On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the party, the Beijing News launched a series of interviews on "Sparks of Fire - The Image of Party Members in Film and Television". Assembling three generations of actors, old, middle and young, they have all been associated with party members because of their roles, baptized by the spirit of party members, and thus formed a lifelong belief in self-conscious pursuit, strict self-discipline on the road of performance, and forge ahead.
Spanning a hundred years of time and reliving the years of burning passion, through the narration of the actors, we try to restore that period of glory, with the establishment of the image of excellent party members, and carry forward the spirit of a new generation of party members.
The Beijing News Cultural and Entertainment × the Beijing News News jointly produced
As the actor who plays Premier Zhou Enlai the most times, Liu Jin has his uniqueness, and each of his performances shows his pioneering work in the field of special performance. He infiltrated the role into the bits and pieces of his life, even if it was only a minute of free time, he could feel a book about Premier Zhou Enlai in his reach, and read and deliberate at any time.
But Liu Jin has also experienced setbacks and struggles, and after years of immersion and the accumulation of several performances, his interpretation of Premier Zhou Enlai has become more calm and full. As he said, from the first time he played Premier Zhou Enlai, he was convinced of one thing in his heart - this will be his life's work.
"Before I was a role player, but now I am the inheritor and promoter of the spirit of Zhou Enlai. It's my responsibility and what the audience expects of me. So I have to get a full picture of this character, and if my interpretation is biased, it is to change history, which is the pressure I have always shouldered. ”
In the movie "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an" released in 2019, in order to present the premier's state of illness in his later years, Liu Jin spent half a year desperately losing weight and losing 28 pounds.
Everywhere you can touch it, there are books about the prime minister
"A great person like Premier Zhou, whose revolutionary career is too rich, requires actors to experience life, walk into life, give back to life, and have a creative state of 'enchanted' to really touch him."
"Tired and happy", Liu Jin summed up his daily life as a great man in five words.
As one of the special actors with the most number of roles, the largest age span, and the audience considers to be the most similar to Zhou Enlai, Liu Jin said that this road is very hard, but the sense of achievement gained allows him to enjoy the happiness and joy of the performance.
From 1995 to the present, Liu Jin has played the role of Zhou Enlai in more than 70 film and television works, from young to old age, reproducing the image of great people in various periods. In recent years, the working state of high-speed operation has been more normal for Liu Jin. Especially in the centenary of the founding of the party, a number of revolutionary historical works created around this theme were concentrated in production: at the beginning of the year, the TV series "Glory and Dreams" had just been completed, and he seamlessly docked into the crew of the TV series "Armageddon"; the Spring Festival did not rest, and even the Chinese New Year's Eve was spent in the crew; after the filming of "Armageddon", he switched to the film "Chosin Lake" crew... "To tell the truth, I have long been accustomed to it." But even if the frequency of acting is high, the performance habits will not change. A great person like Premier Zhou, his revolutionary career is too rich, requiring actors to experience life, walk into life, give back to life, and have a 'enchanted' creative state to truly touch him. ”
In the TV series "Armageddon", which aired in June this year, Liu Jin once again played the role of Zhou Enlai (second from the left).
