"Shoes are broken, hats are broken, robes on the body are broken, you laugh at me, he laughs at me, a fan is broken"
In the 1980s, the theme song in "Jigong" spread throughout the north and south of the river.
And "Jigong" You Benchang is even more classic than "Journey to the West", and whenever you listen to this song, you can think of his appearance.
Some people can't find a suitable role in their lifetime, but some people have achieved a role in their lifetime, I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse?
After You Benchang finished playing Jigong at the age of 52,
After disappearing for 20 years and scattering his family wealth at the age of 73, what made him make such a choice?
01
In 1933, You Benchang was born into a poor family in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, and became a regular visitor to the hospital because he was weak from an early age.
Because of You Benchang's physical function, his parents were very worried, and there was no way to find a doctor everywhere, so he had no choice but to find someone to tell You Benchang's fortune, and he was even more anxious after learning that he could not live to be 13 years old.
When their parents went around begging the gods to worship the Buddha, a fortune teller told them how to crack it, "Let You Benchang take refuge in Buddhism." ”
At the age of 6, he was sent by his parents to the "Hozo-ji Temple" for monasticism. After that, You Benchang and the Buddha Gate formed an indissoluble relationship.
Fortunately, You Benchang survived to the age of 13.
I thought he would choose to be a monk for the rest of his life, but in the end, he returned home at the age of 15 because of his dream of being an actor.
You Benchang's dream of being an actor was left behind when he was a child.
The second sister in the family has been a literary and artistic girl since she was a child, which invisibly affected You Benchang, when he was a child, he followed his father to the tea house to listen to the drama and watch the play, and he was fascinated by it.
Sometimes when I came home from school, I would sneak to see the play, and after watching it, I would go home and learn to perform.
You Benchang is very talented and has learned a lot
02
When You Benchang was in school, he represented the school in an acting competition and was selected by the Nanjing Cultural and Labor Troupe.
Later, the Nanjing Cultural and Labor Troupe officially hired him, and 18-year-old You Benchang became a serious actor.
A year later, You Benchang was sent to the acting department of the Shanghai Theater Academy, and although the performance class was not good, the performance score was one of the best in the school.
4 years later, You Benchang was favored by the Central Experimental Drama Theater because of his excellent acting skills, and the theater extended an olive branch to him, and he successfully entered the theater.
You Benchang found that he had no advantage in the theater at all.
Handsome and tall people abound in the theater, and although he is handsome, he has not been able to play the male protagonist due to his short stature, which makes him very sad.
In this way, when the supporting role was unknown for several years, the people who entered the theater with him at that time were promoted to become leaders and leading actors, but he ended up running the dragon set because he would not stammer and would not shoot horses, but he did not regret it.
03
Finally, in 1962, he had his first opportunity as a leading actor.
He was invited to the party held by the Beijing People's Radio and Television Station, and You Benchang performed "Two Fingers" in the party, but unexpectedly fainted on the stage due to lack of physical strength after just finishing the opening remarks.
The doctor told the staff that You Benchang was starved, and everyone was shocked, why would an artist not have enough to eat?
It turned out that You Benchang could not say good things in the theater, so everyone bullied him.
Some people also suppressed him because of his good acting skills, and did things when receiving grain every month, resulting in him receiving much less than others.
You Benchang, who did not have enough to eat, also had to do chores for the theater, and he had to do dirty and hard work, plus his health was not good since he was a child, and over time his body could not bear it.
Coupled with practicing the program day and night, when performing on stage, he fainted under the triple pressure of hunger, fatigue and tension.
The TV station was very angry because of the interruption of the live broadcast caused by You Benchang, and then cut his performance, and he lost the first opportunity in his life to become a star.
In this way, he lived another 18 years of dragon life.
During this period, he also accepted students to teach acting, and the money he earned was just enough to support himself.
04
It wasn't until 1980 that he had his second chance.
The famous director Cen Fan sent a message to start filming "A Q Zheng Biography", and a producer once saw You Benchang's performance in the theater and said that he liked it very much, and recommended him to audition for "A Q Zheng Biography".
You Benchang flipped through all the books about Ah Q and made a detailed task breakdown for Ah Q, he thought that his life experience was very similar to Ah Q, so he volunteered to audition.
But until the crew, I learned that the director's heart was already his apprentice Yan Shunkai.
You Benchang eventually completed the student, and he lost his second chance to be the protagonist.
"A Q Zheng Biography" made Yan Shunkai the most popular actor in the entertainment industry at that time, and he won all the awards in China, and the first work allowed him to directly seal the god and win the crown of "Emperor of Shadows".
On the other side, You Benchang, who rubbed shoulders with Ah Q, could only play the role of Passerby A in the theater.
Such an experience, he encountered again a few years later, this time he lost to Jiang Wen, because the filmmakers believed that You Benchang was not well-known.
The successive blows made You Benchang once doubt whether he was suitable to be an actor.
In his future memoirs, he also recalled this past, which hit him greatly, and he had thought about it for a hundred.
