In the brilliant acting career of movie star Pan Hong, who is nearly seventy years old, there are only a handful of drama performances. The last time was 20 years ago when he played Fanyi in the star version of the drama "Thunderstorm". And this time, in the second season of the drama "Flowers" written by Wen Fangyi and directed by Ma Junfeng, she played the role of Teacher Li, who is in her twilight years and is blind, which can be called the most amazing role in the play. In just twenty minutes of a scene, her incisive and one-stop performance not only played a woman's life, but also performed the background of a city and the desolation of an era.
I originally thought that Pan Hong, who played a lot of arrogant characters, would be relatively cold in life, but I didn't expect that she was very peaceful and humble, approachable, and when she accepted an exclusive interview, she spoke freely, revealing her deep feelings for the role, art, and the audience.
Teacher Li is a rare animal
When the second season of the drama "Flowers" is performed for an hour and a half, an old bed with a dilapidated embroidered tent will appear on the dimly lit stage, and an old lady wearing gray clothes, a plain shawl, and gray hair will sit next to her, she is Pan Hong, the actor of Teacher Li. The powerful aura of the characters deeply attracts every audience.
Ms. Li is a blind old woman who lives alone in an old French-style apartment on Fuxing Middle Road, and the mildew and tattered tents in the house silently tell her of her frustration. She has experienced too many joys and sorrows, and her husband was an underground worker, but he died before the "dawn". She is alone and widowed, and her greatest wish is to be reunited with her husband and friend Mr. Ouyang in the underworld after her death, swinging the road and drinking sweet wine, just like back then. The "good news" that Po brought to her was that "Mr. Ouyang is not dead", which made her fall into deeper helplessness and despair. Facing Ah Bao, the last listener in her life, she lamented in Wu Nong's soft language: "How embarrassing it is to be a man! ”
Pan Hong's 20-minute monologue is extremely full of emotion, delicate and rich in layers, and the emotional place actually has the rhythm of Yue Opera singing, which is shocking. In the end, she shouted "Ah Bao~ goodbye!" When she withdrew, the audience erupted in warm and moving applause. This time, the applause was not only given to Pan Hong, but also to her role Teacher Li.
"Every time I hear the applause, I feel an indescribable gratitude in my heart. In this space, I walked into them again and again and communicated with them. When interviewed by reporters, Pan Hong was still full of emotion, she said: "Teacher Li told Bao about his life, and I also regarded the audience as Bao." We are each other's listeners, and we all want to be each other. The audience gave me all the confidence, it was a new life, a new perception. ”
When most people think of Pan Hong, they will think of her big talking eyes, but when Director Ma Junfeng read the novel "Flowers" and wrote that Mr. Li's "white hair trembled", he suddenly felt a move in his heart and thought of asking Pan Hong to play this blind woman. In Pan Hong's view, this "trembling white hair" is actually a symbol of a generation, "They have gone from youth to aging, and then to the end of their lives, without children or daughters, and all that remains is a noble soul and a little memory remaining." ”
Pan Hong has an "aristocratic temperament" that is not submerged by any era, and she often gives this scarce texture to the roles she plays. Even though the character of Mr. Li is blind, incapacitated, and lonely, he still has the spirit of spiritual aristocracy. She said: "I think Ms. Li is a rare animal, and it is also like a big tree, with rings and rings, full of all the hardships and experiences in life, as well as her happiness and youth. Age is something to show off to her, and I don't even think she's ever aged. She is immortal, and in her the thickness of the city is recorded. And Pan Hong herself is not such a "rare animal" who can use age as a show off.
It was my luck to meet director Ma Junfeng
In fact, at the beginning, Pan Hong refused to appear in the second season of the drama "Flowers". She had read the original novel a long time ago, and felt that the fireworks were particularly strong, and all kinds of characters, scenes, dialogues, and details were written with great texture. "I like the cultural atmosphere and context in this novel, because I am from Shanghai, and I deeply love this land, so when I see a lot of memories of my youth recorded in it, I will be very excited and feel very intimate. But Pan Hong also believes that "Flowers" is difficult to adapt into a stage play, it is too complicated! There are more than 100 characters, and it is a fragmented appearance. And "no sound" is the real protagonist of this work, how to act on the stage? Therefore, when director Ma Junfeng sent an invitation to Pan Hong, she did not agree.
