Many people do not see her as a shining star, but as a healthy, vivid ordinary girl. This is as valuable as a career achievement.
Text: Lin Songguo
Edited by Yao Lu
摄影｜王嘉玉（ASTUDIO）
化妆|Sherwin.Liu刘祺
Hairstyle|Ziyue Zi said
"Tired" and "Steady"
Before meeting Yang Zi, the first thing I heard was laughter. In December 2023, on a snowy day in Beijing, she came down from an event and rushed to the interview site, and while she was still outside the door, the laughter of a group of young people came in. She wears a gray coat, a pleated skirt, and bright eyes. The young makeup artist next to her helped her fix her hair and put on lipstick.
The first question to ask her is: What kind of words would you use to sum up 2023?
She didn't hesitate, "That's tired!" The camera turned on, and she changed her answer, "Steady."
She explained it this way: Whether it is mood or work, this year has been steadily improving. I work every day, and I wake up every day without knowing which city I'm waking up in. For actors, this means that this year is a good year, with filming and things to do. Of course, this also means dedication and hard work.
This summer, the TV series "Sauvignon Blanc" was broadcast, which is this year's phenomenal hit costume drama, and she also won the "TV Drama Actor of the Year" at the Starlight Awards with this role.
filmed this drama, she shed a lot of tears. The most impressive thing is the day of the finale, and the last shot is a close-up of her eyes, wanting to shoot her crying. She wanted to brew it, but when the director shouted "The last shot of Sauvignon Blanc, 3, 2, 1 starts", tears began to flow uncontrollably. Everyone was cutting the cake and she was still crying.
In October 2023, at the celebration banquet of the first season of "Sauvignon Blanc", she took the stage to speak, talking about the role or tears, she said that she loves this drama very much, loves this character very much (Xiao Liu/Xiao Yao), Xiao Yao will still exist in the world, but Xiao Liu will disappear from now on. The director and producer originally wanted to give her flowers, but the flowers were put aside and let her finish her tears first.
Being an actor is a profession that depends on the sky, and what you can encounter depends on fate and chance. And this drama means a lot to her - she reached the golden age of being an actress, and she also left her original agency, set up her own studio, and began to be responsible for herself. "Sauvignon Blanc" was the first script she chose after independence, and some people around her objected at that time, some said, "This is another ancient costume", and some people said, "It's an ancient puppet again", but the script moved her, and she liked the role, so she made up her mind to act. It was like a gamble that turned out to be the right one.
In many interviews, she talked about her understanding of this drama, "This is a very realistic script, everyone has their own helplessness and difficulty, there are no absolute good people, there are no absolute bad people, and those who should be ruthless are also ruthless."
In the film, the character she plays, Min Xiaoliu/Xiaoyao, seems to be the protagonist of the love line, but what really attracts her is the sadness in the background of the character - for a long time, she has always been lonely, has no one to rely on, endured a lot of setbacks and pain, and finally pulled herself ashore step by step. She finds some of her own shadow in it, "We don't like to rely on others very much", "I love her, I feel sorry for her, I appreciate her, I admire her. 」
Photo source drama "Sauvignon Blanc"
When a blogger commented on her performance in "Sauvignon Blanc", he mentioned two key words, "credible" and "emotional". It is this that makes Qin Zhen, the director of "Sauvignon Blanc", feel precious - for the director, she very much hopes that the actor can have love for the character, "Only with love for the character can you truly abandon yourself and fully devote yourself to the character".
In fact, in the past few years, Yang Zi may be one of the actresses we see most often on the screen. "Sauvignon Blanc" is the most watched drama series in the summer of 2023, and looking further back, from "Ode to Joy" to "Sweet Honey Sinks Like Frost" and "Dear, Loved", she is diligent and prolific, whether in realistic works or fantasy idol dramas, her characters are vivid and believable, making people believe that there are such people in life.
What few people know is that after becoming popular in 2005 because of "Family with Children", Yang Zi went through a long trough period. A person who recognized her talent early and made acting her career, her acting career did not go any better. The gray of human nature, the dark side of the world, she experienced it very early. But in the most difficult time, she still has the original enthusiasm for this career and the determination to move forward.
When we talk to her family, her closest friends, and long-time business partners, one possible answer is the deep affection between people. She grew up in a loving home, and no matter how the outside world changed, this love gave her a warm foundation and made her more resilient and motivated. While receiving love, she also has the ability to give love and warmth to those around her. Many people do not see her as a shining star, but as a healthy, vivid ordinary girl. This is as valuable as a career achievement.
