Wang Tiecheng: Art in love, don't love yourself in art to look back at the past, only "grateful" life to set a benchmark for themselves Art needs cultural accumulation, but also needs "more real"

◎ Yu Fan, reporter of China Culture Daily

At the end of the 1970s, after the image of Zhou Enlai appeared for the first time in the film, a number of special actors have successfully played Zhou Enlai in different historical periods in different films. Among them, Wang Tiecheng is recognized as the most touching and most god-like special actor who plays Zhou Enlai. In 1961, Wang Tiecheng graduated from the Acting Department of the Central Academy of Drama and later served as an actor in the China Children's Art Theatre. In 1977, he performed the drama "Turning Point", which was his first time playing Zhou Enlai on stage, and later played Zhou Enlai in the drama "Newsboy", "Xi Ge", and the large-scale song and dance "Song of the Chinese Revolution". In 1978, Wang Tiecheng played Zhou Enlai on the screen for the first time in the film "The Great River Rushing", which made the audience deeply remember his superb acting skills. In addition to this film, he also starred in a number of films, such as "Jinling Night", "Xi'an Incident", etc., with the portrayal of Zhou Enlai's artistic image, Wang Tiecheng not only won the audience's "heart", but also won the 12th Chinese Film Golden Rooster Awards Best Actor Award and the 15th Film Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor With the film "Zhou Enlai".

Although for Wang Tiecheng, he only played one role in his life, he always maintained a passion for the performing arts, which made him a mission in his life to speculate and perform the shape and god of Premier Zhou.

In 1977, Wang Tiecheng played Zhou Enlai for the first time in the drama "Turning". On the day of the performance, Wang Tiecheng reproduced premier Zhou's voice and smile between his hands and feet, and his appearance of only 14 minutes caused the audience to applaud, and the applause sounded 17 times. As a result, the 41-year-old Wang Tiecheng became a blockbuster and embarked on the road of a special actor. For Wang Tiecheng, playing Premier Zhou is his greatest honor. "I became famous overnight as the premier, but this is not to say that Wang Tiecheng is famous, but because the people love the premier too much, and he lives in the hearts of the people." Wang Tiecheng said.

Looking back on his lifelong acting career, Wang Tiecheng summed up four words: "Gratitude, Cherish Blessings". "In the past, the old saying 'heaven and earth are kings and teachers' taught us to be grateful, to respect our parents, nature, leaders, and teachers. Today, too, I am grateful for this era, for the country, for the party, for my teachers, without all this, without me today. In particular, the deep nostalgia for Premier Zhou made me sincerely and spontaneously want to express his form and spirit well. Wang Tiecheng said.

To this day, Wang Tiecheng still clearly remembers the homework he did in 1977 when he was preparing to play Premier Zhou. He has watched Premier Zhou's documentary films many times, from the prime minister's words and deeds to the way he walks and talks, he carefully ponders them. "To this day, I haven't had a single day of not missing Premier Zhou, not a single day of not being associated with him. I often wonder what the Prime Minister hears, what he encounters, what he thinks in various situations. Wang Tiecheng said, "Playing Premier Zhou is also learning from him, and it is the premier who teaches him to be a man." ”

Because of Premier Zhou, 86-year-old Wang Tiecheng always holds a calm and open-minded mentality. In his long-term study and speculation of the prime minister's writings and stories, he felt the prime minister's great personality and simple living habits. And these are also deeply influencing his values. The prime minister's soap for washing his face stood upright in the soap box, afraid that the drained water would soften the soap bubble and cause waste; the prime minister never left a grain of rice in the rice bowl; the prime minister's clothes were worn for a long time near the button eye, and they were worn again and again when they were removed and re-sewn... Wang Tiecheng mentioned that the details of the premier's life are always full of emotions, "the premier teaches us how to love life, be optimistic and stoic to deal with difficulties, and his selfless love for the people, let me always think of my sense of mission to society and dedication to the cause, not only think about taking, but also ask myself what I have contributed." Wang Tiecheng said.

