Yu Feihong reads text slowly. In the past, she could rarely read the scripts she got in one day. She would read them, put them down, and pick them up again two days later. It was rare for her to read the script of "Decryption" from beginning to end in one sitting. However, she hesitated for a long time before agreeing to star in the movie "Decryption". I have played similar roles before, so I don’t know what else I can contribute. But in the end, she was convinced by director Chen Sicheng.
In the past, when people mentioned Yu Feihong, they would always associate her with "beauty". It is true that from the "Jinghong Fairy" in the early "Little Li Fei Dao" to the aunt Mrs. Liang in "The First Incense" and the elite lawyer Ling Yi in "The War of the Roses" in recent years, most of the time, Yu Feihong's image on the screen is bright and colorful.
However, she seemed very indifferent about her appearance: "I really have no pride in my appearance because I have no contribution or creativity in it, so I don't think I have anything to be proud of because of it. Proud.”
She enjoys incorporating her own creativity into acting. During the filming of the movie "Decryption", Yu Feihong controlled his weight loss bit by bit based on his understanding of the role. By the end of the filming, she had lost a total of about ten pounds, wrinkles and spots had faded, her haggardness and age suddenly appeared, and her character became more erect.
In Yu Feihong’s opinion, no matter how big or small a character is, they all have something worth pondering. "I don't act much now, but in fact I study acting all the time because it is my hobby. The more I love it, the more selective I will be and the less I will act. I hope that if I am still acting, I will do it every day." A role, no matter how much or how little, is an effective output, so I feel a sense of accomplishment."
In the movie "Decryption", Yu Feihong plays Ye Xiaoning, the adoptive mother of the protagonist Rong Jinzhen (played by Liu Haoran). Picture provided by the interviewee
"Contribute your temperament"
Southern Weekend: What was the reason why you accepted this drama?
Yu Feihong: When director Chen Sicheng approached me, I thought the script was very good, very mature, and a very industrial drama, so it should be a good-looking movie. But when I saw this role, I felt that there was not enough space for her to play in the script. Moreover, I seemed to have played such a gentle and kind role before, and I didn’t want to repeat it.
So when I met Director Sicheng, I went there with hesitation. Now when I go out, I need to prepare myself mentally for several days. Then when I take on a role or film a scene, I need to go through a long process of mental construction.
Another hesitation was that I didn’t know what contribution I could make to the film at the time. I mean, if there's not that much room for acting, what else can I contribute? He said, contribute your temperament. Later I understood that what he meant was that the compatibility of image and temperament between the actor and the character comes first, before acting. If you don't have the right fit, no matter how good your acting skills are, it will be difficult for the audience to believe in the role or to take on the role.
He feels that in our age group, there are not many people with the temperament of that era. Of course I'm honored that he recognized me for this. He may think that I can look like a person from the old days when I wear old clothes. This may be more important to the director. Indeed, sometimes when I look at photos of my parents from the 1950s and 1960s, they have a different temperament than people today.
I thought about it later, although for me there is not a lot of room for her acting skills, she still has an age span, and there is still something to ponder in the only space. It was actually the first time I tried old age clothing in a movie, and I found that it was one of my favorite looks.
Southern Weekend: Which one was criticized in 1957?
Yu Feihong: Yes, after putting on that old-age makeup, I immediately relaxed. I think I like my old age clothes more than my beautiful image in cheongsam. It makes me feel that old age is just like this and not so unbearable.The style that I was criticized for and consumed internally left me with black spots, spots, wrinkles, and gray hair. All of a sudden, I felt age, haggard, and tortured. What makes me happy is that even after experiencing the torture of time and the torture of the times, I can still grow old without being miserable. This makes me very happy.
I would rather be friends with caring mortals
Southern Weekend: Have you read the original novel "Decryption"?
Yu Feihong: I haven’t read the novel. When I agreed to take this role, I embraced the role with a new mentality. I deliberately did not read Aid because the script has been changed after all, so I hope to be as close to my character as presented in the script without interference from the original work or other aspects. Now that I have agreed to act, I will do my best to think, do homework, make some changes to my body, etc... No matter what aspect, I will try my best to play this role well. After we decided to start filming, the director told us that the scene would be shot smoothly, which was a very friendly approach for the actors.
Southern Weekend: Does it follow the growth of the characters?
Yu Feihong: Yes, my character has a time span of about ten or twenty years. If there is a span, it is relatively smooth to follow the filming and let the actors' emotions slowly expand and change according to different eras. Especially in that era, it was a very big span, even earth-shaking changes, which made me find it a bit interesting.
I was about 10 pounds heavier than I am now. I have never been a fat person, but that time was probably when I was the fattest. I felt like I had to lose weight when I had to wear a cheongsam. Mrs. Rong actually has four stages. The first stage is when little Jinzhen comes here and is 12 years old; the second stage is when he goes to college at the age of 16; the third stage is when he graduates from college and enters 701, and the fourth stage is It was him who came back from 701 and met with us.