"She just wants to act"
Before meeting Yang Zi, in her studio, "People" first met her father. He was a fireman, tall, straight, with short shaved hair, a gentle man, a polite speaker, and his eyes narrowed into a slit when he smiled. Always saying "you", whether it is talking about yourself or children, is a very humble tone.
For this family, the road from a child star to today's child is not designed, and there have been many swings and doubts in the middle.
At first, it was the parents who first recognized their daughter's talents and interests - when she was a child, she watched TV, and the characters in it were crying, and she was crying, and the parents wondered, "Who offended her", she said, "No, I was crying on TV". At that time, Meng Tingwei's song "A Cloud Made of Rain in the Wind" was popular, Yang Zigang could speak, and he could sing the most awkward lyrics, and it happened that colleagues came to play at home, and everyone was surprised, "This child is so strange", which means talented. The family thinks that she has another talent, which is self-confidence and the desire to perform. "Although she is not the best at singing and dancing, she sings simply, she has never learned to dance, she dances randomly", but she has a desire to perform, she is not shy in front of people, if she encourages her a few words, she will be more confident.
In this kind of long but delicate memory, Yang Zi's father is full of love and appreciation. Because she liked it, they sent her to the Children's Palace to learn acting. When she arrived in the class, she was selected by the CCTV director to record a short story, and her parents went to the library to find materials, accompanied her to record them, and helped her match the words. After telling 100 stories, she gained self-confidence.
When she was 5 years old, her father took her and went to the crew for the first time to do a group performance, and the movie "Spring Rhapsody" starring Qu Ying recruited young actors. At that time, they didn't think that at the age of 12, she would meet "Family with Children", become a household name "Xiaoxue", and become a child star.
Photo source drama "Family with Children"
In this Beijing family, no one has ever been exposed to the entertainment industry, and "children are generally not allowed to engage in this profession".
They still trained her according to the traditional route, asked her to study well, taught her quick arithmetic, she wanted to play Go, her parents bought it, let her count from 1 to 100, and let her play when she was done. She wanted to eat Beijing's big Sanyuan restaurant, McDonald's, KFC, and her family also asked her to spell these words in pinyin. But if she can't really spell it, it's fine, and she still takes her there, or says, "The girl is awesome."
But slowly she got better and better, and her parents had more and more drama appointments, and sometimes she would ask, "Haven't you had any drama recently?" and her father would say, "It's because your grades haven't come down yet." Their educational model is that there are prescribed actions that you have to complete, and then she chooses the actions, "You want me to give it to you, but you have to give it to me."
It's just that the parents don't know that in Yang Zi, the meaning of acting has become very heavy. When she was a child, she was very smart, she memorized lines very quickly, and she was also very good at crying, and when it came to crying, it was her world, "I don't know why, if you want me to cry, I can cry, every time I cry, the director will say, you are amazing! I feel so happy, and I am very well-behaved, everyone likes me." 」
At that time, she vaguely felt that she was ordinary, inferior to others in many things, only acting, she was talented, different, liked, and full of confidence. This kind of feedback is addictive, and she wants to do it without getting tired.
But this kind of life is not only sweet, but also bitter - she has experienced being eliminated and being replaced. Once the role was changed, they couldn't say to the outside world, in Yang Zi's place, it was a heavy blow to her self-esteem, every morning when she got up, her parents saw that her eyelids were swollen, "At that time, I was small and my face was very thin, I didn't want to say that I was replaced, I felt ashamed of this matter."
Because of these difficulties and troubles, when she reached high school, her parents wanted her to get back on track and stop acting, "What's so good about filming?"
Her family lives in Shuangjing, the school is in East 40, her father sent her to school, passing by CCTV pants, he said to her, "Girl, in fact, Dad didn't ask you to be too good, to take a job in a bank near our house. Now he recalls that there was distress and a kind of "childishness" in that kind of assumption, "You just be an ordinary salesperson, and when I miss you, I can come to see you." 」
But Yang Zi didn't want to, she talked to her parents very seriously. She said that the future they set, doctors, teachers, salespeople, she didn't want it, she just wanted to act. At the end of the conversation, the family decided to support her.
