The following is an excerpt from the interview
Understand your own father in playing the father
Over the years, Ding Yongdai has played many majestic, subtle, and stubborn traditional Chinese fathers. Looking back on Father Zhou in "The World", you will think of his quarrel with his youngest son Bingkun, his politeness with his eldest son Bingyi, and his break with his daughter Zhou Rong......
△ TV series "The World" Ding Yongdai as Zhou Zhigang
Tian Chuan: In the scene of my father's deathbed in "The World", many netizens said that it was too easy to cry, and my tears were worthless.
Ding Yongdai: That scene is about everyone being tired all day, they all lie down and sleep, and then my father dies at night. At that time, everyone lay down but the director didn't shout to stop, Lei Jiayin was indeed a good actor, he was lying next to him and suddenly asked, "Dad, who do you like most in our family?" At that time, my brain collapsed, and I felt that this was really a question asked by a child, and I seemed to be getting a lot older all of a sudden.
In this year's New Year's drama "South to North", aside from the professional brilliance of the police, Ma Kui played by Ding Yongdai is still an embarrassing father.
Ding Yongdai: "South to North" and "The World" are both period dramas, and they also pose a difficulty for actors, that is, they cannot be repeated. You can't say that I just lie flat and act comfortably, that's definitely not good, every play must try to start from scratch and start from scratch.
Tagawa: And in both of these plays, you play the role of a father.
Ding Yongdai: What these two fathers have in common is that they both feel guilty. Zhou Zhigang in "The World" was a person who was far away from home in the third line back then, and he couldn't always be with his family. He felt that he gave too little warmth to his wife and children, so he tried to come back as much as possible to make up for them. Ma Kui of "South to North" was imprisoned for 10 years, and when he came back, the child had grown up, there was a gap, all his expressions were wrong, and he was incompatible with the environment at the time. Both of these people are deeply in love.
Tagawa: It seems that people of that era had such qualities. In various relationships, feelings are very strong, but he doesn't say anything, and he doesn't express his emotions. How to interpret such emotions?
Ding Yongdai: This kind of thing is very tiring, for example, Zhou Zhigang's daughter didn't fulfill his wish and ran to the mountains far away. At that time, he was angry and said that he would break off the father-daughter relationship and never have this child again. But in the end, you are a father, you save those things every day, and you make soap into a ball of soap that people have washed, and then you have to go to see your child, and you still love it in your heart. Whether your daughter can understand that you love her is another matter, but you have to have it for the audience to see. So Zhou Zhigang went to the mountains to watch his daughter's scene, and you can't stand it if you go to that station, you don't have to act. It reminds you too much, and if this is your own daughter, and you can't stand it as a father if you see her living like this in the mountains. But in the conversation, he may say a lot of counter-words, and the child will understand if he can understand it, and if he can't understand it, he will have to wait for her to slowly understand. The two fathers I played were like this, and playing them also made me feel that I might have understood my fathers a little late.
Tagawa: For example, what was something you didn't understand at the time but understand now?
Ding Yongdai: My father was an engineer in the Ministry of Metallurgy, and he used to go to industrial bases all over the country, so he was not with me all the year round. At that time, my father always told me when he came back, open the schoolbag and let me take a look, and every time he checked it, he criticized you very harshly, which made me very unhappy. I was bullied at school, and I didn't even say anything when I came back. Sometimes my dad points it out when he sees it, saying that I seem to see someone bullying you. He actually protects the children.
Tagawa: What would your father do if he knew you were being bullied?
Ding Yongdai: He would talk to someone's parents, but after finding the parents, it was actually even more unfavorable to me, and the parents would beat the children.
Tagawa: And then he came back and bullied you.
Ding Yongdai: Coming back to me is even worse. But now that I think about it, it's that kind of fatherly love, so our generation grew up more rigid.
△ Ding Yongdai took a group photo with his parents
Tagawa: In order to train you, my father gave you a job in a factory.
