For viewers who often watch Hong Kong dramas, they should be quite familiar with such a face:
She once played a cameo role as a hostess in Stephen Chow's "God of Food", and interviewed Stephen Chow about "Urine Cow Pill", only starring in a few scenes, which is enough to impress the audience;
She has also participated in many Hong Kong dramas, such as "No. 1 Royal Court", "The Full Moon in the House of the Heart Storm", "Blind Barrister 2020", etc., and is the gold medal "Green Leaf" of TVB Hong Kong dramas;
At the same time, she is also a senior female host who has been in the industry for more than 30 years, and has hosted programs such as "City Pursuit" and "Entertainment News Eye......
Such a "familiar" female artist is named Zhu Wenjun.
Unfortunately, on February 28, 2022, at the age of 55, she died of lung cancer in her sleep.
However, when the bad news came, many of her friends and colleagues were rather sudden and shocked -
Because they didn't even know that Zhu Wenjun had been suffering from cancer for 2 years?!
Why did Zhu Wenjun deliberately hide her illness from her friends, and how did she fight the illness alone at the last moment of her life?
In 1966, Zhu Wenjun was born in an ordinary family in Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
In addition to her parents, she has two older brothers, an older sister, a younger brother and a younger sister – a total of eight people in the family. His father was a seafarer, and the family was supported by his meager salary, and the family could only live in a tenement building of more than 50 square meters.
Because of the large number of brothers and sisters in the family, Zhu Wenjun learned to take care of herself early, and she is independent and strong, and she rarely needs her parents to worry about her.
In that difficult era, her greatest joy was to get together in front of the TV with her family to watch TVB programs, especially the variety show "Happy Tonight" and the finals of Miss Hong Kong.
This also planted a seed in Zhu Wenjun's heart, which made her can't help but think: How good it would be if she was wearing a beautiful dress and standing on the stage singing and dancing!
So at the age of 17, Zhu Wenjun, who had just graduated from Xiangdao Middle School, decisively applied for TVB's actor training class.
But at that time, the competition in TVB's actor training class was quite fierce, and Zhu Wenjun was not particularly outstanding in terms of appearance and acting skills, and after studying for a year, she never succeeded in signing a contract with TVB, so she had to go to Baosheng Bank as a cashier.
Although Zhu Wenjun has lived a stable 9-to-5 life, she has never been able to let go of her acting dream, and that seed has always been buried in her heart.
In the five years she has been working in the bank, she is still looking for various opportunities to hone herself, and actively participates in every social event organized by the bank, and also won the runner-up in the 13 Banks of China Singing Competition.
At this time, Zhu Wenjun thinks that she has more stage experience than back then, and if she has another chance, she will definitely not hesitate to embark on the road of chasing her dreams again.
And this opportunity came suddenly in 1989.
On that day, Zhu Wenjun saw that "Happy Tonight" was holding the "Zhou Xuan Famous Song Competition", she thought that she was quite familiar with Zhou Xuan's songs, even if she had not received professional singing training, she would be more sure to sing than other songs, so she mustered up the courage to sign up.
But she didn't expect that she would successfully break through from the preliminary round to the finals this time.
Although Zhu Wenjun only won the fifth place in the end, this time she was only a few steps away from her dream. It just so happened that TVB was holding an artist training class at that time, and Zhu Wenjun, who had already resigned from the bank, signed up again.
With several years of experience in entertainment performances, Zhu Wenjun successfully passed the exam when he applied for the exam for the first time.
However, even if he is admitted to the advanced training class, it does not mean that he can do it once and for all, after the first three months of theoretical study, Zhu Wenjun must also spend a three-month internship period, and only if his performance is good enough can he successfully sign a contract with TVB.
Because of the low salaries of these interns, the crew inevitably oppressed them and made them work day and night.
Zhu Wenjun has to run several crews in succession every day, and often filmed until late at night, so he could only sleep in the aisle of the TV station with a sleeping bag, and he had to get up and continue working before dawn.
Once, she had just finished filming the early morning scene and was about to rest, but was stopped by a staff member and asked her to temporarily replace the role of a dragon actor in the role of a patient moaning in a hospital bed.
Although Zhu Wenjun was already exhausted, he couldn't stand the repeated requests of the staff, so he had to agree.
Because she hasn't rested for a long time, when Zhu Wenjun was lying on the hospital bed, her strength was already running out, but the director still disliked her voice and strength not enough, so this scene could only be reshot constantly.
In the end, the scene finally passed, but she almost fainted after collapse, lying on the bed and unable to move.
Although filming is far more bitter and tiring than Zhu Wenjun imagined, she still enjoys it and works hard towards her goal of becoming an excellent actor.
Huangtian lived up to his wishes, and Zhu Wenjun officially became a signed artist of TVB after the internship period.
At that time, I thought that I could finally start filming officially, but I didn't think that because of TVB's arrangement, she embarked on a completely different path.
During the training of the refresher class, Zhu Wenjun fell in love with dancing knives and swords, and often imagined that she was a heroine of the rivers and lakes, acting chivalrous and righteous, and happy to take revenge.
