Some time ago, I opened a certain video site after I haven't watched Internet University for a long time, and I saw a somewhat familiar face. After looking at it, isn't it all , Xie Miao, and ?
I remember the child who played Li Lianjie 's son, now it seems that there is a tendency to become a freshman on the Internet.
When Xie Miao was a child
had to sigh, the kung fu child stars who accompanied me growing up, such as Xie Miao, Shi Xiaolong , Cao Jun and so on, seem to have been "outdated" for a long time.
20 or 30 years ago, looking back, the reason why they were able to rise was also related to the domestic film and television industry environment at that time. Compared with today, it is indeed different.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the representatives of those kung fu child stars in our memory, how they were discovered, and what their situation is now. In the history of world cinema, 1994 is a special year. That year, there were foreign films such as "The Shawshank Redemption", "Forrest Gump" and "Pulp Fiction", and the Chinese film industry also produced classic films such as " Chongqing Forest ", "Food Men and Women" and "Alive".
Among them, there are also two commercial films worth mentioning, which changed the fate of two people, one is " New Shaolin Five Ancestors " released in March of that year, and the other is "" released in April. Whirlwind Kid ".
This is the first time Xie Miao and Shi Xiaolong have appeared on the big screen as child stars.
In 1993, a Taiwanese film and television tycoon named Yang Dengkui found Wang Jing, the director who is best at making commercial films, and asked him to re-shoot the story of " Shaolin Wuzu " , and made a request , starring must be Jet Li.
But Jet Li was in the limelight at the time, and his salary went through a triple jump of and . By 1993, it had risen to about 12 million, which was not enough to find other four stars who were in the same coffee position as him and who knew kung fu.
Then Wang Jing thought about it, you only said you wanted Jet Li to star, but you didn't say who you wanted him to play! I can let a few children play the five ancestors, and Jet Li plays Hong Xiguan !
So the crew went to Beijing to select children. At that time, Xie Miao, who was already 9 years old, was practicing in the martial arts class of the Children's Palace. He was originally going to play the young master of the Ma family, but Wang Jing felt that he was not like a playboy, so he asked him to try the role of Hong Wending .
As a result, Xie Miao's juvenile and mature face, coupled with her unwavering eyes, made Wang Jing unforgettable. Just like that, he was selected to star in "The Five Ancestors of New Shaolin", and his partner Jet Li played father and son.
in shortIn just two years, Xie Miao starred in five films including " God of Gamblers 2" and "'s Letter to Dad ". In addition to Li Lianjie, he has also partnered with Chow Yun-fat , Anita Mui and other celebrities. He became a famous child star, and was even named Jet Li's successor by the media.
"God of Gamblers 2"
Shi Xiaolong, who is 4 years younger than Xie Miao, was equally popular in those years, and even more famous. This means that the film and television tycoon who was as famous as Yang Dengkui in Taiwan at that time, Wu Dun, nicknamed Gui Jianshou.
The experience of this person is very interesting, so I won't go into details. Simply put, it is black and white. In the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles at that time, such characters were not uncommon, just like the Hollywood in the golden age also had many gangster shadows.
In 1991, Wu Dun established Changhong Film and Television , with him as the producer and director Zhu Yanping, and released the first work " All over the World ", which brought Qin Han , Ke Shouliang and others to star. However, it was the world of Hong Kong films at that time, and the box office was not good.
suffered a loss, Wu Dun immediately changed his mind, and then specialized in investing in Hong Kong films, and it must be a lot of superstars. "; also invested in Wang Jing to film " chasing boys ", and gathered Brigitte Lin , Maggie Cheung , Qiu Shuzhen, Liang Jiahui , Jacky Cheung and others. A lineup like
is hard to reproduce today.
However, after 1993, Taiwanese filmmakers gradually withdrew from the Hong Kong market, and Wu Dun, who had already made a lot of money and was satisfied, slowly put his focus back on Taiwan.
It was in that year that the five-year-old Shi Xiaolong came to Taiwan again for exchange with the Shaolin Temple Buddhist visiting group. With 27 performances in a row, every performance was full, and the young novice Shi Xiaolong, who was cute, cuddly and martial, gained enough popularity and occupied the front page headlines of major newspapers and magazines.
Compared to Xie Miao who practiced martial arts out of interest, Shi Xiaolong is a proper child of a martial arts family. Father Chen Tongshan is the principal of Shaolin Martial Arts School, and his master is Shi Yongxin , abbot of Shaolin Temple. Because of this, he changed his name to Shi Xiaolong, formerly known as Chen Xiaolong .
