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Text: Return wind
Edit: Return wind
At the end of 2023, the TV series "Flowers" directed by Wong Kar-wai will become a dark horse, and the ratings and word-of-mouth will explode!
Among them, the old man You Benchang, who once played "Jigong", played "Uncle" in the play, and once again became popular with his superb acting skills, which made countless netizens shout: Dream back to "Jigong"!
From the 52-year-old who starred in Jigong's smash hit, to the 90-year-old who appeared in front of the public again, looking back at You Benchang's acting career, behind the scenery is the sad experience of selling a house, becoming a monk, and even losing all his family property in his later years.
married Buddha by mistake, and his acting career came to the fore
"This child was born with a thin life, but he has a relationship with the Buddha, if he doesn't get married in time, I'm afraid he won't live to be 13 years old!"
In 1933, You Benchang, who was born not long ago but was so sick that he looked like he was about to die, was pulled out of the ghost gate by a passing monk.
You Benchang's parents were shocked when they heard this, but for the sake of the only son in the family, they could only try to compromise, so they could only send him to the temple, worship the monk as a teacher, and devote himself to cultivation.
You Benchang, who was born with Buddha nature, was destined to have an extraordinary life, so under the guidance of the monk, he embarked on a bumpy but unusual life path.
Although he entered the temple to cultivate, You Benchang, who has a lot of wisdom, also has excellent grades in his studies.
Because he likes to watch movies since he was a child, and he is often taken to the teahouse by several sisters to watch plays, he fell in love with acting.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the lines are obscure, but You Benchang can recite them backwards, and often fantasizes that he can perform on stage.
Seeing that he was over 13 years old, his parents didn't want to see their son eat and recite Buddha all day long, so they returned to the temple and concentrated on his studies.
So after graduating from the Shanghai Theater Academy, he was assigned to the Central Theater.
I thought I would finally have the opportunity to show my strength, but I didn't think about it, but I have since embarked on a 30-year career.
The dragon set has been running for 30 years, and it became popular for the first time at the Spring Festival Gala
You Benchang, who first arrived at the Drama Theater, wanted to do something, but who knew that all he received were small roles.
In fact, it is not that his ability is poor, but that the roles of the theater at that time were directly assigned by the leaders.
And You Benchang is not fond of competition by nature, and he does not want to flatter. Although he has been playing small roles, he can still face them with a positive and optimistic attitude.
But even such a hard-working and persistent person can't stop the pace of the times.
In 1966, due to the special period, You Benchang's acting work could only be put on hold
Since then, he has continued to face life positively for ten years. In his spare time, he still does not forget to perform and bring joy to the people around him.
It wasn't until I returned to the theater ten years later, watching the prosperity of my former colleagues, that I still didn't forget my original intention and still played various small roles with my heart.
However, gold will eventually shine, and then in the work "Sun Erniang Opens a Shop", he was photographed by director Huang Yihe, and it was this next decision that changed You Benchang's life from then on.
Because of his excellent acting skills, You Benchang soon received an invitation to the Spring Festival Gala, and the sudden good news made him overjoyed for a while.
In 1984, You Benchang was invited to officially appear on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and the self-directed and self-performed pantomime "Bath" was presented in front of the national audience.
The whole show is devoid of any language from beginning to end, only based on action.
You Benchang, who appeared on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala for the first time, was able to perform a series of actions such as undressing, fetching water, washing his hair and stopping the water, and the whole show won unanimous praise from the audience.
It was precisely because of this outstanding performance that he happened to be seen by Zhang Ge, the director of "Jigong", and immediately decided to send an audition invitation to You Benchang.
What You Benchang didn't know was that the character who was about to affect his life was slowly coming towards him.
The casting seems to be destined, and it is fate to laugh at all beings
Shortly after the Spring Festival Gala in 1984, his wife claimed: "A director fell in love with your acting skills and said that he wanted to ask you to audition for "Jigong""
After learning the news, You Benchang was stunned for a long time, and hurriedly said yes.
But I am also worried that such a classic role will be ruined in my own hands, and my heart is full of apprehension.
After coming to the audition site, director Zhang Ge asked:
"What do you think Jigong should be like?"
Then You Benchang performed.
Subsequently, he learned to perform in his memory. It was this audition that made director Zhang Ge see the shadow of Jigong from You Benchang's smiling demeanor.
It was immediately decided: "It's up to you", and the cooperation officially began.
