Li Yifeng's Autobiography and Essay Collection: 1987

Chapter 3 Beyond the Rules of the Game
Hong Kong film complex
When I was young, my family lived in a one-story house, the kind where the houses are next to each other.There was a neighbor whose house was in good condition. At that time, I had already bought a video recorder and video tapes. I went to his house to watch it when I had nothing to do.He raised a coypu, which was a huge mouse, and it left a deep impression on my mind along with the love and hatred, happy and enmity on the TV screen. Which of them is more fantastic.

Among the classic Hong Kong movies in the 90s and [-]s, I like "A Hero" and "Double Dragon" the most, and I have watched them many times.Stephen Chow's movies are of course a must-have for home travel, but I didn't understand "A Chinese Journey to the West" at the time, and I liked "The Secret Detective" more. At that time, I subconsciously felt that Stephen Chow's movies were crazy spoofs that made people laugh out loud .

One of my favorite movies is "The Legend of Lei Luo". Andy Lau's every move in it has achieved the highest definition of "handsome" in my heart.He was the first star I knew, and also the idol I "loved" at a glance.He has a bit of a resemblance to his father - they both have thick eyebrows and big eyes, and when they comb their smooth back hair, they are so dazzling that they shine.When I was a child, I also imitated his gunfighting scene in the last scene of "Five Tigers", the pistol was flipped between the fingers, and then there was a burst of "snapping" shooting, which was crisp and neat, and the meaning was still endless.It's a pity that I still can't use the toy gun to play the cool effect in the movie.

After the Wenchuan Earthquake, I participated in a charity performance in Chengdu. Many artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan were present, including Andy Lau.I saw on the schedule that his show was right behind me, so when I was waiting at the entrance of the stage, I was hoping to delay my appearance for a few minutes so that I could see him in person.My "plan" succeeded, and when I saw him walking towards me, I was so nervous that my legs began to tremble, and I felt all kinds of "fanboy" emotions in my heart: why is his skin so tight?Ears seem to be glowing.Why does he look so young?The corners of the eyes and eyebrows are full of smell, and the hairstyle is just right... Later, I heard from the staff that after I shook hands with him, I silently retreated to the side in small steps.

After the game, he happened to pass by my rest area again. Without thinking about it, I stood up and bowed 90 degrees to him, and asked if I could take a photo alone.After Andy Lau agreed, I realized that I didn't bring a camera. I saw an old man beside me carrying a professional camera, so I hurriedly asked him for help. I didn't expect that he was actually Andy Lau's staff.I was a little embarrassed, but Andy Lau was very considerate and asked me to leave my email address, and specifically asked the photographer to remember to send me the photos.After one o'clock that night, I turned on the computer apprehensively, and the group photo was already quietly lying in the mailbox.I can only frown when I look at myself in the photo, and my only thought is: Oh, he is so much prettier than me.

I also met Jackie Chan at that benefit performance, but unfortunately I didn't have time to talk.Fortunately, we met many times later, and gradually became acquainted, and now we can still sit down and drink some wine together from time to time.I told him that I really liked one of his films, but he waved his hand and said, it was a bad film.

In front of these favorite idols, I will be more reserved than usual.It's not timid, but shy and excited, and I don't know how to express it properly.After a long time, I will relax a lot, but the "long time" I said is really a long time-even though I have met Andy Lau three times, I am still very nervous in front of him, and I really hope that one day I can be comfortable with him Have a drink and have a good chat.

Our generation grew up watching Hong Kong movies.Even though we know that due to the constraints of objective conditions at that time, many movies were shoddy or anticlimactic, but when it comes to the past, I always feel that any one picked out is a classic.This collective memory should also be attributed to the influence and cultural radiation of Hong Kong movies back then.Nowadays, the production standard in the mainland is getting higher and higher, and co-productions are the general trend, but I am looking forward to seeing some pure "Hong Kong films", with distinctive Hong Kong regional cultural imprints everywhere, and the joys and sorrows unique to that city.I would also like to participate in it - but the paradox is that as a mainland actor, I will turn the film into a co-production as soon as I join.If someone remakes those classic works, I would also like to participate. It is best to reproduce the original version of all the characters and all the scenes presented. It should be fun.But there are bound to be people who object to this approach.Only what remains in memory is always beautiful and will never disappoint.

Many of the actors who were running around in various studios back then have gradually reached the altar with their works, but they still maintain a state of creation, and their professional attitude has never been slack because of the change of "Jianghu status".Brother Jackie Chan went to the rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala, and it lasted for a long time for a few days, and it was not over until midnight.The staff apologized to him, but he said: "I didn't work hard, I was just waiting here, you are the ones who worked hard." He felt that the effect of some details was not good, so he took the initiative to ask for a re-recording: "You have requirements, and I have requirements for myself. Requirements." These seniors have been able to maintain word of mouth for decades, and there is indeed a convincing reason.

And director Feng Xiaogang.He has already had so many successful film works, and even turned around and won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor.I was very impressed by his sentence, he said that "director" is not a noun, but a verb.No matter what achievements and milestones they have achieved in the past, they have never stopped, let alone looked back.Their eyes are always looking at the unknown ahead, looking at new things that they have never tried.