Since the age of two, Shi Xiaolong has carried out various trainings. According to the time, Wang Baoqiang , who also practiced martial arts in Shaolin Temple in those years, can be regarded as his junior brother. Shi Xiaolong is young and talented. He started to make his mark in various martial arts festivals at the age of 4. Henan TV station also specially followed his training routine and made a documentary.
are precisely those performances of Shi Xiaolong, which caught the attention of Wu Dun and Zhu Yanping. Without the dazzling Hong Kong stars, they are in urgent need of fresh blood. After some lobbying, Shi Xiaolong signed a contract with Changhong Film and Television, with his father and his master calling the shots.
At that time, Chang Hongli also supported the rookie Wang Lin Zhiying . Therefore, Shi Xiaolong's first work "The Whirlwind Kid" was partnered with Lin Zhiying, and another child star was Hao Shaowen, who was younger than Shi Xiaolong.
After the release of
"The Whirlwind Kid", not only the box office was impressive, but the little pair of Shi Xiaolong and Hao Shaowen even overshadowed Lin Zhiying's limelight.
Wu Dun and Zhu Yanping will not miss this great opportunity, and they pursued their success by launching films such as " New Oolong Courtyard ", "Invincible Fighting Star", " China Dragon ", and Shi Xiaolong and Hao Shaowen became box office guarantees. The partners are Wu Mengda, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and others.
"New Oolong Courtyard"
The two of them lived up to their expectations. Several films made Changhong a lot of money, especially "New Oolong Courtyard", which also broke box office records at that time.
is not difficult to find, whether it's Xie Miao or Shi Xiaolong, although they debuted at a young age, they just caught up with the last brilliant stage of Hong Kong and Taiwan movies, and coupled with the promotion of the whole society's kung fu enthusiasm, they encountered a positive period.
02
After entering the new century, the entire entertainment industry has undergone all-round changes in terms of funding sources, production and content.
On the one hand, starting from the new century, the voice and focus of the film market have gradually shifted from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the mainland, especially after the signing of CEPA in 2003; , its influence is increasing day by day.
Since the mid-to-late 1990s, domestic TV content production has entered a period of rapid development. However, at that time, TV stations were basically in short supply, so it was often necessary to introduce TV dramas from various places to fill the schedule.
In addition to my country's Hong Kong and Taiwan regions, Singapore, which also belongs to the Chinese cultural circle, also focused its business on the broader mainland market.
In 1996, the Singapore TV drama production company was preparing to shoot ", the real life little monk ". The male protagonist was a little monk who knew kung fu. of Cao Jun. He was studying in a martial arts class at the Children's Palace in Huangpu District, Shanghai, and was able to audition only after being recommended by his teacher. After the broadcast of
"The Little Monk of True Life", the cute and clever little monk became popular, and Cao Jun also became a little celebrity.
is in Singapore, and this drama is still the year's ratings champion. The management in Singapore was very satisfied, and then decided to cooperate with the mainland, and successively launched two dramas, "Little Monk 2" and " Lotus Boy Nezha ", both of which were designated starring by Jun Cao.
It can be said that in those two years, Cao Jun was the absolute protagonist on the small screen. On the other side of
, Shi Xiaolong, who was active on the big screen before, also began to switch to TV dramas due to the end of his contract and environmental changes. In 1999, he participated in the filming of the first drama " teenager Bao Qingtian ". After the show was broadcast, both word of mouth and ratings were good, and the role of Zhan Zhao further expanded Shi Xiaolong's popularity.
"Youth Bao Qingtian"
Immediately after, Wu Dun and director Zhu Yanping, the behind-the-scenes boss who made him popular, also turned their focus to the mainland. In 2000, Zhu Yanping directed the first TV series " Heroes Breaking Heaven Pass ". Although Shi Xiaolong did not appear, the role played by Cao Jun is called Shi Xiaolong, and the role played by Hao Shaowen is called Shi Xiaofu
The other is invested by Wu Dun. In the TV series "Oolong Breakthrough Love", Shi Xiaolong participated in the performance and played the role of Shi Xiaolong. The actor's name and the character's name overlapped many times, which also proved Shi Xiaolong's popularity back then.
In 2001, Cao Jun partnered with Shi Xiaolong and Wu Mengda to film the TV series "Nine-year-old County Master"; It is worth mentioning that this is also Xie Miao's comeback after temporarily withdrawing from the showbiz in 1995.
All in all, in the years at the turn of the century, the representatives of these kung fu child stars we are familiar with have their own intersections in the field of TV dramas. And that is precisely the rising period when domestic TV dramas are gradually becoming market-oriented, and high-quality products are frequently produced.
