Actor Zhang Wanyi played a number of film and television drama roles in 2021, allowing the audience to remember this young man. (Photo / Nie Yifan)
Zhang Wanyi's first confrontation with "Qiao Erqiang" occurred when the TV series "The Wind Rises" was about to be completed.
When the script of the TV series "Children of the Qiao Family" was given to Zhang Wanyi, he could not choose the role independently, nor could he determine whether he could act. His understanding is limited to knowing that he wants to play Qiao Erqiang, so he can't talk about his determination to take over the role because he is attracted by the quality of the character.
The drama is backed by the widely acclaimed producer Fang Zheng's noonday sun, and its director Zhang Kaizhou has created many masterpieces such as "If snails have love", "Do you know if it should be green fat red skinny", "Qing Ping Le" and so on. In Zhang Wanyi's mind, this team is the "most professional", and for him who is eager to cooperate with good directors and good actors in a good script, there was no more valuable learning opportunity than this at that time.
At that time, Zhang Wanyi's name had not yet been brought into thousands of households by "The Age of Awakening", and according to the usual measurement standards used inside and outside the industry, he was still a newcomer.
What is slightly surprising is that the high standards and high requirements of the noonday sun did not add too much pressure to Zhang Wanyi. He laughed and said, "I haven't even seen any of them!" No matter how strong the desire in his heart, his gesture of striving for the role is and can only be a focus on the performance.
Zhang Wanyi completed two auditions without distraction, and successfully "won" the role of Qiao Erqiang.
"After turning a hobby into a career, enjoy the process"
In the first scene filmed by Zhang Wanyi's group, Qiao Erqiang confessed for the first time to his 8-year-old master Ma Suqin. I don't know if it was a coincidence or a deliberate, this scene is the audition clip that helped him get the role. He had played that scene over and over again.
The unexpected smoothness made Zhang Wanyi hesitate, and he asked Zhang Kaizhu for another guarantee, but the director said: "The state is good." When Qiao Erqiang stopped his steps and looked back with tears, his face intertwined with motor oil and dirt appeared a hint of forbearance, and the audience was all moved by Zhang Wanyi's "state".
The freeze-frame picture is like the door of a time tunnel, and when you gently push it open, you can see a face of youth mixed with blood, looking back and smiling. At this time, Chen Yannian (Zhang Wanyi) in the classic shot of "The Age of Awakening" seems to be resurrected in another time and space and in the shell.
Zhang Kaizhou did not clearly explain the reason for choosing Zhang Wanyi to play Qiao Erqiang, and Zhang Wanyi could only figure out the director's intentions through shooting and getting along. In addition to the fit of image temperament and role, he believes that what the noonday sun team really needs is "actors with creative ability".
Where does creative power come from? "Really listen, really see, really feel" is sometimes too pale because it is over-quoted and emphasized. But the most incisive and difficult part of the performance is condensed in these short 7 words. Zhang Wanyi's getting along and running-in with Qiao Erqiang revealed his understanding and practice of this sentence.
The story of "Children of Joe's Family" begins in the 1970s and 1980s. Before entering the group, Zhang Wanyi talked a lot with his parents, trying to feel the era they experienced; after entering the group, he used the time outside of filming to communicate with the director and other senior actors to deepen his understanding of the background of the era. Over time, he was closer to Qiao Erqiang's life.
Qiao Erqiang lost his mother at an early age, and the family environment was far from Zhang Wanyi himself. Although he has not experienced what the character has experienced, he has heard or seen similar stories in his life or film and television works, which are the material and basis for Zhang Wanyi's performance.
The feeling of getting along with siblings comes from Zhang Wanyi's actual life. He had a sister and several cousins and cousins, who were very close in private. Zhang Wanyi introduced these feelings into the performance, "without deviating from life when shaping the role".
The age span of the character is another challenge facing Zhang Wanyi. Dealing with the psychological state of the character and understanding the character's experience and changes in mentality are the homework he has to do before performing. When facing the camera, he starts from the details of shape, posture, breathing state, and way of speaking, and implements his understanding.