I don’t think I can lose weight to the last stage at once, because at the beginning they were from a well-off family and had decent jobs. I lost two or three pounds before I started shooting, leaving some plumpness on top. She was young at that time and had a good family background. She was a wife and mother with knowledge and family background. In the second stage, I lost another two or three pounds, because the children have grown up and we are slowly getting older, but not that old yet, maybe in our forties (years old) or almost fifty (years old). The third stage is when Jin Zhen was taken away. This was already after liberation. She lost another two or three pounds and became thinner, which made her look older.
When she was finally criticized, she suffered the biggest blow. After her husband passed away, she still had to be criticized, and she also had to worry about her daughter. Therefore, it was only then that I lost weight to the thinnest stage. Wearing those Chinese-style clothes with folded breasts is a bit swaying and makes me feel even more miserable. But her tenacity is still there and her backbone is still there. Her love for Jin Zhen has not changed, and she still gave her the candy in the end. No matter how much pain she suffered, she only hid it in her heart and did not tell it easily. She still sent the child away silently as usual... This showed her The greatness of female power.
Southern Weekend: This is physical, how do you adjust the inner one?
Yu Feihong: In terms of inner drama, I think the director actually hopes that she will be a representative of female power and a force of love in this family. When little Jinzhen first came and took a big bowl to drink tea, Mrs. Rong did it first. The whole family understood and followed suit. I hope to try to be as calm as possible during the performance.
In fact, when people want to express something or do something in life, they often cover it up or try not to let others see it. Many times, emotional outbursts are delayed. When a big emergency first occurs, most people are dumb and don't know how to respond or express themselves, especially us Chinese. Many ordinary people's emotional outbursts occur suddenly at an unrelated point after an incident.
Southern Weekend: When you read Van Gogh, you felt like thanking God for giving you mediocrity, but this time it happened to be a story about staying with a super genius. Has your concept changed?
Yu Feihong: has no change. This is a movie, and I will act as the plot of the movie requires me to act. This has nothing to do with my personal views. I read "The Biography of Steve Jobs" and after reading it, I felt that this man was so annoying. I'm sorry, but that's a very unfair thing to say. He is indeed a genius, but no matter where you look at it, he is not a qualified (image) in the traditional sense as a colleague, neighbor, boss, husband, or father. I imagine that if he were a person I knew, I would stay away from him. , because he will have many unreasonable (actions), or do very ruthless things. Then I would rather be friends with caring mortals.
"Make yourself happy first, then you can bring happiness to the people around you"
Southern Weekend: How much influence does your mother have on you in your life?
Yu Feihong: is too big. My family of origin is a very happy family. Someone asked what it means to send Rong Jinzhen away twice and send him candy? I said it was easy for me to relate because that’s the kind of person my mother is. People of her generation are not very good at expressing love in words. Every time I go home, she asks, "What do you want to eat?" What do you want to eat? Or while sitting at the dinner table, she is still whispering, "Eat more of this, eat more of that."
She is in her eighties and has bad knees. Every time I leave home, she has to hold the stairs down step by step and walk to the garage door. When she sees me getting in the car, she waves her hand and says to be careful on the road... This is her way of expressing love. Just like Mrs. Rong giving Jinzhen candy, it is actually an expression of love.
I can also understand the devastation their family suffered. Both my parents will be admitted to the ICU in 2022, and I am suddenly faced with the possibility of losing them earlier than I imagined. During that time, our family members took turns accompanying me, and I saw many ordinary people in the hospital. Teacher Mai Jia's "Sea of Life" helped me understand that people from different families, different backgrounds, and different cultures have different ways of expressing love. I understand their worries and pain, and I can also understand their approach.
Southern Weekend: When did feel that he was calm or in control?
Yu Feihong: I can’t remember which point, but it should be in my thirties... In fact, I have been growing, even at this stage, this growth is continuous. I remember someone interviewed me when I was in my forties, and I said that I really felt that I was no longer confused at forty. I think the ancients were very wise. I used to only know the literal meaning of these four words, but it was only after I turned 40 that I felt the same way and understood what it means not to be confused.
Southern Weekend: In your history, how much does reading account for?
Yu Feihong: I think it is a large proportion. Reading is not just about reading a book. Reading is about reading books, listening to books, watching movies, watching dramas, seeing people, seeing things, seeing society, and seeing the world. My reading includes these. Including the places I have been, the people I have come into contact with, and every movie I have filmed, they are all blessings and bricks that have made me what I am today.
Now I am very satisfied with myself, because I am very happy, no burden, and no longer confused. I don’t think there’s anything else to be proud of, but I did it to make myself a happy person. I must first be able to make myself happy, then I can possibly bring happiness to the people around me, or to more people further away, such as playing a role that makes the audience happy.
Southern Weekend: Do you have any plans for directing?
Yu Feihong: Don’t force it, just let it take its own course. If fate comes, I won't reject it, but I won't force it. I finished directing that play (Editor's note: Yu Feihong's first directorial work "Love Is Afterlife" was released in 2009). When I was being interviewed, I said something, and I didn't expect that it became a prophecy. I said, this may be the first film I direct, or it may be the last.In the past seventeen years, I have never directed again or forced myself to do anything.
Southern Weekend special writer Xiangyang Southern Weekend reporter Weng Rongrong
Editor Liu Youxiang
