When the spotlight on the stage is focused on Li Naiwen, his image is clearly projected on the screen, and his expression is extremely focused, bringing a new role to life.
The audience was conquered by his superb acting skills, with thunderous applause and cheers.
Even the group of young people sitting in the back row were deeply attracted by his powerful shaping power, and they all turned their heads to stare at the slightly plump and ordinary-looking middle-aged man in the center of the stage.
Faced with such a scene, Li Naiwen couldn't help but think back to himself 17 years ago, and his heart was full of emotion. At that time, although he had been in the entertainment industry for many years, no one knew his face when he walked on the streets, and even his relatives and friends often forgot his name.
For an actor, the biggest regret is that the audience can't remember them personally, but only the role they played.
However, Li Naiwen did not pursue too much for the size of his fame. In his heart, as long as he can continue to engage in this beloved profession as an actor, he will be satisfied.
He once said frankly in an interview: "If people only know your name but can't recall the roles you played, then this will undoubtedly become your deepest frustration experience as an actor."
It is with this firm belief that Li Naiwen devotes a lot of time and energy to the shaping of the role. Every character he has portrayed, regardless of the size of the role, is vivid and lifelike, leaving an indelible impression on the audience.
For example, the cunning and changeable "Yang Xiaoju" in "Borrowed Gun", the optimistic "Chen Guilin" in "The Piano of Steel", and the witty and decisive spy "Lu Ming" in "On the Cliff" are all fresh in people's memories.
Li Naiwen's roots can be traced back to Tianjin, a city with a long history. His father was a native of Tianjin, and his mother was an excellent actress who graduated from the China Theatre Academy and was assigned to work in Yinchuan, Ningxia.
It wasn't until Li Naiwen was only five years old that the whole family was reunited and returned to their hometown of Tianjin together. Since then, my mother has had the opportunity to hold important positions at the Tianjin People's Art Theater.
In his childhood, Li Naiwen always accompanied his mother and played in the theater. Whenever his mother stepped onto the stage, he would sit quietly under the stage and watch her grow from an inconspicuous supporting role to a high-profile protagonist.
Li Naiwen's mother is full of enthusiasm and pursuit of perfection for all roles, no matter how small the role, she will definitely go all out to create it.
This incomparable love for art and professional and rigorous attitude deeply moved and influenced Li Naiwen in his youth.
When Li Naiwen graduated from high school, he did not hesitate to choose the place where he once studied, the China Academy of Drama, as his volunteer application.
However, after he entered the school, his tutor still had reservations about his actual ability, and classified him as a self-financed student, who had to pay up to 5,000 yuan per month in tuition, which was more than ten times higher than the tuition fee of ordinary students.
Although his family was not very wealthy, Li Naiwen was hesitant to continue his studies. But with the firm encouragement and selfless support given by his mother, he finally firmly chose to devote himself to the embrace of Chinese opera.
Li Naiwen proved his mentor's wrong judgment with his practical actions, and he showed his strength with a full score in his freshman year.
During his time at the school, he studied diligently, fulfilled his duties, and always kept his grades at the forefront.
In addition to his academic excellence, Li Naiwen also showed a noble character of helping others. In college life, he and his friend Tang Xu often had to rely on steamed buns to satisfy their hunger because of their poor lives.
Once, Tang Xu was hospitalized due to illness, and Li Naiwen immediately launched an activity to raise medical expenses for him, and generously purchased more than 200 boxes of moon cakes and presented them to the medical staff in the hospital, hoping that they could give Tang Xu more care and care.
In his senior year, Li Naiwen participated in the creation and starred in a drama called "Rhino in Love". As soon as this drama came out, it won warm praise from the audience and attracted widespread attention.
For this work, the director even did not hesitate to mortgage his real estate to raise funds. Li Naiwen devoted himself to it, studying his lines repeatedly and rehearsing repeatedly, and even once was mistaken for a mentally abnormal person by other passengers on the bus and avoided it.
After the unprecedented success of the drama, when the crew members gathered to celebrate, there was already a queue of nearly 100 meters outside, all of whom were admired.
However, despite such great efforts, Li Naiwen received a meager reward of only more than 100 yuan.
Although the door of the film and television industry was also open to Li Naiwen, he finally chose the drama career that he loved the most in his heart. Once, the script of a TV series was already in front of him, and he only had to wait for him to sign the contract before filming could start.
However, at this time, the drama director's call to "start rehearsal" sounded as scheduled, and Li Naiwen did not hesitate to gently put the script aside, as if throwing himself into another world - the ocean of drama.
He chose to give up this rare opportunity to perform in the TV series to his respected classmates, but he devoted himself to the rehearsal of the drama.
However, the path to drama has not been smooth. An important drama project called "My 1997", although it never officially kicked off, suffered a tragic failure due to unsolvable technical problems.
Li Naiwen could only hold the big tea jar in his hand, and returned to the campus full of laughter with a melancholy face, facing the concerned inquiries of his roommates, he calmly replied: "Our repertoire has failed again" The roommates heard the news, and they all laughed back and forth, Li Naiwen couldn't help laughing self-deprecatingly, lamenting that his fate always seemed to be so bumpy, as if all misfortunes had befallen him.