No matter what type and weight of the award, it is only an affirmation of a certain stage of you.After the award is over, it is a new beginning. It only represents the past and does not guarantee the future.You are the most valuable one this year, but if you don't work hard enough next year, you will be replaced by someone better.I won the "Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor". Some people may think that it is not worthy of the name, and some people may think that it is well deserved, but it has passed.I am very grateful to "Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers" for awarding me this award. It has given me a lot of encouragement for young actors like me.It also reminds me that if someone thinks that I am not good enough, I should work harder to get affirmation with my work.The important thing is that every step in the future, I have to go more solidly.

As an actor, you have to accept the fact that everyone will have different judgments and opinions on you. They stand at different angles and have different purposes. In many cases, we are just the objects of projection of opinions.Those voices outside are not the most important. Whether in work or in life, the confidence to move forward still comes from your affirmation of yourself. Instead of analyzing the source and meaning of various voices, it is better to believe in your own feelings and be more firm in your heart The goal.

replica imaginary

If I could choose a scene from a classic Hong Kong film to challenge, I would especially like to act in the last 3-minute long shot of "Days of Being Wild".Tony Leung once mentioned in a later interview that he encountered a performance bottleneck at that time, and he seemed unable to find satisfaction from the profession of an actor during that time.He NGed 27 times for a scene of Wong Kar Wai, his confidence was completely destroyed, he wondered if he could not act at all, he mopped the floor silently at home in the middle of the night, which shocked Carina Lau.After that, everything suddenly became clear, and he realized that he could complete such a difficult performance.

Once at an awards ceremony, I met Mr. Wang Qingxiang. He talked about the situation when he was filming Wong Kar Wai's "The Grandmaster".He is an extremely experienced old actor, and he was NG all over the place on the first day of filming.At first he could bear it, but then he couldn't bear it anymore, so he slipped out to smoke.Tony Leung told him, you must be steady, after this period it will be fine.Teacher Wang talked about the feeling at that time, that decades of filming were wasted, and he seemed to be standing in front of the camera for the first time, knowing nothing.I have imagined that kind of collapse, and I also want to experience the feeling of being smashed into pieces, and see what I will look like after that process.

Sometimes when I see some wonderful performances in movies, I will silently act them out in my heart. If I am not satisfied, I will go home and do it again in front of the mirror.When I was very young, I had a strange habit. Sometimes I would stop crying and start laughing suddenly. At that moment, I was a little curious, what would it be like to laugh when I was so sad?At that time, I had no sense of acting at all. In retrospect, it was a bit like a game where one person played two roles.

The performance practice that impressed me the most was playing cosplay with my classmates and acting in the Japanese manga "Koga Ninja Tetsu".At that time, there was a society in the university, which was very powerful. I wrote scripts and lines, and made up and styled myself.Various school clubs will also organize performances and exchanges together.On the day of the show, I played a ninja, and the makeup feature was to draw the eyebrows to be exaggerated.Some students pretended to be spiders, and some played old ladies. A group of people put on makeup in a fast food restaurant, and then went to the street to hail a taxi together.The taxi driver was trembling all the way, sneaking glances at us from time to time. When we arrived at the destination, we saw all kinds of strangely dressed people all over the street, so we understood what was going on.

I am also very interested in comedy. If I have the opportunity, I would like to try the style of "East and West".It is better to have a group of people take me to "play" together, so that it is easier to "let yourself go".Relying entirely on myself, I may have all kinds of scruples, but it is very interesting to have interesting opponents to play together, and a group of people to go crazy together.People who can act well in comedy are very smart, and they have to use very advanced acting skills to handle the details.It's much harder to make people laugh than to cry.

During filming, the situations where I NG most are laughing scenes.I am most afraid that everyone will chat during the break, and a joke will be accidentally chatted... That's over.I encountered such a situation when I was filming "The Founding of an Army" with Liu Ye.He plays Chairman Mao, and the scene is very serious, but I always feel that he can't help but laugh out loud at any time.The chairman's eyes would stay on each comrade for a while, and I kept shouting in my heart: "Don't, don't, don't look at me." But he actually glanced at me and then quickly moved away.This distracted me - "It's so bad, so irresponsible!" When I thought about it, I immediately laughed.Later, when I even thought that our eyes were about to meet, I couldn't help laughing.It has become a difficult hurdle.I asked the director if we could try not to have the two of us in the same frame, of course the director would not agree.Since then, I have learned a lesson, don't chat during filming breaks, for fear of encountering those helpless jokes.

define the future
If you use age to distinguish, I like to shoot modern dramas the most.I am especially looking forward to the emergence of a truly high-level work, not to say that there are no good dramas now, but my expectation is that there will be a modern drama that can redefine idol dramas.Using the mobile phone as an analogy, although the small square machine we hold in our hands is still called a "mobile phone", it has been redefined, and its functions have long been far beyond making calls.

