In "Flowers", the first drama directed by Wong Kar-wai, Wang Ju plays Mei Ping, a colleague of Miss Wang (played by Tang Yan) at No. 27 Foreign Trade Company on the Bund. Compared with Ms. Wang, whose performance is soaring and glamorous, Mei Ping is unknown and transparent, but she also has unwillingness to be reconciled in the workplace - she clearly knows Mr. Fan (played by Dong Yong) of "Sanyang Brand" first, but Because of Mr. Bao (played by Hu Ge), this big order was finally given to Miss Wang. So she later plotted against Miss Wang, causing her to lose the opportunity for promotion and was even sent to the warehouse. From the innocence at the beginning, to the unwillingness in the middle, to the jealousy and calculation later, and then to the toughness of "walking up the stairs", Wang Ju vividly played the complex inner changes of Mei Ping, an ordinary person in the workplace - both annoying and hateful. , there is also something sympathetic.
Wang Ju initially auditioned for the roles of Jin Fenghuang and Min Min on the set of "Flowers", but neither of them got the role, and finally met Mei Ping. Looking back on the entire filming process, she said with emotion: ""Flowers" is not my first film and television work, but it must be one of the most important works in my life." The filming process was indeed very tiring, because it required repeating performances over and over again, even in For a month after filming was completed, she dreamed about filming "Flowers" every night and could not relax mentally. "But I especially like and cherish the state during that period. What I learned is better than the several movies I made outside."
Mei Ping, played by Wang Ju, can actually represent many people in life.
Meet "Flowers"
From Jin Fenghuang, Min Min, to Mei Ping
Before auditioning for "Flowers", Wang Ju had just finished filming the drama version of "Love Is Delicious", but the show had not yet been broadcast, which meant that it had not officially film and television works to meet the audience. The first time she met director Wong Kar-Wai, everyone just chatted casually. Wong Kar-wai asked her what she did before and what she is doing now. "Director Wang only knew about me at that time because I participated in a talent show." Later, the casting director team took over the more specific work and approached her to try out three roles. The first one is a singer, who should be the character of Jin Fenghuang in the play; the second one is Min Min, the foreman of Zhizhen Garden; and the third one is Mei Ping. When
auditioned for the first two roles, the casting director asked her to be in "Produce 101" condition, but this was a particularly abstract request for Wang Ju. "I am 100% myself in the show, but the editing of the show is a secondary creation, and what everyone sees is no longer my original state. I'm not sure why people like me because of which clip or sentence, so it's difficult Accurately restore the state at that time." The audition scenes for the first two roles also had no dialogue, and were only required to show certain emotions and states. Wang Ju tried many times but failed. She was very anxious and frustrated, thinking that she might not have a chance to play "Flowers".
Then one day she received a notice from the crew that there was another role that she wanted to try out. This time the audition was for Mei Ping, and there was dialogue. One page showed Mei Ping's neglected state at No. 27 on the Bund, and there were also the opposite actors. At that time, Wang Ju was opposite Cheng Liang, the executive director of "Flowers", who later played the role of Jing Xiu, the small owner of the cigarette paper shop on the corner of Huanghe Road in the play. "This part of the content was not available during the actual filming. I feel that it was written specifically for the audition. But this dialogue allowed me to feel some of the unconvincing things in the girl Mei Ping's heart. I tried it during that audition. On, I played Mei Ping."
Become Mei Ping
Perform many lines of varying degrees in each scene
Mei Ping is not a likable character, but as her actor, Wang Ju can understand her unwillingness. "The client I met first (Mr. Fan) ended up being handed over to a colleague for no apparent reason. My colleague was very glamorous and made people like him wherever he went. As Mei Ping, she would definitely not be willing to accept it. She would wonder why my efforts cannot be appreciated. Yes? This is a very easy-to-understand logic." During the performance, Wang Ju was also considering how bad she wanted to play Mei Ping. Director Wong Kar-Wai likes to give actors some performance shots when they don't have lines to capture their expressions and eyes. When encountering this kind of shot, the viciousness of the thoughts will be reflected in the facial expressions.Usually after filming one scene, the director asks her to do another one that is even worse; after filming, he asks her to do another one where she made a mistake and regretted it; after that, she asks for another one that is as innocent as a little white rabbit...