Therefore, after signing the contract, she hopes that she can become a "fighting girl" and specialize in martial arts film and television works.
Unfortunately, it backfired.
At that time, TVB executives took a fancy to her advantages of being articulate and quick to respond, and instead arranged her to "Hong Kong Morning" and let her be responsible for broadcasting traffic news.
Since then, Zhu Wenjun has embarked on the road of a hostess, and has lost many opportunities for filming.
This was somewhat disappointing for Zhu Wenjun at that time, but she had always been optimistic, and she quickly accepted TVB's arrangement and took every broadcast work seriously.
It is said that as long as it is gold, it can shine anywhere.
It didn't take long for Zhu Wenjun to stand out from the many rookie female hosts and become the host of programs such as "K-100 Communication Station" and "Entertainment News Eye".
In 1994, she "became famous" by interviewing 28-year-old Aaron Kwok.
In the interview, she first asked Aaron Kwok if he would give out red envelopes in the New Year, and Aaron Kwok replied: "I'm not married yet." ”
But Zhu Wenjun hurriedly continued: "In our industry, we don't need to get married to give out red envelopes." ”
Aaron Kwok had no choice but to play Tai Chi, who expected that Zhu Wenjun still refused to "let go" him, Aaron Kwok saw that he couldn't deal with it, so he had to say: "When I get married, everyone in Hong Kong will receive my red envelope!"
With only three sentences, Aaron Kwok was "forced" to make a promise early, and later when Aaron Kwok got married in 2017, this interview video was re-turned out by netizens, calling him to send red envelopes quickly.
And the most impressive program hosted by Zhu Wenjun is TVB's information program "City Pursuit".
For Zhu Wenjun, who was assigned to be a reporter on the spot, this was a difficult challenge.
Because there is breaking news every day, Zhu Wenjun needs to learn to adapt to the situation, and when he encounters hot headlines, he also needs to "fight" with the host of the rival TV ATV and broadcast it first.
The interview process is often both tense and exciting, and her hosting skills have also been greatly improved in the exercise after exercise.
Gradually, viewers who often watch the "City Chase" program remember this excellent, capable, youthful and beautiful female hostess.
In 1996, when Stephen Chow was filming "God of Food", he also specially invited Zhu Wenjun to make a guest appearance as a female host.
Although the road to hosting is getting smoother and smoother, Zhu Wenjun still has not forgotten his original intention of filming.
It's just that when she resigned from her hosting job and planned to film wholeheartedly, she was already past her most youthful age, and she was left with only some supporting roles, and most of them were mothers, grandmothers, three aunts and six mothers-in-law and other roles.
For example, Zhuo Wenyu in "The Storm of the Heart", Lin Shufen, the mother of the mother-daughter falling from the building in "The Case of Love", and Aqi's wife in "My Savage Grandma......
Zhu Wenjun, who failed to become a generation of "beating women", finally became TVB's "queen grandmother".
When she went on the street, many viewers took the initiative to ask her: "You look so young, why do you always play the role of a grandmother?"
Zhu Wenjun, who claims to be "the actor's grandmother is boring", can only say helplessly: "I can't help it, this is a job sent by the company, sometimes if you want to meet the right role, it depends on the right time, place and people." ”
Zhu Wenjun doesn't know when those ethereal opportunities will come, but she has always been calm, even if she is a gold medal "green leaf", she is still conscientious and constantly polishing her acting skills.
So sometimes, she also gets the opportunity to play an alternative role.
For example, in "Streets of Rage" broadcast in 2011, she took the initiative to pretend to be ugly and played a crazy beggar William, making the audience almost unrecognizable;
In 2020's "Stepping on the Line 2", she played a female judge, who was serious and dignified, full of aura.
With more than 30 years in the industry, Zhu Wenjun has starred in a total of 109 film and television works, including various popular Hong Kong dramas, such as "Roselle", "Shi Gongqi Case", "The Princess Marries", "Anti-Corruption Action 2022", "Blind Barrister 2020" and so on.
But no matter what kind of supporting role or how many scenes there are, Zhu Wenjun will always do his homework in advance and carefully figure out the role.
Even if she has never played the heroine once in her life, these supporting roles with different personalities and backgrounds are enough to prove that her acting career is shining.
In November 2021, Zhu Wenjun won the "30 Years of Service Gold Medal Award" issued by TVB, which also represents TVB's greatest recognition of her contributions over the years.
At the award ceremony, Zhu Wenjun took a group photo with her colleagues holding the gold medal, wearing a fisherman's hat with a smile on her face, but she still couldn't hide her tiredness.
At that time, the people standing beside her didn't know that Zhu Wenjun was hiding his illness from them......
In terms of private life, Zhu Wenjun has always been low-key, it is said that she married an ordinary businessman and gave birth to a daughter, and the family of three lived happily.
