Audiences familiar with Hong Kong opera will remember Chen Guobang. As far as Peng Sanshun in "The Great Eunuch" and The kind and well-behaved Dantian in "Gonggong Out of the Palace", as far as Li Si in "In Search of Qin", who is pregnant with a majestic strategy and Situ Jia with intellectual disabilities in "Flowing Golden Years", Chen Guobang rarely plays the main role, but he has left a deep impression on the audience with multiple supporting roles.
At the end of 2016, Chen Guobang and TVB completely ended their contract. Without the "window" of TVB episodes, many viewers have not seen him for a long time. Chen Guobang recently appeared in Guangzhou, and he smiled and told reporters: "I am here to apply for a job." After a brief stay in Guangzhou, he traveled to Beijing to work on a mainland film and television work. The daughter is almost nine years old, and Chen Guobang, a low-key family-loving acting school, has finally taken a step north and continued to pursue his acting dream in the mainland.
Looking for opportunities to play with good actors
In 2015, Chen Guobang posted an open letter on Weibo announcing his departure from TVB. In his letter, he wrote: "I don't want to see myself slowly turn into a pool of stagnant water. Although he was invited to "return to the nest" in 2016 and cooperated with Li Yaoxiang and Mao Shunjun in the sitcom "Love Home at Eight o'clock", after the end of the play, he completely left TVB and entered what he called the "outside world".
In the following years, Chen Guobang did not idle, he participated in the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre's drama "Red Plum Rebirth", and also starred in TV series on other platforms such as "Fire Rescue". But he rarely leaves Hong Kong because he is reluctant to give up his young daughter Chen Chan: "I hope to spend more time with my daughter before she is ten years old and establish a close emotional relationship with her, so I tried to take on as many local jobs as possible in those years." But now that my daughter is almost nine years old, our relationship is strong and I can work outside the home with peace of mind. ”
Although the focus of his work has always been on Hong Kong, Chan Kwok-bang has a lot of family portraits of mainland film and television works. He revealed that he not only turned the classic costume drama "Yongzheng Dynasty" over and over three times, but also recently chased after 43 episodes of "The Age of Awakening" in one go. "The Age of Awakening" tells the history of China from the New Culture Movement to the founding of the Communist Party of China in the early 20th century, bringing the burning years of Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Cai Yuanpei and others to the screen. This drama brought a lot of inspiration to Chen Guobang: "Such a 'literary' TV series, but I saw the feeling of 'war' - in that era, all kinds of ideological trends stirred each other, which made people very excited. As a good actor, Chen Guobang saw the skill: "Yu Hewei (playing Chen Duxiu) and Ma Shaohua (playing Cai Yuanpei) two actors acted very well. When I watched the play, I couldn't help but imagine, if it was me, how would I act? What if I could play against them? Acting with good actors is like competing. ”
"There are more film and television works in the mainland than in Hong Kong, so I naturally have more opportunities to express myself." Chen Guobang was eager to try, "When I came to the mainland, my goal was very direct and simple. I love acting, it's my specialty and interest, I'm here to find a job, to find opportunities. ”
Born in a science class, he regards acting as a science
Talking about leaving TVB, Chen Guobang admitted that his ideas have not changed so far: "After so many years at TVB, I am a little discouraged. From 'Bang Tsai' to 'Abang' to 'Bang Ge', he has always been praised, but he has not been able to 'promote'. I happened to be doing a stage play and had a little more time to think about the future direction. If I stayed at TVB, it didn't seem like my upside was going to get bigger, so I decided to leave. In Chen Guobang's view, what he does not mind is "red or not red", but that he cannot get more room to play. But when it comes to this topic, he can't help but feel helpless: "In fact, if you think about it seriously, in the entertainment industry, if you are not popular, how can you be the protagonist?" ”
But even if Chen Guobang has never played a leading role, no one will question his acting skills. Even from a certain point of view, he is the "outlier" of the Hong Kong showbiz circle. He came from a scientific background and studied a four-year acting course at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and was the beloved apprentice of Hong Kong drama master Chung King Fai. Many people appreciate the simple mentality of Hong Kong actors who "do this job well", but for Chen Guobang, acting is not only a job, but also a science. He recalled his experience studying at the Academy of Performing Arts: "One of the criteria for King Sir (Zhong Jinghui's nickname) to accept students was to treat acting as a science. The Academy of Performing Arts is different from the TVB Artist Training Class or the Miss Hong Kong Contest, which is a four-year professional course, and if you are bent on becoming a star, you may be disappointed to come to the Academy of Performing Arts. ”
So far, acting is still Chen Guobang's greatest interest. He doesn't like to brush social platforms, weibo has not been updated for several years; but he loves to surf the Internet, and most of his browsing records are tool sites such as "Cantonese Orthography Dictionary". He said: "I'm actually quite 'gossipy', I want to know everything, biology, physics, history... These will become the material for the performance. Whenever I get a role, I dig deeper into a certain area. For example, when I played Li Si in "In Search of Qin", I went to learn more about the social environment and people's lives in the Warring States period, so that I could portray the characters more three-dimensionally and more carefully. He made an analogy: "Actors can be many or supermarkets." The debutant is like a company with a limited 'inventory' and limited roles to play; but as he accumulates experience, he grows into a large supermarket with everything. The more material you accumulate, the more three-dimensional your character will be. ”
Drama is like life, carefully managing the role of husband
"It's a very interesting profession to be an actor and to be old all the time." Chen Guobang said. In his narration, acting is a very romantic affair, intertwined with real life: "I previously worked with King Sir on a stage play called 'Meet Tuesday' for eight years. When he first started acting, King Sir was younger than his 78-year-old father. Later, King Sir, who was also 78 years old, said: "I am finally at this age." I felt the same way: when I became a father and then said the lines about having children on stage, it felt completely different. ”
In addition to continuing his work behind the scenes, Chan also serves as a guest lecturer in the Department of Acting at Hong Kong Baptist University. He believes that even if there are not as many opportunities to become an actor now as in the past, acting is still useful: "Many people in life do not work in professional counterparts, and the same is true of those who have graduated from the acting department." But the science of acting is of great help to daily life. ”
Where's the help? He said: "In social life, we actually play different roles. You could be an employee, a daughter, a wife. Acting can help you complete the role transition more smoothly and know how to control your emotions more. Chen Guobang also applied this performance theory to getting along with the family: "Be conscious and do something that husbands and fathers should do." Chen Guobang and his wife Luo Minzhuang are a well-known model couple, and his "theoretical practice" is indeed successful: "For example, our family has a rule: kiss in the morning, kiss before each meal, kiss before going to bed, the same as the wife and daughter." External behavior is related to inner emotions, and more actions can consolidate feelings. Yangcheng Evening News reporter Hu Guangxin
Source: Yangcheng Evening News