In August 2023, the movie "Volunteers: Heroes Attack" caused widespread heated discussions as soon as it was released.
In particular, "Wu Xiuquan" played by Zhang Songwen showed the audience the brilliance of the first generation of diplomats.
"Wu Xiuquan" in the film pointed and said angrily: "The times are different, the situation has changed, and the Chinese have stood up." This performance directly made Zhang Songwen a god and was shocked.
However, behind this brilliance, we can't help but wonder: how much effort did Zhang Songwen put in to achieve such a perfect state on the screen?
In 1976, Zhang Songwen was born in Tang Village, Huilong Town, Xinfeng County, Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province, his mother is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and his father is a military officer.
Zhang Songwen entered the society very early, and he began to earn money in his teens, and successively worked as a waiter, salesman, etc.
At the age of 19, he became a tour guide, and with his excellent business ability, in those days, his monthly salary had reached 20,000 yuan, and he lived an enviable life.
The work of a tour guide allowed Zhang Songwen to come into contact with all kinds of people, and this experience not only exercised his communication skills, but also laid a solid foundation for his future acting skills.
In a chat with their peers, they talked about the topic of "dreams", which evoked Zhang Songwen's dream of directing buried deep in his heart.
So, he resolutely quit his job as a tour guide and went to Beijing to pursue his dream.
However, at that time, Beijing Film Academy did not have a directing department, and Zhang Songwen could only apply for acting.
During the interview, the examiner asked a question related to tourism, which read, "You have a tour group traveling on an island, and suddenly a typhoon hits and you can't leave, what should you do?"
At that time, other roles were robbed by others, and only the role of the tour guide was unpopular, but it was easy for him. His experience as a tour guide has given him a deep understanding of the role.
During the performance, Zhang Songwen unhurriedly took out his tour guide card from his pocket and commanded everyone in an orderly manner.
Because the tour guide acted too realistically, the examiner was also stunned by this performance. In the end, the examiners' sentence "performance comes from life" made Zhang Songwen successfully admitted.
After entering the school, Zhang Songwen faced the biggest challenge was his Mandarin, which would be required to drop out if he could not pass the Mandarin test due to his strong accent.
In order to practice Mandarin well, Zhang Songwen did not hesitate to hold the stone in his mouth and speak, insisted on practicing day after day, and finally overcame this difficulty.
With his own efforts and talents, Zhang Songwen successfully stayed in school and became a teacher. But he didn't stop there, he was always looking for opportunities to be an actor.
However, reality gave Zhang Songwen another blow.
Because Zhang Songwen is short and ordinary-looking, even though he has been interviewed countless times and submitted countless resumes. But all of them have sunk into the sea.
However, he firmly believes that after darkness comes the rainbow, like a tenacious grass, he never gives up hope.
Zhang Songwen finally ushered in the first actor "Jia Fa" in 2004. Zhang Songwen officially debuted with the TV series.
The Southern TV Drama Interview Group found Zhang Songwen and invited him to star in the local comedy "Riding the Dragon and the Quick Son-in-law" in Guangdong.
This is Zhang Songwen's first TV series, and the actors in the same group are also filming for the first time, and the leaders let Zhang Songwen serve as the acting teacher of the entire crew.
As a professional background, Zhang Songwen also took on the role of costume designer, and temporarily established a "crash course for performance", and Zhang Songwen had a new identity.
While filming "The Fast Son-in-law of the Dragon", Zhang Songwen was also the performance director of many dramas in the same period, and after this battle, his identity as "performance director" was widely circulated in the circle. Therefore, there is an endless stream of actors looking for him to learn acting.
Because "Riding the Dragon and the Quick Son-in-law" is a local comedy, it needs a lot of dialects to perform, and Zhang Songwen has been away from Guangdong for many years and is a little unfamiliar with his hometown, so Zhang Songwen took over day and night to practice dialects, and it has reached the point of forgetting to sleep and eat.
