1. Prologue
When we review the success of martial arts TV dramas, we can often find a crucial factor - the selection of the leading actor. In the dazzling array of martial arts dramas at that time, a series of works adapted from Jin Yong's original works led by director Zhang Jizhong were deeply loved by the audience for their unique style.
He strives to accurately reproduce the content of the original book, pay attention to the realism brought by the location shooting, and use the wonderful performances of a large number of veteran actors, all of which make these plays stand out and bring a new viewing experience to the audience.
However, it is precisely because of this unique style that it also brings a problem that is difficult to ignore. Zhang Jizhong's selection of the leading actor often becomes the key to determining the fate of a drama.
In many episodes, although the heroine won the applause of the audience with her excellent acting skills, it is really sad that the series cannot break through the bottleneck due to the poor performance of the male protagonist.
There is no doubt that Zhang Jizhong's Jin Yong's drama style is in its own right, but his choice of the male protagonist has also become a hidden danger for these dramas. Some heroine actors who could have shone in the end were unable to fully display their talents due to the drag of the male lead, which overshadowed the entire series.
This is undoubtedly where Zhang Jizhong needs to think carefully and learn from it.
2. Ren Yingying played by Xu Qing is a peerless masterpiece, but she was dragged down by Li Yapeng
Looking back, in the first Jin Yong drama "Smiling Proud Jianghu" directed by director Zhang Jizhong, Ren Yingying portrayed by Xu Qing can be called an unprecedented classic. At that time, the interpretation of this character was extremely difficult, and many versions failed to perfectly show the charm of Ren Yingying in the book.
However, Xu Qing successfully interpreted the beautiful woman full of wisdom and strategy with her youthful and delicate performance, and even Mr. Jin Yong himself praised her, believing that this was the most perfect Ren Yingying in his heart.
However, good times are always short-lived. Li Yapeng, who played the male protagonist Ling Hu Chong in the play, unfortunately dragged down this masterpiece. was supposed to be a free and uninhibited and personable chivalrous man, but under Li Yapeng's interpretation, he looked listless and bland.
His lack of chivalrous spirit is far from the image of Ling Hu Chong in the book. When the audience compares it with the classic interpretation of Lu Songxian's peerless style in the TVB version, the gap between the two versions becomes more and more obvious.
If Zhang Jizhong, who was a famous director at that time, had foresighted to discover actors who were more suitable for interpreting Ling Hu Chong, then this exciting "Smiling Proud Jianghu" would definitely be a classic! However, Li Yapeng's acting skills were mediocre, so that Xu Qing's beautiful Ren Yingying's moving features could not be shown, which is really a pity!
Next, we turn the pen and go back to the unsatisfactory performance of the male protagonist role in the later period. Time flies, and when Zhang Jizhong directed "The Deer and Ding" and "Heaven and Dragon Slayer" again, he still seemed to have failed to find the best candidate in terms of selecting the leading actor.
In "The Legend of Deer and Ding", the seven heroines have a strong lineup, each of whom is outstanding in appearance and amorous, which will undoubtedly bring a visual feast to the audience. A Ke played by Ying Caier is dignified and elegant, Shuang'er played by He Zhuoyan is playful and cute, and Princess Jianning played by Shu Chang is charming, all of which are eye-catching.
However, Wei Xiaobao played by the actor Huang Xiaoming was a big surprise. Wei Xiaobao in the original book has a strong atmosphere and is full of ruffianism, but Huang Xiaoming's performance is greasy and weird, which is far from the original image.
There was a bit of obscene evil in his laughter, and the whole person exuded a lewd posture, which was completely different from the bold and pungent little character in the original book, and he couldn't grasp the essence of Wei Xiaobao at all.
Naturally, the audience found it difficult to engage in the plot, and their disappointment with this character was overflowing. In contrast, Deng Chao played Zhang Wuji in "Heaven and Dragon Slayer", although his complexion is slightly dark, his overall image is closer to Bao Zheng he played in "Young Bao Qingtian".
What is still fresh in people's memory is Deng Chao's "rustic" outfit back then, with a stiff and sluggish facial expression, which is far from Zhang Wuji's image of being humble and polite and strong in martial arts.
The temperament and aura of the whole person are incompatible with the background of the depressed life experience, loneliness and suffering of this "former benevolent prince and today's enemy". The audience naturally found it difficult to resonate, and could only feel that the drama was playing, and they were haunted by it.
