Chen Minghao, an actor who has shown unique charm in both theater stage and film and television dramas. He has been associated with stage plays since the Chinese Opera, and has accumulated rich performance experience and exploration and thinking about performance in stage plays such as "Red", "The Seventh Day", "Tea House" and "Two Dogs' Opinions on Life". When he moved from the theater stage to film and television dramas, he almost immediately attracted the attention of the audience and the industry with his unique character performance and image. Recently, the new drama "Flower of the Hidden Sea" was launched. As soon as the Fatty Wang played by him appeared, netizens were full of intimacy and said that they felt a kind of "steady happiness".
Stills of "Flower in the Hidden Sea"
In 2018, in the TV series "Sea of Sand", Chen Minghao played Fatty Wang, one of the key characters in the "Tomb Raiders Universe" for the first time. His rough and uninhibited personality and performance are highly consistent with the character. After that, he played the same character for the second time in "Restart of the Sea of Thunder" and the third time in "The Flower of the Hidden Sea". In his eyes, Fatty Wang is a very polarized person: he is both delicate and soft-hearted, but also rough and heroic. The existence of the "Iron Triangle" also means that when performing, he cannot look at this character in isolation, but must take the characters of Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling into consideration together with the performance. But even though he is very thorough in his analysis of performances, Chen Minghao still carelessly talks about his performances, saying that he "follows his feelings" every time. During the interview with
, he spoke casually, rejecting "labels" and "concepts" and pursuing using the simplest language to describe his thoughts. However, when talking about performances, his sincerity and seriousness can still be seen. He pursues "establishing a life connection with the characters". He admitted that although he faced many challenges when moving from the theater stage to film and television dramas, it was all about physical investment and "isolation" physical and mental experience. In his opinion, the best luck for an actor is to meet a script and a character that exactly match his stage of life. It is like "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", and then he interacts with the character over a period of time, allowing the performance to come naturally. occur.
When filming "Tibetan Flowers", the crew went to western Sichuan for on-site shooting. Chen Minghao was shocked by the beauty of the Tibetan scenery along the way, "Why do you usually stay in the city? Go out and walk more, even if you don't know where to go." For him, life is short, and people on this road only have enough time to find art, truth and love.
[Dialogue]
The Paper News: This is the third time has played Fatty Wang, is it more comfortable? Or will you feel tired and no longer have any sense of novelty? Has your initial understanding of this character changed from your current understanding?
Chen Minghao: In fact, I just follow my feelings every time. I think communicating with Uncle San (the original author of Nanpai Sanshu) is more effective than reading a book. The story and characters are all in his body, so I talk to him Talked more. The feeling expressed by the third uncle can help me get the image and inspiration to play this role. Including the existence of the "Iron Triangle", the character of Fatty Wang is not a separate entity. I think the performance and character creation of the three people should be considered together.
"Flower of the Hidden Sea" is more romantic. It's Wu Xie and Fatty Wang for a long time. The younger brother and them are in narratives at different times. The performance feels very different. I think there is still something fresh. Then Fatty Wang is a character with a lot of tension. He has two polarities, a very flamboyant side, and I think he also has a very delicate side. We need to find these two sides.
Stills from "Flower of the Hidden Sea"
The Paper: Before , in "Restart of the Extreme Sea Listening to Thunder", you and the styling teacher designed a lot of cartoon interiors for Fatty. In the interview, you talked about Fatty's inner innocence, It's very eye-catching and the characters are well drawn. This time, Reuter's look is quite "mature and steady". Has the fat man finally "gone with his old age"?
Chen Minghao: I think whether a fat man will accept old age depends on whether there is anything going on. If anything happens, we will set off again. We are still young at heart, and superficial things don’t matter. In fact, let’s just say it doesn’t matter if things don’t change, and it doesn’t matter if things change. You can change clothes or not, it's all superficial, this character is more about the heart, where is your heart.
Stills from "Restart: Tingling Thunder"
The Paper: You have tried a lot in film and television dramas in the past few years and received a lot of praise. But when you first moved from the theater stage to film and television dramas, did you experience any setbacks and frustrations in your performances? Reflection? Can we have a chat?
