"The greatest happiness in my life is that Director Xie Jin chose me to play Wu Qionghua."
That's right, she is the actor who played the heroic Wu Qionghua in the movie "Red Detachment of Women" - Zhu Xijuan.
In 1962, she received widespread acclaim for this film and won the first Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress in Popular Films.
Later, because of his outstanding contributions to the acting career, he was respectfully called the "People's Artist".
However, she retired and settled in the United States with her husband, a move that caused dissatisfaction among many at the time.
After she returned to China, she actually won everyone's respect again, has everyone forgotten?
From "extensive discussion" when settling abroad to "being respected" after returning home.
What kind of story is happening?
So, let's explore it together!
Born an actor's dream and become an actor!
She was born in a family with a strong cultural atmosphere in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province.
As a result, she received a quality education from an early age and accumulated a wealth of cultural knowledge.
Of course, this upbringing environment not only gave her cultural literacy, but also subtly cultivated her artistic talent.
When she was 14 years old and still in junior high school, she happened to meet director Zhao Dan, who came to the school for casting.
She was fortunate enough to be selected by the director at that time to join the filming cast of the movie "Blessings for the Children".
She experienced a very novel event that made her feel fresh in her memory whenever she recalled it.
In fact, a seed of love for acting has already been planted in her heart.
So, when she took the college entrance examination at the age of 19, when others were still worried about choosing a major, she decided to apply for the acting major without hesitation.
In 1957, she was successfully admitted to the acting department of the Shanghai Theater Academy.
The first step she achieved was the beginning of a dream she realized, where she took it every day with extreme seriousness.
Every day I spent at that school was extraordinarily fulfilling.
Solid interpretive skills were learned, laying a solid foundation for a future artistic career.
In 1960, she successfully graduated from school.
She then joined the Academy's Experimental Repertory Troupe and became a member of the Shanghai Youth Repertory Theatre.
Just after graduating, her life hasn't changed much.
As newcomers, they have few opportunities, and most of them are still in school when they have free time.
On an ordinary day, she was quietly targeted by a person.
In 1961, it was when the film "Red Detachment of Women" was preparing for casting.
The directors and screenwriters of the crew are all worried about the role "Wu Qionghua".
They believe that the eyes of "Wu Qionghua" must be "big and bright, as if burning with flames".
As a result, film director Xie Jin began to search for these eyes extensively.
Regrettably, he searched for a few days and found nothing, much to her annoyance.
One day, he went to the Shanghai Theater Academy to do business, but unexpectedly obtained this harvest.
Become "Wu Qionghua"
He walked around the campus that day, and it was unusually silent.
Suddenly, as I passed by a classroom, I heard an argument coming from inside.
His peaceful world was shattered in an instant, and he walked over with curiosity.
Originally, there was a young man and a woman arguing in the classroom, and the girl looked very excited, her eyes full of anger.
So, he suddenly looked at it, isn't this exactly Wu Qionghua's eyes?
He was very surprised, so he asked about the girl, and only then did he know that her name was Zhu Xijuan.
In addition, she has previous acting experience. Now, he deeply felt that she was the person he was looking for.
However, he couldn't just think about his own ideas, so he invited screenwriter Liang Xin to come and watch it together.
When Liang Xin saw it, he was stunned and felt that the situation was very incredible.
After that, upon invitation, Zhu Xijuan successfully joined the crew of "Red Women's Army".
In fact, the story is much more than that, and even Zhu Xijuan herself learned about it later.
Before finalizing her, the director secretly observed her for a long time on several occasions.
After observation, it was found that she was an actor with unlimited potential, and finally decided to choose her.
Before playing this role, the crew also deliberately arranged for them to live with the real women's army.
At that time, they had to get up at 6 a.m. to experience first-hand the life of the Girl Scouts.
They persevered that way for a whole month.
Thankfully, however, these efforts were not in vain, as the film was an instant hit.
She seized the opportunity in the momentary glory, created many wonderful works, and created a diverse number of characters.
These include the films "Liaoyuan" and "Qingshan Love", as well as the drama "Goodbye, Paris" and other works.
However, back in 1996, she expanded her career to the United States. She retired two years later and settled in the United States.
Going abroad turmoil
It was 1996, a time of mass travel abroad, and many people were looking forward to living abroad.
However, she didn't fully understand it, so she decided to film everything that was really going on.
Now that she had made up her mind, she immediately put it into action.
The audience didn't know the reason for the decision, which is why they made all sorts of comments about her decision when she went abroad.
After she went abroad, she immediately joined hands with Shanghai Los Angeles Entertainment Company to shoot the film and television drama "Broadway 100".
In this drama, she presents the most authentic side of America.
Therefore, after watching this drama, the audience no longer looks forward to life abroad as before.
After retiring, she and her husband moved directly to the United States, where they founded the American Qionghua Film and Television Art Company.
From the fact that she named this character "Qionghua", we can see its importance to her.
In addition, I think it also serves as a warning to keep her original intention at all times.
She missed her homeland every moment there, and finally chose to return to China to develop her career.
Despite her old age, she has never given up contributing to China's acting career.
epilogue
She is now in her eighties and has devoted most of her entire life to the performing arts.
In addition, she said in an interview this year:
"I want to draw the audience's vision to the elderly group, because they also have various needs, and they must continue to exert their residual heat."
It can be seen that she is indeed working hard to promote the development of the film and television industry, so it is definitely deserved to be known as an "old artist" by everyone.