lived in Zhenningbao Village, Chicheng County, Hebei Province, where she was "facing the loess and facing the sky", and went home every day after school to feed pigs, cook and do farm work.
Originally, her future life was like that of most rural girls at that time, she married and had children when she reached the right age after finishing school, and spent an ordinary life in the countryside, and stayed on the land facing the loess and facing the sky all her life.
But no one expected that Zhang Yimou's appearance would change the life of this 13-year-old rural girl.
As we all know, Zhang Yimou's films always have a strong color, and in the eighties and nineties of the last century, his masterpieces can be described as a smash hit.
Whether it is "The Red Lantern Hangs High", which reflects the feudal society's constraints on women, or "Ju Dou", which breaks through secular ethics, and Yu Hua's famous "Alive", these classic films have left a deep impression on the audience.
However, after 1995, Zhang Yimou fell into a trough, and just finished filming "Something to Say", which had mixed reviews, coupled with the death of his father, he was very confused, and at this time he also urgently needed a film to "reinvigorate".
At this time, he happened to see the novel "There is a Sun in the Sky" by the writer Shi Xiangxing, and he immediately wanted to make this novel into a movie after reading it, so he renamed it "No One is Missing".
In 1999, in order to shoot what "No One is Missing" wanted to express, Zhang Yimou did not choose professional and popular actors this time, but was ready to let all amateur actors interpret it.
In this way, the crew went to rural areas across the country to select actors, and at this time, the assistant director Li Hong, who came to Ningbao Village, fell in love with the twin sisters Wei Minzhi and Wei Congzhi who were watching the excitement at a glance.
originally selected her sister Wei Congzhi, but Wei Congzhi was more shy, Wei Minzhi was lively and bold, dared to dance and sing in front of people, and sang "Our Motherland is a Garden" in front of the assistant director.
So in the end, she got the opportunity to go to Zhang Yimou for an interview, but at that time, tens of thousands of people competed for the role, although Wei Minzhi's performance made Li Hong very satisfied, Zhang Yimou was still difficult to decide for a while.
Instead, the final assessment was set, that is, to let the girls shout wildly at the camera, in fact, Wei Minzhi at this time didn't know what making a movie was.
But with a vivid cry, she was lucky to get the opportunity to shoot a movie, she moved Zhang Yimou, and was successfully elected as the heroine of "No One is Missing".
After a few months of shooting, the camera also left Wei Minzhi's life, and at that time, she would not have thought that her life would change because of this, and her life temporarily returned to its original peace.
02 became popular overnight, and his life changed
In 1999, "No One is Missing" was screened at the Venice International Film Festival and quickly won several well-known domestic awards, and Wei Minzhi also became popular overnight.
In the film, the audience was moved to tears by the simple and stubborn rural substitute teacher Wei Minzhi, who was told by the original teacher to take a good look at the only students in the village, and no one should be missing.
And Wei Minzhi also remembered the teacher's advice, and a few days later, a student named "Zhang Huike" secretly went to the city to work in order to pay off his family's debts.
And Wei Minzhi also embarked on the road of looking for students alone, relying on a pair of legs into the city, the city is unfamiliar with life, she is penniless, drinks tap water, eats leftovers when she is hungry, and even sleeps on the street.
In the end, Wei Minzhi asked in tears in front of the camera through the TV station:
"Zhang Huike, where are you?"
And her persistence and strength touched the people in the movie, and also moved the audience off the screen, and finally she completed the teacher's instructions and fulfilled the promise of 28 children.
For a time, Wei Minzhi became the focus of the media, and countless media poured into the remote villa.
For a while, news came about whether Wei Minzhi would step into the showbiz on this, and there were countless brokerage companies, and the director wanted to sign her and let her make movies.
These halos made Wei Minzhi both heartbroken and confused, she didn't know whether she would be an actor in the future or come back to study steadily, at this time Zhang Yimou appeared and gave her some advice.
