China News Service, Beijing, January 16 (Reporter Wang Shiyao) Nick Cheung, who has been in the industry for 34 years, spent 20 years from a walk-on actor to the best actor. However, winning awards has never been his goal and goal. "Being a good actor" is the annotation he wrote for himself.
Nick Cheung, who was a policeman, played the role of a young police academy cadet in "Ambition" in his first movie. Coincidentally, his first screen appearance was as "Nick Cheung".
Since then, Nick Cheung, who has officially transformed into an actor, has brought wonderful roles to the audience one after another: he is the swindling little gambler "Hua Gulong" in the "Gambler" series, and he is the protagonist of "The Four Suits". The suave Tang Bohu in "The Talented Man" is the ruthless professional killer Hong Jing in "The Witness", and he is the debt-ridden Hong Kong boxing champion Cheng Hui in "The Fight"...
Putting on the coat of the character, he can freely interpret different life stories. But when it comes to playing "Nick Cheung", he considers himself to be the worst actor. The "Nick Cheung" here is no longer a character name, but an ordinary person in real life, Nick Cheung.
“In the camera, you can do whatever you want. But in reality, no one can tell you in advance how the plot will be performed or how the story will develop.”
Life is a script that cannot be repeated. Fortunately, movies can be polished repeatedly. Nick Cheung, who usually avoids right and wrong and stays away from the hustle and bustle, pours all the complex and noisy sounds and emotions into the role.
In the recently released movie "Rage", Nick Cheung plays the mysterious killer Chen An. This is a complex character that cannot be simply evaluated as good or bad. "I don't define whether he is a good person or a bad person. I regard him as an ordinary person."
Actor Nick Cheung plays Chen An in the movie "The Furious Tide". Picture provided by the film crew
A good movie, there is no standard answer
"Raging tide" describes a rapid and turbulent wave. In the movie "The Tide", Chen An and his sister Chen Le originally lived a peaceful, warm and happy life. However, a seemingly ordinary blood donation event was like throwing a stone into a bottomless lake, setting off a "tide of anger". "The three protagonists are involved in the criminal whirlpool with the Hongtai Group.
The role of Chen An is not difficult for Nick Cheung. Police, crime, and action movies are all within his comfort zone. Therefore, he described the shooting as "enjoying a delicious dinner".
The “ingredients” of dinner are delicious, but who you eat them with is equally important. Zhang Jiahui and director Ma Yuke met in the movie "Anti-Drug" ten years ago. At that time, Duan Kun, played by Ma Yuke, left a deep impression on Zhang Jiahui. He is also a "movie fanatic". After hearing that Ma Yuke was preparing to challenge the director's role for the first time, Zhang Jiahui, who had read the script, happily joined.
As for the other two leading actors in the film, Ethan Ruan and Darren Wang, although they are working with Nick Cheung for the first time, they are also junior actors that he is very optimistic about. Not long ago, Nick Cheung watched another movie "The Three Evils" starring Ethan Ruan in Hong Kong. After watching it, he immediately called Ma Yuke and praised: "This is the best movie I have seen in recent years. ."
Nick Cheung was worried that such a high evaluation would put pressure on Ethan Juan, so he asked the director not to tell Xiao Tian, "wait until we meet."
""The Fury" and "Zhou Chu's Killing Three Evils" are both action and crime-themed movies. At the same time, these types of movies are also Zhang Jiahui's personal favorite themes. But he also admitted that the influence of movie themes on audiences is gradually declining, and good-looking movies are the key to attracting audiences.
"Today's audience, no matter what subject matter, actor, or story you are, the film studio has no way to hard sell you. If the movie is good-looking, people will naturally go to see it; if it is not good-looking, no matter how much you do, it will be useless. It seems cruel to say this, but Consumers just spend money to buy entertainment. How to attract audiences is the key.”
Then, can letting the audience pay the bill be used as an evaluation criterion for a good movie?
“It’s hard to say. If there really is a standard, it would be much easier for everyone to make movies.”
Actor Nick Cheung plays Chen An in the movie "The Furious Tide".Photo courtesy of the film producer
Don’t always look back
In the late 1980s, Nick Cheung, who had resigned from the police force, was introduced by a friend to work behind the scenes in a film and television company, and unexpectedly got the opportunity to star in the movie "Ambition". Coincidentally, Nick Cheung made his big screen debut playing a police academy cadet named Nick Cheung.
