Preamble:
With the popularity of the TV series, the 90-year-old "uncle" You Benchang also appeared in the sight of many people again, just yesterday CCTV released an interview about You Benchang, detailing the fate between him and art.
Among them, the sentence of only caring about hard work and not asking about harvest directly expresses the true meaning of his life. It was only when he was half a hundred years old that he became popular, but when he was in the limelight, he suddenly withdrew from the circle, made a comeback twice and lost all his family property, and started a new business at the age of 80...
"Uncle" You Benchang's experience can be described as extremely bumpy, so what kind of story has happened to him in the past few decades?
late bloomer
At the beginning of this interview, Mr. You Benchang said that he always complained before, why he was so unlucky, why he became popular so late, and how he was so unlucky, but later he saw that everything came appropriately.
Indeed, it is indeed quite late and unlucky for ordinary actors to become popular after half a hundred years old, but it is the right time for Mr. You Benchang.
You Benchang was born in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province in 1933. When he was a child, some people once said that he would not live to be twelve years old, and that he could only be resolved by worshipping Buddhism.
So when he was six years old, his parents sent him to the Fazang Monastery in Shanghai to worship the Buddhist master Xingci as his teacher, and the Dharma name was Chengpei. Since then, he has had an indissoluble fate with the Buddha.
You Benchang stayed at Fazang Monastery until he was 15 years old before being taken home by his parents to continue his studies, during which time he developed a great interest in acting, and every day he performed silently in the house except for classes.
After graduating from high school, he successfully entered the theater, during which he studied his acting skills hard, and after graduation, he was sent to the Central Experimental Theater as an actor, which was 29 years.
During this period, You Benchang ran a total of 79 tricks, large and small, although he participated in a lot of plays, but he never stirred up any waves, and has always been an unknown small role.
It wasn't until the 80s when pantomime quietly emerged in China that You Benchang's career took a turn for the better.
When he was in high school, You Benchang often secretly hid in the house alone to perform mime, and his favorite actor at that time was Chaplin.
It's just that mime was not popular in China at that time, so he gradually buried it in his heart, and the popularity of pantomime this time directly allowed You Benchang to see the new direction of his acting career, and then he put his energy into pantomime performance.
In 1984, You Benchang was invited to participate in the Spring Festival Gala, and on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, he performed the pantomime "Shower", although it was only four minutes, but it still made the audience laugh, and since then he has opened up his popularity, and soon received the script of "Jigong".
Half crying and half laughing, acting out the vicissitudes of the world
After the Spring Festival Gala performance, You Benchang received the attention of many directors, among which Zhang Ge, the director of "Jigong", was attracted by his unique performance style and intended to let him play the role of Jigong.
And during this period, there was a small episode, just like Mr. You Benchang said in an interview, he has always believed that he only cares about hard work, and does not ask about the harvest.
And this is also the main reason for his obscurity in the first half of his life, at first he had the idea of self-recommendation when he saw the TV series "Jigong" preparing for filming, but he chose to give up after hearing that one of his students, Yan Shunkai, had already negotiated with the other party.
At that time, even his lover said that he was really unlucky, but You Benchang only smiled slightly after hearing it and didn't take it to heart.
But who knew that Yan Shunkai was actually negotiating a TV series of the same name at that time, and soon after, director Zhang Ge found You Benchang on the phone, and he was speechless for a while after learning about the other party's intention.
In this way, at the age of 51, You Benchang finally had his first starring TV series, and in order to play the role of Jigong, he could be said to have worked hard at that time.
First of all, he pondered day and night when determining the image of Jigong, until one day he saw a statue on the stall, the shoes were torn, the hat was torn, and the robe on the body was torn.
At the beginning, You Benchang always couldn't find the feeling of Jigong, so he couldn't sleep every day. Until one day when he was so tired that he fell asleep on the set, the director suddenly called him, he ran over with sleepy eyes and kicked his shoes, director Zhang Ge saw this scene and his eyes lit up, isn't this the Jigong he has always wanted.
Since then, You Benchang has understood that good acting skills are all made by pondering, so he did not let go of a single detail during the filming.
It was the height of summer when Jigong was filmed, and there was a scene where Jigong was eating meat, and the meat was spoiled due to the hot weather, so everyone suggested that You Benchang just eat a few bites, but he ate it all bite by bite for the sake of truth.
Another time when filming a plot of playing boards, because his expression was not up to par, it took more than a dozen shots in a row to complete, and he was in his 50s and had no stand-in at the time, and he couldn't stand up after filming.
is relying on the meticulous spirit You Benchang successfully deduced a Jigong who is half crying and half smiling, without tears but showing the vicissitudes of life, and this TV series has also become an eternal classic.
