He has been debuting for more than forty years and has created countless classic images that are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but he has not played a leading role once.
He is the "first eunuch in the world" in people's hearts, an old drama bone that everyone praises, and a national first-class actor, but he has hardly won an award.
He is an honor student at the Shanghai Theater Academy, but in the 12 years after graduation, he has only acted in one TV series.
01
Time to go back to the year li Jianyi was born.
In 1959, in an era with a special cultural background, Li Jianyi was born in a very ordinary family in Beijing.
When he was 2 years old, due to the family's financial difficulties, his parents sent him to his aunt's house for foster care. Although he was sent to the fence, his aunt's family took great care of him, just like his own son.
When he was a child, he had only one small wish, that is, to grow up quickly and earn enough money to let his aunt's family live a worry-free life.
One day in 1965, Li Jianyi went to his grandfather's house to play as usual.
Just walked to the gate, just happened to meet an old man coming out of the house. I saw the old man wearing a long blue shirt and a hat with thick woolen thread, in a style like the one worn by a woman.
Therefore, Li Jianyi warmly stepped forward to greet him and shouted, "Grandma is good!" ”
After the family members next to him heard it, they quickly corrected him: "Go, don't call Grandma, call your father-in-law." ”
The young Li Jianyi did not understand what the father-in-law meant, but he obediently changed his title.
When the man was leaving, he took a meaningful look at Li Jianyi, and then slowly left with a stride.
The eyes and back of the father-in-law's departure were deeply engraved in his mind like a brand.
At that time, Li Jianyi did not know that this memory would become the key to his success 38 years later.
02
If you say, the aunt's family is the most important family in Li Jianyi's life.
Then Li Tailin is an important nobleman who changed the fate of Li Jianyi's life.
Li Jianyi is a very talented person, and his voice is naturally good. When I was in middle school, I was recommended by my teacher to work in the school broadcast room. After that, the physical education teacher recommended Li Jianyi to Li Tailin.
Li Tailin was a drama actor who was in charge of enrollment training in the Coal Mine Literary troupe at that time. After seeing Li Jianyi, he admired his talent very much, and felt that this person had a good personality, so he accepted Li Jianyi as a student.
Not only did they pour out their money, but they never even received a single point for tuition. Because he knew the situation in Li Jianyi's home, Li Tailin often left him at home to eat.
In this way, Li Jianyi went to school while learning dubbing and acting knowledge with Teacher Li. Li Jianyi also developed a strong interest in acting from a person who knew nothing about acting.
It's just that that period was very special, the college entrance examination was suspended, and Li Jianyi, after graduating from middle school, could not continue his studies, and had to work in a printing factory to make money.
In 1978, when the college entrance examination was resumed, Teacher Li said to Li Jianyi: "You can't live like this for a lifetime, go to the theater." ”
So Li Jianyi chose to register for reference, and after work, Li Jianyi rushed to the school to take the exam. The moment he walked into the examination room, his heart began to beat the drum of retreat.
The people he was in a group to be tested were all dressed up in bright clothes and wearing dirty overalls.
The sharp contrast made Li Jianyi very unconfident, but he was not willing to lose the opportunity like this, so he applied to the teacher for a final performance.
While watching others perform, he was secretly cheering himself up, until the candidates in front of him had finished their exams, and he regained his confidence and was more confident than before.
In the end, it was Li Tailin's carefully taught students, facing the exam, Li Jianyi coped very easily, and there was no surprise, Li Jianyi received an admission letter from the Shanghai Theater Academy.
At the time, college students were so scarce and glorious to exist. Knowing that Li Jianyi was admitted to college, the whole printing plant was sensational, and everyone was carnival and proud of him.
However, for Li Jianyi, it is half a joy and a worry. The family is already poor, the money he earns in the printing house is only enough for the living expenses of his aunt's family, where is the extra money to pay tuition?
03
People living in that era were unfortunate, the economy was depressed, the cultural environment was special, and many people did not have enough to eat.
The people who lived in that era were lucky, and everyone was so simple, kind and enthusiastic.
Li Jianyi has received the help of many enthusiastic people, including his mentor Li Tailin, as well as school teachers and factory workers.
Even his next-door neighbors actively donated food stamps and tuition fees for him, and Li Jianyi was able to embark on the road to study.