Friends Ran Ran and Yang Zi met in their sophomore year of high school, and their friendship has remained to this day. In Ran Ran's memory, Yang Zi was quite depressed at that time, she was in the development period, she was fatter, and she had acne, which made it more difficult for her to take over the show. After "Family with Children", she didn't encounter too good opportunities, but she didn't give up, in order to be as thin as possible and have a better image, she didn't eat the food in the class, and ate the boiled vegetables that her mother sent to school.
"Child stars are shackles, child stars are swamps"
A young man who has made up her mind to pursue a career as an actor, but whether the world accepts her as she used to be is not necessarily.
Life first gave her a lot of sweetness. At the end of 2009, she signed with Huayi, no longer working alone - Huayi was the most popular brokerage company at that time. That afternoon, she posted a Weibo post, "I did a big thing today! I am very happy, although I don't know what will happen in the future, but it gives me a lot of hope. 」
Soon after, she was admitted to the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy. At that time, the acceptance rate of the child star art examination was very low, and some people failed the exam for three years in a row. There is a rumor that teachers like a blank piece of paper, don't like those who have acted, and think that child stars are "oily" and have no future. But she did well in the exam room, and the teachers liked her very much.
It was when she was at her peak, looking forward to the future, and determined to act well, "as if my world was shining and the world would always be beautiful".
When she really entered school and arrived at Nortel, she found that the future was not what she thought.
"When you go to college, you find out that everyone is very good-looking, wow, these legs are so long, and they are all more than 1.7 meters tall. She has been a good child since she was a child, growing up in an ordinary middle school in Beijing, never going to art school, never living in a dormitory, wearing a school uniform to the set, and carrying a backpack to college. But the classmates are already cool, wearing big trench coats and big sunglasses. Entering the school for military training, the school said that she was not allowed to play with mobile phones, she really locked her mobile phone into the dormitory cabinet, but when she arrived at the place, she found that many people had brought mobile phones, and she finally borrowed her mobile phone to report safety to her parents.
In this arena, looks have never been more important. A director team went to the Beijing Film Academy to select actors at that time, and every time the assistant director went over, he went to the class to take a look, and if there was a beautiful one, he asked him to record a VCR, and then went to audition after that, she was "of course envious".
The external environment is also changing. At that time, it was the era of the rise of traffic, and many people became popular overnight because of idol dramas. For everyone to cast, small fresh meat and small flowers are preferred, and they must be good-looking, popular, and topical. At that time, the popular dramas were "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower" and "Flower Thousand Bone".
In 2016, Zhang Yishan, another young actor in "Family with Children", became popular again because of "Residual Sin", and in an interview with "People", the director of "Residual Sin" said that Zhang Yishan was not their first choice, and they originally wanted to find "good-looking little fresh meat", which is the guarantee of return on investment in the era of fan economy. The actor the director saw at that time was familiar to the audience, good-looking, with powder on his face, neatly trimmed eyebrows, and some eyeliner.
It was also in that interview that Yang Zi talked about her similar predicament to Zhang Yishan, "I am not the best-looking, and for a long time, I can't get a play...... It's hard for you to go and meet a good opportunity. 」
Yang Zi's other friend, Niu Junfeng, is also a child star and is the same age as her. Niu Junfeng has been playing opera since elementary school, and was discovered by talent scouts on the street and dragged over to act. He went from resisting acting at the beginning to slowly falling in love with it. When he was on the phone with "People", he was filming in the mountains in winter, and the signal was intermittent, and he also clearly remembered that during the transition period, he experienced a very difficult few years to take on the film.
In this "embarrassing period", Yang Zi has experienced several role changes.
Once, a well-known producer asked her to play a villain, and she happily accepted it and kept preparing. When it came to the day of start-up, she still didn't believe it, she went to ask, and the other party said that the play was delayed, and asked her to take on other plays first. But soon after, she saw on the Internet that the play had already started. She went to look at the other party's WeChat again, and the circle of friends had blocked her. She is sad that she respects this person, and the encouragement of the other party has also given her confidence, she can obviously say it directly, but why lie to her? Many years later, she became popular, the other party came to contact her again, and the WeChat circle of friends was also opened.
Another time, there was a scene where she was asked to play the leading role, so that she had time to spare, and she worked out every day, memorized lines, and was fully prepared for this role. was replaced, and the other party called her father and asked her to play another role. She doesn't like that character and needs time to come to terms with the gap. The other party said on the phone to the effect that she didn't know what to do, and she didn't want them to take care of her so much.