Speaking of which, some people may think that Mr. You Benchang must have earned a lot of money with this TV series, but the fact is that the salary of You Benchang for an episode of the TV series at that time was only 120 yuan, and most of this money was used for him to treat his wife.
But fortunately, after Jigong was broadcast, it became popular all over the country, and major directors also threw olive branches to him one after another, hoping that he could star in his own script.
However, what people didn't expect was that after this, You Benchang suddenly disappeared and disappeared from people's field of vision.
It turned out that in 1991, You Benchang's wife was suddenly diagnosed with cancer, in order to take care of his wife he refused all the invitations, under his care, his wife's health improved, and later You Benchang directly took his wife abroad for treatment, and finally after four years of hard work, he defeated the disease.
But because he took care of his wife and turned down too many film contracts, many directors had opinions about him at that time, so they joined forces to ban You Benchang and directly ruined his screen career.
However, You Benchang was not discouraged, and soon after he raised funds to direct and act in the TV series "Jigong Travel", he became popular again with his excellent quality.
After that, he invested his money in pantomime, and the people around him advised him not to be impulsive, but You Benchang never forgot the dream in his heart, so he paid out of his own pocket to shoot the pantomime "Mr. You Smiled Dumbly" and the TV series "Lifan" out of his own pocket despite the dissuasion.
As a result, due to the lack of a market, these two works directly made him lose all his money, and before he could recover from the blow, a new blow followed.
Jigong "Monk"
After filming the TV series "Lifan", You Benchang still did not give up, and in 2009, he was ordained as a monk in Daguang Temple and given the name Dingchang.
However, this time he was just to experience the role this time, and to familiarize himself with the characters in the drama "Master Hongyi" in advance, at this time, after experiencing the first two failures, no one dared to ask him for investment anymore.
So this drama continues to be paid by himself out of his own pocket, in 2011 he sold the house to raise funds, at that time someone advised him not to do this, but he said, my house is earned by the Buddha of Jigong, and now I want to sell it in order to shoot the Buddha, why not?
In the process of rehearsing this drama, You Benchang seems to have regained the state he was in when he was filming Jigong, he only slept a few hours a day, and spent the rest of his time studying the characters.
But even if he worked so hard, the number of people who watched the drama in the first year was very small, and it was not until three years later that it opened the market abroad, but it still failed to return to its original cost.
At that time, someone asked him if he regretted it, and his answer was resounding: I just want this drama to continue. I have to say that he did it, and until the age of 80 he was still shining on the stage.
In 2010, on a program, Guo Degang jokingly asked Mr. You Benchang, do you think I am suitable for playing Jigong? At that time, Guo Degang was still a little fat, which was really very different from the traditional image of Jigong.
Just when he was ready to be ridiculed, he heard Teacher You Benchang say: Buddha has no appearance. This sentence directly shocked Guo Degang, and the whole show showed great respect for Mr. You Benchang.
After that, You Benchang disappeared from people's sight again, and it was not until the 2023 TV series "Flowers" that he was returned to people's sight again.
is different from all the images he played before, this time You Benchang is clean and spiritual. The whole body is full of the panache of old businessmen in Shanghai, delicate and introverted, and has a strong aura.
Put on your glasses, sit there and don't say a word, you can calm people down.
And the rivalry between him and Hu Ge is even more exciting, one of the scenes is when he sees Ah Bao played by Hu Ge wearing a suit, his uncle's eyes show a gratifying and nostalgic brilliance, as if he saw himself in high spirits when he was young.
In fact, if you look at the photos of Mr. You Benchang when he was young, you will find that he really looks a little similar to Hu Ge, and he is also a proper handsome guy in the current entertainment industry.
In today's impetuous entertainment industry, we often hear such a sentence, many old actors eat the dividends of that drama for the rest of their lives, it is pure luck, and it is not a real skill.
But Mr. You Benchang proved to us with his strength that opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared, just as he said in an interview with CCTV not long ago, "The plan is in the people, and the success is in the sky." ”
"You work on the cause, you work hard, try to do the best you can, because the effect is inevitable. ”
Only care about hard work, don't ask about harvest, this is the true portrayal of Mr. You Benchang over the years, he has dedicated his life to art, and interpreted the meaning of "old artist" with action.
Here we hope that Mr. You Benchang can be healthy and happy every day.
Resources:
You Benchang: A play, a relationship, a lifetime-Chinanews.com
You Benchang responded to selling a house for a good script: I don't think about commercial value_Film and Television Information_Dazhong.com
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1788254129618006987&wfr=spider&for=pc