At the end of last month, photos of Zheng Zeshi gathering with friends came out on the Internet. The 69-year-old was wearing a black shirt and looked very mental.
Some time ago, he was reported to be thin due to illness, gray hair, smaller beer belly, and wrinkles on his forehead deep enough to fit his fingers. Now it seems that his body is recovering well.
Many people know Zheng Zeshi from a fat cat: he has a round body, a belly bigger than a ninth month of pregnancy, and a distinctive three-layer chin.
From mellow to thin, Zheng Zeshi has experienced too many twists and turns. He not only nominated for the best actor in the Academy Award twice, but also won the best actor award in the Academy Award twice, and he can be called the protagonist in the supporting role.
However, he was also ill-fated. Not only was he born in poverty, he was bankrupt at the peak. When he was destitute, he was drew debts by Zhang Weijian and sold almost everything in the family except his wife and children.
So, how tortuous is Zheng Zeshi's acting career? When he was at the bottom of his life, who fell to him, and who extended a helping hand to him?
1. I want to be a star
In 1985, Zheng Zeshi wrote and directed and acted in the movie "Why Me", in which he played a fat cat with a mentally retarded youth. He is fat, speaks very slowly, and has deficits in intelligence, but he is simple in nature and kind-hearted. He loves to be friends with children.
This is a sad movie. Every time before crying, the fat cat always frowned, lowered his head, tilted his mouth, spoke carefully, and did not dare to look directly at each other. With the crying scenes of Fat Cat, Zheng Zeshi earned enough tears from the audience. After
"Why Should I Have Me", Zheng Zeshi starred in "Lower Sky", "Fat Cat Wandering", "Fat Cat", "Fat Cat Seeking Family"...Three movies, four TV series, Zheng Zeshi created With his own big IP, he became a fat cat of sympathy and compassion for countless people.
Zheng Zeshi's "mentally retarded" is so successful that even today, he is called a fat cat.
In 1951, Zheng Zeshi was born in Shantou, Guangdong, and moved to Hong Kong with his parents since childhood. There are five younger siblings under him, and a family of eight lives extremely hard.
The Zheng family lives in a slum area in Wan Chai. The house was too small for eight people to live in, so his father cut the cardboard into wooden strips and built a small wooden house on the roof, which belonged to the eldest son Zheng Zeshi.
Therefore, whenever the wind blows and rains, Zheng Zeshi is worried that he will be blown away. When
was in junior high school, one day his father called Zheng Zeshi over: "Dad really can't let you two study at the same time. What do you think Dad should do?"
Zheng Zeshi is very sensible: "I don't want to go to school anymore, I want to go out to earn money. ". As the eldest son, he never graduated from high school.
His first job was as a chef in a restaurant. But the boss is not good at craftsmanship. In Zheng Zeshi's words, "not as good as me", he can't learn anything, and is often cold-eyed by the boss, so he switched to a jewelry shop as a jewelry craftsman.
At a young age, Zheng Zeshi is not a headless fly, he has dreams. When he was a child, Zheng Zeshi watched the movie of child star Feng Baobao. He was immediately attracted by the stars on TV. They were glamorous, and the stars held the moon. Zheng Zeshi wanted to become a star.
In the third grade, the teacher asked to write the essay "My Volunteer". Other children wrote about firefighters, policemen, bosses, and lawyers. Zheng Zeshi wrote "I want to be a star". The teacher disdain: "Huh, I am greedy for vanity. , Can't do this, do it again."
2. Earn more money than in a jewelry store
Until becoming a jewelry craftsman, Zheng Zeshi's dream is still to be an actor and a star.
In 1972, director Zhang Che opened a longbow film and television training class, and Zheng Zeshi was admitted successfully. However, Zhang Che only made two films in 1972, and went to Taiwan the following year. Zheng Zeshi lost his job and had to return to his old profession as a mechanic.
In 1976, Zheng Zeshi was already a skilled and well-known technician. This year, TVB held an acting competition on the Shengbao studio. Zheng Zeshi won the championship and his dream was awakened again.
Are you a mechanic or an actor? Zheng Zeshi was very entangled. At that time, Hong KongThe per capita income is five to six hundred yuan, and the salary of a jewelry craftsman is 2,000, while joining wireless can only get 400 per month.
Zheng Zeshi discussed with his mother: "Mom, I still want to be an actor."
Mom: "What is your purpose as an actor?"
"In order to make money, make more money than in a jewelry store."
Since childhood, his mother has been very strict with Zheng Zeshi, but always supports his ideas. In order to win her mother’s support, Zheng Zeshi agreed with her:
"Mom, please give me a year and give me this opportunity. If this time doesn’t work, I will never want to be an artist in this life."
Zheng Zeshi Fortunately, he participated in the feature-length drama "Frenzy" for the first time, cooperating with Wang Tianlin, Chow Yun-fat, and Deborah; he starred in the first TV drama "Four Eyes Detective".
's first movie was "Gray Spirit". He was not only a starring role, but also a director and even a producer. In 1984, he directed and acted in the film "Distressed Old Bean", which won the Hong Kong Film Awards (4th) Best Nominated for Actor Award.
In 1985, Zheng Zeshi ushered in his peak moment. This year, he wrote, directed, and acted "Why Me". Since then, "Fat Cat" has replaced Zheng Zeshi, and his fat body has become the most unique scenery in Hong Kong's entertainment industry.
