1905 Movie News Editor's Note: The premiere play of the "Revisiting Classics" channel - the 1987 version of "A Dream of Red Mansions" not only received an enthusiastic response when it was broadcast, but has also become a classic in the minds of generations over the years. Ouyang Fenqiang, the actor who plays "Jia Baoyu" in the play, has gone from being an unconfident candidate to a mature actor and then to a behind-the-scenes director. In recent years, he has also taken the initiative to assume a public welfare role - the cultural communication of "Dream of Red Mansions" By.
The China Television Arts Committee recently specially invited director Ouyang Fenqiang for an interview, reviewing the birth of the classic character "Jia Baoyu" and talking about anecdotes on and off the stage.
asked: When did you first get involved in acting?
Answer: I started filming movies when I was 12 years old. At that time, there was a literary propaganda team and a story team in the Children's Palace, and I told stories in the story team. When the teacher took us to various schools to give lectures, the literary director of Sichuan TV station saw me, and he invited me to tell stories on the TV station. Then I was seen by the director of Emei Film Studio, so I went to the film studio in 1976. The factory went to film a movie. The first movie I made was "Spring Tide", which was adapted from the novel by Sichuan writer Ke Fei. I played the son of a widow. This was also my first time working in film and television.
In early 1977, the Chengdu Sichuan Opera Troupe was rehearsing the Sichuan Opera "Butterfly Love Flower" in memory of Yang Kaihui and needed an actor to play Mao Anying. There were no children aged 12 or 13 in the troupe, so someone recommended that there was a child in a certain school who was good at telling stories. Later he went to make a movie, so he might as well give him a try. At that time, seven or eight children were called to audition, and of course there was no suspense afterwards. I don't have to go to school, I can attend rehearsals during the day and perform at night. At that time, the teacher of the troupe liked me better, so as a special talent, I was directly recruited to the Sichuan Opera troupe to be a professional actor. After joining the Sichuan Opera Troupe, film studios came to see me whenever they had roles for children. The Sichuan Opera Troupe said, you might as well transfer him directly to the film studio, so when I was about 16 years old, I was transferred to the film studio to be a full-time film actor, but at that time I was just a walk-on, playing some small roles. Later, Sichuan TV Station made its first TV series "Yang Xiaoliang" and asked me to play Yang Xiaoliang, an unemployed young man. Then I encountered "Dream of Red Mansions".
Q: How did you get the role of Jia Baoyu?
Answer: When the crew of "A Dream of Red Mansions" held the first study class in the Old Summer Palace, they had not yet chosen an actor to play Jia Baoyu.
Director Wang Fulin was determined to find a boy to play Jia Baoyu. The audience accepts the role of Jia Baoyu played by a girl. This is a convention from an aesthetic point of view. However, Director Wang Fulin felt that if a girl is cast, no matter how good or similar she looks, there will still be traces of the acting, so he hopes that it will be a boy, at least in his version of "A Dream of Red Mansions". But the image of Jia Baoyu is indeed very special. He is a boy, he is a cute boy, he is a cute boy with a pink face, so it is not easy to find. Mr. Wu Zuguang, the consultant of the production team, said that if you are looking for a boy to play Jia Baoyu in China, then this Jia Baoyu has not been born yet. However, director Wang Fulin still insisted on his own creative ideas, so Jia Baoyu was not included in the first class and he was still looking for her all over the country.
Many people recommended me to go there. Zhang Yuping and Gao Hongliang, who worked with me in the first class, all recommended it to the director and assistant director. Director Wang didn't take it to heart at first, because he was still recommending a child, so he wasn't very convincing. At this time, Director Wang was going to Mount Emei to look for the stone under Qinggeng Peak, and he was about to arrive in Chengdu. Accompanying him to Chengdu was Deng Jie, who had already been cast to play Wang Xifeng. She was from the Sichuan Opera Theater of Sichuan Province, so she found out the address and came to our house to look for me, but I was not there, so she left me a note saying that Wang Fulin, the director of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" wanted to see you and asked me to meet you the next day. Go to Room 305 of Jinjiang Hotel at 10 a.m. to meet Director Wang Fulin. It just so happened that I had to go out with the film studio crew the next day, so I didn't have time. And I thought how could this opportunity fall on me? I had no intention of going at all.Later, my dad told me, you should go there, maybe this is an opportunity. I just listened to my dad and rode a shabby bicycle to Jinjiang Hotel at around 10pm. Director Wang hadn't rested yet. When he heard it was me, he said, "Didn't we make an appointment for tomorrow morning?" I said I was going to film a movie tomorrow. Then I chatted with him, and he asked me if I had acted in any drama, and I said that I had acted in something. At that time, "Yang Xiaoliang" was broadcast on CCTV.
