Some time ago, during a live broadcast, Zhang Jingchu responded to the various controversies among netizens about her vegetarianism, saying that she had been vegetarian for three years and that this experience "brings new vitality and possibility to life."
In addition, she also received an admission letter from the American Film Institute's Directing Department in March this year and started studying abroad.
It is reported that this school is quite difficult to get into and only admits 300 students worldwide every year.
Before this, Zhang Jingchu had insisted on sharing "school diary" on her personal social platform, and she was a "study partner" for many fans.
She has also publicly stated that she does not like learning and does not want to be a "student master". She just hopes to "explore unlimited potential" through this behavior.
After the test target was confirmed, Zhang Jingchu's workload dropped significantly. Even if she occasionally acted, the role she played was no longer that of a heroine.
If we go back to 20 years ago, she was a rising "powerful little flower". She won the Film Media Award for Best Actress in the first movie she starred in. It can be said that the future has unlimited possibilities.
But at the peak of her career, Zhang Jingchu was caught in "rumors of banning", and what is even more intriguing is that the people who banned her were suspected to be the "famous director's wife group".
Although she publicly denied the news many years later, Qianfan was over and her best career breakout period had passed. What is the story behind
?
1. The "Golden Phoenix" flew out of the mountainous area
In February 1980, a baby girl was born to an ordinary intellectual family in a mountainous area in Fujian. Her parents expected her to grow up to be well-behaved and docile, and to inherit her parents' career and become a teacher in the future, so they took the baby girl. Named "Zhang Jing".
But she has been smart and loved singing and dancing since she was a child. At the age of 13, she was directly admitted to the local normal art school to prepare for the future.
After graduation, 15-year-old Zhang Jing planned to go to Beijing to seek opportunities. In order to convince her parents, she agreed to work hard for only one year. If she failed, she would go home and continue to be a teacher.
After that, under the introduction of a friend, Zhang Jing entered the makeup class of Beijing Film Academy and took classes in other departments during the rest of the time.
Two years later, she was successfully admitted to the junior college class of the Chinese Opera Directing Department. During this period, she was also exposed to acting and became deeply fascinated by it. In order to survive during
, I would also take some jobs in commercials and assistant directors to earn some living expenses.
However, because he felt that his name was too feminine, he changed it to "Zhang Jingchu" before his debut.
On the other hand, a director named Gu Changwei made his debut early - he also graduated from Beijing Film Academy, and later became famous as a photographer for Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and other famous directors, and frequently won valuable photography awards.
During this period, he met Jiang Wenli, a female student who was still studying at Beijing Film Academy, and the two began to fall in love in a low-key manner until they became successful.
Later, with the help of Gu Changwei, the woman starred in the movie "Farewell My Concubine" directed by Chen Kaige, which suddenly made her famous.
But after they got married, Jiang Wenli accompanied her husband to go abroad to develop his career. It was not until they both returned to China a few years later that she became a first-line actress after appearing in works such as "Hand in Hand" and "Chinese Divorce".
Gu Changwei also started his dream of directing while working as a photographer for Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, and Jiang Wen.
In 2003, he has been preparing for his debut film "Peacock", which must involve selecting a suitable heroine.
It is said that at first, Gu Changwei's favorite heroine was Zhang Ziyi, but because the other party signed "Jasmine Blossoms" and "House of Flying Daggers", there was no schedule.
In desperation, he organized a casting competition and notified Zhang Jingchu, who was studying at Beijing Film Academy.
It is said that the two are old acquaintances. As a well-known alumnus of Beijing Film Academy, Gu Changwei often went back to tutor his juniors and girls at one stage.
became acquainted with the beautiful Zhang Jing as soon as they went back and forth. It was rumored that at that time, the man often went to the dormitory to visit her with gifts.
Even Gu Changwei personally carried the camera to help shoot his graduation drama "Western Crane".
Zhang Jingchu had been in the industry for three years at that time. Initially, it was to earn tuition money, so she participated in the TV series "Your Life is So Passionate" in 2000.
