Northern Song Dynasty poet He Zhu's "Bitter Heart: Willows Return to the Pond": "Back then, I refused to marry the spring breeze, but I was misled by the autumn breeze for no reason."
Hong Kong movies flourished in the 1980s and 1990s, and many familiar movies also emerged in that era. Stars: Tony Leung, Aaron Kwok, Sammo Hung, etc. With their outstanding performances, they occupy half of the domestic movies. Many unknown minor characters also have their own place.
Hong Kong star Li Zhongning is known as: the fat version of Wei Zi, who made his debut in his thirties. In the end, he chose to retire due to the harsh environment of filming Hong Kong movies. After he failed to go into business, people found that the 66-year-old was working as a security guard in a high-end community.
A late bloomer
Li Zhongning was born in Hong Kong in 1955. His parents were both avant-garde people who received Western education. After he graduated from high school, his parents sent him to study abroad. After receiving the influence of Western culture, Li Zhongning dressed fashionably and had outstanding appearance. The talent scout selected Li Zhongning at a glance in the huge crowd of people, who had just returned from abroad.
Li Zhongning, who had just returned to China and had no suitable job yet, agreed to the scout's invitation and signed a contract with TVB to become an official actor. At this time, he was already 30 years old. Compared with those young talents, he was considered a late bloomer. Li Zhongning is older than most of the crew. His age is a disadvantage, but his good looks are the capital that allows him to gain a foothold in the entertainment industry where there are many masters.
not only has outstanding appearance, but also has many similarities with Tony Leung, the first-line movie star at that time. Therefore, he is also affectionately called by the audience: Fat version of Wei Zai. Such fame made Li Zhongning praised by many media as soon as he debuted.
In order to promote this emerging star, TVB spent a lot of money to invite Aaron Kwok, Qiu Shuzhen and others to join him to form the TVB Galaxy Ten. Such a luxurious lineup made the program team place high hopes on them and frequently make use of their excellent talents. Resources packaged them, but the results did not meet expectations.
Due to the varying reputations among the 10 people, the invited group changed to only inviting a few individuals. Many members are not taken seriously, making the team atmosphere extremely awkward. As a last resort, TVB chose to disband the team and only train two or three actors among them.
Li Zhongning unfortunately did not become one of the selected people, and the company's attention to him has also declined. He himself gradually faded out of the film industry. In order to find a new way out, he chose to film TV series with the help of the company.
It was also because of his appearance in this TV series that Li Zhongning became famous. The TV series "The Legend of Duke Wen of Jin", which made him famous, is a plot about the palace story. With his superb acting skills and outstanding appearance, Li Zhongning instantly attracted countless fans and became a well-known star at that time. Seeing that the response to this TV series exceeded expectations,
company began to prepare for Li Zhongning to participate in more TV series, and the results were very successful. All this makes Li Zhongning full of confidence in his acting career.
The low point of film and television
When Li Zhongning was preparing to move to a higher level in TV dramas, Hong Kong movies began to show weakness because there were no new TV drama themes. Shoddy TV series themes flood the streets and alleys, and visual aesthetic fatigue makes people more picky about their viewing intentions.
Only a few superstars can barely survive this period of television drama. A young star like Li Zhongning, who has just become famous, is in a situation where there is nothing to film. For a movie star, disappearing from people's sight for a long time is very fatal.
Li Zhongning also realized the problem, and he constantly tried to communicate with the company in the hope of getting a chance to appear on stage. Amid the downturn in Hong Kong films, it is extremely rare for the company to remain in business. TVB no longer has the energy to promote small stars like Li Zhongning.
Another way of interpretation
Li Zhongning, who was not willing to disappear, chose to change. At this time, fashion films in Hong Kong movies were beginning to rise. As an emerging shooting mode, they were being accepted by the world. The attention of this type of films was increasing year by year. Li Zhongning saw this, and after an ideological struggle, Li Zhongning chose to enter the fashion film market.
Relying on his accumulated reputation and outstanding acting skills, Li Zhongning quickly made achievements in fashion films, and he also reached the peak of his career because of his performances in fashion films.
As the filming progressed, Li Zhongning felt more and more that he could not accept this form of filming, and he also received harsh criticism from all walks of life.
He still wants to return to normal TV drama filming. It is rare for stars who have filmed fashion films to be able to clean up and come back. Shu Qi is a successful case. After filming fashion films, she can return to her normal life, but Li Zhongning is not so lucky. .
Li Zhongning, who had no turning back, was tired of this kind of life. He gradually gave up his acting career, and finally left the stage completely and began to live an ordinary life.
After failing in business
After returning to peace, he started to start a business in Hong Kong and opened his own hot pot restaurant with the money he had accumulated from more than ten years of acting.
At first, under the influence of his own fame, Li Zhongning's hotpot restaurant ushered in a climax. People come and go every day. People come here for the stars of the past and don’t have many requirements for the dishes. Later, people began to take Li Zhongning for granted and began to pay attention to the taste and business model of the restaurant.
However, due to Li Zhongning's unprofessional management of catering, this hot pot restaurant that had experienced a climax was also submerged in the wave of the public and became one of the bankruptcies. Unwilling to fail, Li Zhongning used all his savings to start investing at home and abroad, but the result was still a failure like the catering business.
After becoming a security guard
and losing all his money, Li Zhongning also lost his original vigor. With the help of friends, the 66-year-old came to work as a security guard in a high-end community. Although you can get a salary of 15,000 yuan a month, in Hong Kong, where the consumption level is relatively high, this money cannot be regarded as a high salary and can only simply solve the problem of food and clothing.
Li Zhongning, who is down and out, can definitely turn to his sister Ye Tong. She once became famous overnight as "Xu Xian" and later married into a wealthy family. It should not be difficult to help her brother. Li Zhongning did not want to disturb his half-sister, and the two had little friendship. The brother and sister did not meet more than three times.
He still wants to live his life through his own efforts. Now he suffers from vitiligo and is also accompanied by brain degeneration. Many things he does during the day cannot be remembered at night.
With such a working environment and physical condition, Li Zhongning feels that although his current life is ordinary, it is very meaningful. He can do what he likes without caring about the judgment of others.
went from a movie star to the protagonist of a fashion film, to a business guru and finally to a security guard. The ups and downs also made Li Zhongning realize that his inner pursuit is true. He deeply regrets his decision to film fashion films. If given the chance to choose again, he would choose to continue working on TV series.