Then he said that we have selected more than 20 Jia Baoyu from all over the country and are going to try out the shots in Beijing. Can you come too? I said I didn't have time to come. Because I thought to myself it can’t be me, don’t bother with that. And I didn’t have time to go there while I was on the set filming. Later, Director Wang said, let's do it, you come by plane. Because in those days, flying required a certain level, and ordinary actors couldn't fly. As soon as I heard that someone invited me to fly, I would be provided with food and accommodation. I had never been to Beijing, so I just thought I was going to play. I arrived in Beijing with this mentality. I also prepared a section the night before the audition. I memorized the words to "Bao Dai Reads the West Chamber" probably twice. When we arrived at the venue that day, 25 people each came up to perform. After the trial, I had to rush back to Chengdu, but the crew said there were no air tickets. At that time, there was only one flight a day, so it was difficult to buy air tickets. I said no, I have to go back to filming. Then two hours later, the crew said you can go, and we arranged a first-class ticket for you. I was even more shocked. At that time, only bureau-level cadres were eligible to fly first class. How could they be so friendly to me? Could it be that they were interested in me? With this kind of doubt in my mind, I went home to film. The crew of
quickly sent a negotiation letter, but I was not notified personally. It was a business-to-business matter. At that time, we were filming in the mountains and there were no phone calls. Communications were not as advanced as they are now. So at that time, people all over the country knew that I was cast to play Baoyu, but I didn’t know. CCTV had spread the word about who Jia Baoyu had chosen for "Dream of Red Mansions". All the four major official media at the time published the news and published my photos, but I didn't know it in the mountains. Not long after I returned to Chengdu and entered my house, there was a loud knock on the door. I opened the door and saw that seven or eight reporters had blocked our house to interview me, saying that you were playing Jia Baoyu. I said I just went to try out the lens, don’t talk nonsense. They said it was all in the newspapers. The next day I rode my bicycle back to the Eying Actors Theater Company and asked our leader, what happened to the leader? Why do reporters come to interview me and say what is final? The group member said, it’s confirmed, you should hurry to Beijing.
In this way, I arrived in Beijing. At this time, the second study class was already halfway through.
asked: Was the process of integrating into the character smooth?
Answer: Because I joined late, I didn’t participate in the expert lectures, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting that everyone knows in the first class, so I was under a lot of pressure at the time. They were all familiar with each other, but as a lonely person, I was very nervous and couldn't let go. At that time, everyone's role was determined. In the study class, everyone mainly prepared clips and skits according to their own roles, and reported to the directing team and mature teachers every now and then. The teachers would also teach you how to do it. Performance. Another thing is to read books by yourself and read the original work of "Dream of Red Mansions". How could I understand "A Dream of Red Mansions" at that time? It was a heavenly book. So the pressure is very high.
Director Wang Fulin said one day, you carry your hands behind your back every day and look so old-fashioned, how do you look like the perverse and lovely Jia Baoyu? You look like Taoist Xu, whom Jia Zheng likes. He said this was not an option, so he later held a meeting with the entire crew, especially the actors, and announced at the meeting that I would no longer be allowed to read novels or do any desk work. Because of the high psychological pressure, I cannot enter the state and relax. How to relax? Your task is to make pranks every day and prank one person every day. You can prank whoever you want, but just don't read the book, and you are specially allowed to go to the girl's bed and play around. In fact, he uses this method to integrate you into a group and relax your whole body and mind. So I think director Wang Fulin is very methodical and down-to-earth in inspiring actors to get into their roles.
The next step is the filming process. At that time, I was still under pressure and wished the director would replace me.The first scene I filmed was when Qin Keqing was sick and lying in bed, and Wang Xifeng took Baoyu to visit her. I was so nervous that I couldn't sleep all night. I guess I should step down after the filming of that scene. That's how I felt. After the performance, I quickly paid attention to the director's expression. I saw the director smiling, nodding frequently, and then asking everyone, "How is Baoyu?" Everyone said yes, yes, yes, yes. From his expression, I felt that he was quite satisfied. His satisfaction really opened my heart, and the stone fell to the ground forever. So if you go to the back, no matter how you act, it will go smoothly.