Most of the idol dramas in the past had a single function, but even Taiwanese idol dramas that were considered to be full of old-fashioned plots had a pure power that moved people.Good works don't necessarily have to bear the heavy responsibility of "telling the true meaning of life". The idol drama market also has huge potential and space, and themes and angles can continue to be innovated.It's a pity that the current market situation is often that when a "Gu Jian Qi Tan" becomes popular, "whoosh, whoosh", a bunch of costume fantasy dramas are released; Filled with various spy dramas.The producer believes that "audiences like to watch", so the themes of TV dramas are always similar or repeated in a period of time, but in fact, we are fully capable of creating more fresh things, all we need is more patience in crafting.

In the past, many actors were criticized as "too rustic", and the dramas they filmed were said to be "not foreign enough".Our group of young actors received relatively little criticism during the growth process, but they were still anxious in their hearts. We hope that the content can be more diversified, and that all aspects of production can be further professionalized, and the quality can be more reliable than publicity. .I also had expectations for some works, but in the end I had no choice but to accept a less than satisfactory result.As far as conditions permit, I hope to cooperate with a good production company, a good script, and a good team.When I meet with many producers and directors, I will talk about my own ideas, mature or not, and hope to find some new possibilities together.I hope that in addition to remembering the atmosphere of the golden age of Hong Kong movies, we can also work together to "play" a little new ideas like those creators.

Passivity is one of the professional attributes of an actor.Even if you put in 120% of your energy when performing, the effect may be cut due to editing and other reasons.In the eyes of the outside world, our group of young and well-known actors has never had to worry about resources, but in fact the range of choices we can really have is very small and limited, especially in movies.Opportunity pays attention to the right time, place and people. In the process of role selection, there are many factors that will affect the final decision.My most important criterion is actually very simple: I like it.No matter how attractive the other conditions are, I can't pass this test, and I can't act uncomfortable no matter what.

Gao Linbao, the director of "True Love Lies", He Shupei, the director of "Live Color and Fragrance", and Guan Hu, the director of "Old Cannon", all of them gave me great inspiration.They not only taught me how to further understand the characters, but also gave me the confidence to become an actor.Director Guan Hu once gave me a high evaluation in front of the media. I think maybe he didn't expect much from me at first.I don't mind if people don't fully approve of me at first.Impressions and facts do not necessarily coincide, and both need time to further understand and adapt.

Before filming "Old Paoer", I asked director Guan Hu a special question: "Can you protect me?" The "protection" I mean is not to maintain the aura of idols, let alone maintain those established impressions in appearance, but a kind of patience.I have never participated in such a large-scale movie before, and I have never worked with such an excellent director and actor. I hope that he will not only regard me as a well-known and popular idol niche, but also do not hope that my joining can only serve Increase the degree of topic "contribution".I can give myself completely to him, and I trust he knows what's best.He later told me that because of this question, he saw me a little differently.

I am not an actor with a professional background, every opportunity is a learning experience for me.I can admit that I'm not experienced enough, but I can't stand being stupid.If I didn’t memorize my lines, or couldn’t remember the martial arts moves, I would be very anxious, and I would even throw things, or simply ran to the side and scolded myself: Are you so stupid?Can't you do it?In fact, it will pass after I calm down, but I know that the movement of my temper is a bit loud, and I am trying to suppress it now.I am also worried that if a paparazzi happens to be ambushing among the extras, and a random video is recorded and posted online, it will be another crime of "playing big names".But how do others know the cause and effect?

Everyone loves to talk about the word "idol". Many people avoid relying on "idol". I think it's a kind of style; but if an actor who is defined as an idol says that he wants to be a powerful person and has the dream of an "artist", it seems to be boring himself-what do you have?Nothing at all!

For a while, I always said that I was an "idolist", deliberately saying "face is very important, that's what I rely on", which seemed to be a bit of a rivalry.Someone once tried to correct me, and someone even seriously questioned: "Do you think that other than the face, nothing else matters?" Well, this game is not fun.Does the past definition of "idol" still apply?Even if you are an idol group, can you stick to the idol group for the rest of your life?Can I transform, grow, change?

There is no standard answer to this question, and I haven't found the most suitable way to answer it. Many predecessors before me, including those mainstays of the golden age of Hong Kong movies, are still entangled in this question.I don't think there's a way to make the audience forget about my image, there's no contradiction between having a pretty face and doing a really good shot.Just because you heard a few comments that "you can't act", you should try your best to get rid of the "idol" hat from your appearance - even if you can get rid of it, you can transform into a real strength overnight Pie?How others define me is beyond my control; spending decades of hard work just to change other people's opinions will not be happy and meaningless to me.I only care about how to meet my own requirements, I believe that I am not that bad, and one day, I can grow into a truly professional actor.

I look forward to seeing that our actors can really dominate the entire Asian market and revive the cultural influence of the "Inspector Lei Luo" era.If our generation can't do it, then I hope the next generation of actors can.At that time, whether it was Chinese movies, TV series, or Chinese actors and actresses, they all represented the highest standard of quality, and Chinese film and television workers could be truly respected anywhere in the world.I hope that I can still maintain a little bit of enthusiasm, shouting slogans is meaningless, saying that ideals are too general, and filming well is the right way.

(End of this chapter)