The damage these things have done to her is not only as simple as losing her role, but also making her realize the gray of human nature and the shadow of the world.
But fortunately, her parents have always supported her from the beginning of her career. They are a well-off family, she has never lacked anything since she was a child, she doesn't have to worry about money, the pain is all mental - she can't prove her worth, and she has low self-esteem because she is not recognized.
After she started filming, her family also began to understand the work of film and television, such as how to shoot a drama and how to make the production process...... What they want is that they can help their daughter in the future and make her less hard.
Her dad frowned as he said that. The couple has always been "pouring cold water" on their children, telling her not to her tail and treat others equally, but during that time, they were more encouraging, "Girl, don't worry, you will be fine, you work so hard, how can you not do it?"
In our interview, the father spent a long time discussing the transformation of child stardom. He cares from the bottom of his heart, has studied the training model of child stars in other countries, and often discusses with the parents of child stars in Beijing. Later, when he saw the children "come out", he was really happy.
When he was most embarrassed, he once said to people in the industry, "Child stars are shackles, and child stars are swamps. We've been in the swamp and don't know how to get ashore ......" he laughs when he tells People, "I feel like I'm naïve."
But this is not a naïve question. The transformation of child stars is a common industry problem.
Actor Chen Chuang, 49 years old this year, has collaborated with Yang Zi in five plays, the first play "Master Out of the Mountain" was 22 years ago, and the most recent one is "Sauvignon Blanc", he played "Lao Mu". Chen Chuang graduated from Beijing Film Academy, with a professional background and more than 20 years in the industry, he has seen many child stars, but there are too few who can really act big.
From the level of professional performance, Chen Chuang feels that children's acting sometimes comes from a natural aura. But once they grow up, they will lose that kind of childlike cuteness, many viewers will not accept it, and some child stars themselves can't give up their previous glory and can't accept that kind of gap.
This kind of transformation is difficult, he made an analogy - people who start learning acting at the age of eighteen or nineteen are rough houses, a blank sheet of paper, starting from scratch, but child stars are a house that has been renovated, and if they want to transform, they have to break it and rebuild it and establish a new self. They have to be willing to break it, to be able to make this determination, just like the phoenix nirvana, and the "new me" established, whether the audience likes it or not, whether the effect is good or not, is still unknown.
"So the transformation of a child star is a very difficult thing. The absolute success I know is that one is my classmate Fu Dalong, and the other is Yang Zi and Zhang Yishan. 」
If you don't take this kind of play, you will never have the opportunity to stand in front of the audience
Chen Chuang's success refers to Yang Zi's real acceptance as an adult actor, and the turning point was "Ode to Joy" in 2015.
"Ode to Joy" is one of the hottest TV series in 2015, the story of five girls, with complex aspects, about class, workplace, family and love, to the cruel social reality. This drama also hit the emerging traffic era, and the number of views of a single episode exceeded 100 million.
Hou Hongliang, the founder of Noon Sunshine and the producer of this drama, remembered, "At that time, I watched the hot search every day, and I felt a little like slaughtering the list, and I was really sad at the time, and I was afraid that something would happen every day." 」
Qiu Yingying, played by Yang Zi, is one of the most unlikable characters in it. Hou Hongliang concluded that Qiu Yingying was "unclear" in just three words. This role was set for Yang Zi at the earliest, and Hou Hongliang was also satisfied with her interpretation, "Qiu Yingying is one of the most difficult roles to play, if the actor's acting skills are not good and the national popularity is not high, then this role will really be played badly and make her disgusted." But Yang Zi is not, she plays a pitiful role, she feels like her own child, but she feels "hate" and is angry with her.
At that time, some viewers raised their anger towards the role to the actor, thinking that Yang Zi was also like this in life, saying that she had "roaring acting". When the scolding was the most, Hou Hongliang called Yang Zi to encourage her and tell her not to care. He was very impressed, on the phone at that time, Yang Zi didn't say anything, didn't show collapse or grievances, and was quite calm, but she said after everything had passed, "I was really crying at that time."
Yang Zi said very seriously, she is especially grateful to Noon Sunshine and Hou Hongliang, whether she is good or bad, "people treat me exactly the same and give me great respect", she always remembers these kindnesses, "They are the people who give me warmth, so I am very grateful to them". And Hou Hongliang's response was more relaxed, he smiled and said: "I really don't know when Yang Zi still has a trough, in our hearts, she has always been a star. 」
In addition to the controversy, "Ode to Joy" also brought Yang Zi long-lost attention - after several years, she was seen by the audience again.
