Preface
Is she really not fit to be an actress?
In the winter of 1999, a 13-year-old girl from a poor mountainous area in western China became popular overnight through a movie, she was Wei Minzhi.
When she was faced with the choice of whether to continue to develop her acting career or return to her hometown to study, director Zhang Yimou said to her an unforgettable sentence: "She is not good-looking, and her figure is not good, so she is not suitable to be an actor." ”
This sentence undoubtedly caused great confusion to this 14-year-old girl, but after all, it did not stop her from continuing to chase her dreams.
Now, 25 years later, she has grown into an excellent filmmaker with a happy family.
All these opportunities come from the popular movie "No One is Missing" in which she participated.
The gorgeous counterattack of the mountain girl
Before 1999, Wei Minzhi, like other children in the mountains, lived an unpretentious life.
She was in poverty, and the first thing she did after school was to help her parents with farm work, repeating the process day after day.
It wasn't until she was 13 years old that she came to the casting site of the movie "No One is Missing" by chance, and showed her singing voice in front of everyone without any scruples, this brave move allowed her to successfully enter the final casting process of the film, and finally got the opportunity to be the heroine.
The director of this movie is none other than the famous director Zhang Yimou.
Maybe he wasn't optimistic about this rustic mountain girl at that time, but her courage to boldly show her personality and easy-going and cheerful personality still left a deep impression on him.
In the end, Wei Minzhi became one of the heroines in the movie with her excellent performance.
When the movie was released in 1999, she also became an overnight celebrity and became a rising star in the country at that time.
When faced with a choice, follow the advice of your teacher
A 14-year-old girl, facing a great opportunity for the development of her career as an artist, how should she choose her future?
As the director of this film, Zhang Yimou knows the cruelty and hardships of the film and television industry.
He advised Wei Minzhi not to be carried away by fame and fortune, and to stay calm and rational.
"It's just an opportunity and an experience, don't change your life just because of a movie. This sentence became Wei Minzhi's inspiration at that critical moment.
After careful consideration, she chose to give up chasing the glittering star career, but listened to Zhang Yimou's advice and concentrated on returning to the village to study, laying a solid foundation for her future.
Although she rejected the great future of the entertainment industry, Wei Minzhi was not discouraged in the face of the incomprehension of the people around her.
She still goes her own way, works hard, and strives to move forward for her dreams.
Still unpretentious country life
After returning to the village, Wei Minzhi's life did not change much because of the success.
When she gets up in the morning, she still has to help her family feed the pigs, and in the afternoon after school, she is busy cutting pigweed.
She was not a top student in Xi, but she was extremely diligent and never slackened in her studies.
Every day when I come home from school, I will carefully complete the homework assigned by the teacher, and I will study extracurricular knowledge by myself in my spare time.
Although she could have chosen to go to the city to study and take a different life path from other "girls", she still chose to study at a school in her hometown.
Although the conditions in the countryside are poor, she has never complained about anything.
In the eyes of her classmates, Wei Minzhi is a good girl with a cheerful personality and helpful personality.
Even back in the countryside, Wei Minzhi's talent and stories still attract the attention of publishers.
She wrote the story of her growth into a book and earned her first fortune.
This provides a financial guarantee for her to realize her dreams in the future.
was not favored, and insisted on applying for film school
Three years of high school life was not easy for this mountain village girl, who not only had to face pressure from her family and teachers, but also had to endure the jokes of her classmates.
But with perseverance, she survived.
On the eve of the college entrance examination, Wei Minzhi had a bold idea - to apply for film school and learn Xi filmmaking.
Despite the disapproval of her family and teachers, she still insisted on her choice.
"I just wanted to give it a try, and if it succeeded, wouldn't there be another option? In the face of others' doubts, Wei Minzhi was not discouraged.
However, to her regret, in the end, she still failed to pass the film school interview.
This was undoubtedly a blow to her ambitions, and she was also hit hard by the ridicule from all sides.
The opportunity came, and he flew to the United States
Fortunately, God did not forget her, just after the college entrance examination, Wei Minzhi received an admission letter from the School of Communication and Communication of Xi'an University of Foreign Chinese.
She could have been a teacher, and she resolutely decided to take a new path different from the "Mou Girls" and become a college student.
During her college years, she focused on her Xi expertise and directed two autobiographical films.
She blends her story with the expertise she's learned.
What she never expected was that she would get a chance to fly to the United States for further study.
An American professor appreciated her talent and perseverance and decided to sponsor her to study in the United States.
To this end, Wei Minzhi began to Xi study English day and night, and she desperately prepared for this opportunity to change her fate.
In the end, with her fluent English and excellent professional knowledge, she won the study abroad qualification and full scholarship as she wished.
American life is once again gorgeous
After coming to the United States, Wei Minzhi seemed to be reborn.
Not only does she focus on learning Xi professional knowledge and improving her filmmaking skills, but she also participates in various extracurricular activities to enrich her life and express herself.
With her fluent English and cheerful and generous hosting style, she has added a lot to many of the school's activities.
The applause and laughter at the scene were her biggest motivation.
In addition to studying Xi and activities, she also found her other half.
At a party, she met Lone Eagle, and the two hit it off, and it didn't take long for them to enter the palace of marriage.
Today's Wei Minzhi is a mother of two children.
She has built her own warm and happy little home, with a successful career and a happy life.
It all started with that brave decision when she was younger.
25 years later, a coincidence of fate once again allowed her to meet director Zhang Yimou abroad.
Back then, the rustic girl had grown into a mature and elegant woman, and Zhang Yimou couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "You have grown up, like a story." ”
Along the way, she still cherishes her gratitude to her mentor and always reminds herself not to forget her roots.
It was director Zhang Yimou who gave her the initial enlightenment in her life, and she had the opportunity to create her destiny later.
epilogue
Twenty-five years on, the issue is no longer important.
Wei Minzhi used her own efforts and persistence to prove that an ordinary girl in a mountain village can also change her fate and achieve a brilliant life through her own efforts.
Her success is the crystallization of her own diligence and perseverance, and the guidance of her mentor Zhang Yimou is indispensable.
Maybe she wasn't destined to become a movie star, but she found another path of her own - becoming a filmmaker, telling stories that belong to ordinary people.
Now she lives happily and has a successful career, and she continues to interpret the meaning of "no one is missing" with her life.
Everyone is pursuing the light in their own way, and this is the story she shares with thousands of ordinary people.