Li Wenqi: If your audience doesn't believe it, it's a failure

Source: Guangming Daily

Li Wenqi recently took a photo of this newspaper reporter Liu Ping'an /Guangming Picture

【Approaching the Writers】

He has dedicated classic sketches such as "Doorbell Sound", "Mother's Today", "Something You Talk" and other classic sketches for the audience on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage, and in 2019 and 2020, he has successively participated in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala sketches "Platform" and "Parental Love", shaping a series of deeply rooted roles. Today, the 77-year-old positioning himself is: play the residual heat, be a good foil, not too little drama, and strive to be brilliant.

As the saying goes, "after the eighth is the year", the footsteps of the Spring Festival are getting closer and closer, which familiar faces will appear on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage again, the audience is eagerly waiting for the mystery to be revealed, and Li Wenqi, who has been on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage 7 times, is naturally highly anticipated. Recently, the reporter visited the door to interview Li Wenqi and listened to him talk about the persistence and deep thinking behind the successful shaping of a series of deeply rooted roles on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

Arriving at the door of Li Wenqi's house, the sign next to the door that reads "Glorious House" is particularly eye-catching, which is something he is proud of, "Our old two are soldiers." At last year's Spring Festival Gala, Li Wenqi participated in the sketch "Parental Love", playing an old squad leader wearing a military uniform. In the sketch, Li Wenqi's appearance time and lines are not many, but his performance has become the highlight and memory point of the entire sketch, and it is also called "the finishing touch" by the audience. Speaking of the shaping of this role, Li Wenqi reinterpreted the detailed design while reinterpreting it, and the role conversion was almost in seconds, as if sitting in front of him was the old squad leader whose legs and feet and speech were not very sharp.

"I probably counted, and my lines probably didn't even say ten sentences. Although there are few dramas, we must think through the characters. When others see Jiang Defu (Guo Tao), they all shout 'old leader' to shake hands and hug, but I am his old squad leader, how to reflect this character relationship? I said, 'You all don't care about me', everyone gathered around, Jiang Defu saluted, I did not return the salute, but stood up and patted his head, this detail reflected the relationship between the two characters, and the close friendship in the army. Li Wenqi still clearly remembers every detail in the sketch, which he has repeatedly studied from life on countless sleepless nights. A sentence that Zhao Lirong once said to him has always affected him, she said: "Get the script, your mind will come up with a villain." Li Wenqi repeatedly polished his "little man" every time, and finally achieved a classic role.

The success of a performance depends on the form and the lines. Also in the sketch "Parental Love", Li Wenqi's interpretation of the lines has also conquered hundreds of millions of viewers, and his words have pushed the plot to a climax. In order to let Jiang Defu say the three words "I love you", the old squad leader first pointed at the ground with a crutch and shouted: "Jiang Defu, say!" Then he shared his own experience: "I and my old partner, just this word, when I was young, I couldn't say it, and when I was old, I wanted to talk, but I couldn't speak." I practiced, I practiced hard, I practiced well, before I could say it, she left, she left, I regret it. This line is not long, but it has received a round of applause. Li Wenqi had full thought about the design of every detail: "Although the hero is late, the command-style habit in the army is still there, so he shouted 'say'." But speaking is not good, there is a pause between 'out' and 'mouth'. The back 'can't speak again' is said with a bitter smile, and many sad things in life are just said with a bitter smile. But when it comes to 'she's gone', there is a hierarchy, the first time with a little resentment, the second time with sadness. It's like when someone dies in life, and relatives often blame the deceased in crying, 'Why are you so cruel, leave me and leave'. Characters are shaped to follow the iron logic of life. It is precisely because of these traceless performances that many people mistakenly think that Li Wenqi outside the play really speaks unfavorably to act so realistically.

Li Wenqi was deeply influenced by the traditional realist theory of theater performance, believing that shaping roles is the core essence of performance. He said that being an actor is expensive in self-knowledge, and it is necessary to find the correct positioning. And his positioning is to shape each role well, and he doesn't care if it's a male number one. Many people see Li Wenqi and recognize him as a sketch actor at a glance, and many character images are also swirling in their minds, and even lines like "I'm still afraid you'll dump me" can come out of their mouths, but they may not be able to call his name. For the fact that the drama red people are not red and the red people are not red, Li Wenqi believes that it is more important for the audience to remember the role than to remember themselves, and if the audience knows themselves because of the role, it is also their honor.

When it comes to shaping roles, Li Wenqi is also the first actor to play multiple roles on the Spring Festival Gala stage. In 1988, he first appeared on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and created three roles in "The Sound of the Doorbell", "Fake Dumb Who Sells Knives", "Neighborhood Committee Aunt" and "Policeman", which left a deep impression on the audience. In 1995, Li Wenqi's self-written and self-directed "Something You Talk" appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage, he once again played three roles, the performance was a great success, and "Something You Talk" has also become a classic in the history of sketches. How to play multiple roles accurately in one performance, Li Wenqi has worked hard in terms of lines, shape, and costumes. For example, Lao Chen, a Shanghainese who appeared first, held a small belt fish in his hand and a sentence of "the young man is not good", compared with the old cow who spoke Tianjin dialect in the back, it is completely impossible to see that it is a person who is decorated. Some people divide the performance into three levels, one is the true color of the performance; the second is what is like what is acted, and the third is what is acted, and Li Wenqi is obviously the third. What's the secret? It is probably his repeated emphasis that "the character must follow the iron logic of life".

Li Wenqi went to college, went down to the farm, and then entered the army, from the amateur propaganda team to the professional academy, all the way through various lives, but also all the way to insist on directing, acting and creating. He said that his rich life experience and excellent role models such as Zhao Lirong have benefited him a lot. He is very grateful for the time in the amateur propaganda team, he said: "The amateur propaganda team is good at mixing, blowing and playing, playing ball and taking pictures, you have to know everything, cross-talk, one-act drama, creation, etc. have been done, the skills are not pressurized, and the accumulation at that time also laid the foundation for professional performance in the future." ”

Nowadays, Li Wenqi often accepts invitations to direct scripts or direct plays for some theater groups, and after reading the script, he often asks, "Is it reasonable?" Is it life-like? Do the audience believe it? Unreasonable audiences will not believe it, and audiences of realistic works will fail if they do not believe it." Referring to the anti-Japanese drama that was hotly discussed on the Internet before, Li Wenqi expressed deep dissatisfaction: "This is laziness, disrespect for life, and nonsense in the name of innovation." However, he is also pleased with some high-quality dramas, and recently watched the TV series "Loading Stage" broadcast by CCTV, he said that the whole drama is very real, and he is looking forward to more high-quality works.

(Reporter Liu Ping'an)