Zhang Songwen was born in 1976 in an ordinary Hakka family in Shaoguan, Guangdong, his father is a retired soldier and his mother is a housewife.
In his childhood, he had a lively and active personality, and he did not work very hard in his Xi, and his grades were mediocre.
In 1987, the family transferred to Xinfeng County with the transfer of the army to which their father belonged, and their lives improved.
At that time, it was the golden age of reform and opening up, and his father also accumulated a little by doing business, and Zhang Songwen was able to enter junior high school.
However, the good times did not last long, in the third year of Zhang Songwen's junior high school, he lost his mother, and the family lacked warmth and restraint. His grades plummeted, and after graduating from junior high school, he had no choice but to go to a vocational high school.
Despite this, after graduating from vocational high school, he was offered a job as a printer. But with the transformation of the industry, this originally stable job also disappeared after he worked for a long time.
At the same time, my father's small business also went bankrupt and collapsed in the impact of the transformation of the market economic system, and the family fell back into poverty.
During that period, Zhang Songwen, who was only in his early 20s, was almost on the verge of despair. However, he did not give up, but continued to improve himself, running around doing odd jobs, from drink sales to air conditioning installation, from restaurant dishwasher to hotel front desk, he tried to do it.
In this series of jobs, his ability and experience grew rapidly, and eventually he even became the manager of a hotel.
After so many ups and downs in life, Zhang Songwen also has new thoughts about his way out. In 2000, he decided to give up his stable hotel management and chose to study Xi in the acting department of Beijing Film Academy and officially entered the entertainment industry.
After graduating from university in 2003, Zhang Songwen soon got a starring role in a TV series in his hometown of Shaoguantai. This was the first step in his acting career, and it also received a good response.
In the following years, he starred in many sitcoms and costume dramas, and gradually accumulated acting skills and popularity. In 2007, he played a major role in the biographical film of martial arts superstar Huo Yuanjia.
During this period, he has cooperated with many first-line stars and broadened his network.
In 2008, Zhang Songwen's career had begun to take shape, and he also established his own performing arts studio. But even in the rising period of his career, the storms and dangers have never been far away.
For example, there was a hotel that he had taken over and operated, but it still went bankrupt due to poor management, resulting in huge debts. Fortunately, he was not discouraged, but once again repaid it with his own hands.
In the following ten years of acting career, he has always maintained a fighting and enterprising mentality.
Until the end of 2022, Zhang Songwen finally ushered in the highlight moment of his life in the TV series "Hurricane......
"Hurricane" achieved a sensation after its premiere in December 2022, and the role of Gao Qiqiang, a fishmonger played by Zhang Songwen, was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, instantly became popular all over the country, and became an indispensable star in the film and television industry.
Hundreds of millions of viewers have witnessed how an ordinary person gradually degenerates and eventually becomes a bully gangster boss. This sudden peak of popularity seems to indicate that Zhang Songwen has successfully entered the first line.
However, his bonus time was surprisingly short, and only a few months later, Zhang Songwen once again quietly fell back to the edge of popularity.
First of all, when Zhang Songwen was in hot demand, the strategy of choosing a new work was obviously wrong. In August 2022, he confirmed to participate in a patriotic-themed movie called "Volunteers: Heroes Attack".
This is a very positive choice, which is in line with its play. However, the promotional poster for the film caused an uproar online for various reasons. Although it is not Zhang Songwen's pot, he has praised the film and the director before, which undoubtedly dragged him down.
Secondly, Zhang Songwen's own acting skills have also been controversial. Gao Qiqiang in "Hurricane" can be said to be the representative work of his acting career, but some comments believe that this is only the successful shaping of a specific role, and does not form the overall brand and style of Zhang Songwen as an actor.
In many previous works, his performance was relatively restrained, without too many highlights and labels that impressed the audience. This is a bottleneck that a successful film and television actor must break through.
Finally, this also reflects the deep contradictions in the current Chinese entertainment industry. Powerful actors often find it difficult to attract fans by their appearance like Xiao Xianrou. Once there is no work hit, it is easy to be squeezed out of popularity by newcomers.
The film and television industry relies too much on traffic rather than acting skills, which also limits the living space of powerful actors.
The combined effect of various factors eventually led to Zhang Songwen's silence again from a first-line star. This is an inevitability of the current entertainment environment, but it is undoubtedly a sad thing for him.
Zhang Songwen's experience reflects that there are some deep systemic problems in the film and television entertainment industry, which also restrict the development of many powerful actors.
First of all, the prevalence of traffic thinking. Today, when new Internet celebrities are formed in minutes, the speed of star-making in Jiaxing far exceeds the accumulation of acting skills and experience.
Traffic capital such as appearance, figure, and hype have become the admission ticket for stars to obtain resources, while the actual acting skills have been seriously diluted. This makes it impossible for many powerful actors to stand out in the fierce competition.
The second is the overall thinking of the entertainment industry. When choosing a theme, industry decision-makers are often constrained by the pursuit of traffic and speculation about taste. Many scripts and characters with depth can't pass through their eyes.
The lack of attention to the personal shaping of celebrities is also one of the problems. These factors together lead to the limitation of the space for powerful actors to play.
Finally, the maturity of the audience is also important. Although there are many viewers who will appreciate excellent acting skills, the dependence on face is also a true portrayal of the current public aesthetic.
This makes the attention and resources that traffic stars often get far more than the powerful ones. If this phenomenon is not changed, it will be difficult for acting-oriented artists to reap the rewards of the market.
All kinds of drawbacks are intertwined, and it is difficult to harvest both strength and traffic. To reverse this dilemma, the entertainment industry also needs continuous reflection and change.
After a short period of popularity, it quickly returns to flatness, which is difficult for any artist to accept.
In fact, as far as the existing conditions are concerned, Zhang Songwen has the capital to fight in the film and television industry again. He has a successful masterpiece and has accumulated a certain number of contacts, and he only needs to grasp a good role and opportunity again to start again.
Of course, unless there is a change, he may still face the dilemma of traffic. In addition to continuing to stick to his own business, Zhang Songwen can also try to cross different fields, such as combining his own social experience to teach acting skills or share life experience.
In addition, Zhang Songwen can also settle for the next best thing and further explore his inner potential and interests. He had the experience of being a hotel manager, which was another direction worth reconsidering.
Of course, the most fundamental thing is to adjust your mentality and rediscover your motivation in life.
Regardless of the final choice, it is more important to learn lessons, reflect deeply, and build on strengths and avoid weaknesses. The road of life is still long, and strength is the foundation of the entertainment industry.
I believe that Zhang Songwen, with his own potential and perseverance, will be able to open a new chapter in the future.