In 1987, a movie "Red Detachment of Women" set in the background of the Anti-Japanese War caused a sensation across the country, not only achieving box office success, but also making a newcomer named Zhu Xijuan famous overnight, and since then he has shined in the entertainment industry.
At that time, this young girl in her early 20s was still studying Xi acting at the Shanghai Theater Academy, and she was not outstanding at all, but she successfully played an unforgettable female Red Army role in the film.
The audience was deeply moved by her role as Wu Qionghua, a girl with a passionate but tragic fate, and praised her for her superb acting skills and good scores.
What amazes observers inside and outside the industry is that the film that made Zhu Xijuan famous in one fell swoop turned out to be the first work directed by an unknown new director.
The young director surnamed Xie intertwined the tragedy of war and youth just right in the film, coupled with his unique vision to discover Zhu Xijuan's acting talent, which captured the hearts of the audience in one fell swoop and made himself famous in the film industry.
Since then, the industry has dubbed him the "Star Master", praising him for his unique ability to discover new talents and promote juniors.
Time flies, years change, and the unknown new director Xie Jin has now become a legend in the film industry. He has discovered countless new stars in the film industry, pushed them to the top, and helped many old actors successfully transform and create a new situation on the road of acting.
Countless excellent works prove his outstanding talent in the selection and employment of people. But what exactly makes Director Xie feel like a fish in water in this circle, how does he discover new talents, and how does he inspire stars to be more performant? This is still a mystery worth continuing to explore.
When Director Xie is preparing for a new drama, he often invites a number of well-known actors to audition for roles. Once, an old artist who was already well-known in the circle came to audition for an important role.
The actor was full of confidence, and after the audition, he happily asked Director Xie, "How is my performance?" Director Xie smiled and said, "You have good acting skills, but this role is not very suitable for you."
The actor was immediately stunned, and his face became ugly.
It turned out that Director Xie had already conceived the image characteristics of each character in the play in his mind. What he needs is not acting skills, but a natural temperament that matches the role. Bao Guoan, whom he chose in the end, has a serious and introverted personality and temperament that is exactly the same as Lin Zexu, and has successfully shaped the majestic and unique personality of this iron general.
If you change to the old actor just now, you may be deficient in interpreting this historical role.
When choosing the heroine in "Century Life", Director Xie also resolutely rejected the self-recommendation of the goddess Mao Sui, and instead chose Li Yuanyuan, who was not so popular at the time.
He analyzed that Miss Li's intellectual and introverted temperament is more in line with the role, and her appearance is more similar. This proves that Director Xie's criteria for selecting actors are far from only looking at popularity and acting skills, but the more critical factor of temperament fit.
Director Xie often said that it is not enough for an actor to have a peugeot face, but also to have abundant inner passion and rich cultural heritage. The actors he admires and likes to work with the most are all talented and knowledgeable.
Like Shi Hui, Zhao Dan, etc., not only have profound literary attainments, but also are good at literary and artistic creations such as calligraphy and painting, poetry, and music, and can be said to be cultural people. They have a strong insight into life and the ability to imitate life, can keenly grasp the characteristics of the characters, and integrate their own cultural accumulation to interpret the characters vividly, three-dimensional and full.
Because of this, every vivid character they portray impresses the audience.
Such an actor has both keen observation and rich imagination, coupled with a solid cultural heritage, and is the artist that Director Xie admires and likes to work with the most.
Their appearance also created a precedent for powerful actors in Chinese films, allowing the "era of actors" to come.
In Director Xie's view, the most valuable and commendable quality of a good actor is his love for acting and his selfless devotion to the role. Wang Yumei, the actor he admires the most, has long observed every subtle Xi such as how elderly women in rural areas dress and speak in order to play the role of a country aunt.
In the actual shooting, even if it is just a small action such as grinding flour, she will devote herself to the role and experience the feeling of labor with her body. Because of this, her every expression and movement is so natural and smooth, interpreting an ordinary rural woman vividly and vividly.
Director Xie also used the same method to guide two actors who did not match the temperament of the characters. An actor with a lively personality who asks for less jokes in life; Another introverted actor asked him to read aloud every day to increase his aura.