Photo source drama "Ode to Joy 2"
Five or six years before that, she entered the society from college, going around and around, filming various types of dramas, and every time she appeared in the inventory of the acting school, she was called "the pearl of the sea", and the drama celebrities were not popular, and some people would say, "Look at this child!" But it didn't work.
The reason why Noon Sunshine invited her to play "Ode to Joy" is because she had previously played the female number one in another drama of Noon Sunshine "Battle of Changsha". This drama is not popular, and not many people have watched it, but 9 years after it was launched, it still has a high score of 9.1 on Douban.
At that time, Yang Zi was in college, and suddenly one day, her mother received a text message saying that Director Kong Sheng had a play to start and invited her to play the female number one. The next day, they met Hou Hongliang and Kong Sheng, decided on the role on the spot, and got the script. She didn't sleep all night until dawn, "The script is so good, I think I'm really lucky, like picking up a role for nothing." 」
In "Battle of Changsha", she played opposite the popular Huo Jianhua, her role spanned from a girl to getting married and having children, but Hou Hongliang felt that she acted well, "She can play the first part with intuition, but the latter part can only be shaped by a good actor". He believes that Yang Zi is a person born to act, "Whether it is her appearance, her nature likes acting, she loves this, or the success of her later study ...... "Battle of Changsha" is really inseparable from her, she played that role too well." 」
Photo source drama "Battle of Changsha"
But this drama with high hopes was only broadcast on local stations and CCTV 8. In the year after filming, she still didn't film.
That feeling of being depressed and sad, that feeling of being forgotten, she can say a lot.
During that time, she had nothing to do, watching movies until the early hours of the morning every day, and sleeping until noon and getting up again. But you will still hear the news, who filmed, who filmed well. As soon as she learned to drive, she went out to drive around the city of Beijing, sometimes looking at the Forbidden City, sometimes it was raining, and she didn't want to go home, so she parked her car in the parking lot near her home, listening to the song alone, and her heart was foggy. One day at the gas station, when she closed the car door, she caught her finger, and she bled a lot, and went home to bandage it, afraid that her parents would see it, and the wound hurt for a long time.
It was a moment when a person questioned his own existence, "At that moment I felt miserable, and there was no drama for me. But you say, am I a little star? I'm also a child star, and some people know you, but do you have a team? It doesn't seem like there's a team. 」
Occasionally, some red carpet or event will come to her, and she doesn't want to go, but she has no choice, and if she doesn't go, she won't have any job. But if she wants to go, she doesn't have a professional staff, sometimes she puts on makeup by herself, and her clothes are either worn in the closet, or bought on Taobao, or she goes to the photo studio to rent one for 1,000 yuan. When you arrived at the event, "First, no one knows you, and second, no one pays attention to you when you go, you sit in the corner and want to take the initiative to greet people, but you don't know if people still remember you. 」
Now when she walks the red carpet, everyone will take a magnifying glass to look at it, but at that time she was facing a different situation, "You go to the red carpet, what kind of look, ugly or not, no one cares at all". She won't have a photograph and won't be documented in the next day's report.
Because of this loss, when "Ode to Joy" aired, she realized for the first time that she had fans and attention - in this market, traffic is a huge bonus for actors.
She also began to have the opportunity to get in touch with ancient puppet dramas and big IP dramas, and in a later interview, talking about her choice, Yang Zi was very frank: "For idol dramas, my inner thought is that it will make actors more commercially valuable. Actors have commercial value, can win more people's attention, and have more opportunities to choose the works they like to act. If it's like I used to ...... I will always be chosen. 」
In our interview, she was also direct, "Particularly popular dramas and IPs are looking for you, this is the best opportunity to prove you to everyone, of course you have to take it." I don't think it's okay, I don't take this kind of drama, and I may never have the opportunity to walk in front of everyone. 」
The choice is so important. Hou Hongliang has seen all kinds of ups and downs in this industry, he said, "As an actor, it is easy to choose the wrong one, you choose the wrong play, choose the wrong company, choose the wrong person, it will have an impact on your career." For a good actor, his/her choices can not be very good, but at least they can't be wrong.
She decided to seize the opportunity and choose her own destiny.
Decent, bright, warm people
After this, time flies, and in her own words, "the gears of fate begin to turn".