However, thankfully, although the choice of the actor often becomes the weakness of director Zhang Jizhong, it is not always the case. In the later works of "Dragon Babu" and "Blue Blood Sword", he finally broke this spell, and the casting was a huge success.
In the widely circulated masterpiece "Dragon Babu", Mr. Hu Jun brilliantly portrayed the heroic, calm and stable Qiao Feng, and people can't help but sigh at his superb acting skills that are skillfully integrated with the characters in the book of "chivalrous tenderness"! And Mr. Lin Zhiying's Duan Yu is full of nobility and grace, which perfectly fits the character settings in the play, which is undoubtedly the icing on the cake for a wonderful performance.
The interpretation of the roles of the two male protagonists has won warm appreciation and high praise from the audience.
However, we must not forget that in the work "Blue Blood Sword" directed by Zhang Jizhong, Yuan Chengzhi played by Mr. Dou Zhikong can be called the best work in Zhang Jizhong's version of the male protagonist.
The strong scholarly atmosphere revealed between his gestures can be called the best spokesperson for the spirit of the original work, and the success of the two plays is undoubtedly due to Director Zhang Jizhong's fact that he finally made the right choice of the actor this time.
However, let's flashback to the middle stage: Li Yapeng and Huang Xiaoming, two actors, once again brought trouble to the excellent work. Although the two dramas "Dragon Babu" and "Blue Blood Sword" were ultimately a huge success, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" directed by Zhang Jizhong earlier were still mired in the dilemma of the choice of the male lead.
In the drama "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", Huang Rong, played by Ms. Zhou Xun, amazed the entire martial arts world with her amazing charm. She is not only full of spirituality, but also vividly interprets the character of Bing Xue's smart book, almost reaching the perfect realm of Huang Rong's depiction of Huang Rong in Jin Yong's original book.
When the audience saw her light and elegant figure, it was as if they had seen the lifelike Huang Rong in the book, however, Guo Jing, played by Mr. Li Yapeng in the same play, had a mediocre performance, and he really couldn't match a masterpiece like Huang Rong His slow original dubbing, as well as his exaggerated performance of deliberately pretending to be stupid, made Guo Jing a real "silly boy", and it was naturally difficult for the audience to resonate.
As for "The Condor Heroes", Miss Liu Yifei showed the demeanor of the little dragon girl brilliantly, which is also impeccable. At only 17 years old, she seems to be the image of the aunt Gege who came out of Jin Yong's novels.
However, Mr. Huang Xiaoming's Yang Guo is another regrettable regret that his too sloppy style, coupled with his greasy performance style, is simply "pretending to be crazy and stupid" After the audience watched it, they naturally thought that Mr. Huang Xiaoming's performance was too funny, and it was far from Yang Guo's character image in the book.
Looking at the ups and downs of many Jin Yong's drama works directed by Zhang Jizhong, we can easily perceive a general law that cannot be ignored: the selection of the actor often plays a decisive role in the success or failure of a drama work.
Even if it has many advantages such as on-site filming and old drama bones, as long as the actor's choice is wrong, then the play will be doomed to failure, just like a bamboo basket for water, and all the efforts will be in vain.
Looking back at the works that have been ridiculed by the audience, such as "Smiling Proud Jianghu", "The Condor Heroes", "The Legend of Deer and Ding", etc., although there are many excellent heroines such as Xu Qing and Liu Yifei, but due to the unsatisfactory performance of Li Yapeng, Huang Xiaoming and other male protagonists, the whole play finally became a laughing stock.
The audience regrets this, but at the same time it is difficult to devote themselves to the plot, after all, the loss of the protagonist will undoubtedly have a great negative impact on the quality of the whole play.
However, when Zhang Jizhong met powerful actors such as Hu Jun, Lin Zhiying, and Dou Zhikong in the two dramas "Dragon Babu" and "Blue Blood Sword", the overall quality of the play was significantly improved.
These three male protagonists not only have images that conform to the role setting, but also have superb acting skills, but also cultivate both inside and outside, so that the audience can enjoy a richer aesthetic experience in the process of appreciation.
All in all, no matter what era background or what artistic style of martial arts drama is used, the importance of casting is eternal. Once the choice of the actor is just right, even if the script is flawed, the audience can often fall for it and yearn for it.
On the contrary, if all other links are impeccable, and only the choice of the actor is deviated, then all the efforts can only be put to waste after all, and the lessons accumulated by Zhang Jizhong on this issue are really worthy of our in-depth thinking.