China News Service, Beijing, January 16 (Liu Yue) The reporter’s first meeting with Huang Lei happened backstage at a party.
That was the second Monday of 2024. The temporarily arranged interview room was bustling with people, with photographers adjusting the lights, directors changing the process, and changing the background curtains all going around. At this time, Huang Lei walked in quietly -
. He was a little thin, with a tidy haircut, a crisp suit, and a pair of bright eyes that calmly scanned the lively crowd. It came suddenly. The previous set of filming had just ended. The staff had not had time to pack up the equipment and asked him to sit down immediately for an interview. While the reporter was going crazy, Huang Lei blinked and pointed to the wooden box on the ground with a smile, "I can sit here, too."
The reporter's first impression of Huang Lei was the same as that of him twenty years ago. The "Xu Zhimo" portrayed on the screen coincides with it. Since "Xiao Min's Family" in 2021, Huang Lei has become increasingly low-key off-screen in recent years. However, being low-key doesn’t mean being laid-back. While he is deeply involved in his career as an actor, Huang Lei is still extremely busy.
What are you busy with? Huang Lei replied that he was busy with something that he considered "quite meaningful".
The tenth Wuzhen Theater Festival opened with gongs. Picture courtesy of Wuzhen Theater Festival
The long journey and return journey with Wuzhen
Huang Lei, who grew up in the land of Ganpo, has a deep connection with a poetic small town in the south of the Yangtze River.
In 1999, "April in the World" was launched in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, with Huang Lei playing the talented man "Xu Zhimo". The stone bridges in the ancient streets and the flowing water make the place feel quiet and peaceful, just like a paradise. When Huang Lei first saw Wuzhen, he was immersed in the tranquility of this place. The young man with a handsome face wore a long gown and held an ancient book, walking down the alley with his head lowered. It rained all night, and the wind carried the cold fragrance of fallen flowers. This may be the most profound screen silhouette of Huang Lei in the minds of the previous generation.
For Huang Lei, Wuzhen officially became acquainted with him in 2001. That year, he first came to Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province to collect ideas. The following year, the TV series "Times Past", which he wrote, directed and starred in, was launched. Actor Huang Lei steps out of his comfort zone here and moves towards a broader new world.
In 2022, Huang Lei revisited his old place and wrote with emotion recalling the past: "Exactly 20 years ago, that is, on February 22, 2002, the first drama "Homecoming" that I directed and directed just started filming. From that day on, I became attached to Wuzhen and said goodbye to my youth."
"Today, I came to my town again. In a daze, I didn't know whether these years were a brave journey or a gentle return."
Wuzhen in Huang Lei's eyes. Picture source Huang Lei Weibo
No matter whether he travels far or returns, Huang Lei has never left this spiritual homeland. In 2013, he hit it off with his two friends Lai Shengchuan and Meng Jinghui, and together with investor Chen Xianghong, the four of them jointly launched the "Wuzhen Theater Festival" with the aim of creating a dream destination for young theater people.
"It is expected that the audience can watch about 20 plays during the entire drama festival." Huang Lei imagined that year, "Sleep in during the day, get up to listen to lectures, watch performances at night, and then have a drink by the river. , there will be a sense of utopia."
"The spring water is green in the sky, and the painted boats are listening to the rain and sleeping. Over the years, the beautiful scenery in Huang Lei's imagination has not been in vain. The three "initiators" who had already become famous in the drama industry at that time may not have expected that this seed sown with passion would bear such prosperous fruits in the future.
Ten years have passed by in a blink of an eye. The drama festival has taken root in this ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River. It has not only cultivated the power of drama and artistic atmosphere, but also integrated into the local lifestyle, driving the development of cultural tourism, economy and other aspects. In the past ten years, its youth competition unit has supported the theater dreams of more than 9,000 young people and supported 143 original works by young people to appear on the stage of Bengwan Theatre.
Youth competition attracts audiences to queue up. Wuzhen Theater Festival Photo courtesy
In this regard, Huang Lei bluntly said that "it is not enough": "The Wuzhen Theater Festival has been held for 10 years. Last year I proposed a new idea.We have joined forces with the Tongxiang Charity Federation to launch a new live streaming event in Wuzhen, which can help some remote mountainous areas and small and micro enterprises. They don't even have a store, so they can use this live broadcast method to help them bring goods. ”
In this live broadcast, local specialty agricultural products, domestic products, cultural tourism products, cultural and creative products, intangible cultural heritage products and other good products were unveiled one after another, and all sales revenue from the live broadcast was donated to the Tongxiang Charity Federation for use in remote areas. A public welfare education fund for local children.
"I think such a large-scale and influential international cultural event should have a public welfare behavior and mentality, and should make more contributions to society. "Huang Lei said in his own words that he once went to work in some poor and backward mountainous areas and found that the main entertainment method for children in mountainous areas is to use smartphones. "They play with mobile phones and watch videos every day. I think these children actually have urgent needs for aesthetic education. They need More cultural events. ”
With the help of Huang Lei, some young theater people traveled lightly, bringing puppet theater actors and a guitar to perform for children in the mountains of Lishui, Zhejiang Province. He planned that there would be more performances after the Spring Festival There are a second and third group of young artists going to the countryside to let art converge into a wave in the fields.
