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At that special moment in 1994, one of the most dazzling works in the history of Chinese TV dramas, the epic masterpiece "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", was grandly screened on CCTV in prime time, and immediately detonated the enthusiasm for this masterpiece across the country.
In this glorious and magnificent historical drama, there is a character who has deeply attracted the attention of the audience with his unique charm - that is Zhang Fei, who is portrayed by Hebei actor Li Jingfei.
Zhang Fei, played by Li Jingfei, has left an unforgettable impression on people with his resolute and strong hero image. With his tall and burly body, his eyes as majestic as a tiger, and his face as heroic as a cheetah, he acted decisively and resolutely, and always stood up and was not afraid in the face of the challenges of fate.
In the sixtieth episode of the series, Zhang Fei learned the sad news that his best friend Guan Yu was unfortunately killed, and he looked up to the sky in grief and shouted: "Second brother, second brother!" This scene moved countless viewers to tears. Since then, Zhang Fei has taken on the heavy mission of avenging Guan Yu, but he did not expect that he would be betrayed by his cronies in the end, and he was conspired against and fell on Huangquan Road.
With his superb acting skills, Li Jingfei vividly showed the tragic life of Zhang Fei, a heroic figure.
His steely body, boiling blood, and angry or painful expression all made the audience deeply impressed. The role of Zhang Fei has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of the audience and has become one of the most representative heroes of the Three Kingdoms in the minds of countless people.
However, on a certain day in the late autumn of 2022, a shocking news spread rapidly throughout the film and television industry - Mr. Li Jingfei, who once successfully portrayed the role of Zhang Fei in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", has left us forever.
What's even more distressing is that not long ago, his "second brother" Lu Shuming (Guan Yu's actor) also passed away due to illness. Li Jingfei, who learned the news, was extremely sad and could not bear the cruel reality that "Guan Yu" left the world like this. Since then, his health has deteriorated.
lamenting the impermanence of life is so consistent with the proverb described in the play, "Do not seek to be born in the same year, the same month, and the same day, but to die in the same year, the same month, and the same day". In the mourning of relatives and friends, 65-year-old Li Jingfei finally left us.
"Liu Bei" Sun Yanjun, who shared the hardships with him in the crew back then, was undoubtedly filled with endless grief in his heart after hearing the news.
Looking back on the early years of the crew, the three brothers who are as cordial as Liu, Guan, Zhang, Sun Yanjun, Lu Shuming and Li Jingfei in the play all show deep friendship.
In order to deeply portray the deep brotherhood between them, the director team carefully planned to place them in the same bedroom, so that they can truly experience the intimacy of "eating at the same table and sleeping together".
Before successfully portraying the role of Zhang Fei, Li Jingfei was a little-known actor.
Born into a modest rural family, he dropped out of school at an early age to work in the family farm, with no formal education or training. It was not until 1978 that he broke free from the hard life of going to the mountains and going to the countryside, and with his unremitting efforts, he was successfully admitted to the Hebei Drama Theater.
Although he has played small roles in the theater, such as the yellow leopard in the TV series "Iron Man", Li Jingfei has never been able to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry. His life seemed destined to be spent in the ordinary.
However, the god of fate did not forget this unknown rural youth. In 1993, the much-talked-about "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" crew selected actors nationwide, and Li Jingfei finally ushered in a turning point in his fate.
In order to compete for the key role of Zhang Fei, the director team met with many well-known actors from all over the world, but always felt that no one could perfectly interpret this role.
Just when the directors were about to give up, Li Jingfei suddenly appeared at the scene of the actor competition, and performed classic scenes such as "Three Visits to the Thatched House" with his superb acting skills, which instantly amazed the audience and won full applause.
From his tall and mighty body, dark complexion to his fierce gaze, all of them are highly consistent with the image of Zhang Fei described in the novel, as if he is the embodiment of that character.
Narrator: Back then, the crew was financially constrained and the living conditions were extremely difficult. Once, Li Jingfei and the two actors who played Liu Bei and Guan Yu took the risk of stealing and stealing corn cobs from the farmland in order to improve their food, but they were discovered by farmers and triggered a chase battle.
In the end, it was the actor of "Cao Cao" who came forward and compensated for the losses on their behalf, which calmed down this small turmoil.
In the field of performing arts, the appearance of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" brought a lot of encouragement to Li Jingfei, but the joke of fate came again. A sudden cerebral hemorrhage caused him to fall to the ground suddenly, and his life suddenly fell into an abyss from which he could never recover.
As a young actor from an ordinary rural family, Li Jingfei is unable to cope with such high medical costs. In the eyes of relatives and friends, he seems to have become a lonely soul struggling on the edge of life and death, and his physical condition is deteriorating.
However, at this life-and-death moment, Li Jingfei's "second brother" Lu Shuming (Guan Yu's actor) and Zhang Shan, who played "Zhao Yun", stepped forward and raised a huge amount of medical funds for him. With the generous assistance and encouragement of his friends, Li Jingfei rekindled his hope of survival and was finally able to be hospitalized for treatment.
Although he survived the encounter, his health was no longer what it used to be, and he had to use a wheelchair to get around. Zhang Fei, who once galloped through the storm, now has to leave the film and television stage he loves deeply.
Interlude: Recalling the days in the crew in those years, Sun Yanjun, Lu Shuming, and Li Jingfei were as close as real siblings. In order to better show the deep friendship between "Liu Guanzhang", the director team deliberately arranged them to live in the same bedroom.
Just imagine, every morning, "Guan Yu" and "Zhang Fei" must be able to see "Liu Bei" busy in the room preparing to go out, and the scene must be full of fun.
After successfully playing the role of Zhang Fei, Li Jingfei began to prepare with all his might, striving to interpret this role perfectly. He conducted in-depth research and accurate grasp of Zhang Fei's personality traits, and said: "Zhang Fei is brave and decisive, and at the same time has a certain amount of wisdom, but he is slightly lacking in strategic vision. His emotional changes are swift and immediate, with little to no buffer, from youth to maturity to eventual sacrifice. ”
After deeply understanding Zhang Fei's character traits, Li Jingfei realized that he was facing a huge challenge - he couldn't even ride a horse! As a heroic Zhang Fei, the scene on horseback occupies an important position in the entire plot, which undoubtedly poses a great trouble to him.
In order to present the best effect, the program team hired a group of excellent equestrian experts from Inner Mongolia to do their best to help Li Jingfei with equestrian training. In the face of challenging training tasks, Li Jingfei showed perseverance and went all out to improve his horseback riding skills. He takes it upon himself to avoid the use of stand-ins as much as possible to ensure that every movement is perfectly presented.
After unremitting efforts, Li Jingfei finally succeeded in shaping this role that haunted him with his hard sweat and tears of excitement.
What the audience saw was that Li Jingfei used his youth, dedication and hard work to create such a vivid and vivid image of Zhang Fei.
Interlude: During the filming of the crew in Sichuan, Mr. Tan Luofei, then president of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, watched Li Jingfei's wonderful performance, praised his role as Zhang Fei, and spoke highly of it.
He even splashed ink and created a majestic hymn: "It is said that Zhang Huanhou is violent and heroic." There are fine in the thick, and love is a miracle. ”