Ding Yongdai: Sifting sand at the construction site. I hated it at the time, and I felt like it had collapsed, and suddenly something very cruel was placed around you. When I was a child, I was quite warm, and when I was happy, there were these things around you, and the people who worked were older than me, as if everything in my childhood was gone. Because at that time, my dad always went to Wuhan and would bring rice and other things back, so I had sausages and plum vegetables in my lunch box. As soon as I opened the lunch box, everyone said that you eat this and come to do this work? Then they asked me where I lived, and I said that I lived in the old Soviet building No. 32, and they said, "You live at No. 32 and run this sifting sand?"
Tagawa: You used to say that the experience was painful, but you didn't share it with anyone because there was no one to talk to, and then you would go to the movies to relieve your frustration.
Ding Yongdai: Yes, I liked to watch "The Wanderer" at that time, and at most I watched 6 shows a day. I went in the morning and bought all the tickets until the evening, and after reading it, I stayed for a while and then went in, and I didn't go home for a day. I watched it so many times, and every time I still cried, it was very painful. But after reading it, I went back in the evening and felt that the day was too happy. Maybe that's when I started to love drama, and it easily evokes a lot of sad things in you.
Tagawa: Which plot of the movie that you find particularly in tune with your state of mind at the time?
Ding Yongdai: Larz was finally in court, and his biological father said that the son of a thief is a thief, that is, he talks about the theory of blood. This sentence is a bit similar to how I felt at the time, when I played a character who never grew up under my father's care, and grew up in the slums with my mother. My dad said to me at the time, "How can you become an engineer if you don't work hard?" At that time, I thought, "Because I'm the son of an engineer, I have to sift the sand?" I was also more stubborn and a little rebellious at that time, and I was also pinching my parents, and my words always hurt him, and I didn't say anything particularly comforting, but I was actually fighting against myself.
Tagawa: I want to escape from that environment, too.
Ding Yongdai: Sometimes when my dad talks about me, I say that once I go out, I won't come back.
There is an age crisis and I want to play more good plays and good roles
Sifting sand at the construction site day after day, the training of work made Ding Yongdai vaguely feel that his life should not be like this. The awakening of ideals, he resolutely decided to devote himself to the dream of being an actor. In 1977, the college entrance examination was resumed, and he was admitted to the Inner Mongolia Art Institute. After that, he was assigned to the Inner Mongolia Repertory Theatre and became the protagonist on the stage. Later, Ding Yongdai started his TV drama era.
Ding Yongdai: I think about it, I didn't play a supporting actor in the entire 1990s, and all TV series and movies were male leads.
Tagawa: When was the first time you played a supporting role?
Ding Yongdai: Just these two years. So when I played "South to North" this time, I was surprised, I haven't touched the role of more than 800 scenes for many years. In the past, I felt very painful when I talked about it so much, and when I was young, I always turned on the phone today, and then said that it would be good to turn it off tomorrow. But the mood now is completely different from then, and I cherish it very much.
Tagawa: You have portrayed many positive characters, but you have also played characters who are bad to the bone, and one that is particularly impressive is Bai Baoshan in "The End of the Road".
In 2002, this TV series with an investment of up to 60 million, adapted from real events, does not rely on the star lineup, but starred in the true colors of the real criminal police, and looks like a documentary-like TV series - "The End of the Road 1997", which attracted the enthusiastic attention of the whole society as soon as it was broadcast, Ding Yongdai played the protagonist of the film, and the people of the rivers and lakes called "China's No. 1 Bandit" Bai Baoshan.
Ding Yongdai: The special significance of the play "The End" is that most of the archetypes are played with you, so in terms of creative attitude, it has changed me dramatically. When I first went, I looked like it was all amateurish, I was a professional, come on, I didn't take it seriously. After two days of filming, director Chen Guojun called me over and said you can take a look at the sample film. After watching a little bit, I felt wrong, the director asked me how I felt, I said how I am different from them, the director said that you are professional, you are not amazing.
Tagawa: That's so harsh. (laughs)
Ding Yongdai: Yes, he stimulated me. He said that there is a kind of actor who is terrible, and I asked what it was like, and he said it was like you. I said what do you mean, he said you don't know how to be good, you just play handsome, but it's not this character, this person can't be found in the pile. At that time, I always quarreled with him, and then I became good friends, and after filming, I often called him for advice, and he always said don't think about anything, and act honestly. Just when you think you're the best and most proud, and suddenly someone tells you that it's too bad, and it's actually too good for you to slam it at this time.
