On the day when the Tao Tao scene in the TV series "Flowers" was completed, Chen Long told director Wong Kar-wai that he was too reluctant, and Wong Kar-wai told him not to worry, "He said that it has been three years, and you have become him (Tao Tao)." This sentence moved Chen Long very much. Tao Tao has many shortcomings, and it is precisely because of these shortcomings that Chen Long thinks he is very cute, "Because he has shortcomings, he is real and can move people." Chen Long said.
Chen Long played Tao Tao.
Each audition lasts 10 hours
In June 2020, Chen Long received a call from the cast coordinator of "Flowers", asking him if he was willing to audition, and Chen Long said: Very willing.
The first time he auditioned, Chen Long didn't see Wong Kar-wai, and he went home after the audition, and there was no news for a month, "I didn't have much hope at that time, so I went in a very relaxed state." A month later, Chen Long received a call from the crew again, saying that the director thought he was still good and hoped that he would try again.
In the second audition, Chen Long met Wong Kar-wai, and they chatted for a while, Wong Kar-wai asked Chen Long: Would you like to try the role of Tao Tao? Chen Long had read the original work of "Flowers" a long time ago, and when he learned that Wong Kar-wai wanted him to play Tao Tao, he was shocked, "because I think few directors would let me try such a role." ”
Later, Chen Long went through two auditions, which were separated by a long time, which made Chen Long very nervous, but every time he tried out, he left a deep impression on Chen Long, "The director auditioned very seriously, and the scene we tried for was almost the same as the scene of the actual shooting, and each audition took 10 hours, I think it is no different from the real shooting." So later he also wanted to open it, even if he was not selected in the end, he could be regarded as cooperating with Wong Kar-wai. Finally, before the start of the machine, it was finally determined that Chen Long would play Tao Tao.
Tao Tao rarely has such a clean and tidy time in the play, and most of the time he is relatively sloppy.
The "Night Tokyo" quarrel was recognized by Wong Kar-wai for the first time
In the play, Tao Tao played by Chen Long spends most of his time in the restaurant "Night Tokyo", Tao Tao's hair Xiao Bao (played by Hu Ge) is the shareholder of this store, and Reiko (played by Ma Yili) is the owner here. On weekdays, Reiko, Teacher Ge (played by Chen Qingguo), Linghong (played by Papi-chan) and Tao Tao form the "Night Tokyo Squad" and get together every day. Chen Long's favorite scene in Tokyo at night, these actors are all from Shanghai, and they speak Shanghainese very easily, in such an environment, Chen Long sometimes can't even tell whether he is working or this is his life, "There will be a sense of trance." Because everyone cooperated well, there were many improvised scenes where the "Night Tokyo Squad" was together, such as a scene where four people quarreled, and many lines were not in the script, "Because of everyone's tacit understanding, and because they spoke Shanghainese, they quarreled, which stimulated my instinct." "This scene, everyone lined up countless times, filmed countless times, and finally cut out ten minutes, in fact, it took several days to shoot.
In fact, this scene is mainly about Lingzi and Linghong arguing, Mr. Ge arching the fire next to him, and Tao Tao fanning the flames all the way, "After filming, the director gave me affirmation on the scene for the first time." He said, Long Chen, you have done a good job in this scene. Because Tao Tao did not steal the protagonist's role in this important quarrel scene, but also kept his role.
Ling Hong, Teacher Ge and Tao Tao are like a family.
Tao Tao felt that he was Ah Bao's back road
Since his debut, Chen Long has played a lot of positive roles, and because of his thick eyebrows and big eyes, most of the roles he has played are tall and handsome. Even many actors who have worked with him saw Chen Long in the crew of "Flowers", and they all sighed that it was the first time they saw him with such a sloppy and greasy appearance.
Chen Long said that in fact, characters like Tao Tao are not unfamiliar in his world. In the early 90s of the last century, Chen Long was seventeen or eighteen years old, "My uncle is an experience similar to the play, in his 30s, he was very looking forward to the future, and felt that there were opportunities everywhere, so he quit his job in a state-owned enterprise and went to the sea to do business." In Chen Long's memory, there are many characters like Tao Tao among his uncle's friends, and he doesn't seem to have much ideals, but he lives a good life, he always likes to brag and talk to others, he is familiar everywhere, and a group of friends around him eat and drink, and they don't like to go home. "At that time, there were quite a lot of pottery, more than Bao. Chen Long said with a smile. "Before filming started, when director Wong Kar-wai asked me to watch the original work, in addition to Tao Tao, I also watched Xiao Mao. Xiao Mao is a male protagonist in the original book, and there is no such character in the drama version of "Flowers", but Chen Long feels that Tao Tao in the play should also imply some of Xiao Mao's characteristics.
Tao Tao runs a seafood stall.
In the play, Tao Tao and Ah Bao are the brothers who have had the best relationship along the way. At the beginning of the story, Ah Bao took the 3,000 yuan that Tao Tao was originally going to use for marriage, and panned the first pot of gold in the stock market, and then Ah Bao became the boss of Bao on the Yellow River Road, and Tao Tao was still the original Tao Tao. When a reporter from the Beijing News asked Chen Long if Tao Tao would be a little jealous in his heart, Chen Long said: "I didn't think about it this way when I acted, everyone's good is different, and Bao's fortune is not necessarily a good thing for Tao Tao." Chen Long thinks that in Tao Tao's world, he already feels very comfortable, and there is a brother like Ah Bao, who can talk everywhere, "As long as Ah Bao is not there, he feels that he is Ah Bao." As Tao Tao, he also has an idea, that is, he feels that he is leaving a way back for Bao, and he is worried that if this brother dies one day, he can still have his own back.
【Conversation】
Wong Kar-wai gave each character a background music
Beijing News: Tao Tao has always appeared several times with the music of "I Am a Little Bird", is this designed?
Chen Long: Yes, Wong Kar-wai gave everyone background music, and Tao Tao's background music is this song. When we were in the play, Wong Kar-wai would play prepared music next to him.
Beijing News: In the play, Tao Tao and Ah Bao often put up the collar of their coat together, how is this action designed?
Chen Long: This is designed by the director, he thinks that Po and I have grown up together, and there must be a signature action, which is a tacit understanding between two people, maybe a look, a movement, you can feel each other. We thought about it a lot, and finally decided to use this action together, which felt a little handsome, but a little sad.
Beijing News: Aside from Night Tokyo, what is the most impressive scene and why?
Long Chen: There is a scene that impresses me very deeply. It was Miss Wang (played by Tang Yan) who asked Ah Bao to go to the pork rib rice cake shop, and if he went, he would have chosen Miss Wang, but Ah Bao had been drinking at Taotao's seafood stall, and he didn't go to Miss Wang in the end. When filming this scene, Hu Ge and I didn't know what happened in this scene. The director said to Hu Ge: How happy you are, how to act, you must laugh. Then at the seafood stall, my wife and sister and I fought and made trouble, and then we fought and drank, how lively and how to come, and finally when I saw the finished film, I realized the director's intention, and finally cut it out, Ah Bao laughed at that ha compared Miss Wang's loneliness alone, as well as Ah Bao's superficial liveliness and inner loneliness, I cried when I watched that scene.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Kunyu
Edited by Tong Na
Proofreading by Jun Liu