After that, she successively participated in the martial arts drama "The Sword of the Third Young Master" and the romantic drama "The Book of Love", etc., but the response was tepid.
has a slightly artistic appearance. At first glance, it looks "straightforward", but when it moves, it becomes very spiritual, and as time goes by, it becomes more charming.
Although she is not a beautiful woman at first sight, she has a unique temperament and is highly recognizable.
2. She became an instant hit with "Peacock"
So in the selection competition for the female lead in "Peacock", Zhang Jingchu successfully won and played the most important female role: her sister Gao Weihong.
The sister in the film is bright and bright, like a symbol of the times, which immediately penetrates into the hearts of the audience.
Especially Zhang Jingchu, although she did not major in acting, she unexpectedly has a talent for acting. The scene where she suddenly bursts into tears while buying persimmons is still touching to this day.
Sure enough, after the work was released, she won the honor of "Queen of the Best Movies" - Zhang Jingchu was only 23 years old at the time. Now, she would be scorning countless "little flowers" and "medium flowers" who are still acting in idol dramas.
But what is little known is that in order to play this role well, Zhang Jingchu worked hard at that time:
She went to learn the language in the morning before the filming started, spent the afternoon in the table tennis training room, went back to learn the dialect in the evening, and practiced even more after finishing. Two hours of accordion.
During the period when the work was popular, Zhang Jingchu also received the label of "Little Zhang Ziyi" from the outside world, and her acting career became increasingly prosperous.
However, she is famous for her reputation. Not long after "Peacock" was launched, there were scandals between her and Gu Changwei.
At that time, Jiang Wenli was filming "Chinese Style Divorce". Although she was busy, she immediately "killed" her husband's crew after hearing the rumors.
But these are all rumors. Whether it is true or false, the outside world has no way of knowing.
However, due to her performance in "Peacock", Zhang Jingchu attracted another director:
Zhang Jiarui, who had directed "Norma's Seventeen" and won the best film gold medal at the French Cap Tour Film Festival.
In 2004, the two collaborated on the movie "The Flowery Bride" - this work firmly established Zhang Jingchu as the "goddess of literature and art" and was also a milestone classic for her.
What is even more intriguing is that before the filming of "The Flower-waisted Bride" was completed, Zhang Jiarui couldn't wait to sign two other movies with him, "Fragrant Journey" and "Red River".
Especially "Fragrance Journey" was a script tailor-made for her. In the end, this film won her the "Queen of Best Actress" title at the Luo International Film Festival.
Likewise, the two of them started to have an affair not long after they started working together. They were photographed by paparazzi more than once, eating and shopping. They were very close, but the man also had a family.
It was also at the same stage. Because of the filming of "Seven Swords", Zhang Jingchu had an affair with the film's director Tsui Hark, and the story once made a fuss...
This incident made her, who was at the peak of her career, hang up Labeled as "Famous Director Harvester".
What’s more interesting is that as the scandal with Zhang Jiarui intensified, Gu Changwei, who was popular with Zhang Jingchu, came back to her with a new script "The Beginning of Spring" to play a guest role.
This book is nothing, but you must know that the heroine of "The Beginning of Spring" is his real wife Jiang Wenli.
Despite this, Zhang Jingchu still joined the crew for filming, but no one expected that when the movie was released two years later, all her roles were deleted, and not even a back view was left.
Moreover, in the face of questions from the media and the public, at the press conference of "The Beginning of Spring", Jiang Wenli, the lead actress, had a black face throughout.
Gu Changwei responded awkwardly to reporters' questions:
"How many scenes did Zhang Jingchu play in it?
Why couldn't any of her scenes be seen when it was released? Was it deleted?"
Someone later broke the news that during the filming process, Zhang Jingchu and Gu Changwei were too close, which caused Jiang Wenli to get into a fight and eventually kicked her out of the show as "Gao Weihong".
After this incident, Zhang Jingchu's career suffered a huge blow. Although her acting skills were obvious to all, her popularity among the public had indeed dropped to a freezing point.
