Talk about new dramas
"Whether you're acting or acting, the effect will be very different"
Southern Metropolis Daily: How long has it been since you last performed a TVB drama? Why did you choose to return to TVB this time?
Zheng Danrui: No one is looking for me, I think I have a poor acting! (Laughs) Actually, my last TVB drama was McLub Women's Club (2014), because I was busy while filming and teaching acting training classes. You know that filming is really day and night, if I can't control the time, my own work will be difficult to control, two or three dramas I pushed off. The director of "Absurd Theater Troupe" (Tang Haojun) is a good friend of mine, and the executive producer is Pan Jiade, whom I have always admired, so I would like to cooperate, the story is also very interesting, and the most important thing is that the director said that he could finish me in eight sets of scenes, I thought he was joking, and the result was really good, I thought I could take time.
Nandu: In the play, you play a film producer, you are a film producer, do you feel empathy when acting?
Zheng Danrui: The executive producer told me that this role is a film producer who has been beautiful before, and is now relatively depressed and backward of the times. And I myself am still making movies, I often remind myself not to be behind the times, nor have I ever felt that I was very powerful, but I was also like the executive producer in this play, there was a time when I took the script and knocked on the door everywhere, asking others if they were interested in investing, or I didn't have enough money to finish a play, and I begged everyone everywhere for help... Too many of these stories come to mind, I think I will act very well, empathy, this is the interesting part of this show, if you change to another role may not be able to impress me.
Nandu: "Absurd Theater Troupe" is a rare black absurd theme on the market, and even the supervising producer De ge lamented that the plot is very bold, and the creative space given by TVB is much larger than before. Do you feel that way?
Danrui Cheng: Yes. This style I have seen in American dramas, this rhythm, this kind of dramatic movement, although it is a group play, but everyone has their own story. When you watch it, you don't forget that each character has flesh and blood because it's a group play, I think it's a very interesting experiment, I like it, so I'm going to play it.
Nandu: This drama has a metaphor for the entertainment industry, what do you think about it?
Zheng Danrui: In fact, I have been in the film and television circle for so many years, I will also see a lot of such situations, some people are depressed, some people have ambitions to stretch, some people are not talented, of course, this drama will have some drama exaggeration or processing. I feel like I'm going to share more with young people, and I really hope to help them realize their dreams.
Nandu: The protagonists of this drama, Ao Jianian and Jiang Jiawen, have experienced more than ten years to achieve male and female, what kind of spark do you cooperate with this group of actors who "still have a fire in their hearts"?
Zheng Danrui: I have a lot of group drama contact with them, I see one thing that makes me very moved, I can see the fire in their hearts, they really do a lot of work for this drama, because the group drama can't make mistakes, otherwise the focus will be blurred. They will take great care to shoot every scene, even if it is a person or a group of people's opponents, they are not sloppy. There was a scene that had to be remade because we were wearing the wrong clothes, but the mood of that scene was quite heavy. When they re-shoot a day or two later, I found that they could suddenly enter the mood and enter the state of the character. Whether a play is good or not, whether the actor can enter the play is very important, whether you are acting or have already entered the play, the effect will be very different, I think they have fully played the role.
Nandu: We used to joke that we would see a lot of "teacher milk dramas" on TVB, but through "Absurd Theater Troupe" and the episodes you have seen on TVB in recent years, do you feel that this old-fashioned TV station has undergone subtle changes?
Zheng Danrui: I don't think change happened overnight. Since it is a long-established TELEVISION station, it must have its own baggage, it has a large audience, and for safety, it must have its own direction. It's just that the world is changing, and everyone's movie taste is also changing, so it is necessary to have both tradition and innovation. I think "Anti-Black RoadMan A" and "Killer" are very exciting, the whole creative idea is very fresh, it is a series that keeps pace with the times. The old brand is also slowly changing, hoping to be more suitable for everyone's taste.
Talk about movies reminiscing about old friends
"Da ge asked me to eat fish head pot to teach me the attitude of filming, and Uncle Zhi encouraged me to teach and educate people"
Nandu: Hong Kong films have faced some low tides in recent years, theater closures, box office downturns, and unemployment of employees, what do you think of the period that Hong Kong films are experiencing?