Chen Minghao: The expression, process, creative status, and working environment of are different. But they are all physical investments, and they are all "isolated" from the world for a period of time. Actors are also quite strange. When creating, sometimes they have to jump out and sometimes they have to immerse themselves in it. For the creation of a character, I think the best state is to find the life connection with that character during that period of time. Not only when you are acting, but when you interact with that character in your life, you will not It took a lot of effort.
The Paper: has been in the industry for many years. Do you have any changes in your views on acting now compared to when you first entered the industry?
Chen Minghao: The problem of can be big or small. You can say that some are the same and some are different, and that’s the end of the conversation. If we want to talk in detail, there are a lot of things going on here. Anyway, I just go by my feelings.
I have been doing stage plays since the beginning. Starting from Chinese opera, this thing has grown in me. In the past, maybe I was relatively unfamiliar with film and television, and didn’t think much about film and television performances. Instead, I became more and more emotionally involved in performances on stage, and for a while I might reject other forms, but this idea was not right either. Later, I acted in film and television dramas, and I thought about a lot of issues. Then I went back to the stage and found that acting in film and television dramas was actually very helpful for my stage performance, allowing me to think about drama from a different perspective. Including stage presentation, including real-time shooting on site, I learned something in film and television. Then when I was acting in film and television dramas, including some research on body creation, I also thought about it on the stage. I think both sides can support each other, which is good, but the time is just not enough, so if you do this, you can't do that.
Let’s talk about drama performances. You need enough time. You need to be here for a long time before you can feel this thing. For example, how many performances do you need and how long do you need to stay on stage before you can go there? Think about some show stuff. It's like painting a painting, you stare at the blank canvas, and after looking at it for a long time, you know what to paint.
Chen Minghao at the Aranya Drama Festival
The Paper News: can only be a successful character if it is complex and rich enough, but now it is easy for the public to have "black and white" definitions of characters. We continue to see " Label", how do you view this phenomenon?
Chen Minghao: There is no problem with . Whether it’s a label or other people’s interpretation, I don’t care about these things. Just like when your food is cooked, you take care of the kitchen's affairs. After it is brought out and someone tastes your food, that's what happens next. It's a new story. You have to face it after it happens. . I think creation and commenting are in harmony. He should comment with his heart, and I should also think with my heart. If he didn't care enough to make a few sarcastic remarks, he wouldn't need to take it seriously.
The Paper: You are already a very mature actor. Faced with any role and script, you can easily complete it in the most familiar way. For you, how do you maintain the enthusiasm for continuous breakthroughs and attempts?
Chen Minghao: The work itself of must have this kind of charm and energy. At the beginning of creation, you cannot say categorically: This is a good play, this is a good character - it has not yet been formed. When reading the script, if this thing is suitable for your stage of life, then it is like falling in love. Once your eyes meet, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Then this thing is suitable for you. You can also give good energy to the story and bring vitality to the character.
The Paper: When the work intensity is very high, what will you do to quickly recover?
Chen Minghao: I exercise a lot recently, so I get up early for a run or something.Exercise gives you a feeling of being alone, you can focus on your breathing, and you have the feeling of paying attention to your own life. I think it can awaken the energy of the day.
The real scene of the snowy mountains in "The Flower of the Hidden Sea"
The Paper: This time the filming also went to western Sichuan for on-site shooting. The scenery is picturesque, but did it also bring some physical and mental challenges to the filming and performance? Is there any single scene or people or things you met there that left a deep impression on you?
Chen Minghao: does feel different from the city. When people go to that kind of place, they can definitely feel the changes in their bodies. And our section of the road is really exciting. Wherever you go, you have to walk a long way, with twists and turns. But you also gain a lot of scenery. Along the way, when you look at the mountains and trees, you will sigh at the beauty of nature, and you will really feel a sense of awe. You will think: What do you do in the city? Go for a walk, even if you don’t know where you are going. At that time, I felt that the "Iron Triangle" of "The Flower of the Hidden Sea" was on the road, searching for secrets or truths along the way. To me, I felt that life is short, and people on this road only have enough time to find art, truth and love.