She first took over the Xianxia drama "Qingyunzhi", which was adapted from the big IP "Zhu Xian". Every year that followed, she used the intensity of her almost life-burning work to ensure that her works would be published every year.
From "Fragrant Honey Sinks Like Frost" to "Dear, Loved", and then to "Sauvignon Blanc" in 2023. The dramas she starred in were not only popular, but also the actors who played with her.
Many people think that Xianxia dramas are easy to act, but for actors like Yang Zi, it is a "dimensionality reduction blow". But in fact, it is more difficult for Xianxia dramas to brew emotions against the green screen, to interpret surreal plots, and to read awkward lines, to act believably. But she has talent and is hardworking enough. At the beginning of her career, she was educated to act naturally, "I have to play a normal person, and Xianxia dramas are also human, and there are joys, sorrows, and sorrows."
Hou Hongliang has worked with her twice, and he said that Yang Zi has a great characteristic, that is, she works well with others, "I haven't heard of a scene where she can't cooperate well". She treats others very sincerely, and if she doesn't hold it, she will always be special to the ground. "That kind of low profile will make the staff very comfortable, and the opponent actors will also play better."
For a while, some people said that Yang Zi was a "prosperous" actor, and there was no actor who worked with her who was not popular. In Hou Hongliang's understanding, this is because her landing can allow the other party to perform in a relaxed state, and this kind of relaxation is easy to produce results.
When we talk to people in the industry about Yang Zi, many people will also talk about this first—
In 2015, in the crew of "Ode to Joy", Yang Zi and Qiao Xin met. At that time, Yang Zi was still in the confused period, and Qiao Xin, who played Guan Juer, was in a similar situation to her, and was a newcomer who had just entered the industry. In an interview with "People", Qiao Xin said that she was born to keep a distance from others, but Yang Zi was very affinity, she invited Qiao Xin to her room to eat hot pot, and in the end, they became inseparable friends who slept in the same room. She compared their relationship, Qiao Xin is a shield, wrapping herself in a shell, Yang Zi said, then she is a spear, piercing her protective shell.
Eight years later, they are still very good friends in this industry. What she admires most about Yang Zi is that she is kind and not snobbish. "She's like a child, whether she's an ordinary actress or a staff member, she's always kind to people. But kindness is not gentle, she is also uneven, looking at things that have to be fair, "she has not been smoothed by the world, she will always be alive".
actor He Saifei just collaborated with Yang Zi in "Chenghuan Ji" this year. What impressed her the most was Yang Zi's affinity and gentleness, "She knows that it is very valuable to have a good relationship with everyone in the crew and give warmth. The main actors' concern for everyone will give everyone a sense of belonging and cohesion. 」
Also in "The Legend of Chenghuan", Yang Zi and Wu Yanshu played a pair of grandchildren. On the phone, Wu Yanshu said that the atmosphere of the crew needs to be maintained by everyone, and if an actor arrives at the scene and looks in a bad state, the atmosphere will be very depressing. But Yang Zi will always be a pistachio, there is no obstacle to communicating with anyone, and the old and young can talk together. Wu Yanshu is 85 years old, a person from her grandmother's generation, Yang Zi heard that Wu Yanshu also watched "Sauvignon Blanc", and pestered her to ask her which role she liked. "As soon as she went to touch up her makeup, we all stayed there, but as soon as she came over, the atmosphere became lively, and everyone laughed and laughed, and started acting. Exceptional. 」
The drama can be broadcast well, which is what she cherishes the most. Her fans know that her first principle is to protect the drama, maintain a relationship with everyone, don't quarrel, someone comes to quarrel, and try not to talk back - if a scene, the actors quarrel, the audience must think it's a bad drama, she said, "As long as this play is done, all of us will be successful;
In an interview, "People" asked Hou Hongliang a question: You have known Yang Zi for 10 years, among this batch of post-90s actresses, she may not be the most beautiful or have the most fans, but why in 2023, from all levels, she can become one of the best actresses?
Hou Hongliang also answered this question very seriously. He said, first of all, Yang Zi has been competent for many roles over the years, and her performance ability is good, which is the guarantee of everything, and it can also make up for shortcomings in various senses. One drama after another, "She can endure these hardships".