As a small role in the film, this debut film did not bring much influence to Nick Cheung, but the gears of fate have begun to turn, and the door to a new career has officially opened to him.
However, no matter when, changing careers is not an easy task. After becoming an actor, Nick Cheung spent a long period of being unknown. However, he is very open-minded about this, "In the era when I debuted, everyone was a walk-on, and the superstars all came from walk-ons."
Even in the role-playing period, Nick Cheung was the one who could endure the most hardships and was the most persistent. . Because of his past status as a police officer, he was often assigned roles where he was beaten at first, causing injuries all over his body. He can get through the physical pain by gritting his teeth, but some things cannot be compromised easily.
Perhaps it is due to the inherent rebelliousness in his character. From the moment he entered the industry, Nick Cheung has not been a particularly "obedient" actor. He is especially disgusted with routine performances that have formed stereotypes. When he first started filming TV series, Nick Cheung felt uncomfortable and sad when faced with the demands made by some directors.
"For example, when I play a bad guy, the director will ask me to laugh 'hahahahaha' after finishing a line. I really can't do that (act)." To this day, Nick Cheung still frowns when talking about it. A face that exuded signals of rejection.
Some senior actors thought he didn’t know how to perform, so they kindly demonstrated it to him. "I was very embarrassed at that time, because people really wanted to help you, but they were worried that the newcomer wouldn't know how to do it. But he didn't know that I didn't want to act." But how could a newcomer actor be "qualified" to say no? In the end, Nick Cheung was still embarrassed "Hahahahahaha" I finished filming that scene.
Although this situation does not happen frequently, Zhang Jiahui still feels sad when he encounters it. "Sometimes I want to say, I beg you, I'll pay the money and go, okay?"
Although he has been playing other people, Nick Cheung always remembers what he wants. The rebellious character may be just to maintain the true self.
Later, he worked hard to challenge different roles and achieved breakthroughs again and again. Outsiders commented that he was trying hard to prove himself as the best actor. Nick Cheung is not pretentious and admits generously, "Everyone wants to win an award. For me (the award) is a shot in the arm."
Whether it was in the past or now, in fact, Nick Cheung has never had too strong a desire for awards. Ambition. It is certainly a good thing to be recognized by awards, but even if not, you still have to be yourself. He didn’t understand why he had to do things only if others agreed with him. Whether you win the award or not, you have to move forward. "Don't always look back."
Data map: On the evening of April 13, 2014, Nick Cheung won the Best Actor at the 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards for "The Fight". Posted by China News Service and photographed by Zhang Yu
plays Nick Cheung’s worst role
In 2009, Nick Cheung won 7 Best Actors in one fell swoop with his movie "The Witness". Behind the infinite scenery is a road that has been silently trudging for 20 years as an actor. Since then, Nick Cheung has often been classified as a "late bloomer" actor.
“As an actor, does one need to be able to endure loneliness?”
“At least you have to like loneliness.”
Having been in the colorful entertainment circle for decades, Nick Cheung still seems not used to the noisy social scene. He is a person who doesn’t like to listen. People who gossip and gossip about right and wrong. "A lot of people like to talk about this, but I don't want to hear it. It's best not to know anything."
He also knows that those "gossips" are secret weapons used by others to get closer. Sometimes he rejects others' "good intentions" and even He will be criticized for being ignorant, "no one knows this secret"!
Zhang Jiahui, who likes loneliness but is afraid of crowds, is used to the feeling of walking alone."When there are many people around you, I dare not say that everyone will be like this, but there will always be people who are jealous of your good life. So you have to understand that when you can't seem to find anyone to come to you no matter whether you are happy or not, Share, and you will be a little closer to success."
"Actually, I am an I-type person." Perhaps feeling that the topic was too serious, Zhang Jiahui suddenly threw out a popular "meme". When the reporter asked him about his specific "mbti" type, he replied with an obviously confused look: "I don't know what it is."
Although he doesn't understand mbti, Zhang Jiahui enjoys being alone and is good at drawing energy from himself. The attribute of "i person" is correct. Nick Cheung, who has turned on the "energy-saving mode" in his life, releases all his stored energy into the character.
“I love my job very much, and I also believe that I am a good actor. But I feel that I am the worst actor when I play Nick Cheung.”
As an actor, Nick Cheung believes that he can present his best side every time. came out; but once switched to real life, he was not satisfied with his performance.
"In front of the camera, you can do whatever you want. But in reality, no one can tell you in advance how the plot will be played or how the story will develop." Zhang Jiahui said. (End)