There are rumors that she has even been banned by the "Famous Director's Wives Group".
But in fact, there are still dramas, and the partners are all big names.
3. "Do your best" or "rely on se to get the upper hand"?
In 2007, at the age of 27, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the crime film "The Disciple".
In the film, Zhang Jingchu performed equally well opposite Louis Koo and Daniel Wu. Especially during the filming of the scene where her character Ah Fen dies and is "besieged" by rats, even the staff were so frightened that they asked for leave.
However, she insisted on not using a stand-in and refused special effects. She held on until the end by herself, even though a mouse almost fell into her mouth, she still endured the completion.
Later, Er Dongsheng angrily praised:
"If Maggie Cheung plays opposite her, she must be very energetic!"
In fact, in order to film the image of the addictive girl Ah Fen, Zhang Jingchu also moved in a few months before the filming started. I entered the rehabilitation center just to understand their real living conditions.
She was already very thin and lost more than 10 pounds just to look "sick".
But when the filming started, she could not find the state to take drugs. She even wanted to try the drug on herself, but Er Dongsheng was frightened.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that Zhang Jingchu opened up the Hong Kong market.
In 2009, she successively starred in Hong Kong movies such as "Red River", "Night and Fog in Tin Shui Wai", and "Eavesdropping".
Behind these achievements are the hard work of Zhang Jingchu’s “Sanniang”.
It is said that when she and Zhang Jiarui collaborated for the third time on the filming of "Red River", Zhang Jingchu also encountered a car rollover incident, which scared the director and shouted: "It's over, if something happens, I may take care of her for the rest of my life."
But not long after this statement was made, The relationship between the two dropped to a freezing point.
The woman came forward to deny the scandal between the two, and even said: They will not cooperate again in the future.
Zhang Jiarui seemed very "yin and yang" in the interview:
"I am a traditional man and want to have a wife who can take care of the family with peace of mind, but it is difficult for actresses in this circle to do this."
Indeed, Zhang Jingchu She couldn't stay at home peacefully because in 2010 she starred in the disaster movie "Tangshan Earthquake", for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Rooster Award, Golden Horse Award, and Hundred Flowers Award.
But it was also because of the filming of this movie that Zhang Jingchu and director Feng Xiaogang seemed to have "sparks".
may have had enough of various rumors from the outside world. After this year, she chose to go to New York to study acting. The public statement is:
was troubled by her role as "Fang Deng" and could not get out of the role in a short time. Need to be shorted.
But in fact, Zhang Jingchu’s works are still one after another, such as "Gravity", "Tianji·Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains", etc.
In 2014, she met Lu Chuan through the introduction of her best friend Qin Lan, and the two immediately collaborated on the movie "The Era of Derailment".
It is said that during the filming, Zhang Jingchu often had differences with the director due to plot handling, but this did not prevent the two from having scandals.
Qin Lan helped them clarify this, but soon parted ways with Lu Chuan.
This incident once again made Zhang Jingchu bear the label of "Habitual Three". What is even more bizarre is that after this, her vision in selecting scripts became more and more confusing, and her grades plummeted.Works such as "Honeymoon Hotel Murders", "Quick Gunslinger" and "Bad Guys" in which
participated were released one after another, but the scores were all below 6 points, failing.
Until now, she frequently encountered controversy due to her vegetarianism. Before Zhang Jingchu responded live, she had not acted in a good movie seriously for 5 years.
In recent years, her identity as an actress seems to be very alienated, but she is frequently searched for other keywords.
Especially at the beginning of last year, Zhang Jingchu launched a counterattack against the rumors that she had been "blocked", saying that she had won the lawsuit against the pornographic rumors.
But all this seems to be of no use - after all, her best career peak period has passed.
Fortunately, 44-year-old Zhang Jingchu has the same name as he changed:
When he reaches middle age, he starts over.
hopes that her study abroad will go well and she will bring you more excellent works when she returns.