Both actors are very focused and dedicated, and gradually find the character's character through long hours of training. By the time filming began, they had successfully transformed themselves into two characters with very different personalities.
Director Xie believes that the most important thing for an actor to achieve an excellent performance is professionalism. Tong Chao, whom he admires the most, Xi repeatedly practiced fast walking in order to play a roaring scene of shouting and yelling, until his body formed a conditioned reflex-like memory of fast walking.
At the time of filming, he was already in the groove and perfectly interpreted the character's anger. So he is one of the actors that Director Xie admires the most, in order to figure out the important role of Cao Cao, he proposed that it would take a whole year to fully prepare, which shows his dedication.
It is this kind of professionalism that enables excellent actors to constantly surpass themselves and move towards the peak of performance.
When asked whether film and television performances are contrived and unreal, Director Xie gave his own unique opinion. He analyzed that some actors who lack a sense of responsibility mistakenly believe that as long as they have a beautiful appearance, they can survive in front of the camera, and they don't need to learn Xi acting skills at all, and they don't want to make progress.
Such actors often stagnate in their performance and will eventually be eliminated by this fast-updating industry.
There are also some who know that their acting skills are limited, but they deliberately pretend in front of the camera, unnaturally show off their performances, and want to cover up their shortcomings. However, we must not deceive ourselves in everything, and modern audiences have the ability to think independently and have an aesthetic perspective, and it can be seen at a glance that the performance is completely unnatural, but it destroys the effect of the work.
If this kind of actor does not reflect in time and regain his awe of acting, it will be difficult for him to gain a foothold in this industry.
What's more serious is that some actors are irresponsible and unfocused on their work, and they are not fully prepared even for important roles, and they want to fool around without thinking about it in detail before the performance.
If such an actor can't correct his unprofessional attitude, his future is worrying. Director Xie often cites his most respected father as an example, in order to play the role of Cao Cao, this acting master began to play, ponder, and study a whole year in advance, just to deduce the three-dimensional personality of this historical figure.
In short, Director Xie believes that actors must treat their work with a high sense of responsibility, and only by putting their heart and soul into it can they perform excellent roles. This requires the actor to gain insight into life, enrich his experience, and constantly enrich his inner qualities.
An excellent actor, in addition to his external acting skills, is inseparable from his inner strength. Only in this way can we win the respect and trust of the audience and go further on the road of performance.
Director Xie has been dead for many years, but his unique experience in performing arts is still worthy of modern actors Xi learn from.
First, the essence of performance is to interpret life, which requires rich life experience. If an actor will only stick to his narrow circle of life and the emotions he obtains are too simple, it will be difficult for each character he portrays to be detached from himself and resonate.
Therefore, actors must continue to enrich their lives and accumulate richer emotional experiences in order to deduce a fuller life individual.
Second, acting requires empathy and a sense of immersion. Actors should not only project their emotions and experiences onto the characters, but put themselves in the shoes of the characters and see the world through the perspective of the characters.
This requires the actor to have a strong sense of empathy in order to devote himself to the role and become a stand-in for the character.
Third, solid fundamentals are crucial. Actors need to train their observation and perception skills from an early age, and practice the ability to accurately capture the materials of life. Then continue to learn various methods and techniques of Xi performance, and repeat the training until you can use them freely.
Only in this way can you grow into an all-round performer.
Fourth, continuous learning and Xi are indispensable for innovation. Acting needs to constantly enrich oneself and open up new realms, actors must maintain an open-minded mentality of seeking advice, and also have the courage and enthusiasm to challenge themselves.
Only by constantly making breakthroughs can we achieve higher achievements.
Finally, performance needs to be based on respect for life. Actors should not only regard the audience as consumers, but also infect others with warm life experiences.
Only by treating each life with a sincere heart can the work resonate.
I believe that if contemporary actors can absorb the essence of Director Xie and approach their performances with awe and enthusiasm, we will continue to see more outstanding new acting stars emerge in Chinese films.
Let's look forward to that day together.