Zheng Danrui: The trough is a valley, how there will be a rebound, I am very optimistic. From my point of view, I am in the film circle myself, I will continue to shoot, I will not change careers because of this, and I will do it with my teeth. This must rely on many people who really like movies and do productions to grit their teeth and believe that they can bring Hong Kong movies back to the peak. I believe Hong Kong cinema can do it.
Nandu: In the past, netizens had a tone: "Nostalgia for the most brilliant years of Hong Kong film and television in the 80s and 90s", do you hope that this tone will change? Are you looking forward to a new era of hong Kong film and television?
Cheng: I'm definitely looking forward to the next golden age of Hong Kong cinema. We have the brilliance of the films of the eighties and nineties of the last century, and it is already there that we don't need to be nostalgic. Of course, there are many internal and external reasons, and every industry will have its rise and fall, but as long as we still have people, talented people who like movies, continue to do this, the next peak period is worth looking forward to.
Nandu: In recent months, the Hong Kong film industry has lost several old drama bones, and Wu Mengda and Liao Qizhi have passed away one after another, and you have witnessed the golden age of Hong Kong cinema with them. Do you have some feelings?
Zheng Danrui: I remember going to Singapore to shoot a movie called Laughing Eight Immortals with, I was actually not very comfortable when I made that scene, uncomfortable because I felt that I was the male protagonist, when I played Little Man Weekly, everyone knew me, but I had to play a ghost and a horse here, I was very unconfident in myself, and I was not very involved in going to the scene. I thought to myself, anyway, with Qiu Guan, Wu Junru, and Da Ge together, I can hide, my mentality is not good. I remember after I shot the group scene for two nights, said, Boy, please go eat curry fish head! You know That is hospitable and likes to invite everyone to eat, I thought everyone was going to go together, who knew it was just the two of us. We each cooked a big curry fish head. Although he didn't scold me, he just shared his experience as an actor, but in fact, he was talking about me, he saw that I didn't concentrate for two days, I wasn't in the play. I received it right away, and instead of using a harsh way, he invited me to eat a fish head pot and gossip about how he was an actor and a dragon runner, how to read the script a hundred times, how to chew out the contents, how to act even if he didn't like the role... Isn't that what I'm talking about? So I am very grateful to him, and he enlightened me: even if you don't want to do a lot of work, since you have already taken it, you must do it well, so why hide and hide? He taught me a big lesson.
Uncle Zhi, frankly I didn't have a chance to work with him, except that more than a decade ago I had a talk show "Home Sweet Home" that invited Min Er and Uncle Zhi to talk about their families. But sometimes the visiting class would meet him, and once the visiting class was talking with us in the blowing water, and we could talk very well. He said to me, "Adam, you have so many opinions, why don't you use your views to teach people to act?" You're the director, the writer, the producer, the DJ, and you can teach people from different angles. "He woke me up and asked me to teach and educate, which is his inspiration to me." Both of them have had a certain influence on my acting, and I don't need to say anything about their contributions to the acting world. Of course, it is a pity that they are going too fast, and they should theoretically live to the old age.
Nandu: Last year, you co-organized an online anti-epidemic concert with Xu Guanjie and Aaron Kwok, and in April this year, you planned Anthony Cheung's online concert. Why are you so involved in doing online concerts?
Zheng Danrui: Talking about Xu Guanjie's online concert last year, because the epidemic in March and April made everyone panic, everyone was isolated at home, and they could not go to work or go to school. I ran a "Health Dan" program on the Internet, which is dedicated to health information. Did about a month, one day on a whim, originally we booked the Hung Hom Stadium in July to do Xu Guanjie concert, because the epidemic can not be opened, it is better to call Asam to encourage everyone, I made a visit to him, asked him to sing a song to encourage everyone. But he said, "Don't sing a song, sing it for an hour!" He really wanted to share his singing voice with the people of Hong Kong, and we were very excited to hear it, so he found Harbour City in just seven days to do this concert, so that the Hong kong people who stayed at home could cheer themselves up when they heard Hui Guanjie's singing.