Mei Ping has many different meanings expression.
Mei Ping will perform many different scenes in almost every scene. Some are more restrained, some are more vicious, and some are in the middle. In the end, it is left to the director to make choices during editing. In the play, Miss Wang and Mei Ping had a falling out at No. 27 on the Bund. Finally, Miss Wang left angrily. Mei Ping stood in the office and cried aggrievedly, but after everyone left, she stopped crying and looked like It was like I was pretending to cry to gain sympathy. Wang Ju said that this scene was performed many times on the spot, and in the end the director used the one of pretending to cry and being stubborn. However, the scene where two people had a fierce argument and Miss Wang pushed Mei Ping was cut out. "Putting yourself in Mei Ping's shoes, being pushed around like this in that situation, she really felt humiliated in the office. She wasn't just pretending to cry."
After Mei Ping had a falling out with Ms. Wang, she stood in the office aggrievedly cry.
Mei Ping’s dramas are all related to the workplace. Although Wang Ju was also a professional before her debut, she believed that her experience at that time was not very helpful in playing Mei Ping. Instead, the workplace of the crew inspired her. "Each department in the crew has its own division of labor, and actors are just one of them. There are so many actors in "Flowers", and there may only be a few leading actors who are easier to see like the team leader. When I played the role of Mei Ping, I There are indeed some subtle feelings. In the workplace of the crew, everyone's attitude towards you when no one knows you, and everyone's attitude towards you after your performance is gradually recognized, are slightly different. The workplace atmosphere will be different. A little change."
"There is a script"
The costume team is very aware of the changes in each character's image.
said that Wong Kar-wai did not have a script for filming. Most of the actors in "Flowers" only saw the content of the day's filming on the table when they put on makeup every day. . Through his own observation and analysis, Wang Ju believes that there is actually a script. "Why did I come to this conclusion? Because when I went to set the makeup for the first time, I found that the costume team was very aware of the changes in the image of each character in the early and late stages. I felt that the director must have a very complete and clear story line for each character. Behind the scenes The team also knows it, but they won't tell the actors." When the actors see the complete script, they are equivalent to standing in a God's perspective, knowing what will happen to the character in the end, and they may be smart enough to make such designs, such as knowing how to do it themselves Determine whether a certain scene is a major scene or a certain scene is a passing scene. But in Wong Kar-Wai's crew, the actors cannot see the complete script, so each scene may be the only one. If you perform well, you will be retained, but if you perform poorly, you will not be retained. "It's different if an actor considers every scene as an important scene."
plays Mei Ping in "Flowers". Wang Ju only needs to grasp her logic and purpose in the scene at the moment, without having to Thinking about the content before and after, it's like really turning yourself into a character to experience this period of her life. Looking back now, she found that she didn't know the hidden meanings of many scenes when filming. Now she follows the drama with the audience and only knows it after reading everyone's analysis. "For example, when I was acting, I felt that my uncle was very kind and sincere to me (Mei Ping). Now after reading the analysis, I realized that my uncle just wanted to use me and keep giving me a thumbs up. If I have this in my heart when I am acting, With this kind of thinking, the performance may not be so pure."
"Flowers" is not Wang Ju's first film and television work, but she considers it to be one of the most important works in her life. The filming process was really tiring because she needed to repeat the performance over and over again. This led to her dreaming about filming "Flowers" every night for a month after filming was completed. After filming a scene, she would watch the replay and then continue filming the same scene. , when she woke up the next day, she felt as exhausted as if she had been filming a night scene. She had never been so nervous during an exam when she was in school. "But I especially loved and cherished the state of being during the filming of "Flowers". What I learned was more than what I had made in several other films.”
Beijing News reporter, Yang Lianjie
editor, Tong Na
proofreader, Liu Jun