After "Turning", Wang Tiecheng played Zhou Enlai in films such as "The Great River Rushing", "Li Siguang", "Xi'an Incident", "Bell Mountain under the Wind and Rain", and "Jinling Night". Some people think that special actors must first look alike, but in fact, Wang Tiecheng's appearance is not too similar to Premier Zhou. It is easy to seek form, but it is difficult to convey God. In Wang Tiecheng's view, "although the form changes, God does not change." In order to achieve a simple and natural performance realm with both form and god, Wang Tiecheng invested 100% of his emotions, and at the same time, he was constantly accumulating his own knowledge and literacy, deeply studying the accent of the premier with the Dialect of Jiangsu Huai'an, and figuring out the artistic means of expressing the characters.

"'Live to be old, learn from the old, transform to be old' is Premier Zhou's motto, and I am deeply inspired. In the process of playing Premier Zhou, it is a process of continuous learning and accumulation, and I have never stopped. Wang Tiecheng used the painting method mentioned in the Ming Dynasty landscape painting treatise "Painting Matters", "The good collector has not been revealed, and the good collector has not begun to hide" in the performing arts, hiding himself from the "weakness" of Premier Zhou and showing a good side. In order to be more realistic, Wang Tiecheng even portrayed the details of the prime minister's steps and eyes almost exactly the same.

A lifetime of pursuit of art in the acting career, Wang Tiecheng bluntly said that playing Premier Zhou influenced him, making him realize that life should set a benchmark in his heart and set up a banner. "This flag should be particularly attractive to you, so that you can move closer to him and learn from him." In order to play Premier Zhou well, Wang Tiecheng paid a great price.

In Wang Tiecheng's special actor performance career, the movie "Zhou Enlai" can be described as one of the classics, in order to show the elderly Zhou Enlai's sick appearance and shape, when he was more than half a hundred years old, he desperately lost weight and ate only tomatoes and cucumbers every day. In a few months, Wang Tiecheng lost more than 10 kilograms. When Zhou Enlai, who was seriously ill in his later years, Wang Tiecheng suffered a serious car accident and broke 6 ribs. Under the torment of illness, when he simply recovered and entered the shooting again, people seemed to see Premier Zhou who was seriously ill and presided over the work, and they couldn't help but burst into tears. In Wang Tiecheng's view, the highest realm of performance should be "shen yun as the mainstay, in the form, and into one." If there is tangible and no charm, the radiance is out of line. Therefore, the form and the god are both, and the god seems to be better than the form. ”

When it comes to the expectations of young actors at present, Wang Tiecheng stressed that the profession of the actors themselves is very special, on the one hand, it requires a lot of knowledge and culture, and at the same time, it needs noble morality. "Love art, don't love yourself in art." Wang Tiecheng said that this is a reminder to young people engaged in this industry that it is the natural duty of actors to shape good characters, in addition, do not have selfish distractions. "Loving the art in your heart will drive you to continue to learn, to accumulate, to find, once you have the opportunity to complete the performance, you will cherish it, and you will work very hard to complete this task." 」

When imitating Premier Zhou's speech, Wang Tiecheng especially studied the pronunciation of the dialect spoken by the premier, and he found that the language law in the Huai'an area is to change four sounds from one sound to four sounds, two to one sound, and not to say a curly tongue sound, only to say a flat tongue. So he studied this language law as a specialty, and even went to give a lecture to the lecturers at Peking University under the topic of "Chinese Pronunciation". In the eyes of the public, Wang Tiecheng's persistent and meticulous creation is too "more real", but for Wang Tiecheng, art needs such a serious spirit. "If you don't take it seriously, you won't have a job." Wang Tiecheng always believed this.

Now 86 years old, Wang Tiecheng has long left the stage and screen, but he still maintains the habit of studying, in addition to keeping abreast of current affairs news, he will also draw and practice calligraphy in his leisure time. He hopes to form a good cultural atmosphere in the entertainment industry and guide young actors to continuously improve their cultural and artistic qualities. "Even now, I still hope that I can do something for society." I hope that young actors will love society more, love life, and always think of making more contributions to society. Wang Tiecheng said.