In particular, Stephen Chow's "nonsensical" performance method was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people at that time, in order to present a different performance style from Xingye, Zhang Songwen interpreted "Jia Fa" as a somewhat obscene and humorous comedy image.
With the small popularity of "Chenglong Quick Son-in-law" in some parts of Guangdong, it is "Jia Fa" who is popular, not Zhang Songwen.
Whether it is a positive role or a negative role, Zhang Songwen is willing to try it.
In the movie "Sweeping the Dark: Decisive Battle", Zhang Songwen played "Cao Zhiyuan" is a very complex villain. On the surface, he is a good county magistrate who serves the people, but behind him is the umbrella of the underworld forces.
In a scene where "Cao Zhiyuan forced his colleague to kill and committed suicide by jumping off a building in order to cover up the facts of his crime", it was Zhang Songwen's improvisation. It is also one of the climaxes of this film.
In this improvisation, Zhang Songwen vividly showed the inner world of "Cao Zhiyuan" through wonderful performances and in-depth understanding of the role. Make this character more rich and three-dimensional.
Especially in some key scenes, such as his interaction with his family, and his inner struggle when facing police actions, Zhang Songwen performed it very well.
The reason why the film also became one of the most popular movies in the Spring Festival of that year was because of Zhang Songwen's superb acting skills, which made this kind of film get attention.
Although many directors have become more and more recognized by Zhang Songwen's acting skills, he is always a little unlucky to be popular.
2023 is an extremely happy year for Zhang Songwen, and the success of a "Hurricane" will lead him from obscurity to the spotlight and become the focus of attention.
At first, the audience may have flocked to "Hurricane" because of Zhang Yi's fame, but they never thought that they would eventually be deeply attracted by "Gao Qiqiang" played by Zhang Songwen.
This character, from the fishmonger who swallowed his anger at first, to the complex character who stepped into the gray area in order to survive in the later stage, and then tried to return to the correct moral transformation after becoming the boss of the Qiangsheng Group, his inner struggles and contradictions were vividly interpreted by Zhang Songwen.
In the process of shaping "Gao Qiqiang", Zhang Songwen not only pays attention to character building, but also shows the inner world of the character vividly through delicate performances and words.
The audience seems to be able to penetrate into his heart, feel his joys, sorrows, and sorrows, and experience his struggles and growth.
Zhang Songwen may not have expected that it was this role that made him an upstart in the entertainment industry.
Prior to this, although his roles were excellent, they were often only used as a foil for the protagonist, forgotten in the corner by the audience.
And now, the popularity of "Gao Qiqiang" has made Zhang Songwen's worth soar and become the focus of attention.
At the Beijing International Film Festival, Zhang Songwen's appearance earned enough eyeballs.
His exchanges with Chen Kaige and other big-scale production directors showed his humility and calmness.
The details show his character, and his emotional intelligence and cultivation have also won praise from everyone.
At this moment, he is no longer the obscure background board, and stands in the center of the stage, chatting and laughing with the bigwigs.
However, Zhang Songwen did not lose himself because of his popularity. He did not rush to make money like other stars, but continued to seek a script that suited him, keeping a clear head and firm beliefs.
In the entertainment industry, a place full of temptation and impetuousness, his sobriety and persistence are particularly rare.
He used his strength to prove that real actors are not built up with hype and traffic, but need to rely on solid acting skills and deep-rooted character creation to win the audience's recognition.
In the "Miss Digital" and "Mr. Digital" showbiz industry, Zhang Songwen's existence is undoubtedly a clear stream, Zhang Songwen's strength slapped those actors who only pursue superficial glamour in the face, and ripped off their last shielding cloth.
Today's Zhang Songwen has constant invitations to TV series and movies, but he has always maintained a normal heart and continues to move forward on the road of acting.
I hope that he can film in a down-to-earth manner in the future, will not be confused by the so-called "fame and fortune", and can keep the bottom line he has always adhered to, and shape every classic role.