The so-called "enchanted", Liu Jin said, is reflected in many details of his life. Usually, no matter whether he walks or takes a car, he will read a few famous words of Premier Zhou. In the study, there is a wall full of books about the premier, some of modern history, some of them participating in the revolution, and some of them after the founding of New China. Sometimes lying in bed, he would unconsciously begin to review, silently reciting what the prime minister had said in his heart, and looking for the feeling of performing little by little. He said that actors are passive, you never know what period your next work will be played by him, you must be fully prepared, "so, as long as I can touch the place, I will put a book about the prime minister, so that I can pick it up and flip through it at any time." 」 It's an endless thing, and every time I get close to him, I feel like there's more to me to learn about. ”
He used to be lonely, struggling, and even thinking about giving up
"Before 2004, I was struggling. I often ask myself, have I only played this one role in my life? For the actor, it is very lonely and lonely. ”
For the "special actors", there has always been a misunderstanding in the outside world, thinking that they are only because they look similar to the leader and rely purely on imitation. In fact, many of the leaders are played by professional actors. In 1983, Liu Jin was admitted to the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts, and in 1988, he entered the film and television industry by starring in the TV series "Cangsheng"; later, he played the Shunzhi Emperor in the TV series "Kangxi Emperor", and played Zhang Xueliang in the movie "Song Dynasty" and the TV series "Zhang Xueliang". The fate with Zhou Enlai began in the TV series "Zunyi Conference", "After that, I also took over other roles, some of whom were still villains." But not long after, the audience's letter came, saying that I played a negative role and destroyed the image of Premier Zhou in people's minds. Since then I have not taken on any negative roles, as well as commercials. ”
But choosing to play only one role in a lifetime requires the actor to make a huge sacrifice. Liu Jin endured unimaginable loneliness, struggle, and even the thought of giving up. "Before 2004, I was struggling. I often ask myself, have I only played this one role in my life? From the lines to the plot, many are similar, but some are TV series, some are movies. For the actor, it is very lonely and lonely. "It was in that year that Liu Jin won the Audience's Favorite TV Actor Award at the 5th China Golden Eagle Television Arts Festival for his role as Zhou Enlai in the TV series "Ode to Yan'an", which made him truly feel the recognition of the audience and strengthened his determination to continue acting." The Golden Eagle Award gave me a shot in the arm, and I knew that someone had to complete this task, to complete this mission. So I no longer hesitate, nor do I struggle, and try to break through the bottleneck. ”
Although he has played Zhou Enlai more than seventy times, Liu Jin is very clear that "maybe in the end, he may not be able to achieve perfection."
But Liu Jin knows very well in his heart that to shape the image of the premier, it takes a lifetime of perseverance, "Maybe in the end you may not be able to achieve perfection, but the performance must always make yourself completely immersed in the situation." He recalled the experience of all the cast members re-walking the Long March together during the filming of the TV series "Long March", "In other words, everyone may think that we set up a scene in Hengdian Film and Television City, and the scenes at high altitudes can be done with special effects or post-production." But if you don't shoot in real time, can the actors really experience the feeling of the Long March? That kind of high altitude lack of oxygen, breathing difficulties, a day can not eat and insist on walking, no real experience can not be performed, without the spirit of the Long March can not shoot "Long March". ”
The moment you overlap with the character, you get the best performance
"For a split second, I felt like I was overlapping with him. While truly restoring history, it also obtains an artistic best state. ”
In Liu Jin's view, it is difficult to truly restore the premier's decades of revolutionary career, and it is not easy to do so. He vaguely remembers the "jump weight loss" experienced for the film "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an", "In 1973, the premier lost only a few dozen pounds due to illness, and as an actor, I had to put myself in a state of emaciation and emaciation, but I had to gain weight when shooting the bridge section of the founding period. The shooting cycle is so long that it is necessary to achieve these changes in a short period of time, which really needs to be affected by the skin of the body. "During that time, slimming biscuits were Liu Jin's main meal every day, one piece in the morning, middle and evening, and if he was too hungry, he would eat a cucumber to supplement it." From the Spring Festival to the summer boot, he did not go out to eat a meal, nor did he steal a snack: "I really dare not, dare not have the slightest relaxation." Half a year later, I lost 28 pounds, and people were out of phase. ”
The movie "Zhou Enlai Returns to Yan'an" shows the story of Premier Zhou Enlai's return to Yan'an after his illness.
Before the shooting, Gao Zhenpu, Zhou Enlai's defender, brought a short sleeve that the premier had worn that year, and he tried it and it was completely fitted. Later, many of the scenes in the film were completed in that dress. "There was a scene about the prime minister going to Yan'an to visit the masses, and people in the distance couldn't see him and shouted' Premier, can you stand taller, we want to see you', but at that time he was already sick and physically exhausted, and he couldn't stand on the car at all. According to his state at that time, I found that at that moment I really couldn't go up, and everything was beyond my physical capacity. At that time, although Liu Jin had been reading the line "I will tell Chairman Mao and President Zhu about the situation in Yan'an when I go back", the tears have long been uncontrollable. "For a split second, I felt like I was overlapping with him. While truly restoring history, it also obtains an artistic best state. ”
After the screening of the premiere of "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an", there was a long applause from the stage, and everyone sighed that Liu Jin's performance was "too in place", looking at the excited audience, Liu Jin also truly felt the meaning of "how much you pay to return", "As an actor, you must use your body, soul, and your feelings to feel great people, and then play to the extreme." ”
Zhou Huixiaowan, a senior reporter of the Beijing News
Chief Editor Wu Dongni Proofreader Zhao Lin