In "Tucao Conference", Zhang Shaogang said a paragraph: Chi Zi was wondering who Zheng Zeshi was, and suddenly saw a fat body appear in front of him, he hugged: "Teacher Fat Cat, do you know who Zheng Zeshi is?"
Knowing only Fat Cat but not Zheng Zeshi, many viewers are like a pond.
However, Zheng Zeshi is not just a fat cat, he is also the ghost hunter in "Ghost Catch", the policeman who kidnapped the boss in "The Three Wounded Cops", and the humorous Lin Shirong in "Huang Feihong: The Eight Heavenly Kings" , Is the triad boss Fei Bo in "Lie Hao"...
is also righteous and evil, also solemn and humorous, comedy and tragedy, police and triad boss, honest and cunning... Zheng Zeshi can interpret every role well.
Therefore, he can not only be nominated for the best actor supporting role twice at the Academy Awards, but also can win 2 Academy Award winners, which can be called the protagonist in the supporting role.
3. Salted fish can turn over
However, in the most glorious period of his career, Zheng Zeshi ushered in the life of Waterloo.
In 1993, he co-founded a film company with a friend. It happened to be in the Great Depression of Hong Kong Film and Television. The company did not manage well. The filming of "The Legend of Heroes after 1949" suffered a disastrous box office loss and lost more than 10 million Hong Kong dollars. Seeing that the big event was not good, the partner of
took away 200 million yuan and ran away. Zheng Zeshi lost all his belongings and owed 17 million Hong Kong dollars.
fell directly from the peak of life to the bottom, Zheng Zeshi was quite miserable.
"The fall was really painful and painful, that is, I sold everything except my relatives, my parents, and my children. I sold everything." When
was at its worst, he only had 20 yuan on him, and he ate the crew’s lunch for three meals; and before this loss, his pay was as high as over 1 million, even higher than Chow Yun Fat and Andy Lau.
What is even more chilling is that many of Zheng Zeshi’s friends in the circle not only did not lend a helping hand, but also fell into trouble.
At that time, an artist under Zheng Zeshi’s company was filming outside. The salary was 2.3 million. The salary was first called to the company. Zheng Zeshi was about to embezzle the money. He first said hello to the artist:
"Because of the company’s financial operations, I will use the money. If you need it, you can tell me earlier, two or three days in advance, preferably a month in advance, and I will definitely raise the money and return it to you.”
Just finished his greeting on Sunday, Zheng Zeshi received a letter from the lawyer on Wednesday afternoon: the artist informed him that he would terminate the contract and "request all money immediately." Zheng Zeshi invited him for an interview, and the artist found two brothers to come together: "Needless to say, now it's just about paying back the money."
In addition, the artist also asked the auditor twice to check the account; after Zheng Zeshi paid all the money, he still retained the right to collect the debt and wanted to continue the investigation. The artist
is Zhang Weijian. Zhang Weijian has done nothing wrong, but he is not close to otherssituation.
"There is no way, this is of course sad." Zhang Weijian completely broke Zheng Zeshi's heart, which caused Zheng Zeshi to keep a distance from his friends in the circle and dare not trust him.
Zheng Zeshi wanted to go out and make money from filming, but people in the industry took the opportunity to squeeze prices crazily, and the former actor Tiger fell in Pingyang. At this time, only one person offered a helping hand. He introduced Zheng Zeshi as the producer of his movie "Brothers" and also introduced him to film and do. Producer, help him tide over the difficulties slowly, this person is Andy Lau.
"Unexpectedly, Hua Zai helped me this salted fish after helping the newcomer." With Andy Lau's help, Zheng Zeshi paid off all his debts in 1997. In 2003, he bought a mansion in Happy Valley at a price of RMB 7 million and successfully turned himself over.
His career as an actor perfectly interprets what he said to his mother that year: "The purpose of being an actor is to make money." From the peak to bankruptcy, from bankruptcy to a comeback, he was not rich, he just made a profit. Jewelry stores have more money".
"Salted fish can turn over, it doesn't matter", Zheng Zeshi is now very open. When he met Zhang Weijian at an event, he was also very indifferent: "What happened is what happened. Everyone knows that each other's positions are different."
Today, Zheng Zeshi is in a semi-retired state, and only occasionally appears in the public eye when there are several false news about his death. Except for the gray hair, the thinner body, and the more rickety body, the fat cat is still the fat cat.
How strong is Zheng Zeshi's acting skills?
When filming the second episode of "The Fat Cat", Zheng Zeshi slowly walked on the road with the posture and movements of a mentally retarded person. When he turned his head, he suddenly saw several real mentally retarded people behind, walking in exactly the same posture as him.
Zheng Zeshi stepped forward: "Hello, hello, my name is Fat Cat, I haven't asked for advice...". He arched his body, shrugged his shoulders, and spoke extremely slowly, almost indistinguishable from the mentally retarded in reality.
The mentally handicapped people thought they met their peers and started a dialogue with him. Zheng Zeshi was very happy: "I am really touched... Actually, they are not fierce, they are very simple."
's acting skills not only convince the audience, but also gain recognition from the mentally retarded. Only Zheng Zeshi can do it in the entertainment industry.
A very bad businessman and a great filmmaker, this is Zheng Zeshi.
directly enter "Zheng Zeshi" in the search box at the top of today's Toutiao app. He is still a foolish, silly, upright and kind fat cat.
