At the end of the 1990s, one of Liu Huan's "Good Han Songs" became popular all over the country as a theme song, thanks to the well-known CCTV version of "Water Margin" in 1998. For many viewers, the names of Zhou Yemang, Zang Jinsheng, Ding Haifeng, Zhao Xiaorui, Wang Siyi and so on are not very impressive, but corresponding to the roles of Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, Li Kui, and Pan Jinlian, everyone will have that person in their minds. Today's "Li Kui" Zhao Xiaorui is not only unfamiliar in name, but the face without a big beard is estimated that some people are not on the number.
Zhao Xiaorui was born in the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong, his parents are soldiers in the army, and he has lived in the army and the public security compound since he was a child. When he was a student, Zhao Xiaorui did not think that he would engage in an acting career when he grew up, and his dream at that time was to become a good sports star. At first, he practiced gymnastics, and later due to height restrictions, he switched to athletics, wrestling and other sports, but unfortunately did not become professional athletes.
Although the dream is not to become an actor, Zhao Xiaorui has a talent for acting, such as telling a story, and friends sometimes suggest that he become an actor. After the dream of sports was shattered, in 1978, coinciding with the reform and opening up, many literary and art theaters and colleges were recruiting students. With the mentality of trying it out, Zhao Xiaorui applied for the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy, and also took the exam with Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang and other future famous directors. At that time, there was an exam question about Jinshui Bridge, Zhao Xiaorui had never been to Jinshui Bridge, so he was stunned and asked the teacher, "What should I do if I haven't been to Jinshui Bridge?" ", causing the audience to laugh. It is also like this, although the name of Sun Shan, but many stars who later became well-known directors and actors have remembered this person, which has played a lot of help for his future interpretation.
Later, Zhao Xiaorui was admitted to the China Youth Art Theater, and his first official debut was in 1983, when the 27-year-old Zhao Xiaorui participated in two films, "Shaolin Layman's Disciple" and "One and Eight". "One and Eight", starring Tao Zeru, Chen Daoming, Zhao Xiaorui and others, was shot by Zhang Yimou and was hailed by many as the pioneering work of the fifth generation. Zhao Xiaorui was nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor with the role of a big bald man, and he just debuted as a candidate for the film emperor, which can be described as a good start.
Since then, Zhao Xiaorui has sung all the way, and the film has continued. Perhaps because he grew up in the army, Zhao Xiaorui has participated in many military-themed film and television works, and while playing a profound role, he has also won many large and small awards. Vietnamese agents in "Lightning Action", Ding Shangwu in "Agni Kong", Zhao Junkai in "Criminal Police Honor" and so on. In 1994, the movie "Cannon Hit Double Lights" starring with Tranquility and Wu Gang made Zhao Xiaorui stand on the stage of receiving the Golden Rooster Award. In the movie, he played the housekeeper who wanted to get the role of Haruhi, who wanted to get Serenity, and won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor for his outstanding performance.
Of course, Zhao Xiaorui is still the role of Li Kui who "sold cuteness" in the CCTV version of "Water Margin" in 1998. Don't look at the success of the role on the screen, Zhao Xiaorui has suffered a lot for this play. At first, he wanted to audition for the role of Ruan Xiaoqi, and later after wearing a false beard, he found that he looked quite like Li Kui, so he proposed himself to become the actor of Li Kui. In order to perform better, Zhao Xiaorui began to gain weight and muscle like crazy before filming. In the process of filming, almost all of them are personally on the battlefield, without the need for a stand-in.
What scared him the most was the scene where he fought the tiger, who used a real tiger from the zoo. The rest of the crew was filming outside, and only he and the keepers were in the cage. That would frighten him and Ding Haifeng, a "Wusong" who also had a tiger role, and Zhang Jizhong, who was a producer, also bought an insurance of 100,000 yuan for each of them.
What I never expected was that playing Li Kui made Zhao Xiaorui's image of a mangy man popular in the streets and alleys, but at the same time, it brought obstacles to his acting career. On the one hand, Li Kui's image is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, on the other hand, the film market environment will slowly become that investors have a great decision on casting, and many people do not know Zhao Xiaorui. As long as I heard that it was an actor who played Li Kui, I felt that it was not very suitable, which led to Zhao Xiaorui receiving few plays for many years. The weight gained for Li Kui to play has been difficult to reduce, and it has also caused a lot of trouble.
After several years of lows, Zhao Xiaorui's career began to improve. However, he rarely plays a leading role, mostly participates in supporting roles, and is often a rough man type. Many big dramas have his figure, Chen Baoguo and Si Qinggaowa starred in "The Gate of the Big Mansion" zheng Laoshi, Zhang Jiayi starred in the "Mission" in the deputy director Niu Ming, Fan Bingbing, Zhang Guoguo starred in the "Ping Trace Hero Shadow" in the Chaoyin monk, Chen Xiaochun, Ma Junwei, Liang Xiaoice starring in "Deer Ding" and so on.
Since 2013, Zhao Xiaorui has entered a retired state and rarely takes over TV series. Even if there is a cameo, for example, in the 2015 movie "Rescue Mr. Wu" starring Andy Lau, Liu Ye and Wang Qianyuan, he participated in it.
Although he is rude in film and television works, Zhao Xiaorui in reality is very meticulous, a "wife strict management", doing housework and these things are not a problem. From the age of 25 to his wife's acquaintance, to now enter the year of huajia, Zhao Xiaorui and his wife have walked hand in hand, is a good man without compromise. It is still a pity to think of this old drama bone with both virtue and art to quit the road of interpretation.