When Shu Chang took off the role of Concubine Dong E in "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang" in 2002, his face was still childish, but his actual age was 15 years old. This is very consistent with the historical prototype of Concubine Dong E, who entered the palace at the age of 17.
At the moment when Penglai Pavilion first met the emperor, her eyes flashed, and her thick eyelashes revealed shyness, with a hint of panic unique to a girl. This sense of youthfulness just rightly brings out the psychological state of Concubine Dong E when she first entered the palace, as if she has traveled through a time tunnel and history has reproduced the present.
Her petite figure also adds a bit of cuteness to Concubine Dong E. Every eye contact that Emperor Fulin pursued passionately drew her to dodge, her pursed lips as if trying to hide her excited heartbeat.
This kind of youthful and hazy girlishness is the most touching. And the choked tears in the pain of widowhood also transcend the shackles of age on sadness, revealing a more mature and penetrating grief to the audience.
It can be said that Concubine Dong E in the play "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang" has become a representative work of Shu Chang's successful transformation from a child star to an excellent film and television actor. That youthful but deep interpretation is still unforgettable.
In "Young Son of Heaven" broadcast in 2003, 22-year-old Huo Siyan played the smart and gentle Concubine Dong E. As a model-turned-actor, she has a temperament that coincides with the role of this concubine - beautiful and refined, dignified and generous, revealing a bit of arrogance.
Under her interpretation, Concubine Dong E, who first entered the palace, was not as weak as the traditional impression, but a smart and thoughtful woman. When the emperor tried to win her over as a confidant, her eyes flickered, and her calm calmness revealed a bit of sharpness.
As if she doesn't give in easily because of her petite body, her inner intelligence and insight allow her to cope with it with ease. The innate nobility is revealed in the demeanor.
Even in the face of the pain of losing her child, she did not show uncontrollable grief, but her face was sad, and her eyes were full of helplessness and heartbreak. Huo Siyan perfectly interpreted Concubine Dong E with such a complex, introverted and intelligent performance, allowing the audience to see that behind this gentle and considerate concubine, there is a deep complexity that cannot be explained.
In the 2012 hit "Beauty Without Tears", Zhang Xueying, who was only 14 years old, starred in a concubine Dong E who was very different from the historical prototype - extremely selfish and scheming.
In the play, she disguised herself as a man to blend in with the enemy army, and designed to frame her rival and not be able to enter the palace; After entering the palace, he fought openly and secretly, and finally became the queen as he wished. Such a thoughtful and unscrupulous Concubine Dong E is very different from the gentle and considerate impression in the history books, and it is hard to imagine that she is also a concubine who entered the palace at the age of 17.
However, as a child star, Zhang Xueying's smart and vivid performance is still eye-catching. Her eyes are shining, her smile is like a flower, and her quirky girlish temperament is fully displayed.
But this kind of willful character adaptation is still unacceptable, and I can't help but feel worthless for Concubine Dong E, the historical prototype. A concubine who entered the palace at the age of 17 and should have been young and moving, but was portrayed as such a scheming female man, and the contrasting character design became the biggest failure of this version.
Through the comparison of the above three different versions, we can clearly see that in order to make a historical figure successfully "reborn", the correct choice of actors and character creation are the decisive factors.
When it comes to actor selection, age is a top priority. It needs to fit with the historical archetype, so as to maximize the distance between the audience and that era. Shu Chang and Huo Siyan are similar in age to Concubine Dong E when they entered the palace, so they can naturally reveal the psychological characteristics of women in that era.
And Zhang Xueying's age is too frivolous, and it is difficult to fit with the concubine who entered the palace at the age of 17.
Then there is the character building, which determines the final impression and cognition of a character. Respect for historical facts must be guaranteed while attracting attention. The characters should not be adapted beyond recognition like Zhang Xueying's version.
Only when the character is faithful will the audience identify with this character.
Therefore, the matching of actors and the fit of characters are the two magic weapons that determine whether the audience can travel through time and space to have a real perception of the "old time". This is also the fundamental criterion for judging whether a character has been successfully "resurrected" when watching historical dramas.
I hope that future historical works can learn from these experiences, so that the stories of the past can come to us in the most original way.