03 was persuaded by Zhang Yimou to quit the entertainment industry, and now the status quo is like this
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yimou said in public that Wei Minzhi was not beautiful and his figure was not beautiful, and at the same time he also warned him not to disturb the child, and at the same time he said to Wei Minzhi seriously:
"I co-made this movie, this one thing can't change your fate, but you get into a good school, study hard Xi from now on, this is a very important thing. ”
Indeed, in the beautiful entertainment industry, Wei Minzhi, who looks mediocre and has no culture, will most likely not have much development as an actor, so although she became famous with "No One is Missing", Zhang Yimou still directly persuaded her and did not want her to enter the entertainment industry.
And "a word to wake up the dreamer", Wei Minzhi also listened to Zhang Yimou's words, returned to his studies, and started another life.
And Wei Minzhi later said frankly in "A Date with Luyu":
"If it weren't for this movie, I would probably have raised pigs at home, got married, and had children. ”
At this time, the chairman of Shijiazhuang Elite High School threw an "olive branch" to Wei Minzhi, and after the other party learned of Wei Minzhi's academic Xi and family situation, he provided her and her sister with the opportunity to study for free, and also helped their family get out of the mountains and arranged a job for Wei Minzhi's father in the school.
After Wei Minzhi entered middle school, she worked hard to learn Xi, and three years later, she was successfully admitted to the high school of the elite high school through her own efforts.
In the third year of high school, she remembered the filming of "No One is Missing", and the fire in her heart was once again gassed, Wei Minzhi thought to herself that since God arranged a chance for me to make a movie, this must be fate.
And she also participated in the exam of Beijing Film Academy without hesitation, but unfortunately she did not hesitate to be brushed off in the third exam, and this time she failed, the media and netizens also ridiculed her, and she fell into a low point in her life.
But she never gave up on herself, since she couldn't be an actor, she chose to be a director to enter the army, and with hard work, she was admitted to the Media Department of Xi'an University of Foreign Affairs and Chinese and became a student majoring in choreography and directing.
Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared, and she not only fulfilled her wish, directing "Mother's Wish", but also successfully went to Brigham Young University in Hawaii to continue her studies.
This university has students from 105 countries across the country, so it has extremely high requirements for spoken English, and in order to succeed in further studies, it must meet the standard of English.
So, she made up for her English, and in just two years, she had a fluent English, and here she also met her true son Liu Jinhui.
They fell in love for a long time in the process of getting along, and it didn't take long for them to come together, and after marriage, they fell in love and conceived two children.
In 2010, she returned to China with her husband and children. As a producer, he filmed a documentary "Daughter of Miracles" based on personal experiences.
She made this documentary to let more people know that as long as you are willing to work hard, there will be miracles in life, and in 2010, Wei Minzhi interviewed as a reporter at the opening ceremony of the 30th Hawaii International Film Festival.
At this time, Zhang Yimou joined hands with the new Mou girl Zhou Dongyu, as well as the work "The Love of the Hawthorn Tree" to attend, when Wei Minzhi asked Zhang Yimou a question in fluent English, Zhang Yimou said with a surprised face:
"Wei Minzhi hasn't seen each other for many years, but when she grew up, it's like a story, when she and I were both 14 years old when they made movies, and now she is here to ask me questions", Zhang Yimou was full of pride and emotion between the words.
Now 37-year-old Wei Minzhi still continues her dream of acting, and a reporter once asked her:
"What happened to the other actors who filmed "No One is Missing" back then?"
She was silent for a long time and then replied:
"Some dropped out of school, and some still farmed at home",
And Wei Minzhi is the one who changed her fate, from a rural pig girl to today's intellectual woman, she has gone all the way, although there is an element of luck, but more importantly, she knows how not to be arrogant or impatient, seize every opportunity, and work hard for it.
Some netizens commented on her:
"This movie inspired her, and it was she who chose the right one",
Although Wei Minzhi is not as dazzling and popular as other girls, she walked out of the mountains step by step in her own way and realized her dream.
And Wei Minzhi's life experience also tells us that if we have enough confidence to persevere, one day our dreams will come true!