But in the end, he gave up this idea because of his beloved acting career.
05
After that, You Benchang treated every opportunity as the last performance of his life. He adheres to the belief that "there are no small roles, only small actors".
In those years, he was still exposed to roles with lines of no more than two sentences, and some of them went from this end of the stage to that end.
Nevertheless, he also treats each character with care, and he repeatedly understands the script and understands the characters.
Once, he got the role of peasant girl in "The Great Thunderstorm", which was inconspicuous in the play.
But You Benchang respected the role, and he went through 19 modern books to understand the "serf", just to present the audience with a few seconds of performance on the stage.
Fortunately, his performance made the audience linger, and the serf brought You Benchang a different world of life.
In the early 1980s, mime master Chaplin's Modern Times was released in China, a film that uses body art and performs without words, and has received praise in China.
Since then, the era of mime has begun in China, and after You Benchang watched the movie, he had the opportunity to do mime art.
06
In 1983, You Benchang starred in the drama "Sun Erniang Opens a Shop" and met the first Bole ——— Huang Yihe, who was the first director of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
After seeing You Benchang's performance, he was attracted and invited to the Spring Festival Gala.
This opportunity completely changed his life.
In the spring evening of 1984, You Benchang's self-directed pantomime "Bath" made the audience laugh, and after that, You Benchang's popularity soared and his reputation rose sharply.
With the success of brushing his face at the Spring Festival Gala, director Zhang Ge found You Benchang. He finally ushered in the first male protagonist of his life after experiencing 79 dragon suit roles.
The funny thing is that the next day the newspaper published that the film emperor Yan Shunkai was also fighting for the role of "Jigong", and Yan Shunkai was inevitable for "Jigong", and let the team communicate with the crew in advance.
You Benchang refused Zhang Ge's invitation after seeing that the situation was not good (because Although You Benchang and Yan Shunkai were opponents, they were also good teachers and apprentices, and You Benchang did not argue, so he wanted to give Yan Shunkai)
When he refused Zhang Ge a few days later, he received a call from Zhang Ge sincerely inviting him to play "Jigong".
Everything is providential, and You Benchang also took over the role according to his own heart.
07
In the preliminary preparations, You Benchang explored the character image and personality of Jigong, and downloaded and watched the image of Jigong created by all his predecessors.
You Benchang found that Jigong was almost always in a state of "drunk", and this "drunk" became a problem in his heart.
How should I get drunk to be more like JiGong?
Later, he thought of what Teacher Gai Called Tian said, "Beautiful and drunk, like the wind swinging lotus leaves, feet stepping on cotton." So he has an understanding of "drunkenness".
Then he worked on Ji Gong's walking posture.
Needless to say, it's really thanks to that one-size-size shoe.
In the sun, You Benchang kicked and stomped, and the shoes that did not fit his feet made him run upside down, Zhang Ge looked at him and thought in his heart, this is the image of Ji Gong.
Everything was ready, and filming the drama "Jigong" almost cost You Benchang half a life.
At more than half a hundred years old, he naturally cherished the protagonist for the first time, and in order to shoot realistically, he did not have to stand in person.
In one of the scenes where xiangfu is beaten violently, You Benchang lies on the ground and allows the board to be pumped on his body, and his protection measures are only a thin layer of sponge.
The board was really pumped on him, and even the staff followed the heart, and You Benchang could only endure it in order not to NG.
There is also the "fake death" bridge section, You Benchang was thrown 2 meters away by the supporting role, and fell heavily to the ground.
Due to the harsh shooting environment, Jigong in the play often has a large bite of meat, and the meat is prepared a day or two in advance, and when the shooting starts, it is taken out to nibble, and finally the meat is steamed.
In order to shoot the effect or eat with relish, You Benchang created the classic bridge section of Jigong "wine and meat through the intestines, and the Buddha sits in the heart".
The footage of You Benchang eating meat was used by major film schools as performance material.
Tell the actor that before the director shouts "card", the actor cannot stop performing no matter what situation he encounters, which is dedication.
Later, when filming Jigong, the crew had three "strange things" that could not be explained scientifically.
The first thing is to shoot rainy scenes in a clear environment, waiting for half a day without rain, but after You Benchang came, it immediately rained heavily;
The second thing is that the rainy day needs to shoot a sunny day scene, the rain does not stop, when You Benchang came to the crew, the sky suddenly cleared;
The third is that when You Benchang got off the play to study Jigong on the side, he kept looking for inspiration with a broken fan, and as a result, a butterfly flew on the fan, and You Benchang played the game with the fan and the butterfly interestingly, as if each of them understood each other's ideas.
Under all kinds of strange things, the crew and You Benchang are very confident that they can make this drama well, and they believe that it will definitely sell well.
It turns out that everything you pay is rewarded, and after Jigong was broadcast in 1985, the 52-year-old You Benchang became popular, and Jigong was popular all over the country.
The theme song "Where there is unfairness, where there is me" has become the most popular song in the streets and alleys, and it can be sung from the age of 90 to the age of 3.