The second is her bright undertones. Her family has given her a steady stream of support. "Her tutoring is very good. Many parents are easy to manage their children, but her parents have always been more sober, and even sometimes very humble, just want to take on more things for her and do their best. 」
He talked about one thing, just some time ago, at an awards event in Macau, Yang Zi was elected "TV Drama Actor of the Year", and her parents also went with her. At the scene, Hou Hongliang happened to see them, not sitting in the VIP seat, but sitting far away on the edge of the ordinary stands, low-key and silent. "They didn't enjoy that right just because their daughter was a star. is to accompany her all the time, find a way to protect her, and not let others realize their existence. 」
Every time he sees their family, he will sigh in his heart - Yang Zi is already today's "top class", and she can obviously put her position high, "but she always puts her position very low, you feel that she is a neighbor's child, and their family is an ordinary family, and they have maintained this state to this day." Such a family can allow her to go further.
Hou Hongliang believes that the most valuable and scarce thing about her is that in life, it is difficult for every drama to be as she wishes. But no matter what, she does her best for each play and makes it a job she loves. This is something that few actors can do.
She can get to this day, the drama is good, but it is not enough, the person is good, it is not enough, every choice must be right, and when she is at a low point, she must also have the determination to go up. These factors are indispensable.
Precious ordinary people
On the night of December 12, after finishing the interview, Yang Zi rushed out of the interview room and hugged Ran Ran - she happened not to go to work that day to come and see Yang Zi. The two of them were bouncing around, and she said, "I miss you so much, but then."
The two went back to Yang Zi's house together. Every year, the two of them always have to stay together for a few nights, put on a mask in the toilet together, compare who has longer legs, lie down and chat, go shopping, and eat. When she is not filming, her life is "quite boring", and the paparazzi always want to film her relationship, but they can't. Some time ago in Sanlitun, she went shopping with Ranran, looked before and after, and didn't see anyone following her. Two days later, the photos came out. Ran Ran said, "Evil sect, where did they follow when they were filming?"
Sometimes she is hungry and wants to eat hot pot, but the two of them still avoid the staff as before. "Let's go around, look back, haven't we left, ouch, haven't left, no, wait a while. The staff left, and the two of them were happy and turned into the hot pot restaurant. Half of the joy of eating comes from hiding here.
They grew up together, Ran Ran became a teacher, she became an actress, it is not easy to maintain such a relationship, both of them have sincerity. But Ran Ran always felt that she was still the same as when she was a child, "very kind, very simple, very positive in three views, and not material at all". She doesn't let Ran Ran feel that there is a gap between the two people, "She will always make me feel that I will always be her truest and best friend. She has the natural poverty of Beijingers, and always says, "I like you because you are so humorous." Ran Ran was sometimes busy with work and didn't reply to messages, so she threw a WeChat message, "You can do it, pretend to be garlic, right, don't you reply?"
Niu Junfeng is also her good friend. They first met because they were filming together in middle school, and the two ate McDonald's separately. Later, he filmed "Battle of Changsha" and played a pair of dragon and phoenix fetuses, which were very good in and out of the play. At that time, he had the impression that Yang Zi could act, simple, hard-working, and kind. Once he was interviewed and asked "If he borrowed money, who in the circle would call first", he was talking about Yang Zi. In 2023, Niu Junfeng will play an important role in "The Story of Cheng Huan". This is a big heroine, Yang Zi invited him to come, he thought that if she needed it, he hoped to add a little luster to the play.
The friendship between them may also be due to their similar origins and mutual identification - they both started acting at a young age, when acting had nothing to do with fame, fortune, or status, and it was first that they fell in love with acting, and then other things followed. It is precisely because of the seeds when they were children that they believe that acting is a lifelong career and cannot lower their requirements for themselves. Some time ago, they met and found that both were reading a book about acting. They talk about it, and there is a kind of understanding of the like-minded.
But at this moment, Yang Zi is also facing more choices - she is an actress, a traffic star, has many fans, and is a person who is carefully looked at and scrutinized by the camera. She wants to keep the undertones of ordinary people, but there are more tests than ever.
Today, the industry has developed a strict system of rules. She candidly talked to "People" about her findings: for example, when attending some events, the team will shoot the artist's departure look, which used to take a few photos before departure, but now it has become a studio rental in advance for shooting, which is as cumbersome as shooting a magazine;
These rules make her tired and have to comply, but to the extent possible, she will do some small resistance-at the event, she will still chat with people; she likes to express, Weibo can't be so vivid, so she posts a lot of moments, her circle of friends was once called "the most interesting circle of friends in the entire entertainment industry", she is afraid of heights, she is afraid of wearing high heels, when the skirt is long enough, she wears boots inside, "Why should I suffer such a crime", "I still want to be a relatively real person".
