Liu Jin: "I hope to pass on the spirit of Premier Zhou"

Stills of the movie "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an" Information picture

【Be a literary and art worker in the new era with faith, feelings and responsibility (3)】

When Liu Jin was interviewed by reporters, it was more than ten o'clock in the evening, and he had just finished recording a TV program. Afraid of delaying his rest, the reporter proposed to change the time. Liu Jin thought about it and said: "I am planning to make a new movie, tomorrow I will go to Sichuan to participate in public welfare activities, and then take the crew to collect style, not sure when I will come back." Or interview now, it doesn't matter how late it is. ”

This high-speed working state is the norm for Liu Jin. In particular, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, and a number of revolutionary historical works created around this theme have been broadcast in a concentrated manner, and several of them have Liu Jin's figure. At the beginning of the year, the TV series "Glory and Dreams" had just been completed, and he seamlessly docked and entered the crew of the TV series "Armageddon". I didn't go home during the Spring Festival, and Chinese New Year's Eve was also filming. After the filming of "Armageddon", he switched to the crew of the movie "Chosin Lake". In the middle, he also took time to participate in various literary and artistic evenings and public welfare activities.

"The work schedule is so full, it's no wonder you can even walk so fast, you can use the 'wind on the bottom of your feet' to describe." The reporter sighed. Liu Jin said that in the past, walking was not a hurried type, but now it has become hurried, not because of how busy the work is, but because of the behavior closer to Zhou Enlai.

He once asked Zhou Enlai's niece, Zhou Bingde, for advice. Zhou Bingde mentioned a detail of his life, that is, when he dined with Zhou Enlai, it was often the secretary who came to report, and he put down the dishes and chopsticks and left. Before she could react, Zhou Enlai's figure was gone. Following this clue, Liu Jin flipped through a large number of documentary images. "The state of walking is an important feature of the character. The hurried pace can show premier Zhou's state of exhaustion for the country and the people. Since then, I have begun to deliberately change my walking posture and speed in my life. Liu Jin said.

The sword blade came out of the grinding. For more than 20 years, with the character of Zhou Enlai, Liu Jin has experienced hardships that ordinary people have never experienced. In order to play Premier Zhou, who was suffering from cancer in the movie "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an", Liu Jin lost 30 pounds in a month. He worked hard and dieted at the same time, often hungry to the point of weakness in his legs and Venus in his eyes. In the premiere of the drama "From Xiangjiang to Zunyi", Liu Jin broke his foot while showing the scene where Zhou Enlai and Li De had a dispute, causing a bone fracture. He endured severe pain throughout the show, his feet were swollen like steamed buns, his shoes could not be taken off, and his costume was soaked with sweat. The doctor explicitly forbade the stage, but in order to ensure the smooth progress of the performance, he wore special splint shoes and gritted his teeth to insist on performing the full performance.

These are not the hardest experiences for Liu Jin. In order to make good works, he sometimes even risked his life. The TV series "Long March" was filmed on location with the concept of retaking the Long March Road, and the crew traveled all over the main places where the Red Army traveled. When filming the scene of climbing the snow-capped mountain, the crew first filmed it at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. But the snow was not large enough to show the harsh environment of the Long March, and they ran to partridge mountain at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters to retake. Liu Jin got up at four o'clock in the morning and rushed to the shooting site, the car could not drive up, so he climbed on the ground with his hands and feet. Because it was so cold, the bread he brought with him froze to ice. In the image, his face is purple. The photographer was very upset, thinking that his light was not adjusted, until Liu Jin suddenly fainted and rolled down the mountain while performing the clip of Zhou Enlai rescuing the little soldier sitting next to the snowdrift, almost dying. Everyone found out that he was a plateau hypoxic. "At that time, we said ' use the spirit of the Long March to shoot 'Long March',' which was actually not a big truth. In that situation, all the reactions are real, and there is no need to brew emotions at all. Liu Jin recalled. It is precisely because of the sincere dedication of all the cast members, including Liu Jin, that "The Long March" has become a well-known classic, and its stills have also appeared in middle school Chinese textbooks.

There is a misunderstanding in society about the actors who play the leader, believing that they look similar to the leader and rely purely on imitation, so they are called "special actors". In fact, many of the leaders now have professional backgrounds. For example, Liu Jin, at the beginning, he was not a "professional household" who played Zhou Enlai. In 1983, Liu Jin was admitted to the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts; in 1987, he wrote and performed his own sketch "Under the Hibiscus Tree", which won the first prize in the first national drama sketch television competition; in 1988, he played Tian Baogen in the TV series "Cangsheng" and entered the film and television circle; 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". However, since the TV series "Zunyi Conference", Liu Jin's reputation as Zhou Enlai's god-like and god-like reputation has gradually spread, inviting one after another. "After that, I 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 character and destroyed the image of Premier Zhou in people's minds. Since then, I have stopped taking negative roles, commercials, etc. Liu Jin introduced.

Playing the same character for many years, Liu Jin endured unimaginable loneliness. Sometimes he also thought about giving up. However, in 2004, for playing Zhou Enlai in "Ode to Yan'an", Liu Jin won the Most Popular TV Drama Actor Award and the Most Popular Actor Award at the 5th China Golden Eagle Television Arts Festival. This made him truly feel the audience's recognition of his acting skills, and since then he has strengthened his determination to play Premier Zhou. When talking about his mental journey, Liu Jin said: "Although I gave up some things because of the identity of Zhou Enlai, I gained more. In the past two years, I have often been 'exempted' by taking a taxi or going to a restaurant. The other party said that you are the person who plays Premier Zhou, take a group photo as a payment. I replied that it was okay to take pictures, but it was not exempt. "When filming the scene in the movie "Zhou En's Return to Yan'an" in which ordinary people help Premier Zhou carry the car, many of the extras were fellow villagers in the crowd who welcomed Premier Zhou. From the audition to the shooting, they have been in tears, causing Liu Jin to be unable to help shedding tears: "Every time I encounter this situation, I feel warm and satisfied in my heart, which is the audience's empathy for Premier Zhou to me." ”

Filming is when actors create characters. But Liu Jin said that while he was shaping the role of Zhou Enlai, the character of Zhou Enlai was also shaping him. "Through little by little study and observation, bit by bit of accumulation of emotions, I moved closer to this great soul step by step, so as to more deeply feel the loftiness of his spiritual realm. In order to maintain the tone of Premier Zhou, I also demanded myself more strictly. As a literary and art worker, Liu Jin realized that in addition to doing his own work and creating good works, he also applied actions to spread positive energy for society. Since 2008, he has followed the Volunteer Association of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Television Association to send joy to the grassroots, participating in various public welfare performances more than 100 times, footprints all over the motherland, the old revolutionary areas, border posts, a performance is several, and participated in recitation, singing, skits, hosting, etc., and has a variety of jobs. He has also participated in the Green China Tour public welfare activities for more than 10 years, disseminating green concepts in more than 50 cities and regions, taking the lead in afforestation, and promoting free lunch activities in Hongyuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, benefiting more than 2,000 students. "Premier Zhou's noble personality is like a beacon, guiding me in the direction of progress. If I want to do one thing well in my life, I hope I can pass on his spirit forever! Liu Jin said firmly.

(Reporter Li Lei)