The changes in Qiao Erqiang's more than 20 years can be briefly summarized in different states: from urgent to slow, from fast to slow, from floating to sinking. They do not appear or separate from each other, Zhang Wanyi believes: "The story line is closely linked, not that this year is 20 (years old) and next year is 40 years old, in fact, it is a process of slow growth." He pressed Tu Suoji, and a vivid and three-dimensional screen image stood up.
From the autumn of 26 years old to the autumn of 27 years old, the story of Zhang Wanyi and Qiao Erqiang came to an end. In the newly released "I Love Bomber", he met a senior actor who can be regarded as a role model - Fu Dalong.
The shock that Fu Dalong brought to Zhang Wanyi was not only reflected in the performance level, but also in his treatment of people. "He never forgot that he was an ordinary person and never left life." Zhang Wanyi felt that it was extremely rare for a "shadow emperor" like Fu Dalong to live "like a normal person".
Recently, Zhang Wanyi's itinerary has been very tight. On the day of the interview with New Weekly, he had a magazine shoot and four media interviews in Beijing, and at 7 p.m. he had to go to a place in Hebei for a new shoot. In the eyes of many people, this schedule is different from ordinary people, but he feels that he is "a normal person".
"Once you turn your hobby into a career, enjoy the process." Around this passion of the cause, Zhang Wanyi has the opportunity to intersect with different people or rub shoulders. They are all kinds of real and vivid, so that he can say without hesitation: "I have not left this society, I have not been in contact with people." ”
"There are many ways for people to grow"
Society and crew are Zhang Wanyi's "campus" after graduating from university. He understood education as a pathway that was not limited by place or time.
"There are many ways for people to grow. We have come all the way and have also been a process of growth in society. "Even the best students will eventually return to society, Zhang Wanyi exercised his profession in this invisible melting pot, and followed the director and the senior actors to learn and progress."
In Zhang Wanyi's view, a "good script" cannot be separated from society and reality, its structure is built on the basis of life, the rhythm must be smooth, ups and downs, there is space, and can bring a fascinating experience to the viewer.
Each script is a "teaching material" for the actors, and a familiar reading of the text is an essential preparation before it is put into practice, that is, before it is put into performance. Reading is accompanied by comprehension, the process of understanding the character experience, familiarizing with the historical background, and analyzing the relationship between the characters, which is also the only way for Zhang Wanyi to enter the role.
The road suddenly became flat and wide in 2021. When the first milestone appeared, Zhang Wanyi walked a long way.
The start time of "Children of Joe's Family" was less than 3 months after the completion of the three rounds of "The Age of Awakening", and the role filter gave Zhang Wanyi attention and also gave him a label. Many people's first reaction when they see Qiao Erqiang is "Isn't this the actor who plays Yannian?" He treats this with a normal heart and is happy to let everyone remember the character, not just him.
Appearing in two major dramas within a year, Zhang Wanyi admitted: "I am a very lucky person, and I have always had the opportunity to learn from a good team and actors. Not only that, but he also experienced the feeling of being an air force this year.
The filming of "I Love Bomber" tanned Zhang Wanyi a lot, and it was inevitable to suffer hardships. However, he longed for the military camp more. "Seeing such a big bomber, the country's military equipment is so strong, you will want to get close to it, feel it." Under the weight of a big country, Zhang Wanyi deeply realized that a happy life was not easy to come by.
In life, Zhang Wanyi's preferences are very "ordinary". Taking the preference for watching movies and dramas as an example, he likes to watch "dramas, suspense films, fights", which audiences like to hear, especially the genre that is popular with big boys.
Inevitably, Zhang Wanyi watches with a professional perspective, he pays the most attention to the performance of the actors, and will also pay attention to the rhythm grasp of a scene. He tends to create works by mature, excellent creators, such as the recent "Sweeping Storm", and the plot and performance are very fascinating to him.
Many people commented that Zhang Wanyi had a "positive drama face", and he thanked everyone for their affirmation of his performance in the main drama, and at the same time he wanted to show: "I am an actor, and an actor needs to create a lot of roles." I'm not actually blindly acting in the main drama, I have also acted in many other subjects, and each character is different. "As long as the role is good, he is willing to try.
