Hengdian, a film and television business empire created by entrepreneur Xu Wenrong from scratch. It is known as "Oriental Hollywood" and is one of China's largest film and television bases. Hundreds of film and television works are born every day, and hundreds of thousands of people pursue their dreams of art and opportunities to make a fortune here.
Zhao Liying , Wang Baoqiang , Huang Bo , etc., all came from extras, struggled all the way, went through ups and downs, and finally became one of the most shining stars in China.
Hengdian has 200,000 extras. They always hope that they can stand out and become a starring actor who earns millions a day, enjoying money, status and fame.
For this goal, no matter how difficult life is, you must grit your teeth and persevere.
What kind of life do these extras live now? Why is no one willing to leave Hengdian and look for other opportunities?
01 The real life of the extras: beauties are rampant, lazy people are everywhere
In the eyes of outsiders, the life of the Hengdian extras is free. They were all dressed up brightly and waited for the big crew to come to recruit people, so they didn’t have to be so dedicated to burying them in the crowd. As long as they were dressed in costumes, they didn’t even have to memorize lines, and there was no need to act.
When the scene is finished, they will have a full meal with the high-end lunch box given by the crew for free, and then find a place to count the income. You can also look for opportunities again in the afternoon. If you want to be lazy, you can take a break.
The truth is not like this at all! The competition in Hengdian is extremely fierce, and the living environment is cruel beyond our imagination.
The real life in Hengdian starts at three or four in the morning. At the entrances and before the shooting bases of each hotel, it was the favorite place for extras to gather. They had "internal news" and could know in advance which crew was going to Hengdian to pick actors today, or which one was going to shoot extras today.
They often get up at one or two o'clock and clean up their appearance. Especially for girls, their makeup should not be too plain, they can't look too bright, and they can't be too gorgeous, and they can easily fall into the vulgarity. Men need to show their strengths. Good body proportions have the opportunity to be a substitute, and handsome people are more likely to be selected.
When the filming crew needs extras, a person in charge will be sent to pick people, and this person is called "group head". The group often has a vicious look, and you can tell how much you have, whether you are a "newbie" who just came or a trash who is stumbled on life.
In the crowd, the group heads follow the requirements of the crew. For example, today, male and female extras will recruit 20 people, and he will choose some of these people with good looks and good figures.
But this quota is not all. If 40 people are limited to recruiting, the group leader may only choose about half of the people themselves. The rest depends on their performance.
If you are a male extra, you may need to go up and introduce yourself, say some compliments, or even hand over a cigarette, it is not an exaggeration. Ordinary extras have low requirements and everyone can go to the market. As long as the group leader is willing, he can choose everyone he likes.
Generally speaking, there will be more male heads, and actresses have some advantages in this regard, so it is easier to get close to them. After all, a beautiful girl will inevitably feel a little fluttering when she calls out a "big brother" and take her away with a wave of her hand.
These people registered their information briefly and prepared to change clothes and write scripts with them. It may be just a scene of a defending army, a scene of a palace maid serving tea and pouring water, which took a few seconds, and the entire shooting process would not take too long.
But it doesn’t mean that you can shoot at any time, they still need to wait. When the starring actor woke up from a high-end hotel, he was late and smiled sweetly at the director's urging, preparing to start the filming.
Sometimes the crew has high quality requirements and the starring actor does not meet the requirements. It takes several hours to film it again and again before it is the turn of the extra. I put on my costume and sat under the tree and waited. The shooting may not be finished until 11:00 in the morning. After the shot of
, there was nothing extras doing, so they quickly took off their clothes and left.Generally speaking, you can get a box lunch whenever you reach the meal, but this kind of food will not be too good.
Some actors need to play the role of "dead people". Their bodies and faces have to be covered with dirt and blood, which is difficult to clean. After waiting for a long time, the waist is sore and the legs are sore. After finishing the shooting, I was too lazy to clean it up. I just wanted to find a place to lie down for a while.
How much does these extras earn? Depending on the crew's financial resources and requirements for the actors, one hour can cost between several yuan and more than ten yuan.
It only earns one or two hundred yuan a day, and some people have already accepted their fate, only seventy or eighty yuan a day. They don’t have a rest day, and they earn less money if they don’t go out to take on work, and they are more likely to miss an opportunity to “make a fortune”.
This is still the treatment that only those who work hard to show their presence in front of the group. Those who were buried in the crowd and could not receive the role could only sit in the cold wind and wait, waiting for one group of leaders to take away one group of people, and finally fell asleep helplessly.
The rent of houses near Hengdian Film and Television Base is very high. If you go out for food and clothing, you can only pay the rent in the most, and you can’t have a few dollars left in your pocket. However, most of them rely more than just the actors’ income to support their lives, and many of them also need help from their families every month.
