For people in the entertainment industry, they all hope to "become famous early", but becoming famous too early actually has advantages and disadvantages, such as the protagonist we want to talk about today - Sanmao's actor "Meng Zhichao".
At the age of 8, he became famous by starring in "Sanmao Wanderer" and became a well-known child star, but he prematurely gained fame and fortune, so that his immature mind was lost.
Behind the flowers and applause hidden, representing the inability to accept snub and ordinary, when he grows up, he recalls the glory of his childhood, and the corners of his mouth can't help but reveal a trace of bitterness....
01
Meng Zhichao was born in Shanghai on January 5, 1987, he has a lively and active personality since he was a child, has a strong desire to perform, and is a typical "people come crazy".
He is never timid in the face of raw people, but the more people he has, the more energetic he is, whether it is at the wedding ceremony or the family gathering, as long as there is his presence, there must be laughter.
Meng Zhichao's parents attach great importance to education and feel that their children have the talent to perform, so they intend to cultivate him to develop on the road of actors.
When he was in the third grade of primary school, his parents sent him to Yindu Art School to study acting, and he did not live up to expectations, and during his studies, he was diligent and studious, and became a "little actor" who attracted attention in the class.
In 1995, Shanghai Television decided to shoot Zhang Leping's comic work "Sanmao Wanderer" into a TV series, because in 1949, "Sanmao Wanderer" caused quite a stir after it was filmed, so this time it will be particularly harsh in casting.
Director Xu Yinhua even boiled out white hair in order to choose the actor of Sanmao, but there were still no children who matched the image of Sanmao in his mind.
At this time, Yindu Art School heard about the casting and thought that Meng Zhichao was very suitable for this role, so he recommended him to the crew.
Director Xu Yinhua has seen almost 6,000 children before, for the recommendation of Yindu Art School instinctively do not report too much hope, who knows that after seeing Meng Zhichao, his cloudy eyes suddenly more radiant, carefully looking at Meng Zhichao.
Whether it is appearance or temperament, he feels that it is a good match with the image of Sanmao in his mind.
But just when he decided that Sanmao would be played by Meng Zhichao, other performing arts schools in Shanghai recommended some children, and to his surprise, three of them were also suitable for playing Sanmao.
This made his head grow bigger, and he finally thought of a way to do it.
02
Xu Yinhua said to the four children: "Whoever shaves your hair first will play sanmao." The children were stunned for a while, and they also had a heart for beauty at a young age, so they hesitated.
But Meng Zhichao didn't care, he shaved his hair without saying a word, leaving only three handfuls of hairs on the top of his head.
Xu Yinhua was greatly satisfied, and Meng Zhichao, who shaved his head, was almost a contemporary "sanmao", without the slightest sense of violation.
Sanmao's role is decided under this dramatic scene, but Sanmao is a street child born in the old society, usually not enough to eat, not warm, and the actor must be emaciated to conform to the image.
After Meng Zhichao's parents knew the director's requirements, they urged their children to lose weight, and finally lost 15 pounds before the START of the TV series.
Although Meng Zhichao's acting talent is innate, it is very difficult to shoot crying scenes, or the guidance of parents and directors is needed, and sometimes his grandmother, mother, and director will cry with him, which will make him cry out quickly.
After finding the feeling of crying, Meng Zhichao no longer needs guidance, and he can cry to tears.
After growing up, Meng Zhichao said in an interview that although he was lively and cheerful when he was a child, his heart was very soft, he was easy to cry, and sometimes even like the water that opened the floodgates could not be stopped.
Because of his work, his parents could not always accompany him in the crew, so the responsibility of taking care of him was entrusted to the director, and sometimes the director would even take him back to live, which caused the jealousy of the other children in the crew.
Once was a scene where Sanmao sat in a rickshaw, the actor pulling the car was also a child, and the child pulling the car deliberately braked sharply when the director shouted to stop, causing Sanmao to fall off the car, but fortunately there was no injury.
In order to maintain the image of Sanmao, it is necessary to constantly shave Meng Zhichao's head to ensure that the three pinches of hair on his head remain unchanged, and the three pinches of hair must be stuck with gel water, otherwise it will spread out.
But Meng Zhichao is only a child, the body is still developing, the use of gel water will cause damage to the scalp, resulting in his forehead and the top of the head do not grow hair later.
Not only that, Sanmao's fake nose is still attached, which will make the real nose unable to breathe, and it will become red and itchy.
Another time was filmed in the rain, the rain is artificial rain made of fire trucks, Xiao Sanmao is not only drenched in rain, but also thrown into the trash can, which makes Meng Zhichao suffer a lot.
But the hard work of filming did not bother Meng Zhichao, he was more immersed in the fun of filming.
03
"Sanmao Wanderer" became popular throughout the country as soon as it was broadcast, making Meng Zhichao a well-known child star, so many key primary and secondary schools have thrown olive branches.
Because of his huge popularity, teachers and classmates have great expectations of him, if the test results are not ideal, Meng Zhichao will have a lot of pressure, which leads to his low self-esteem for a period of time, dare not communicate with people.
In 2003, he played Shen Wansan's younger brother Shen Wansi in "Cornucopia" starring Zhang Weijian, and costume plays all need to wear a hood, Meng Zhichao is no exception, wearing a hood makes his scalp stimulated again, aggravating the problem of hair scarcity.
At that time, Meng Zhichao had reached adolescence and valued his appearance, but his hair was scarce so that he had no self-confidence, and could only cover it up by wrapping a turban and wearing a hat.
Little by little time passed, the problem of hair scarcity has not improved, and finally he had no choice but to go to hair transplantation. Solving this problem, Meng Zhichao regained his self-confidence and was successfully admitted to the Shanghai Theater Academy.
At the age of 24, he chose to go to Japan for further study, hoping to make a successful comeback after returning to China.
In 2014, the 27-year-old Meng Zhichao participated in the reality show "Smiling Proud of the Jianghu" of Oriental Satellite TV, he appeared on the stage as Sanmao, but time has passed, his childhood star aura has long dissipated, and he did not receive flowers and applause from the audience.
In 2017, he got the opportunity to act, starring in the suspense film "Good Ghost Two and a Half 2" and the comedy film "Sister Treasure Book", for these two plays he paid a lot, but did not get returned.
Since then, no film or television dramas he has starred in have been played on the screen, and he is like a dazzling meteor crossing the sky, and there is no trace of existence after the light is gone.
04
Meng Zhichao's comeback road failed, when he was a child, he may be more of a true actor in playing Sanmao, and the performance after growing up requires a lot of skills, if the acting skills are not good, no matter how brilliant it was, the final result can only be declining.
Presumably, his heart must be full of mixed feelings, if he had not become famous as a child, he might not have such a big gap now.
In May this year, Meng Zhichao appeared in a short video, in which he was sunny and handsome, vigorous, and although he was 34 years old, he still had a sense of youth.
It seems that he has come out of the haze, regained the dawn, and started an ordinary and beautiful life again.