A woman like Zhu Wenjun with a happy career and family should be one of the happiest people in the world, but there are unforeseen circumstances, and in 2020, she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
This incident is undoubtedly equivalent to a bolt from the blue, even if Zhu Wenjun has always been optimistic and strong, it took a long time to accept this cruel reality.
Soon, she considered whether to inform everyone about her illness.
But Zhu Wenjun has always only shown others a bright smile, and any grievances and pains will only be taken to heart and digested alone, so in the end she decided to only tell her closest friends about her illness, and hoped that they could keep it secret.
After that, she continued to film and host work as if nothing happened, while undergoing surgery and treatment behind her back.
It's just that after the operation, her condition did not improve much, and her body quickly lost weight, and many friends began to feel that something was wrong.
In November 2021, Zhu Wenjun and Liu Xixian served as the master of ceremonies for a friend's birthday party.
Many friends present found that she had suddenly lost a lot of weight, so they asked her with concern what was wrong with her, but Zhu Wenjun just pretended to be relaxed and said: "It's nothing, I'm just losing weight!"
After that, Zhu Wenjun participated in the "Long Service and Outstanding Honor Award Ceremony 2021" held by TVB, and at the end of the year, she also attended the celebration of the Yijin Alumni Association, which was also her last public appearance.
In the blink of an eye, 2022 has come.
On January 28, Zhu Wenjun posted a photo of the kale he planted on social platforms, with the caption: "Say goodbye to it in the Year of the Ox, will it be reborn in the Year of the Tiger?" ”
At that time, her friends thought that she was missing her plants, but they didn't know that Zhu Wenjun actually had something to say, implying that she also hoped to be "reborn" in the Year of the Tiger.
Unfortunately, at that time, Zhu Wenjun had already had symptoms of coughing up a lot of blood, and every time he vomited, he was half a cup of blood.
Ten days before her death, she often fell into a coma and had to be hospitalized for treatment.
At that time, Zhu Wenjun knew that he should not be able to carry this hurdle, so he wrote down a list of friends' names and gave them to his daughter, hoping that she could help inform these people at that time.
On February 28, Zhu Wenjun quietly passed away in his sleep at the age of 55.
Strong and optimistic, she finally failed to carry the first month of the Year of the Tiger.
Because at the time of her death, her daughter had not been able to unlock her mobile phone password, so many of Zhu Wenjun's friends received a bad time, and it was already several days late.
And the news was so sudden for most of her friends that many didn't even know she had cancer.
Friends like Cai Shaofen , Li Lizhi and other friends posted on social platforms one after another, expressing their nostalgia for Zhu Wenjun, and some friends recalled the bits and pieces they got along with before and found some clues.
For example, Wu Lizhu remembers that she put her deceased friend's targeted drugs in the group to see if anyone needed them.
Zhu Wenjun said that she needed it, so Wu Lizhu gave her the medicine, but she never suspected that this medicine was actually used by Zhu Wenjun herself.
And Li Chengchang also remembered that about half a year ago, Zhu Wenjun suddenly became depressed, and rarely came out to play with them, and he thought she was suffering from depression.
The more the friends reminisced, the more sad they became, on the one hand, they lamented that Zhu Wenjun was too considerate and never wanted to trouble others, and on the other hand, they also regretted that they did not observe more carefully at that time and did not spend more time with them.
It's no wonder that her friends didn't find out, after all, Zhu Wenjun had been filming in the crew for half a year before her death, and the "Your Highness the Ruffian" and "Falling in Love with You as a Child" she participated in have also become her last posthumous works.
It seems that for her, work has become a part of her blood, and as long as the blood is still hot, then she will not stop working easily.
On March 25, 2022, Zhu Wenjun's daughter held a funeral for her in person.
Zhu Wenjun's mourning hall is set up in a simple but solemn setting, with her posthumous photo in the middle and only offerings and flowers around it, as low-key as when she was alive.
At that time, although it was during the epidemic, there were still many friends and colleagues who could go to the mourning hall to mourn Wenjun, such as Mak Changqing, Tan Yuying, Li Zhishan and other star artists who personally sent wreaths to her and said their final goodbyes to her.
Looking back over the years, in addition to Zhu Wenjun, there are many Hong Kong artists familiar to our generation of audiences, who have already made their final farewell to us.
For example, Wu Mengda, the most famous supporting actor in Hong Kong movies, Cheng Kuian, who is known as one of the "Four Villains in Hong Kong", Liao Qizhi, and Xia Ping, who are also veteran TVB artists......
Only then did we realize that unconsciously, they had already left the lens they loved with the end of the golden age of Hong Kong film and television, and they also left us forever.
The golden supporting characters who have brought us joy and tears have become fragments of stars in our memories-
It's not too glamorous, but it's just as indispensable.
Maybe one day when we get old, we will no longer remember all of their names and works clearly, but if we want to see their faces again, we will probably remember the carefree scene when we were young, and also remember the dreams they once weaved for us.
Then, we can smile and say to the juniors who don't know them, "I've grown up watching their plays." ”
Time can't be turned back, but memories never fade.
Thank you to these golden supporting actors who have accompanied our generation, go all the way!