Q: Looking back on the cooperation with Director Wang Fulin, what are your feelings?
Answer: The director said harsh things about me. When Baoyu was telling Daiyu the story of the Mouse Spirit in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, there were a lot of lines in that section, all of which were Jia Baoyu's lyrics. I didn't prepare carefully and didn't memorize the lyrics. When filming, I forgot about the lyrics when I was thinking about the lyrics, and I forgot about the lyrics when I was thinking about the drama. The acting was not vivid at all. Director Wang became anxious and said some harsh words to blame me for not preparing carefully. He said it was such an interesting scene, and you were such an important character. If you failed in the performance, the scene would be ruined, and all our years of hard work and hard work would have been in vain. You can't play it like this. The story about the mouse spirit should be lively, naughty, and lifelike. You are criticizing me now because you are reciting eight-legged essay instead of telling a story. From then on, I never dared not to memorize lines, including later when I became a director. I also told many actors that memorizing lines is a basic artistic virtue. Whether your acting is good or not depends on whether you first memorize the words and then use the word actor.
Director Wang actually cultivated every character in this drama. Today everyone talks about what happened to "A Dream of Red Mansions" and what happened to these characters. In fact, how did we understand "A Dream of Red Mansions" at that time? I think there is only one person among us actors who really understands and loves the book "Dream of Red Mansions", and that is Chen Xiaoxu. Many of us didn't understand "Dream of Red Mansions". It was just a blank piece of paper handed to the director, and the director drew every character he wanted on the white paper.
Looking back now, he was under a lot of pressure. During the creation process of "Dream of Red Mansions", he faced the crisis of almost being replaced many times. At that time, there were very different views on him. They felt that he could not film it, and said that the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" was a failure. You see, a lot of amateur actors were used, including shoe repairmen in shoe factories, salespeople in department stores, and telephone operators in people's communes. Who are they? How could they film "Dream of Red Mansions" well? A bunch of children don't understand how to film "Dream of Red Mansions"? In fact, this voice has always been with Director Wang, and I don’t believe that Director Wang can succeed in filming. Therefore, during the filming of "Dream of Red Mansions", Wang Fulin always had countless pairs of questioning and suspicious eyes looking at him. He was working on "Dream of Red Mansions" under such great pressure, so Hu Zehong, who played Xichun at that time, and the others nicknamed him "The Lonely Little Boy". He is very lonely to bear this kind of pressure, but he is a prime minister who can support the boat. I think he is very magnanimous and a director with the demeanor of a general.
He is actually Wang DaDa. He dares to think what others dare not think, and he dares to do what others dare not do. Who do you think would dare to use a bunch of children with no acting experience and no understanding of "Dream of Red Mansions" to perform "Dream of Red Mansions"? He dares. Who dares to use a boy to play Jia Baoyu? He dares. Wang Liping was under a lot of pressure when he was making music, because in everyone's impression, Wang Liping was a pop music composer. How could a classical masterpiece use pop music? He dared to take this shot. Including makeup artists and costume designers, many of them were doing it for the first time, and he dared to use it. According to his words, he would rather hire someone who is dedicated than someone who is experienced but not dedicated. Of course, this drama also made these people successful. So I think Director Wang is really a great TV director who should be recorded in the history of the development of Chinese TV dramas.
asked: What were the filming conditions like for the crew at that time? How do you overcome and balance various difficulties?
Answer: There was no meat to eat at that time. We lived in a guest house of a vegetable company opposite Nancaiyuan (now Daguanyuan), a large bungalow with a canteen. The crew's meals are often all Chinese cabbage, vermicelli, and tofu, with no meat in sight.When we were young, we wanted to eat meat. How to do it? I went to the mall to buy instant noodles and lunch meat in bulk, and processed them myself using an electric stove at night. There were no vegetables, and the cabbage in the vegetable company was frozen on the side of the road in winter. In the evening, I took several actors from the crew, such as Gao Hongliang and Ma Guangru, who played Jia Rui, to get cabbage. Because there were standards for the crew's meals, and every expense at that time had to be audited, and it was completely in accordance with the standards. One day, the crew asked Chen Xiaoxu and I to go to the city to find the leader, saying that we were hungry and had no food to eat and no meat. In the evening, the Xuanwu District Secretary, District Chief, and other leaders came to work on site, and the district provided subsidies so that the children could eat meat.
