One day in 1999, it was drizzling in Beijing. 7-year-old Yang Zigang participated in a draft event and happily sat in his father's passenger seat.
She loves the feeling of being on stage, and the joy of speaking and acting in front of the camera comes naturally.
"Dad, I want to be an actor in the future!" Yang Zi's voice was a little noisy because of the sound of rain.
"It's hard to be an actor, and you have to go through a lot of grievances. My father gently persuaded him as he drove.
"I'm not afraid! The actor is so cool!" Yang Zi pressed her little face against the car window, and the rain swept across her face, leaving a water mark.
In this way, Yang Zi began to firmly want to embark on the road of no return as an actor. In order to get into Nortel, she began to work hard to learn Xi performance-related knowledge. On her 13th birthday, her father planned to give Yang Zi's actor dream an explanation - he decided to call his old friend Song Dandan to ask for the opinion of this veteran actor.
"Hey, Dandan, I'm Zizi's father......" Father turned his phone to hands-free mode.
"Oh, Zizi wants to be an actress......! To be honest, I don't think she's a good fit. Song Dandan's hearty voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Why?" Yang Zi couldn't help but interject and asked.
"The most important thing is the looks! We pay attention to natural beauty in this industry, you ...... Anyway, it's not pretty. ”
The undisguised disgust in Song Dandan's words poked at the most vulnerable part of Yang Zi's heart. She knew that her appearance was not outstanding, but she didn't expect even industry insiders to deny her so directly.
Yang Zi sat in the co-pilot in a daze, tears falling silently, unable to speak for a long time.
Despite the blow, Yang Zi chose to face reality - she filled in the acting department of Beijing Film Academy. This is undoubtedly a difficult challenge for a junior high school student, and the actor profession has always been highly competitive.
However, Yang Zi was not afraid of difficulties, she worked hard to learn Xi acting courses, and after 3 years of training, she was finally admitted to the coveted Nortel in the college entrance examination.
The university gave Yang Zi a broader world. There are countless young people who share her dreams. On the first day of her freshman year, Yang Zi met her classmates Zhang Yishan and Li Xian - both of whom later became superstars at the level of "first brother in the acting department".
At first, Yang Zi was questioned because of her status as a "child star", and many people were not optimistic about her prospects. However, she didn't pay attention to these discussions, and just focused on acting classes.
No matter what task the teacher arranges, Yang Zi will perform carefully, for fear of missing any opportunity to practice her acting skills.
In the second semester of her sophomore year, Yang Zi encountered the first low point in her life - due to a facial acne due to a long-term high-intensity work and rest, her already inconspicuous appearance looked very bad at this time.
What's even worse is that at this time, Nortel also circulated a photo of her hair and body out of shape. Yang Zi was once again greatly humiliated. "This little girl is disabled, what kind of acting is there?" I don't think she'll end up messing around.
All kinds of discussions were buzzing in his ears, and Yang Zi's inferiority complex had almost reached its peak.
The four-year experience of university is an important process for every acting student to mature. Yang Zi finally climbed up the trough in such a workout. In 2014, the well-known director Kong Sheng was not afraid of outside criticism and chose her to star in the war drama "Battle of Changsha".
This work spans 30 years, from the Anti-Japanese War years to the reform and opening up, which puts forward extremely high requirements for acting skills. The heroine Bai Qian, played by Yang Zi, has grown from a 16-year-old girl to a middle-aged woman, which undoubtedly greatly tests her acting skills.
However, to everyone's surprise, Yang Zi perfectly completed the task assigned to her by director Kong Sheng. Her delicate and clear eyes showed different stages of emotional changes, which successfully touched all the audience.
This drama made Yang Zi's popularity soar overnight, and she finally completely cleared the label of "child star".
followed by "Ode to Joy", which cooperated with director Kong Sheng again, which directly pushed Yang Zi's career to a new level. The popularity and reputation are increasing day by day.
In 2017, he collaborated with Bai Jingting on "Fragrant Honey Sinks Like Frost" is undoubtedly the pinnacle work, and has received an unprecedented enthusiastic response. Yang Zi perfectly interpreted the mental journey of the little actor Bai Qian, which moved everyone.