I've always said that whether you play a positive character or a negative character, first of all, he is a person, and no one is born a bad person or a good person, this is the multifaceted nature of people.
Tagawa: Are there any scenes that are particularly difficult for you?
Ding Yongdai: The most difficult part should be the scene where I say goodbye to my mother. We didn't have a script, we just made it according to the prisoner's own account. I think this self-description is quite moving, he said that I have never honored my mother in my life, and she has not spent my money, and if I scare her when I leave, then I am too inhuman. At that time, after he touched the gun, according to his skills, the four policemen who came could be knocked down at once. But it was at this time that his mother came into the house, and he gave up. When filming this scene, the teacher who played my mother cried as soon as she arrived here, and the director said don't cry, you don't know what the situation is. She said but I read the script, and I knew that such a good son was finished, so I left, I couldn't stand it. She cried several times, and finally the director forced her not to cry, but to smile, and told her to wait for her son to be crushed into the car before being released.
In fact, I was holding back when I was acting, but I thought about it, could Bai Baoshan cry at that time? No, his tears must have flowed in his heart, but in front of his mother, he was talking and laughing, gone, no problem, and will come back in a while. In his autobiography, he said, in fact, I knew that this trip might be the last one. As an actor, you have to make it richer.
△ TV series "The End" Ding Yongdai as Bai Baoshan
Tian Chuan: Maybe many young viewers know you through "Langya Bang".
Ding Yongdai: First of all, director Kong Sheng dared to use me, no one asked me to play the emperor before that, and I never thought that I could play the emperor. We have seen too many emperors, and I said that if the emperor is so dignified and dignified every day, no one wants to be it. What is an emperor? Power is there, it should be the freest, do whatever you want. I said then I'll play a random one, the purpose is very simple, we have seen too many costume dramas, I want to show the audience a new emperor.
Tagawa: And everyone said that this was originally a hateful character, and you just played a character that people couldn't hate.
Ding Yongdai: After all, he is a father, and the king said to the outside world that he will always be a father to his son. He hoped that his son could do something, but he didn't expect that his son would mutiny later, and it would be over, which was very sad. Although he is a villain, he has been carefully planning for so many years, and all the motives are still for the sake of the child.
Tian Chuan: Every character you create is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but when it comes to Ding Yongdai, everyone may have to match the number, do you think this is not a popular person?
Ding Yongdai: Maybe, this is also fate.
Tagawa: Do you feel unbalanced in your heart?
Ding Yongdai: No, I feel quite happy to do what I like all the time.
Tagawa: Many viewers may have the impression that the works were taken after you were 40 years old, and you have the label of "late bloomer", do you agree?
Ding Yongdai: I don't think it's done yet, it's just that everyone recognizes it for playing a few roles, but it should be better. When I first entered this industry, I played a young student, and all the teachers saw me and said that this child was too good-looking. At that time, although acting in "Heavenly Road" was painted with elderly makeup, I suddenly realized that one day I should play my father and grandfather, I didn't expect time to come so quickly. It's true that I have a sense of age crisis now, and I want to shoot more good dramas and play a few good roles.
Tagawa: Looking back now, do you have any regrets?
Ding Yongdai: The regret is that your parents are aging too quickly, when you understand that time has passed. Then I regret that I have grown up too fast, and I also hope that the child can be a little younger, and may tell him a lot of things that I understand now. Because filming can't always be at home, in fact, it has formed the same state as in the work, there are always so many connections, maybe life is like this.
Tagawa: You may have radiated more of that warmth to the audience, so that everyone can feel that happiness as well.
Ding Yongdai: So in life, you may not be a good father or a good husband, but you have created such a role on the screen, and that is how many people have helped you to complete it together.
Tagawa: I look forward to seeing you have more of your impressive works.
Ding Yongdai: I work hard.
Producer: Zhang Yan
Choreographer: Zhou Jiarong
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