Among performers, there is a special group - special actors .
They all play a specific historical figure or contemporary celebrity, leader, etc. The appearance of the special actor is very similar to the character he portrays, and in order to achieve the most realistic restoration, he will also undergo special makeup.
Among them, the special actors who play great men attract the most attention.
For example, Gu Yue is a special actor with high national popularity. He played the role of the great man Mao Zedong.
Among all the actors who played Mao Zedong, Gu Yue is recognized as the one with the closest appearance. It is reported that when Ye Jianying saw Gu Yue’s makeup photo, she thought it was Chairman Mao’s own photo!
In the end, it was Marshal Ye who decided on Gu Yue himself.
However, Gu Yue did not have any acting experience, so her performance in her debut film "Xi'an Incident" was not very good, especially in terms of demeanor, which was far from her original self. During the filming, because she was NGed too many times, Director Zeng even said sarcastically, "Why is this face on your face?"
Gu Yue then worked hard to imitate Mao Zedong in various details, including Eating, reading newspapers and other small actions are not missed. He even "copied" all his living habits, including eating chili peppers, smoking, writing calligraphy, etc.
In the end, Gu Yue managed to integrate with the character as he wished. In " Chongqing Negotiations ", in the scene of waving on the plane, he played Chairman Mao's demeanor and movements perfectly, which is amazing.
By the time he starred in " Founding Ceremony", he was so good that many viewers projected their feelings for Chairman Mao onto him, and some people would write to him to report the situation.
Chairman Mao's daughter Li Na even hugged him and cried bitterly on the spot. This cry contained endless longing for her father, and was an affirmation of Gu Yue's outstanding performance.
is such a leader, and it also puts a lot of pressure on latecomers, such as Tang Guoqiang .
In fact, as early as 1978, he was selected as Mao Zedong's special actor. But Gu Yue's light was so powerful that Tang Guoqiang never had a chance. It wasn't until 1996 when he was preparing to film "The Long March" that Tang Guoqiang was favored by the director.
At that time, most people were skeptical about this casting, but Tang Guoqiang finally succeeded with his excellent strength and won the Huabiao Award for Best Actor.
Tang Guoqiang's appearance is not that similar, and he relies more on post-production makeup. He himself admits, "Gu Yue's appearance cannot be copied." But as a former " Creamy Xiaosheng", his handsome facial features are still a plus. of.
In terms of character creation, Tang Guoqiang followed traditional imitation rules, such as smoking, writing calligraphy, etc., and even learned his habit of drinking tea.
But he also made pioneering artistic processing, such as abandoning dialects and using Mandarin . His speech and behavior further highlighted his inner confidence and domineering. He could talk and laugh freely in difficult situations and be calm and calm in good times.
If Gu Yue’s version of Mao Zedong is infinitely restored, then Tang Guoqiang’s version externalizes and amplifies many of the Chairman’s qualities, making it even more dramatic.
Actor Hou Jingjian is considered to be expected to succeed Tang Guoqiang. He has played the role of young Mao Zedong since 2010, portraying his positive image as a "hot-blooded young man in troubled times".
In " The Age of Awakening ", the scene of him holding the newly published "New Youth" with a determined look on his face, walking through the barren and chaotic streets in the pouring rain, left a deep impression on people.
Three of the special actors who played Zhou Enlai are relatively famous: Wang Tiecheng, Liu Jin, Sun Weimin.
Wang Tiecheng is the most senior. He has been acting since 1977. His biggest advantage is his appearance. When Premier Zhou's wife Deng Yingchao saw him, she felt so similar that she shook hands with tears in her eyes.
Wang Tiecheng met Premier Zhou three times and had first-hand information. He also worked very hard. In order to learn Zhou Enlai's southern accent, he watched the tape of the Prime Minister's speech 50 times and finally figured out the pattern.
After the drama "The Turning" was released, Wang Tiecheng's performance was so similar that the audience lost control of their emotions. The 15-minute play was interrupted by applause 17 times.
As he continued to star, Wang Tiecheng continued to improve. Director Ding Yinnan later even discovered that he looked like Premier Zhou even when he lowered his head to eat fried noodles. It was really amazing.
Sun Weimin is known as the most kind-hearted Premier Zhou.
His appearance is actually more like Lu Xun, so he needs to use glue to widen his double eyelids every time, but he is good at imitating micro-expressions, and he has a very good grasp of the elegance and intellectuality between Premier Zhou's eyebrows.
’s smile is particularly expressive. Some attentive viewers even thought that Sun Weimin’s dimples were exactly the same as those of Premier Zhou.
Liu Jin is probably the most handsome Premier Zhou, with thick eyebrows, big eyes and a beautiful beard.
At first, he was not confident in playing Zhou Enlai because he had previously played Zhang Xueliang. It was Tang Guoqiang who had never met him who called and encouraged Liu Jin to give it a try.
After taking the role, he did not completely follow the traditional imitation path. Instead, he worked with the screenwriter and director to boldly create many scenes on his own, such as "Eun Lai got angry", "Eun Lai was drunk", "Eun Lai cried bitterly", etc., through Use reasonable imagination to build a fuller image of the great man.
Among them, "En Lai Drunk" is regarded as a recognized classic with its vivid performance.
Ma Shaohua and Lu Qi are more interesting. They both played Deng Xiaoping after playing Sun Yat-sen.
But the former played Sun Yat-sen better, because the appearance is so close, and the expression and behavior are also very similar.
And Lu Qi played Deng Xiaoping better.
Not only does he resemble Deng Xiaoping from his appearance to his behavior, but the aura around him is also in sync. According to Lu Qi, this is because he has studied many works of Deng Xiaoping and understood his thoughts and ideas from the bottom of his heart.
This scene can be called a classic reproduction. In just tens of seconds of performance, a calm and majestic patriotic leader appeared on the page.
In addition, there are also Liu Xitian who plays Chen Yi, and Wang Wufu who plays Zhu De. They are also very outstanding great-character actors.
It can be seen that although being a great actor has its own halo, the sacrifice behind it is also huge.
They spend far more time and energy on figuring out the characters than ordinary actors. In addition to the complexity of the characters themselves, the meaning behind them is too great for them to lose. Most of the special actors are basically Experience the life of a great man in an immersive way.
Gu Yue imitated Mao Zedong and ate chili peppers, which gave him stomach cramps. Liu Jin, who is allergic to alcohol, had to force himself to drink and talk in order to play Zhou Enlai well.
Lu Qi reluctantly plucked out his eyebrows in order to pursue a realistic appearance, while Wang Tiecheng continued to film even after breaking six ribs, because he felt that his sick appearance was exactly in line with Premier Zhou's frail state after suffering from cancer in the film.
These are experiences that ordinary people can hardly imagine.
The most important thing is that once you become a special actor, it will be difficult to play other roles, and it will be difficult for the audience to get involved. Therefore, Gu Yue only played Mao Zedong in his life, and Liu Jin decided not to take on other roles after playing Zhou Enlai.
This is a group of very lonely performers, whose entire bodies and minds are tied to one role. As Tang Guoqiang said, because great men are so great, actors need to use their lifetime skills to portray them.
But for us, great men are great, and the special actors who play great men are also great. They are all artists worthy of respect.