Two weeks later, Xiaomei and Chengcheng came to me, they also wanted to hold an online concert to raise funds for the dancers who could not dance during the epidemic, Aaron Kwok also wanted to use his singing voice to soothe the hearts of Hong Kong people under the epidemic at that time, the money raised helped some dancers who did not work, and the extra money, Aaron Kwok continued to use it to help people in the film industry.
Both Shows were well received, and everyone asked me when the third Show would be done? How could I have imagined that the epidemic had lasted for a year, and there were still many people in the industry who had nothing to do. In April this year, I remembered Zhang Guorong, a former friend who knew me when I was young. Eighteen years ago, I remember that scene vividly, when I was doing a very happy radio show. For eighteen years I couldn't forget that day, and I needed to do something to soothe myself and do something for this deceased friend. I asked Mrs. Chen and Tang Tang, and after asking for their consent, I dared to do it. Most importantly, this concert is for the elderly. I am also very happy that the event has received such a big response.
Nandu: There are still some people in the Hong Kong entertainment industry who are facing difficulties in resuming work, and we filmmakers in Guangdong have resumed work one after another, hoping to work with Hong Kong filmmakers to create more films. Do you think filmmakers in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area can have closer cooperation and exchanges?
Zheng Danrui: For those of us who like movies, we welcome any possibility and seize any opportunity. (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area film cooperation) is a good thing, to see how we can cooperate, this topic is worth exploring. I myself was thinking about how I could help more young directors and producers start filming their scenes.
Talk about educating people
Uphold my dad's teachings: Be a good person and be a good person
Nandu: You are a well-known "star mentor" in the circle, serving as the principal of the TVB artist training class for many years, and there are many proud protégés, including TVB's new "Best Actress" Cai Sibei, "New Teacher Milk Killer" He Guangpei, etc. Can you share your educational experience?
Zheng Danrui: He Guangpei is my first student, and I am very happy that he can come out and be recognized so quickly. I teach artist training classes, frankly I teach them not much acting, acting skills are difficult to teach, need to absorb themselves, I can only teach them to be human. If you are an actor, your acting skills can naturally be slowly honed, but you do not have the attitude of being an actor as the basis, and even if you become the best actor and actress in the future, I will not respect you. I value attitudes the most, so I teach them mostly how to be human. He Guangpei is very polite and enters the factory on time to shoot, these seemingly simple and basic things, in fact, can help an actor to do his duty.
Si Bei, I remember asking me a question when she graduated, she said: I am a very rectal person, is it not suitable for this line, do you need to change your personality? I said you don't need to change, this line of work is the need for you to be such a persistent, stubborn actor. I can only give them some advice and advice.
Nandu: Cai Sibei has endured a lot of pressure, she has been on the throne very quickly, she only spent seven years to get TVB Best Actress, faster than the previous ten consecutive awards of the sister, she grew up in scolding. When she faces such a big controversy, how do you teach her to be a person and give her confidence?
Zheng Danrui: Of course, there are people who hurt her and think that she is capable, so give her support; and then her own ability to resist pressure is also very good. If you pay attention to her upbringing, you will know that she is a very independent girl, she went to study and live in a foreign country by herself, and her resistance to pressure is higher than that of ordinary people. I saw her differently when I was in the training class, so I didn't worry about her resistance to pressure.
Nandu: The two daughters you taught yourself were also very special. They did not choose to inherit your mantle to develop in the entertainment industry, and their daughter chose the department of archaeology, and later became a pole dancer and yoga teacher. Is your "dad lesson" different when it comes to nurturing the next generation?
Zheng Danrui: I learned from my parents. I remembered that my parents would not put pressure on me to do anything, that my siblings in the family were free to develop, and that one of my sisters, a nun, was now retired. If you think about the 1960s, when everyone's thinking was still relatively feudal, and there was a daughter in the family who wanted to become a nun, what kind of parents would be so open-minded as to agree to the daughter's choice? It also had a big impact on me. Parents fully respect our opinions, what right do I have not to respect my daughter's decision? My parents taught me, so I let my daughter do what they wanted to do, and I just followed my dad's teachings to me: be a good person and be a good person, it's as simple as that.