Although the conditions were difficult, everyone still strived for excellence throughout the entire creative process. I remember that the props used at that time were all real. We were filming exterior scenes in West Lake, Hangzhou. We had finished shooting all other scenes, but we couldn't shoot "Bao Dai Reading the West Chamber" because the peach blossoms had not bloomed. It was already spring in March, but that year the flowers couldn’t bloom because of the rain and low temperatures. I even joked to the director that I could use fake flowers, but it wouldn’t be visible anyway, so the director ignored me. The entire crew stayed in Hangzhou for several days just to wait until the peach blossoms bloomed before filming this scene. Therefore, although the crew has no money, Director Wang is still very strict in terms of quality.
I filmed the scene "The vast white space is so clean", which is the scene where Baoyu disappears into the snow at the end. It was shot on the same day as Deng Jie's "Smart and Tired" (Wang Xifeng was wrapped in a torn straw mat and buried in the snow). Yes, we both experienced minus 25 degrees and heavy snow. Because the song "Smart and Tired" is very long, Deng Jie was dragged along in the snow, and the scene had to match that song, so it couldn't be stopped. She was wearing very little and it was 25 degrees below zero. When she finally got her into the car, she almost fainted.
Difficulties are difficult, but we always strive for excellence in creation.
asked: What influence did "A Dream of Red Mansions" have on your subsequent life?
Answer: After the filming, everyone went their separate ways and returned to the factory when it was time to do so. Director Wang Fulin told me that after you played "A Dream of Red Mansions" and played Jia Baoyu, you will feel unsatisfied in any role you play in the future because the play is too big. I said that I would turn behind the scenes and become a director. Later, the leaders of CCTV directly wrote a joint letter to the leaders of Sichuan TV Station, recommending me to Sichuan TV Station. So I transferred from the film studio to the TV station, and all the connections were completed in five days without any obstacles.
asked: What do you think of the significance of the establishment of the "Revisiting Classics" channel?
Answer: I think this is a practical action to show the importance and care for classics. This is a great thing. For those of us who have participated in classic creation, it is a kind of spiritual support.
In 2017, "A Dream of Red Mansions" celebrated its 30th anniversary, and I organized the commemorative event. I begged everywhere to find money. The idea at the time was that anyone from the Red Mansion crew, including voice actors, could come and have a real party, and I would also take care of food, accommodation, and travel. Not only are the crew coming, but I also want to summon fans from all over the country. Later, some actors rushed back from abroad at their own expense and did not ask for any money from me. They even found hotels by themselves. On the day of the event, there was a fan meeting at the Botanical Garden in the morning and a performance at the Great Hall of the People in the evening. It was hard to get a ticket for more than 5,000 seats. As soon as the curtain opened, there was a cry of tears on and off the stage. After the whole performance that day, everyone left. I walked out of the Great Hall of the People with my wife and daughter. It was raining lightly outside. The three of us sat on the steps of the Great Hall of the People. I burst into tears at that time.
I have been doing activities to promote "Dream of Red Mansions" since 2017, including going to universities, middle schools, primary schools, and some cooperation with the government to promote "Dream of Red Mansions". I feel that although I am not a researcher of "Dream of Red Mansions", I can at least be a disseminator. There are various ways to disseminate "Dream of Red Mansions", including the dissemination of radio dramas, the dissemination of dance dramas, and the dissemination of ballet. My dissemination of the stories behind the scenes of the 1987 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" is also a kind of dissemination. The purpose is only one, to let more people pay attention to "Dream of Red Mansions", like "Dream of Red Mansions", and understand "Dream of Red Mansions". So I think "revisiting the classics" is a kind of spiritual power.
asked: On the occasion of retirement, do you have any message for young television artists?
Answer: I will retire on March 5 this year. I have been in the film industry for 48 years and have worked for 46 years. I have experienced the development and prosperity of Chinese TV dramas. When I first started acting in TV dramas, Chinese TV dramas had not yet formed their own mature style. I watched TV dramas move towards glory step by step, and later formed their own TV drama aesthetics. I feel that I have no message for young people, and I have to learn from many young art forms, keep pace with the times, follow the pace of the times, feel the context of the times, and continue to explore.
Oral guest: Ouyang Fenqiang
Special interview, arrangement: Lin Hui (oral history expert at Communication University of China)
Planning: Zhao Cong Li Xuan
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