It took only one month from planning to the start of filming, although he has decades of acting experience, but this time is different from the past, because this is the first protagonist played by You Benchang in 30 years.
Just as he was struggling to think about what Jigong would look like, a statue of Jigong on a roadside stall attracted You Benchang's attention. I saw that Jigong in front of him had a long chin and a broken fan in his hand.
This gave him a sudden inspiration, and he immediately went home to change into old clothes and cut the fan surface.
Facts have proved that You Benchang really brought Jigong to life.
This TV series, which has only 12 episodes, was filmed for a full 8 months, and when it comes to the most classic scene in the film, it is the part of Jigong eating meat.
This scene of eating meat is fragrant and feasting, but what everyone didn't expect was that it was a piece of meat that had already stinked.
Due to the hot weather at the time, the long-term outdoor shooting was not well preserved. When filming began, You Benchang realized that it was a piece of spoiled meat.
It's just that the director didn't shout to stop, and could only show a very delicious feeling. It wasn't until the shooting was finished that I couldn't help but throw it up.
After the release, this scene was widely praised and was included in the teaching materials of Beiying.
Although the filming process was very hard, the final picture was broadcast and directly set off a domestic movie-watching boom.
You Benchang's superb acting skills, combined with Jigong's crazy and optimistic and open-minded character, won quite high ratings at the time. Many viewers said: This is a real "Jigong".
Since then, the image of Jigong played by You Benchang has been a god in the first war, so that no one in the same type of film and television works has been able to surpass it so far.
Immediately afterwards, directors from all walks of life threw olive branches, but at this time, You Benchang was like "Jigong" leisurely escaping from the world. Unexpectedly, after refusing the invitations, You Benchang was tragically banned by the director in the circle.
Selling a house and losing his family property, his fate is like that of Jigong Buddha
In 1991, You Benchang's wife was diagnosed with cancer.
At this time, You Benchang was in the rising period of his career, thinking of the decades of husband and wife love, he resolutely turned down all performance invitations and decided to accompany his wife to fight cancer.
With his wife suffering from cancer on the one hand, and his artistic career on the other, You Benchang, who is 67 years old, is obviously a little powerless.
While taking care of his wife, he has successively invested in works such as "Mr. You Smiled Dumbly" and "Lifan", but unfortunately it is not favored by capital, the ratings response is not high, and the results are not enough to support his livelihood.
Later, in order to pursue art, he better starred in the drama "Master Hongyi", to better experience the role, and chose to become a monk for the second time.
Founded an art troupe to recruit actors, and did all the big and small affairs by himself, but he had no financial support, and turned to sell his real estate, just to pursue the noble art in his heart.
Many people once advised him, why not rely on the fame of the Living Buddha Jigong to make money in commercial performances? However, in line with respect for art and responsibility for fans, You Benchang resolutely did not consume his fame in exchange for profits.
It was not until 2017 that the 84-year-old man regained hope for Chinese drama with the successful tour of 130 performances in Canada, the United States and other places.
With the passage of time, You Benchang's life trajectory is as ill-fated as "Jigong" in the play, and after ups and downs, he can finally usher in rainbows and hope.
epilogue
In 2021, Mr. You Benchang won the "Lifetime Achievement Award", and deserves to be an old artist with both virtue and art.
Looking back at his life trajectory: he was weak and fell in love with Buddha when he was young, he was unknown in middle age for 30 years, and finally ushered in the first protagonist of his life at the age of 52.
After going through the wind and frost, we still adhere to professional ethics and conduct, and never forget the spirit of struggle to forge ahead, which is worth learning from every young person.
Now that he has become popular with "Flowers", it can only be said that this is what Mr. You Benchang deserves!
His optimistic and open-minded attitude of "laughing at life" will always serve as the driving force for us to move forward and guide everyone to forge ahead on the road of life.
【Disclaimer】The process and pictures described in the article are all from the Internet, and this article aims to advocate positive social energy and no vulgar and other bad guidance. If it involves copyright or character infringement issues, please contact us in time, and we will delete the content as soon as possible!
The information in this article is from:
[1] "The drama "The Final Victory" was performed on the rooftop, 80-year-old You Benchang played the role of Master Hongyi - China Taizhou Net"
[2] "Li Xuejian, Tang Guoqiang and others won the title of "Lifetime Glory Artist" of the National Theatre of China
[3] "Jigong" actor You Benchang: Actors must be "endless""
[4] "You Benchang_Introduction"