On a cold winter day in 1953, Pu Cunxin was born in Beijing to a family known for its stage art. His father, Pu Sumin, was a veteran drama actor and director, while his mother worked as a cashier in a state-owned bank.
Pu Cunxin grew up bathed in the atmosphere of drama and art since he was a child. In my memory, my father always held the script in his hand, shuttling between the repertory troupe's practice room and the Grand Theater.
When I was just 2 years old, something unfortunate happened. A sudden polio paralyzed the young Pu Cunxin's legs in bed. The illness tormented him as an infant and made his parents anxious.
The family went to major hospitals for medical treatment, and after a long treatment, Pu Cunxin's legs gradually regained sensation. At the age of 13, he finally got rid of the shadow of his disability and walked and jumped like an ordinary person.
At the age of 16, Pu Cunxin went to the countryside with tens of millions of educated youths to join the queue. He was assigned to a rural village on the edge of the Heilongjiang River and began a boring working life.
Several drama classics sent to him by his father became his bosom friend. When grazing, Pu Cunxin will play the harmonica and recite drama lines. At the age of 24, he was admitted to a civilian job and became a literary soldier, so that he was able to return to Beijing to reunite with his family.
A drama dream has never been extinguished, and Pu Cunxin is determined to move forward to the profession of actor.
In 1985, Wanping, a beautiful girl she met in the literary army, became Pu Cunxin's bride. Although the life after marriage is poor, the two love each other, and Pu Cunxin seems to have found the other half of his life.
In 1986, Pu Cunxin got his wish and became an actor at the Beijing People's Art Theater and officially entered the professional stage.
After nearly 10 years on the arduous road of acting, in 1996, 43-year-old Pu Cunxin finally ushered in the peak of his career. In the hit TV series "Heroes Without Regrets" that year, his wonderful interpretation of the villain became famous in one fell swoop, and since then he has entered the field of vision of the audience, and his popularity is increasing day by day.
The next few years can be said to be the "golden age" of Pu Cunxin's acting career.
He has starred in many popular costume dramas such as "Huanzhu Gege" and "Book of Swords and Enmity", and successfully created the screen image of "the great traitor of the nation". At the same time, he did not give up the performance of stage plays.
The vivid interpretation of the businessman image of Pu Cunxin in the drama "Oil Seller" made him win the best actor in the Chinese drama "Little Golden Man Award" for the second time. With his excellent acting skills and rich performance experience, in just a few years, Pu Cunxin has become one of the most outstanding contemporary theater actors, and has won several industry awards and honorary titles such as "Top Ten People Who Moved China".
However, the good times were short-lived. When Pu Cunxin's career was in full swing, his family suffered a change. In 2016, Pu Cunxin's father unfortunately passed away, and this news undoubtedly brought him a huge blow.
What saddened him even more was that his father's death caused his mother to fall into extreme grief and soon developed severe cognitive impairment.
Seeing his mother's declining condition, Pu Cunxin couldn't bear to be busy with work anymore, and decided to suspend his acting career and take care of his sick mother wholeheartedly. During this period, he took his mother to seek various treatments, but her condition still did not improve.
In the past two years, Pu Cunxin has almost lost contact with the entertainment industry.
After his mother's condition stabilized slightly, Pu Cunxin made a comeback and was ready to rededicate himself to his acting career. However, what he didn't expect was that in the past two years, the film and television market has changed dramatically.
The audience's aesthetic preferences are more youthful, and a group of new generation of small fresh meat occupy the screen, and they are no longer keen on the works of old drama bones.
After Pu Cunxin returned to the scene, he received very few drama appointments, and he was once popular, but now he has become the object that directors will not consider for the first time. In desperation, he could only return to the drama stage, but he had not appeared on the stage for many years, and the audience no longer remembered him.
Now, Pu Cunxin's acting career is no longer prosperous, and he is in a painful predicament at a low point.
Despite the Waterloo in his career, Pu Cunxin did not give up his pursuit of performing arts. Now 70 years old, he still has a passion for theatre and is actively returning to the stage.
He knows very well that as long as he makes up his mind and is willing to put in the effort, there will definitely be a chance to turn defeat into victory.
In order to prove himself again, Pu Cunxin began to hone his acting skills again, looking for suitable stage opportunities in various troupes. He took the initiative to contact some small theater troupes and play some roles in dramas, hoping to gradually recover the sense of performance and regain the attention of the audience.
At first, the roles and treatment provided by these small troupes were very limited, but Pu Cunxin did not complain at all, as long as he could perform on the stage, he was already satisfied.
Although the glory of the former star road has gone, Pu Cunxin's heart has never given up the pursuit of an acting career. Because this is his lifelong love, and it is the spiritual pillar that supports him through the trough of life.
It is this stubbornness and perseverance that supports Pu Cunxin to endure humiliation and burden when his career is in a downturn, still bravely face the challenges of life, and continue to perform with a positive attitude.
Pu Cunxin, who has experienced all kinds of ups and downs in his life and career, is no longer the fledgling young actor he was back then, he has become a weathered artist.
Although the years are not forgiving, at the age of 70, he is still persistent and enthusiastic in his artistic pursuit.
Just recently, Pu Cunxin participated in an important cultural exchange event. Dressed in a Chinese robe, he stood in the center of the stage, and vividly interpreted a piece of "Pipa Xing" with a vicissitudes of life and magnetic voice.
The wisdom and charm revealed after washing away the lead made the audience moved. The audience gave a standing ovation and praised the veteran artist for his continued charm.
Pu Cunxin on the stage, from his facial demeanor to his body language, exudes a temperament, which is the stability and elegance precipitated by the years. Once upon a time, he was also like a young actor off the stage, working hard with dreams.
Now, after the baptism of the wind and the sun, Pu Cunxin has become an artist in the true sense.
Many times his career has had ups and downs, but Pu Cunxin has never lost his love for art. Because the acting career is his lifelong pursuit, just like an old opera artist blowing music, it is a kind of faith and persistence.
Although Pu Cunxin is old, his artistic soul still shines brightly. This venerable old artist deserves to be followed by future generations, who will never forget his original intention on the road of artistic creation and will always be full of enthusiasm.