At the beginning, a dispute within the crew exposed Wang Lei's practice of "drama bully". In 2019, when the TV series "Shangganling" adapted from the theme of the Anti-Japanese War was launched, everyone had unlimited expectations for the co-starring of Wang Lei, Huang Xuan and other powerful factions.
Who would have thought that a fierce conflict would soon break out within the set.
The atmosphere at the scene was tense, and the staff looked at each other, at a loss for what to do. At this juncture, Yan Yutong, a director who has always been arrogant, interjected, his face was gloomy, and he scolded Wang Lei in a low voice: "You are completely disrespectful to other people's creations! Your practice has destroyed the integrity of the entire work."
Seeing that the contradiction could not be resolved, Huang Xuan gritted his teeth and said, "Then I don't want to continue to participate in this drama!" After saying that, he left the crew in a hurry without looking back.
This dispute seems to have cast a shadow on the filming of "Shangganling", and the details of Wang Lei's long-term "drama bully" practice have finally been exposed to the outside world.
With the blessing of his illustrious family background and influence, why was Wang Lei named the title of "drama bully"?
To trace the root of Wang Lei's frequent "changing plays" and being named the title of "drama bully", we have to start with his family background and growth experience. In 1982, Wang Lei was born in a scholarly family in Jilin City.
His great-grandfather Wang Zhengshan was a famous anti-Japanese general and wrote a legendary life in that turbulent era. The influence of family history on Wang Lei can be seen.
Wang Lei's father was also a soldier, and later retired from the army and turned to a shopping mall, opening the largest local nightclub in Dalian, and his family was well-off. And his mother Wang Jieli is also from an artistic family and was an outstanding dancer in the Jilin Provincial Song and Dance Troupe.
Perhaps it was under the influence of his mother that Wang Lei had a different love and yearning for art since he was a child.
When he was a child, Wang Lei lived with his grandparents in a military compound, and in that environment, he naturally learned the discipline and tenacity of a soldier. This family atmosphere of attaching equal importance to civil and military affairs has cultivated Wang Lei's unique character traits and artistic talent.
After graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama with his outstanding talent, and since then he has embarked on the road of acting.
It can be said that his wealthy family background and strict life style like a soldier have made Wang Lei highly valued in the film and television industry and has gained opportunities that are difficult for many people to achieve. Although the quality of his works at the beginning of his debut was mediocre, he soon ushered in a turning point in his life with his solid basic skills.
In 2011, he became famous with the well-known TV series "Kintaro's Happy Life" and gained widespread attention. Only three years later, he starred in "Ordinary World" based on the famous book, and his superb acting skills made him play the role of Sun Shao'an, the son of a blacksmith in the play, which was highly praised, and it was also from this award-winning masterpiece that his controversial "drama bully" practice began to circulate in the industry.
The practice of "drama bully" was exposed
In 2014, the TV series of the same name based on the famous novel "Ordinary World" finally met the audience. Yuan Hong, who played the protagonist of the original work, Sun Shaoping, could not hide his confusion and disappointment after watching it.
He found that his role in the play was greatly compressed, and in contrast, Wang Lei, who played Sun Shaoan, became the focus of attention and got more scenes.
This made Yuan Hong puzzled, after all, according to the narrative of the original work, Sun Shaoping is the real protagonist of the work, and the weight should naturally be higher than Sun Shaoan. Later, some crew insiders revealed the key reason for this result - Wang Lei took the initiative to revise his script during filming, highlighting the weight of Sun Shaoan's role.
This practice of "changing the play" without authorization undoubtedly deprived Yuan Hong of his original role, which caused dissatisfaction within the crew. Later, more details were revealed, and it seems that this is not the first time Wang Lei has done this.
In 2016, the TV series "The Last Visa", which was based on real events, also broke out the scandal of Wang Lei's "drama bully". In the play, the old drama bone Chen Baoguo was originally the definite candidate for the protagonist, but after the broadcast, the audience found that Chen Baoguo's weight in the play was unexpectedly marginalized, and he could only barely exist as a "foil" role.
Faced with such a tricky situation, Chen Baoguo could not hide the depression in his heart. In an interview, he hinted that he originally received the protagonist's proposal, but in the end he could only reluctantly play a supporting role, although it was also "worth the money", but it was not difficult to hear a trace of resentment and helplessness in his words.
What's even more amazing is that in 2019, the anti-Japanese war drama "King of Land War" starring Chen Xiao and Wang Lei also fell into the turbulent tide of public opinion. During the promotion period, the crew has always used Chen Xiao as a selling point, and his army of fans who scolded Fang Xiao also cheered for the idol with all their might.
But when the drama really met the audience, people found that Chen Xiao's role was only a little more than the supporting role.
What's more, there is even an absurd plot of an "airborne tank" circulating on the Internet, which has been sprayed by military fans. Later, some insiders of the crew revealed that this was actually a bizarre episode that Wang Lei temporarily joined in order to highlight himself.
In the face of doubts, Wang Lei and Chen Xiao chose to remain silent at the same time, which made people believe in his accusation of "drama bully".
Behind the scenes, manipulation has led to many contradictions
Through the events of these three dramas, we can see that the reason why Wang Lei has been repeatedly accused of being a "drama bully" is mainly because he secretly revised the script in order to improve his own role, thus compressing the weight of other actors.
In fact, as a leading actor, if it is an appropriate "secondary creation" out of the need to understand the character, as long as it does not affect the overall narrative integrity, this is acceptable.
For example, in "Ordinary World", Wang Lei portrayed and excavated the role of Sun Shaoan at a deeper level, making his character more vivid and three-dimensional, which won universal praise.
But what is criticized is that Wang Lei not only highlighted his role, but also compressed the roles of other actors such as Yuan Hong, resulting in a serious imbalance in the structure of the series. What's more, he drastically changed the main plot, completely subverting the original intention of the original work, and even the always bold and generous director Yan Yutong was shaken by this, and finally left the crew with a twist.
Also in "The Last Visa", Chen Baoguo was originally the definite protagonist of this drama, but he was reduced to a "green leaf" in the play, and the scenes in the play were compressed surprisingly few.
Judging from the details, this is obviously also due to some kind of manipulation by Wang Lei.
As for "The King of Land War", it is even more absurd and outrageous, and even Chen Xiao, who has always been low-key and introverted, can't stand it, so he can only choose to use a stand-in to fight against Wang Lei's "drama bully" approach.
It can be seen from this that Wang Lei's revision of the script has completely violated the original intention of the work, and this selfish and selfish approach that goes against the overall interests of the crew will of course cause dissatisfaction and backlash from other actors and staff.