However, Pan Hong is also very curious about how Ma Junfeng will put "Flowers" on the drama stage. So, she secretly bought a ticket and went to see the performance of the first season of the drama "Flowers". "After watching it, I was a little silly, I was completely blown away by its form! I think it is difficult for a director to dominate such a complex space, but Director Ma has done it, it is really rare! He dug out a 'channel' for each actor on the stage, so that their lives and emotions flow naturally in the alternation of the 70s and 90s, and everything is natural. I think this is the talent of young directors and gives me a lot of confidence. ”
On the night of the performance, Pan Hong and director Ma Junfeng chatted until two o'clock in the morning in the VIP room in the theater, but she still did not decide to star in the second season of "Flowers". Pan Hong said frankly that in the first season of "Flowers", she has basically eaten up all the "hard dishes" in the original book, and in the second season, there is only "soup and water" left, how to meet the audience's expectations? ”
Ma Junfeng did not avoid any of the questions raised by Pan Hong, but had an in-depth discussion with her with an extremely sincere and frank attitude, and finally moved the very cautious Pan Hong. "His sincerity and talent touched me and earned my trust. In Pan Hong's view, Mr. Li's monologue can also be processed into a state of shouting or accusation, "But the director has always asked me to break my framework, to be stronger on the inside, and softer on the outside, so that the audience can feel it." Director Ma Junfeng also asked Pan Hong to try to say certain lines in a "broken voice" way to achieve stronger appeal.
Every time he rehearses, Ma Junfeng will constantly communicate with Pan Hong about the details of the performance. During the official performance, every time Pan Hong went on stage, Ma Junfeng would stand by the side curtain and watch her. When Pan Hong finished the performance, he would also look for Ma Junfeng's eyes as soon as possible, "When I saw the director nodding at me to express satisfaction, I felt at ease." Because he understands me, I understand him, this tacit understanding is so rare!" Pan Hong smiled: "But the director has never let me go, and it can be said that he has not let go of the role of Mr. Li." To this day, after each of our performances, he is still fine-tuning my performance, and he feels that there is still room for improvement. ”
When she is not acting, Pan Hong's life is very regular. Get up at 7 o'clock every day, eat three vegetarian meals a day on time, don't chase dramas or play with mobile phones, read books, and go to bed at 10 o'clock at night. But during the period of acting in dramas, she would go to the theater at four or five o'clock in the afternoon to change her costume and put on makeup. At 9 p.m., she takes the stage, and during this time of waiting to be played, she sometimes sneaks out the backstage door to get some fresh air, and sometimes walks to the side of the stage to watch the other actors perform. "There were a couple of scenes, scenes that I really liked. I really admire the talent and skill of director Ma Junfeng, he has mastered the proportions of each role very well. ”
As long as you have a strong heart, you can be happy every day
After each performance, Pan Hong returned to the backstage dressing room, took off her silver hair cover, tied her black hair back at will, changed into a light casual suit, and put on a baseball cap, looking completely like a person who has entered the old age. There were many fans around the backstage door, and she patiently signed autographs for them one by one in the drizzle, and greeted everyone like an old friend, without a star frame at all.
Many of these fans have been following Pan Hong for many years, and some young viewers' parents are also fans of Pan Hong. They came all the way from all over the country, and some people even bought tickets to watch many shows in a row, which made Pan Hong particularly moved: "A generation of audiences will eliminate a generation of actors, but fortunately, these audiences have never left me, just like family." She felt sorry that fans spent too much money to buy a lot of tickets, and she also paid out of her own pocket to invite some audiences to watch the show. "They are all ordinary migrant workers, who are very frugal in life, but they use the money they save to see you, an old lady on the stage, how can you not treat them from the heart?"
Pan Hong, who graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy, has a preference for stage performances, whether it is drama or opera, she often goes to see it: "As long as it is a stage, I like it." I would like to be a loyal audience member in the theater. ”
Compared with the different roles she played in the movie, Pan Hong admitted that most of the TV series looking for her in recent years are the same roles of some mothers-in-law and mothers, and she is also a little helpless about this: "Not all the same things in every family, but the creation of this kind of theme is somewhat convergent and has many restrictions." I haven't seen a particularly new elderly character who can fully empathize with the audience. ”
Pan Hong doesn't take many plays now, she carefully selects the script, and her life is also in a maverick state. "Every choice in life can't come without a price," she said. In other words, it is destined that your life experience will also depend on your life status in the end. I don't think I have to obey a lot of things, and I don't have to care about whether others recognize me or not, as long as I live confidently and my heart is strong enough, I can be very happy every day. She says she's happy right now.
Photo courtesy of the crew