However, not all extras are like this, and there are also advantages and disadvantages among extras.
If some male actors have good figures and "strong ability to resist strikes", they may be regarded as a stand-in for a certain starring actor by the crew. In this way, he can get in touch with big stars, experience real filming, and his treatment is much better than that of ordinary actors. After all, more stunt roles are dangerous and difficult.
There are also some actors who have their own unique skills, such as being good at riding horses, being able to hang wires, or having learned martial arts and dance. The crew still welcomes these people to perform, after all, a drama requires a lot of such shots.
If you perform well, you can even stay in the crew as a supporting role. Even if you are just a servant next to the young master and a security guard at the company's door, you can be considered an entry-level job, and your salary will naturally be greatly improved.
In addition to these dramas, there are also some more "face-losing" plots.
For example, playing a maid, peddler, or company employee who was insulted or even beaten, the price of such a scene is not low, and it can cost two or three hundred yuan. At the beginning, some crew members were nervous, afraid that no one would accept it, but as long as they were released, there would be a group of people fighting for it.
Most of these people are young and fashionable beauties, and they are very popular on the street, but they are everywhere here.
Compared with extras who earn about 100 yuan a day, they are more lazy people who do not compete and watch beautiful women lying on the ground. They also came to Hengdian with their dreams, but were taught a lesson by reality and simply made a fuss.
Sleep until you wake up naturally every day, slowly move a bench to take on the show. If you can get it, you will act. If you can't get it, you will sit on the ground and play with your phone. They gathered together in groups of three or three at night, playing cards while being angry.
02 Hundreds of thousands of people who gave up reality for their dreams
Everyone in Hengdian has their own experiences, but their essence is the same. In " I am a passerby, ", their inner side is fully discovered.
For example, the ordinary extra Shen Kai in Hengdian, he is now in his thirties. He was originally a waiter in a restaurant in another province. He has a daughter, who is already six years old and has a small family.
In order to support his family, Shen Kai first worked alone outside and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. Later, he saw Hengdian recruiting extras. He had dreams of being an actor since he was a child and was hit at once.
So Shen Kai secretly packed his luggage and went to Hengdian without telling it. At the beginning, Shen Kai was very satisfied with the life in Hengdian. He moved some people by relying on his eloquence and hard work, and took on a lot of scenes. Although he was just an ordinary soldier, dead people, and even a coffin carrying, he was still very satisfied.
Sometimes, Shen Kai would save his appearance as a photo and share it with his wife and daughter, pretending that he "experiences life" after working. The daughter admires her father's identity as an "actor" and praises him whenever she sees the photos, which makes Shen Kai feel very proud.
But after a while these days, Shen Kai found that he had no money. His daily income is only about one hundred yuan, and occasionally he can't get a job, which means he is pure expenses, and the few thousand yuan he brought is quickly spent.
Shen Kai is unwilling to leave like this, but it is a bit difficult to maintain, and he is in a dilemma for a while.
A director fell in love with him at this time and asked him to play a minister among all civil and military officials. There was even a line that could be said that his salary was not low.
This once again gave Shen Kai hope, and he thought his chance was finally coming.
In order to play this role well, Shen Kai tossed and turned his scripts, memorized his lines and practiced in front of the mirror for a day.
But when the filming is really started, Shen Kai is a little nervous when facing the director, production team and big stars. His eyes were erratic, his movements were stiff, his familiar lines became extremely hot, and his mind was even more blurred.
After trying for half an hour, the crew was already impatient. The director said, "You disappointed me so much!" Shen Kai directly broke the defense. There were many people in the crew. He endured the discomfort and reluctance and left the crew.
Back in his rental house, he could no longer suppress the pain and cried loudly. This man in his thirties has been extremely tough after years of hard work, but he still can't resist such an impact.
Thinking about waiting for his wife and daughter at home, Shen Kai felt extremely guilty. But can he blame him? He came to Hengdian with his original intention to find opportunities to earn more money, no longer be discredited, and let his wife and daughter live a better life.
reality will not stop scrolling because of pain. Shen Kai has only two choices, either continue to struggle here or leave decisively. Shen Kai is not those young people who have nothing to worry about. He still has a family to support. After weighing the pros and cons, he left Hengdian and returned to his old career.
There are also some special extras in Hengdian, who are family members. For example, a woman named Xu Zhi, the couple has two daughters and a baby in their stomachs.
Her husband was originally engaged in business, but he lost a lot of money because of poor management. The only thing left was the dilapidated van in the family. They drove back to their hometown. After accidentally hearing about the incident in Hengdian, they wanted to try their luck.