For Li Jianyi, in addition to being moved, he is grateful, and he silently vowed in his heart that he must get ahead and repay everyone who has helped him in the future.
At this time, he is full of hope for the future. But he never expected that he had just entered the door of the Shanghai Theater Academy and was almost sentenced to "death" by his teacher.
In the vocal music class, the teacher directly criticized Li Jianyi: "Your voice is very bad, you can't play far on the stage." ”
For drama actors, they can't go far, which means that actors can't clearly convey their lines to the audience in the back row, which is a taboo in the industry.
The proud voice was said to be bad in public, saying that it was impossible not to be lost, but more "not to admit it", and he began to devote more energy to practicing lines and character creation.
Li Jianyi did not skimp on his voice, trying to make every voice he made fit the role. Decades of practice have made Li Jianyi deeply aware that language and voice are used to shape characters, not to show off.
It is also this effort and concentration that Li Jianyi has trained a very strong line skill, and none of the actors he has cooperated with do not praise his lines, even the audience sitting in the last row can clearly hear his every word and every sigh.
College life, not without hardship, every day in addition to learning to perform, practice vocal music, but also have to work-study to save tuition and living expenses. But for Li Jianyi, this is a hurdle that must be gritted his teeth and insisted, and it is also the dawn of his hope.
It is these four years that li Jianyi laid a solid theoretical foundation and is also the cornerstone for him to become a superb actor in the future.
05
In 1982, he graduated with honors and was assigned to work at the National Drama Theatre, when Li Jianyi did not realize that he was going to dedicate his best youth here.
Li Jianyi, who has just entered the theater, is responsible for some administrative work in the theater, but he has also been actively striving for every small role, and in the process constantly improved his acting skills.
In his spare time, in order to subsidize his family, he also takes on some film and television dubbing jobs. In Li Jianyi's view, every opportunity to dub is an opportunity for his own formal performance and efforts to create a plump character image.
Although in the theater, Li Jianyi did not receive any film and television resources, he took over more dubbing roles than he could count.
For Li Jianyi, it is also very satisfying to receive dubbing scenes, after all, this is also a kind of character creation. Although it is not like the performance form of the actor, it can also be performed through the sound of the role, and most importantly, it can make him addicted to drama.
In 1984, Li Jianyi finally received his first film and television role, playing the role of Jiang Yiming in "208 Airliner".
For this reason, he was very excited and happy, but he did not expect that this role had actually allowed himself to be angrily reprimanded by his mentor.
After the play, Li Jianyi told Teacher Li Tailin with great anticipation. But when the teacher watched his performance, he felt that Li Jianyi's performance was not good enough, and directly criticized: "What are you acting for?" Kung Fu has not yet learned in place, and you want to be a star? ”
This basin of cold water directly extinguished Li Jianyi's idea of turning to the film and television field. At that time, he secretly decided to concentrate on honing his acting skills and prove himself to the teacher.
Since then, Li Jianyi has not taken over a film or television drama.
In order to concentrate on acting in a good drama, a play has to be run-in for many months, during which he does nothing, not even the dubbing work, and concentrates on studying his drama role.
Basically, he can only act in 2-3 plays a year.
During this time, Li Jianyi understood that acting is not a game, it is a very serious artistic creation. Therefore, every drama performance will be done wholeheartedly, and strive to shape the character image to the best.
In 1994, Li Jianyi ushered in his own new opportunities.
Invited by director Wang Fulin, Li Jianyi played the role of Chen Gong in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and also voiced more than 30 characters in the play.
This time, Teacher Li Tailin finally recognized his acting skills and directly gave Li Jianyi a thumbs up.
People say that ten years to sharpen a sword, Li Jianyi spent 12 years of time, on the stage of the drama to seriously precipitate himself, in addition to only taking over a TV series, no longer shared excess energy in things that have nothing to do with drama.
How many 12 years can there be in life? How many artists are willing to not appear in front of the big screen for so long?
But Li Jianyi did it! This kind of craftsman spirit of not forgetting the original intention, continuous progress, and carefully carving their own skills is almost difficult to see in today's traffic stars who are bent on "money".
Although "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" did not make him a big fire, it also allowed him to get many opportunities to participate in small roles, and Li Jianyi's film and television road began at this time.