Zhang Wanyi is open to different voices from the outside world, praise makes him happy and has a sense of achievement, and criticism makes him reflect and wake up. But in any case, his learning and performance will not be disturbed.
The process of gradual growth and maturity has given Zhang Wanyi more responsibilities and obligations. In his eyes, "I am now an actor who is still learning and improving." In the future, he hopes to become an "actor who continues to learn and progress.".
Zhang Wanyi also gained inspiration from the growth of the role of Qiao Erqiang. (Photo/ Courtesy of respondents)
Persistence is OKAY, don't be too stubborn
Back to the starting point of the actor's dream, Zhang Wanyi was still in high school in Shiyan, Hubei Province. Like his classmates, he began to have imagination and planning for the future.
What kind of university do you want to go to? What kind of major do you want to study? What kind of life do you want to live? There are as many possibilities as there are unknowns in front of him, and he naturally experiences confusion and hesitation, but one thing is very certain, he hopes that the future will be "colorful" and colorful. In his young experience, the actor should be a profession that meets expectations.
"It's fun, you can play a lot of roles, go around the world to shoot, you can experience different lives." With his first impression, Zhang Wanyi determined the direction of his efforts.
After the college entrance examination results came out, Zhang Wanyi's performance was not bad, but it was still a little far from his goal. At the age of 18, he decided to accept the first test of fate and prepare to repeat the study. It was a difficult year, and the parents' attitude towards repeat reading was nothing special, just like every decision their son had made in the past.
When Zhang Wanyi was a child, his parents intentionally let him cultivate some literary and artistic talents. He knew that he could not sit still, and he agreed with his parents' expectations of him to cultivate his emotions, so he chose the piano in many categories and won the full support of his parents.
Everyone practiced hard, but when Zhang Wanyi mentioned it, there was no exaggeration or emotion. He still remembers an interesting thing when practicing the piano: "Playing the piano always has to cut nails!" I think cutting nails is a waste of time, and then I don't like to cut them, but my fingers will not stand on the keys, and I will slip. ”
The frizz of the teenager Zhang Wanyi was smoothed out a little, and he began to realize that to accomplish something, it was indispensable to pay time, energy and patience, and when necessary, he also had to let himself make changes.
From childhood to adulthood, his parents are Zhang Wanyi's most solid backing, allowing him to grow up with a sense of security, gradually establish a good attitude, so that he has the confidence to face difficulties and work hard for his ideals. Even if the place he must pass is full of mist, he has the courage to take the first step, such as facing the camera for the first time, challenging the role with a large age span for the first time, hanging Weiya for the first time, and so on.
This dedication to chasing dreams is reminiscent of Qiao Erqiang, who treats his love and career with the same firmness and finally realizes his dream. This is the most profound quality when Zhang Wanyi portrays the character, and he also gets inspiration from Qiao Erqiang's growth in life.
Persistence is good, but "stubbornness has a degree." Zhang Wanyi is glad that he is not so stubborn, he is still more persuasive: "Sometimes friends around me will tell me something, such as your place is indeed inherently wrong, then I will change." ”
Zhang Wanyi's peace and calmness in his work makes people feel that he is a bit young and old. The fact of raising turtles confirms the nickname given to him by the audience as an "old cadre". In fact, he also has many hobbies, such as playing ice hockey, fitness, and lego fighting, which can be described as both dynamic and static.
Since the itinerary became compact, Zhang Wanyi's leisure and entertainment time has decreased. If he only had half an hour to spare, he would do what he could. "Let's say I go home and first open the door of my house, and I see the turtle, so I'll look at the turtle for a while."
Zhang Wanyi's temperament is lined with an optimistic background, as a rational and emotional person, no matter where the pen stops, he can gladly accept and cast an appreciative gaze.
"I'm a slow-hot, spontaneous person." Zhang Wanyi said this about himself. If you want to see him show intense emotions, I am afraid to look at his works and characters.