03
However, since 2003, Shi Xiaolong and Cao Jun have faded out of the entertainment circle one after another, while Xie Miao was in a semi-retired state. They "disappeared" for basically the same reason, that is, to continue their studies.
, especially Shi Xiaolong, who started filming at the age of five, hardly had a normal childhood. In previous interviews, he has also repeatedly proposed that he wants to experience ordinary campus life. Therefore, since studying abroad in 2003, except for the summer vacation to film " Youth Bao Qingtian 3", he is basically in a state of withdrawal.
We can make an assumption, if in the next few years, several of them did not fade out of the film and television industry because of going to school, but maintained the same rhythm of filming before, can they still have high popularity? Let’s be realistic, right? Can you play the big hero all the time?
I think it's very unlikely.
The film and television industry is changing faster than we thought, not to mention that the external environment is constantly changing. Early Hong Kong and Taiwan capital, including Singapore capital, saw business opportunities from them. Under the relatively complete entertainment system, they were commercialized and packaged to promote people with works.
For example, it is obvious that most of the roles they play are tailor-made, whether it is a movie or a TV series. Like " Junior Huang Feihong " starring Shi Xiaolong in the later period, and " Baolian Lantern " starring Cao Jun, they are real big male protagonists, so they have created their record.
But as they get older, especially when they are 16 or 17 years old, they can play both children and adults. At an embarrassing age, their child star halo has gradually become a shackle, and they must spend more effort to get there break in. On the other hand, the entire market leaves them with few choices.
Once, in the film market, kung fu films and martial arts films were the mainstream.The chivalrous drama is also very popular. These child stars who know kung fu, in addition to their own efforts and talents, also have the help of the times.
In the first ten years of this century, a film and television company called Hainan Zhouyi was still active in the mainland, and produced many martial arts dramas, most of which had a clear style.
After finishing his studies, Shi Xiaolong starred in his martial arts drama " Seven Weapons: Peacock Feather ". This drama was broadcast as the key drama of CCTV's opening year in 2011, but the ratings were not good. Hainan Zhouyi also declared bankruptcy after this, which is like some kind of prophecy.
The film and television content we were familiar with before is gradually leaving us.
In that year, on the big screen, the ability of comedy films to attract money has already appeared; in the field of TV dramas, the most popular dramas are " Zhen Huan Biography ", "Palace", " Step by Step Scary " and other dramas. The Xianxia IP has replaced the previous " Jin Guliang Wen " , and has become the largest source of material for film and television adaptations. The original script has become a luxury in the following years.
All this heralds the arrival of another era.
What's the use of playing, it's not as handsome as playing Feijian in fluttering white clothes.
But now Xie Miao chose the road of Wangda University. I have always felt that the current network is very similar to the early Hong Kong movies. The investment is not high, the plot is imaginative, and the subject matter likes action and martial arts, which happens to be Xie Miao's comfort zone.
Around 2015, he plunged into the Internet University, basically as long as he has something to do with action scenes. It is undeniable that many of these are shoddy works, but it is the accumulation of each work that makes Xie Miao familiar, honed his acting skills, and gradually has more autonomy.
After several years, the quality of his works has been getting better and better, and he has been recognized by more people. Although it is far from the position of Li Lianjie's successor at the beginning, there is always a world of its own.
It's like we all had a kung fu dream when we were young, wanting to fight swords in the world, want to be a hero, want to be happy and hate, want to be proud of the world.
until I found that I was stuck on an elevated road on Monday morning, five minutes before the morning meeting. Until I found out about the mortgage and car loan, it was much scarier than the villain in the movie. Until the balance in the bank card is found, let alone a lot of pride, a lot of money is spent, and even a takeaway at noon will be fully deducted.
No matter how high you are, you can't beat life.
Just like what Wang Xiaobo said, life is a slow process of being hammered. People get older day by day, their extravagant hopes disappear day by day, and finally they become like a hammered cow.
No one can live forever. There will always be someone who will fight for us.
Reference:
"New Flight Phase 3: Changhong Breaks the Waves, Taiwan Business30 Years of Movies", Sina Entertainment
"Shi Xiaolong: I'm precocious, but 29 years old means growing up", Beijing Youth Weekly
"Cao Jun: A Reflection Talk of "Mr. Too Serious", Character Documentary "Tiger Father and Dragon Son"
"Golden Years": Kung Fu child star
"Super Interview": Shi Xiaolong Xie Miao Cao Jun We grew up
Author: IC Lab
The fun of the business world is here.
focuses on mass consumption, Internet commerce and popular culture, sharing my humble opinions and observations.