06
In 1995, Li Jianyi took over the drama "Fa Zi Du", in which he shined and his acting career ushered in a turning point, and at this time, he was already nearly 50 years old.
After that, Li Jianyi received more and more roles. Interestingly, he has an unusual relationship with the role of father-in-law.
In 1996, he played Li Lianying, the first eunuch of the Qing Dynasty, in "Royal Flowers".
In 2003, Li Jianyi participated in "Young Heavenly Son" and played the "eunuch" Wu Liangfu.
In 2005, in "The First in the World", Li Jianyi played the role of Cao Zhengchun, the governor of the East Factory.
In 2006, he played the role of Li Lianying again in "True and False Prince".
In 2018, Li Jianyi played the role of Zhang Yu, the emperor's personal eunuch, in "Secrets of the Three Kingdoms".
Carefully calculated, Li Jianyi has played the father-in-law five times.
One of the most representative is the role of Wu Liangfu in "Young Heavenly Son". This drama tells the love story of the Shunzhi Emperor and four women under the mediation of various forces. Wu Liangfu was a great eunuch who served at the side of the Shunzhi Emperor.
Because of his childhood memories of his father-in-law, he imitated the eunuch's every move, the slightly upturned orchid finger and the feminine voice, which made people think that the eunuch was like this after reading it.
In addition, his emotional drama with Concubine Tong is also very attractive, even if it is such an old and cunning eunuch, there will be a human flesh and blood side. The character image of Wu Liangfu is deeply portrayed, which makes people feel the authenticity of the character.
Although it is only a small supporting role, it has won the recognition and attention of the audience, and Li Jianyi also won the Best Supporting Actor Award of the Chunyan Award for this role.
Cao Zhengchun, the inspector of the East Factory in "The First in the World", is also portrayed very brilliantly by Li Jianyi, Cao Gonggong is strong in martial arts and fierce in heart, originally thought to be the biggest villain in the play, but did not expect to lose to Zhu Who, who has been dormant for many years, and his rivalry with Liu Songren is the most wonderful part of the play.
It is precisely because Li Jianyi has performed such a classic eunuch image on the screen that everyone will jokingly call him "the first eunuch in the world". After Li Jianyi heard this title, he also responded with a smile: "I am not, I am an actor." ”
07
The older a person is, the more he can be in the objective environment.
Li Jianyi, who is more than 50 years old, his mentality has long been relaxed, he does not care whether his role is big or small, he just wants to seriously interpret each role in his hand.
He said: "I don't have a laurel on my head, as an actor, I should act in a down-to-earth manner, and the recognition of the audience is the greatest honor." ”
In 2016, Li Jianyi participated in "The Name of the People", in which he played the role of prosecutor General Ji Changming.
As a person who has been immersed in the officialdom for many years, Ji Changming is not only a public official who is honest and honest, but also a good leader who is kind to others, and at the same time has a set of codes of conduct that are easy to navigate between the officialdom.
Li Jianyi only grasped the characteristics of the role, and portrayed the image of such an upright but somewhat pedantic cadre into three points.
In such a drama with a cloud of bones, the audience watched the wonderful opponent drama they staged and was greatly addicted. Li Jianyi also successfully stood out with superb acting skills, and his popularity soared, when he was 59 years old.
08
In his nearly forty-year acting career, Li Jianyi has played countless large and small roles, although many of them are third- and fourth-rate roles, but he has never neglected any small role.
In every scene, he can use his aura to hold up the role.
He can be the highly principled prosecutor in "In the Name of the People", or he can be the traitor Su Guangping in "The Mandarin Duck";
He can be the stodgy and serious teaching director in "Galaxy Tuition Class", or the warm father in "Happy Forward";
He can be the cautious Mei Zhili in "Qing Yu Nian", or he can be the old and treacherous military command agent in "Minus Thirty-Eight Degrees".
Whether it is a villain or a positive role, no matter how many scenes there are, he can take it seriously.
Grasp the professional characteristics and personality of each character, carry out in-depth interpretation, and grasp the words and deeds of the characters very accurately, and also show everyone a textbook-level acting skill.
It is precisely because he has decades of perseverance and perseverance, and takes acting seriously, Li Jianyi can become an old drama bone recognized by everyone and become a well-deserved old artist!