At the same time, her appearance has also become more and more outstanding in the continuous baptism of public aesthetics, and she has successfully shaken off all doubts about her appearance in the past. However, the good times did not last long, and when everything seemed to be developing in the best direction, Yang Zi suffered an unexpected blow again - she became the target of public criticism again because of her poor appearance in "Qingyunzhi".
Even the industrial predator Wang Sicong publicly diss her appearance on Weibo, causing an uproar. Yang Zi only felt that Song Dandan's words 13 years ago echoed in his ears again, and his appearance seemed to be able to never wash away the original sin, and it was destined to become a stumbling block to his career.
The question of appearance and strength has always been a topic that troubles every actress. However, smart people know that as long as they keep working hard, a truly outstanding work will eventually make external defects nowhere to hide.
With the arrival of 2022, Yang Zi relied on the new drama "Sauvignon Blanc" to reach the peak of her career again. The love drama between her and "Little Fresh Meat" Yi Yang Qianxi caused a sensation on the whole network, and Yang Zi herself once again became the first hot search on Weibo.
Yi Yang Qianxi's superb acting skills in the play have won countless praises, and he successfully got rid of the evaluation of "eating by face" in the past.
At the same time, Yang Zi also received an invitation letter from the Organizing Committee of the Macau Starlight Awards. On December 17, stars from all over the country gathered at a high-end hotel in Macau to participate in the annual awards ceremony.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the cameras of various media were all aimed at the entrance of the red carpet - Yang Zi walked slowly in a black butterfly dress, and her beautiful hair bun and flying skirt made everyone's eyes shine.
At the same time, Ni Ni and Zhou Yutong were wearing very similar black dresses, which was very embarrassing. Immediately after Shang Qi's white dress was "wasted" by the red carpet, she fell to the ground one by one, and the staff hurriedly helped her up, who knew that she had just stood firm and her center of gravity was unstable and fell again, and finally she had a nosebleed.
The noise and chaos of the scene can be imagined, but all the shots are focused on Yang Zi, who is calm and delicate in makeup. She is like a proud statue, leaving all embarrassments and emergencies behind her with a calm demeanor.
Three hours later. The award ceremony was held as scheduled. Yang Zi sat in the front row in a gorgeous long dress, listening attentively to the speeches of the guests and the comments of the host.
Finally, the award ceremony came to an end, and the minute before the announcement of the "TV Drama Actor of the Year" award was undoubtedly the most nerve-wracking. When Yang Zi's name was pronounced out of his mouth, the audience burst into warm applause.
Everyone is looking forward to what kind of acceptance speech she can bring.
Yang Zi, who was wearing a purple evening dress, slowly walked onto the podium, and her beautiful smile made everyone present shine.
"First of all, I would like to thank all the fans, without your support and love, I would not be where I am today. My career as an actor has not been smooth in the past ten years, and I have struggled with troughs and confusion.
Yang Zi's tone couldn't hide her excitement, and her eyes turned red:
"I believe that all of you here have also experienced low self-esteem and panic to a greater or lesser extent. Once upon a time, I would have questioned myself because of the denial of others, but now I finally understand that as long as you do your best, you will definitely have your own sky.
In that sky, we are all the brightest stars.
There was warm applause from the audience, and Yang Zi's words were touching. 13 years ago, a 7-year-old girl didn't have many choices, she fell in love with the charm of drama, but she also experienced blows and denials from all sides while bravely pursuing it.
However, she did not give up, but silently continued to move forward in her own way. Finally, she got the brightest reward of the day.
Now that we look back, Song Dandan's prediction 13 years ago was too arbitrary. Is it too hasty for a child who is full of interest and passion for acting to deny her dream just because her facial features are not outstanding enough? Yang Zi proves with practical actions that external conditions do not determine a person's height.
She not only impressed thousands of audiences with her repertoire, but also proved how good an actress can be with superhuman perseverance. Today's Yang Zi is already a first-line actress with both strength and popularity.
Instead of being haunted by the blows of the past, she looks forward to a brighter future. Following in the footsteps of Kong Sheng, we also look forward to her bringing more and better works, and using her own light to warm and infect this era.