"I hope that when the Wuzhen Theater Festival is held every year, these children can be picked up. Watching dramas from all over the world and seeing what is happening in the world may open their hearts and eyes to observe beauty, and their future may also be changed as a result. "
"Don't be afraid of being criticized when you do good things"
Huang Lei always likes to mention "children".
This may be related to his status as a "teacher". Huang Lei has taught at the Beijing Film Academy for 22 years, and this is the first time he mentioned the pointer and stood on the podium. At that time, he was only 25 years old - the oldest student in the class was 24 years old at the time. Although he was young, he was already a strict teacher in the eyes of many students. Hai Qing once revealed that Huang Lei did not allow freshman students to fall in love at that time, and his classmates I'm a little "afraid" of him.
However, Huang Lei occasionally gets "skinned". One year, he planned to pave red bricks in the theater where students performed their graduation drama. In order to save the high cost of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, Huang Lei took the students The abandoned toilets in the Experimental Theater next to the small theater were demolished.
It was a rainy day. The head teacher with green eyebrows and his lively students stood in a long line in the rain, relaying the bricks back and knocking off the cement. Stored in the theater. This wet dream was mixed with memories. Many years later, Huang Lei commented with a smile on the second grade boy back then, "How young and passionate. "
Want to buy sweet-scented osmanthus and wine. More than twenty years of spring and autumn have passed, and the sharp-edged red bricks have been smoothed by the years. The unruly and melancholy young man has stepped into the torrent of time. The man he once "ordered" not to fall in love with The little girl became a character, won awards, and collaborated with him several times. The two were promoted to a new generation of "middle-aged golden screen partners."
In 2015, "Little Farewell" starring Huang Lei and Hai Qing became a hit Since then, similar genres such as "Little Joy" and "Xiao Min's Family" have also been well-received and popular. From the romantic talent who does not like the fireworks in "April in the World" to the middle-aged uncle who lives a happy life with daily necessities, in With the support of variety shows, Huang Lei has become "Huang Xiaochu" and "Good Dad" in the public's mind.
Huang Lei shows off his delicious food. Weibo screenshot
Huang Lei does not think that such a down-to-earth image "loses fashion value". He likes to be in On Weibo, he posted a series of delicacies that were full of color, fragrance and flavor, regardless of the people who were crying for food in the comment area. When talking about his children, Huang Lei always had a smile in his eyes and was endlessly gentle. He talked about his education experience: "The education of children should start from The little things in life begin. Respect everyone around you, accept friendly things happily, and sometimes respond with kindness when faced with unkindness. "
With the blessing of being a teacher and father, Huang Lei pays great attention to issues related to "children". Years ago, he and his lover Sun Li saw some "child trafficking" incidents on the Internet, and the cruel scenes of separation of flesh and blood were deeply touched. This couple, they decided to lend a hand.
"As parents, I feel sad from the bottom of my heart when I see those broken families. We contacted the anti-trafficking office and charity funds and wanted to make some donations." Every year since then, Huang Lei and Sun Li have continued to "help abducted children" "Go Home" charity project donated funds, "many families can rely on this money to do genetic screening and have the opportunity to find their own children."
In 2023, Huang Lei and Sun Li were awarded the title of "China Anti-Trafficking Volunteer Propaganda" by the public security department. . "We are part of society and should organize ourselves so that more people can care about this matter." Huang Lei said that he will continue to do so in the future, hoping to help more children return to their parents. "I hope that child abduction and trafficking will disappear in the future. It would be best if we don't need such propagandists."
Huang Lei's award-winning picture. Photo provided by the organizer
On January 8, at the 2023 Charity Ceremony co-sponsored by "Chinese Philanthropist" magazine and Weibo, Huang Lei won the honor of "Public Welfare Role Model of the Year". In his acceptance speech, he talked about his hope that children in remote mountainous areas can experience aesthetic education, and he will continue to practice it and be a brave and kind person.
Unlike low-key donations, once a public figure is linked to "charity" in front of the spotlight, it is easy to attract criticism. Regarding this topic, Huang Lei showed a bit of edge in the interview for the first time: "If you are afraid of controversy when doing this kind of thing, then don't do anything."
"If you want to do something with good intentions, one If we are criticized for anything that can help others, or are worried about being criticized, then what have we become? What else can we do?"
"Right and wrong are up to you, and others are up to you to blame or blame. Huang Lei doesn't care about the noise from the outside world. He always believes that "being a kind person" is a kind of "transferring oneself". Therefore, even though he and his family have been suffering from some troubles and malice, he still insists that kindness accounts for more percentage in the world, and is still willing to repay others with kindness.
"'Compassion' is a belief in the inner world, and 'kindness' is the lowest foundation of life. We must maintain goodwill towards others, maintain goodwill towards the world, and be able to view everything around us tolerantly. Kindness is the core of human nature. The most beautiful seed, let’s not lose it.” (End)