Jigong set off the "era of following the trend" and began to imitate the appearance of You Benchang's Jigong.
08
You Benchang also won the crown of "Golden Eagle Emperor" with success.
You Benchang was directly canonized in the play's presentation of "half smiling face, half crying face; half drunk, half awake".
Everyone called him a "national treasure artist".
After the explosion, he continued to invite, but he turned down nearly 95% of the work, because he did not respect the performing arts work.
It coincided with the major theaters' requirement of how much the actor had to earn in a year, which made his understanding of art doubtful.
In 1991, he resolutely withdrew from the theater to stand on his own.
Just when Yang Jie, the director of Journey to the West, wanted to use the heat of Jigong to shoot a sequel, and You Benchang was considering whether to shoot it, unfortunate things happened.
09
While his wife was diagnosed with cancer and his daughter dropped out of school for some reason, he was facing the biggest problem of his life when he was starting out: family or career?
Eventually, he chose to take care of his wife.
This care has been a long time for 20 years.
In the past 20 years, China's entertainment industry has undergone earth-shaking washing, traffic artists have emerged in an endless stream, and the market has been almost divided.
He was out of touch with the entertainment industry for 20 years and should never have had a chance to turn over, but fortunately, his 20 years were exchanged for the recovery of his wife and the success of his daughter.
10
After his successful comeback, You Benchang decided to revive the idea of a sequel to Jigong because of the words of overseas Chinese who said, "Thank you for creating excellent works to spread overseas and let people around the world know the power of China".
But now, he can't find an investor.
In the end, he had no choice but to pay for himself and direct himself to act in Jigong Travelogue, and what he didn't expect was that he actually made millions because of this.
Later, he devoted himself to using "Jigong Travels" to earn money to prove the art of mime, thus filming "Mr. You's Dumb Smile", as a result, no one appreciated it at all, and lost millions of dollars.
Don't hit the south wall and don't turn back, hit the south wall and also hold up hard, he went to shoot the pantomime "Duan Fan" in 2006.
He liked Fan's story, and Fan warned the world how to distinguish between truth, goodness and beauty, but once this pantomime came out, it was even more unpopular and no one cared, so that he completely lost all his money.
After all, the world does not understand the great love of You Benchang.
11
In 2008, the writer of "Master Hongyi" found You Benchang and wanted to invite him to star in this work, but You Benchang liked it after reading the script and agreed.
In order to better enter the role, he once again went out of his home to experience life in the temple.
His wife and daughter are also very supportive of You Benchang's choice, because the theme is too unpopular and no one invests.
So he sold his property and set up a theater to recruit actors.
Really can't come up with money, You Benchang went to the TV drama industry to make a few cameo roles to earn money to subsidize the theater.
Among them, in the 2011 cameo appearance of "The Adventures of Li Xianji", You Benchang reproduced the classic expression of Jigong and caused heated discussion among netizens.
Netizens lamented that in the past 30 years, no one has been able to make such a performance form, and You Benchang has once again exploded.
Later, the drama "Master Hongyi" was very successful, and the mode of world tour was opened, and the venue was full.
12
Everyone is the same, the degree of attention is high, and naturally they begin to be paid attention to by the media in their private lives, and use nonsense to win attention.
In 2016, the media broke the news that "you Benchang's evening scene is desolate, and he is 83 years old and admitted to a nursing home." When netizens were distressed, this rumor was finally refuted by You Benchang himself.
Over the years, You Benchang seems to have adapted to the business model of the entertainment industry now, he began to share his old age life in the short video platform, netizens are particularly fond of this kind and kind "grandfather"
13
In 2018, six young children, an old artist of the same level as You Benchang, posted the same charity photo on Weibo for 5 consecutive years and was scolded by netizens as "no face" and "fake compassion".
Netizens even counted his many evil deeds of using the name of "Sun Wukong" to make money.
You Benchang was also pulled into the water for no reason to compare, and he really felt wronged for the old man.
You Benchang and the six-year-old child are not essentially the same kind of people, although Jigong and Sun Wukong are the tears of the times that affect generations of people.
But You Benchang never thought of possessing, and even he would say the words "Bodhisattva is phaseless" to respect the image of Jigong played by his predecessors and descendants.
However, the six-year-old child selfishly took "Sun Wukong" for himself, feeling that no one in the world could be called Sun Wukong except himself.
Netizens' evaluation of the two well reflects the difference in the nature of the two.
14
Teacher You Benchang spent a lifetime inheriting the virtues of Jigong, not consuming or possessing, so that people and dramas are separated, giving the characters the greatest respect.
He once said, "We must love the art in our hearts and give our lives for it, but we must never love me in art, and we must not love ourselves in art. ”
It was also said that "dying on stage is the happiness of an actor"
He truly made it to sacrifice for art for the realm of artistic madness.
Now that he is 88 years old, he is really happy in the short video platform, laughing and laughing, and his spirit is really happy.
He truly became the Duke of Ji.
The Buddha has no phase, and Jigong is You Benchang.