At first they were penniless and couldn't afford to rent the most ordinary house, so they could only transform the van and turn it into residence. At first, Xu Zhi was not very pregnant and could still be an actor with her husband. Later, as her belly grew bigger and bigger, she couldn't go out.
Xu Zhi's husband waits at the hotel door before dawn and waits for the crew to recruit people. He is reluctant to eat every day, leaving the most nutritious ones to his wife and daughter who are about to give birth, and only eats free rice by himself.
Later he found that the crew often had some lunch boxes left and didn't send them out. The young man couldn't hold his face and asked for these leftovers, so he could hold his face down. Whether it is bread, vegetables or rice, he can say good things and take the food home.
After Xu Zhi gave birth to a child, he needed to go to confinement, and the baby could not sleep in the car every day. The two of them gritted their teeth and rented the most ordinary standard room, which only cost more than 200 yuan a month.
What makes Xu Zhi feel a headache is the nutritional and hygiene problems after the baby is born. They can’t afford milk powder or even diapers. The younger daughter is almost the age of kindergarten, but she stays in the rental house to play with toys every day.
Now, Xu Zhi and her husband have to set up a small stall and push the cart to sell some things every day. Although Hengdian is a film and television base, there are many tourist attractions. They buy some goods, which are local souvenirs, or make some snacks, and they can make a living.
03 Work hard for the unwillingness to be mediocre
In addition to middle-aged people who are forced to make a living, Hengdian also has some young graduates who look forward to the future.Xiaochang, from a film and television performing arts school in Henan, is one of them. He studied in the art school for a long time and was finally arranged by the school to "work" in Hengdian.
said it was a job arranged, but in fact he sent someone to lead the team. Xiaochang and two friends, a total of three, took a bus to Hengdian. When they first arrived at the station, they were full of pride and believed that with their abilities, they would definitely be able to make a fortune in this film and television empire.
But as soon as he heard the introductory information, his heart was cold because the income of Hengdian extras was only two or three thousand per month. However, he is still quite confident in himself. As long as he can win a role, he will always have the opportunity to make a name for himself and achieve an annual salary of one million in the future.
On the first day of work, Xiaochang took on the role of a eunuch in the Qing Dynasty, and needed to stick a small braid on his hair and arched his waist. At first, Xiaochang felt that this scene was too disappointing for him. After all, he was a student from a regular art school.
But he was surprised to find that many extras who are handsome and have better figures are also very moved by this scene. He learned how difficult it was for him to be looked at by the group.
On this day, he knelt outside the "Golden Palace" for more than an hour. Including the waiting time, most of the day passed like this. After working for so long, he only received more than 100 yuan in compensation. He felt very depressed and secretly thought about earning more the next day.
But these are the scenes you can grab almost every day, and his income has not changed. Xiaochang himself is a big-handed person. He has no idea when spending money. He spends all the money he earns and spends his savings soon. He can only count on making money for a day.
One day in the second month, he didn't make any money because it rained and many crews couldn't turn on the film. Xiaochang looked at him one by one in the rain, and he had no money on him. If he couldn't get a job, he would have to starve.
Wait until the evening, Xiaochang finally found an opportunity. This crew is missing a guard extra for filming indoor scenes. Xiaochang stood for two hours and left until eleven o'clock. What made Xiaochang feel desperate was that the crew did not prepare food because everyone came to shoot after eating.
On this day, Xiaochang didn't eat anything at all. It was not until noon the next day that he received a lunch box after filming a crew. Not long after I got it, it started to rain on the set. Xiaochang didn't care to shelter from the rain, so he squatted on the floor of the set and ate a boxed lunch mixed with rain.
Xiaochang slowly understood that what is important for extras is not acting skills, but luck and relationships. People with good luck can get a lot of good scenes; those who are related will not have to worry about no show to film. They always have someone to help introduce them, and even sign a contract to have no worries about food and clothing.
People like him can only fight for that amount of luck and countless efforts.
Perhaps many people will feel that Xiaochang and the others are stupid. They obviously don’t have such a hard relationship, have no high appearance, and have no high education, so they have to join in the fun in Hengdian. Even if you go to an ordinary restaurant to work, you won’t be able to live like this.
He is not stupid, he just has a dream in his heart. Even though this dream was difficult to realize, he was still unwilling to give up and wanted to find that faint hope and opportunity in one hundred thousand. He was trying his best to strive for a seemingly ridiculous goal, even if he was crushed and ridiculous, he would spare no effort.
will not regret it even if it fails in the end. After all, I have tried it and I have also given an answer to my youthful and lofty ideals. This unwillingness to be mediocre will also become a rare memory in the ordinary days to come.