In this judging system, she will have moments of hurt and doubt. This summer, the team decided to go to Paris Fashion Week. She hadn't been there in years, and she was a little resistant. But it wasn't until after returning to China that she told her agent Da Lei that the night before she went to Paris, she was under a lot of pressure, thinking to herself, "It's over, everyone will scold me". They shoot magazines this year, and Da Lei will also find that she is not completely confident - looking at the photos updated in real time on the monitor will affect her state. So sometimes Da Lei would tell the photographer to turn the monitor around and don't let her look at it.
Being in it, it is difficult for Yang Zi not to care about this evaluation system at all. Intermittently, Ran Ran would receive her WeChat, and she threw a link, or a few photos, "Today, do you think it's okay? 」
Ran Ran will stand on her side and find a few pictures to send to her, "These pictures, you are beautiful." usually saw Yang Zi on Weibo, and Ran Ran also sent it to her, "You are so well dressed, you are so good, it shows that your legs are twice longer". She would be glad to be comforted, and the two began to tease the poor, "Why are you so fake!"
However, on this snowy night, we talked about acting the most.
She is already recognized as an actress who is particularly capable of "carrying dramas", the "big heroine", but she still lives in a sense of crisis, waiting for a good script - this is the fate of actors. She will receive a lot of scripts, which are composed of keywords such as IP, traffic, and female growth, but many of the female images and dilemmas described do not reflect the present. Her stage of life, her drive, and her enthusiasm could no longer accept such a work. And the audience's trust in the actor is limited, she cherishes this belief and does not take on the play at will, "If you act (casually) a few times, the audience will not trust you." 」
At a very early age, she set the standard of "good" in her heart. When she was 10 years old, she filmed "Young Kangxi", and the director asked them to go back to watch a movie to learn, that is, "The Last Emperor". At that time, there was no Internet, and her father bought a DVD and put it at home, and this movie gave her a great shock, whether it was the picture, the acting or the soundtrack, and she thought, "When can I make such a work, this life will be worth it." In the past two years, she has always turned out "The Last Emperor" and "Farewell My Concubine" to watch again.
Photo source drama "Young Kangxi"
In 2022, when "Sauvignon Blanc" was about to finish, she suddenly received a WeChat message from Jia Ling, asking her, "There is a role, do you want to come?" There are not many plays, the cycle is a bit long, and the role is not very likable, she didn't say a word, nor did she ask for a script, so she agreed. She has watched "Hello, Li Huanying", and as an audience, she trusts this director. It doesn't matter if you play a supporting role, and it doesn't matter if you play a bad role.
When I arrived at the scene, it was very interesting, unlike the TV series, the TV series had a large role and the state had ups and downs, which was acceptable to the audience. But the movie is only a few shots, shot dozens of times, and the next day, you have to think about it very seriously, and everyone studies it together, "That means that you have many opportunities to play it better", there is the joy of creation here, which is the most cherished thing for an actor. Later, they collaborated on a second film.
At the end of the old year and the arrival of the new year, she joined the group again. This is also a drama that she chose by herself and really liked, and because she was going to film, she participated in the Spring Festival Gala for several consecutive years, although she was invited this year, she regretted that she didn't have time to go.
At the end of our interview, she talked about a scene in 2023 that she was very satisfied with—
It was a very bland play. In "The Story of Cheng Huan", the script reads: She was listening to her parents, and she left after listening. It's as simple as that.
But after listening to those few words at the scene, she found that she couldn't leave. The conversation between her parents was very ordinary and very happy, but she felt very sad when she listened to it, and her body trembled a little inexplicably, and she wanted to cry, but she couldn't cry out, and she had to suppress her tears. Her emotions at the moment are real, not acting, and the effect of this scene is also very good, "Everyone is very moved, very real, I seem to have played it alive".
Since she was a child, she was a person who was good at acting in crying scenes. The crying scene is also the most empathetic and easy for the audience to empathize. But she doesn't pursue this anymore, how to play those ordinary, boring, and homely plays well, this is more important, this is the homework of an actor's life.
I want to cry but can't cry, this is the reality of life. She has experienced this kind of taste and performed it, which makes her happy.
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