Even after graduating, Li Naiwen stepped into the theater work, he still suffered numerous setbacks. Due to the meager income of the drama, he can only get a meagre 100 yuan per performance, which is a drop in the bucket for making a living.
This forced him to start actively looking for opportunities to transform into the film and television industry.
Finally, in 2004, the first TV series he starred in, "Don't Move Your Feelings", brought him a turning point in his life. In this drama, the role of "Xiao Li Meidao" played by him is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the classic line of "Qiqixi, do you still want to be with me Qiqixi?" is still talked about by people today.
What's even more gratifying is that this time he received a high salary of up to 7,000 yuan per episode, which is a world away from the past when he could only get 100 yuan for each play on the drama stage.
Since then, Li Naiwen has officially stepped into the film and television industry. Although he encountered many difficulties on this road, his dedication and love for the drama career have never wavered in the slightest.
Film and television works have brought him more exposure opportunities, but what he loves most in his heart is still the stage that gave birth to his dreams and career.
Li Naiwen's dedication to acting comes from his mother's profound influence on him. His mother is an outstanding actor, who has taken Li Naiwen to play in the theater since he was a child, allowing him to bathe in the influence of stage art since he was a child.
Every time her mother appeared on the drama stage, Li Naiwen would sit quietly in the audience, reverently witnessing her glorious journey from a small role to a starring role.
In the face of every role, my mother is conscientious and strives for excellence, even if it is just a small supporting role, she is fully committed and dedicated to building.
This kind of endless enthusiasm and professionalism for the cause of art unconsciously and profoundly influenced Li Naiwen in his youth. In the depths of his memory, the still immature Li Naiwen has already emerged on the stage.
Since he often frolicked and played in the theater, the theater happened to be in dire need of a young actor one day, so he was accidentally selected to make his debut on the stage.
Once standing in the center of the stage, Li Naiwen showed an unparalleled confident demeanor, performed the role vividly, and won the warm applause of the audience.
Since then, he has participated in many large-scale dramas one after another, and each wonderful appearance has received high praise from the audience.
After graduating from high school, Li Naiwen did not hesitate to choose to apply for his alma mater, the Chinese Academy of Drama. However, from the moment he stepped into Chinese opera, his talent was underestimated, and he was classified as a self-financed student, and he had to pay a high tuition fee of up to 5,000 yuan per month, which was almost more than ten times that of ordinary students.
The family's economic situation is not rich, and Li Naiwen was in trouble for a while. However, with the encouragement and support of his mother, he resolutely decided to enroll in Chinese opera at his own expense.
Li Naiwen has never been discouraged by this, but responded to the doubts of the outside world with firmer determination and unremitting efforts, and showed his strength to the world with full professional scores in his freshman year, and corrected the wrong judgment of his mentor with practical actions.
Growing up under the influence of the stage and theater since childhood, Li Naiwen has formed a deep friendship with his acting career. Even after entering the film and television industry, what he loves most in his heart is still the stage that gave birth to his dream - drama.
Although the road to acting is full of ups and downs, he has never wavered in his persistent pursuit of this profession. For Li Naiwen, being able to continue to engage in the sacred profession of being an actor is the greatest satisfaction in life.
He never expected to become famous and popular overnight, and the size of fame was not the ultimate goal for him.
In his mind, the most important thing is to create each character well and present an excellent work of art.
Whether it is the protagonist or the supporting role, Li Naiwen has never had any bias towards the size of the role, but devotes himself to shaping each role with all his strength.
Because of this, even though he has played a supporting role in many film and television works, he is respected by the audience as a "golden supporting actor"!
An outstanding supporting role is not easy to do, he not only needs to pay attention to the details of the character, but also needs to have an unparalleled tacit cooperation with the protagonist to "carry the sedan chair" for the protagonist, and then make the protagonist's aura more dazzling.
Without the perfect supporting role, no matter how delicate the flowers are, they will lose their beautiful backdrop.
In interviews, Li Naiwen emphasized this point of view many times: "If people only know your name but can't recall the roles you have played, then this is undoubtedly the biggest regret and frustration as an actor."
Perhaps it is precisely because of this belief that Li Naiwen has been able to create an unforgettable classic image in countless roles.
For example, in "Borrowed Gun", he successfully played the cunning and fickle "Yang Xiaoju", in "The Piano of Steel", he portrayed the positive and optimistic "Chen Guilin", and in "On the Cliff", he successfully portrayed the witty and resolute spy "Lu Ming" and other characters, all of which are deeply imprinted in the hearts of the audience.
After each shooting, Li Naiwen always finds the director in person and sits in front of the monitor to review his performance repeatedly. As soon as he finds the slightest shortcoming, he will not hesitate to request a reshoot, and the quality of the work is extremely strict.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this firm dedication to his career that Li Naiwen has been able to create so many classic roles and won unanimous praise from the audience.
Song Dandan once sighed on the show: "Why can't Li Naiwen become popular? Is it just because of his ordinary appearance?" However, for Li Naiwen, becoming famous is not his ultimate goal, what he values most is his love and perseverance in this profession.
Indeed, on the long road of acting, Li Naiwen has consistently regarded the actor's profession as his dream and pursuit, and treats every role with a sense of steadfastness and awe, carving it with his heart and interpreting it wholeheartedly.
This dedication is his greatest wealth and the true meaning of life.