The 221st warrior
Yu Congrong
《Chosin Lake》
The blockbuster "Chosin Lake" of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is still being released, and the topic of it will not stop.
In addition to the film itself and the box office, people pay the most attention to the actors in the movie, including Wu Jing, Yi Qianxi, Duan Yihong, Zhu Yawen, Hu Jun, Li Chen, Han Dongjun, and so on.
For Wu Jingneng to star in such a main theme war blockbuster, the audience is not surprised, seeing Li Chen, somewhat surprised: how can there be him?
Because the previous "Chinese Doctor" released on July 9 had him, and the July 1 "1921" also had him; further ahead, last year's "My Hometown and Me" and "Eight Hundred" had him.
The 2020 global box office champion "Eight Hundred" has him; the 2021 global box office champion "Chosin Lake", and he, powerful!
However, Li Chen is not the protagonist in these blockbusters, but they are all supporting roles with a strong sense of existence, and the roles have dramas and perform well.
Perhaps, this is Li Chen's best way of existence: to be a supporting role with a strong sense of existence, without carrying the box office but always has enough exposure.
[Li Chen] was born in Beijing on November 24, 1978, graduated from Beijing Qunxing Performing Arts School; in 1997, Li Chen starred in his first TV series "Seventeen Years Old Don't Cry", officially entering the show business circle.
Although Li Chen is not the peak of his debut, his starting point is definitely not low; his debut work "Seventeen Years Old Don't Cry" is an excellent work with a Douban score of 8.8 points, and he also won the first prize of the China Television Feitian Award.
In the more than 20 years since his debut, Li Chen has starred in nearly 100 film and television works, including more than a dozen excellent works with more than 8 points on Douban, as well as two 9-point boutique dramas "My Regiment Leader My Regiment" and "Soldier Assault".
With such a resume and list of works, Li Chen's acting career is absolutely wonderful.
However, Li Chen's positioning is very subtle, as if he has stood on the front line, but he is not the top one, because in those blockbuster and Douban good films, he is mostly a supporting role.
For example, in 2006's "Soldier Assault", a 30-episode TV series, Wu Zhe, played by Li Chen, only appeared in episode 21, male N.
However, "Soldier Assault" is on fire, and all the main supporting characters are on fire, especially Wang Baoqiang. As a supporting role, Li Chen did not soar like Wang Baoqiang, but he also definitely improved a step.
In 2009's "My Regiment Leader My Regiment", Li Chen played Zhang Lixian, an officer of the Nationalist Army, who has the ability to think, but in front of him there are Duan Yihong, Zhang Yi, Zhang Guoqiang, Xing Jiadong, he is the fifth male.
1999's "The True Colors of Criminal Police", the male protagonist is Wang Zhiwen, and Li Chen is the male N;
In 2009's "Life and Death Line", the male protagonist is Liao Fan, and Li Chen is the male number four;
2014's "No War in Peking", the male protagonist is Liu Ye, And Li Chen is male N;
In 2021's "Yunnan Bug Valley", the male protagonist is Pan Yueming, and Li Chen is the male N.
Of course, Li Chen also has some good works as a male number one, such as his debut work "Seventeen Years Old Don't Cry", 2011's "Windmill", 2014's "Straw Hat Police", and so on.
However, li Chen's war movie "Sky Hunting" with Li Chen as the director and male lead, Douban only has 5.0 points, and both word-of-mouth and box office are thrown on the street;
The 2011 film version of "Struggle", the quality and reputation are also completely different from the blockbuster version of "Struggle";
2010's "Lushan Love 2010", even if the heroine of the original "Lushan Love" is the director, it cannot change its mediocrity.
Counting carefully, in the blockbusters that shine on the box office list of those movies, Li Chen has never served as the male number one.
In 2006's "Assembling Number", Li Chen only made a cameo;
In 2009's "Tangshan Earthquake", Li Sheng was nominally the male protagonist, but the main role was all in the two female protagonists;
In 2010's "Non-sincere Do Not Disturb 2", Li Chen was also a cameo;
In 2014's "Heart Flower Road Release", Li Chen is still a cameo;
In 2010's "My Hometown and Me", Li Chen was an ordinary character in one of the units.
Of course, in all these box office blockbusters, Li Chen is not the male protagonist, and there are not many scenes, but there are always flashes of brilliance and there is always a strong sense of existence.
In 2020's "Eight Hundred", the Shandong soldier played by Li Chen once tied a grenade and prepared to jump into the enemy line and explode the enemy's broken wall array.
But the martyr in front of him had already completed the task, he did not jump, there was still him when the flag was raised on the roof of the building behind, and finally when the large army lined up to rush across the garbage bridge, he also led the wounded soldiers to break through in the opposite direction, and there was a sense of presence everywhere.
In 2021's "Changjin Lake", Yu Congrong, the platoon leader of the Seven Company Firepower Platoon played by Li Chen, was very active before the war and very brave in battle; and most of the time, he was with Wu Jing and Yi Qianxi, the two leading actors, and there were many exposure opportunities; in the end, when the most tear-inducing Lei Gong sacrificed, it was Yu Congrong who held him.
Even in "Soldier Assault", which appeared the latest, Wu Zhe, played by Li Chen, also made the audience remember with the highest academic qualification and rank in the old A, as well as the mantra of "ordinary heart".
In fact, "Sky Hunting" is Li Chen's first time as a director, and it is also the last time in recent years to do a blockbuster drama of the real male number one.
However, as a supporting role, Li Chen can frequently appear in top blockbusters such as "Eight Hundred", "My Hometown and Me", "Chinese Doctor" and "Changjin Lake".
Actually, that's pretty good.
Because, being the male lead is to carry the box office and ratings, if you mess up, you have to bear all the spit fire; if it is successful, there should be flower applause and traffic heat, and the supporting roles will not be less.
As for the money that is less used for supporting roles, it can be earned back through variety shows and other ways; after all, compared to performances, it is too good to earn variety shows that have money to collect when playing.