"The shoes are torn, the hat is torn, the cassock is torn, you laugh at me, he laughs to death, a fan is torn..."
Speaking of this song, I believe it will be the childhood memories of many people. In the 1980s, the drama "Jigong" was broadcast to a crowd.
In the play, the monk Jigong who laughs, curses, goes crazy, and is dressed in rags but never forgets to uphold justice has left a deep impression on countless people.
played Jigong's You Benchang and became famous overnight. Little did they know that You Benchang, who portrayed Jigong at the time, was already 52 years old. Before that, he had been acting in small roles for more than 10 years. As a late bloomer, his life was far more exciting than the script.
01
In 1933, You Benchang was born in an ordinary family in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province. There were 6 sisters in the family. He was the only boy in the family. Speaking of which, You Benchang was destined to be Jigong.
As a child, You Benchang also liked opera under the influence of his parents. By chance, You Benchang heard "The Biography of Jigong" by Suzhou critic Shen Xiaomei in a teahouse. After listening to it, You Benchang was immediately attracted by this form of performance.
As a result, You Benchang went to listen to "The Legend of Jigong" every day after school. Seeing Shen Xiaomei's lifelike performance, he also began to learn it and often performed for his family.
Since then, You Benchang has dreamed that one day he can become an excellent actor and bring happiness to everyone with his performances.
In 1952, You Benchang was admitted to the Performance Department of Shanghai Theater Academy. After graduation, he was assigned to the newly established Central Theater of China.
You Benchang originally thought that he could finally realize his childhood dream of showing himself on the stage, but who knew that he never had the chance. All he was assigned were inconspicuous roles, either with no names or no lines.
Graduated from the Drama Academy, You Benchang has played a total of 79 roles, all of which are unknown. However, even if he failed to become the leading actor, You Benchang has never neglected any role, nor has he given up on himself because of the small role.
Before each performance, he will study each role carefully and look up information to understand the role.
For You Benchang, the most important thing is to play every role well, no matter how big or small, as long as you have reverence and dedication to art, one day the audience will find you.
When You Benchang recalled this experience, he said with emotion: "As much effort as the protagonist puts in, I will also put in as much effort. When a person comes to this world, there will always be some traces."
Finally, in 1980, You Benchang starred as a servant in "One Servant, Two Masters". This was the only leading role he played before playing Jigong. Because of his outstanding performance, he won the first prize for acting from the Ministry of Culture.
But even so, it did not change his fate of continuing to play a minor role.
It was not until the Western " pantomime " was introduced to China that this kind of performance that relied solely on movements and expressions attracted You Benchang, and he found his own way of performing. It was precisely because of this pantomime that You Benchang ushered in an important role in his life.
At that time, You Benchang, who was almost 50 years old, began to think about pantomime. He wanted to promote pantomime so that more people could understand it.
Although others were not optimistic about it, You Benchang never tired of it. He read a lot of books and watched a lot of film and television works. By imitating characters and styles with different personalities, his performances became more and more sophisticated.
You Benchang spent three years studying pantomime, and his efforts finally paid off.
In 1984, 51-year-old You Benchang was fortunate enough to be invited to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. He performed the pantomime "Shower" at the party. This was the first time that the party program appeared in the form of pantomime.
There was only four minutes of non-physical performance, but You Benchang won constant laughter and applause from the audience with his body language and emotional expression. His performance was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. From then on, this "little actor" who had been playing a small role for more than 10 years finally ushered in the dawn of his acting career.
02
In 1985, after watching You Benchang's pantomime in the Spring Festival Gala, the director of "Ji Gong" felt that he was very suitable to play Jigong and invited him to star.
You Benchang was overjoyed when he learned the news. At the age of 52, he finally had his first leading role in his life.
Since the filming of mainland TV dramas had just started at that time, You Benchang had no direction at all about where to start. Not only him, but the entire crew was at a loss as to how to portray this character.
Before the filming started, You Benchang put a lot of effort into it. He went to read a lot of literary works about Jigong. He saw a description like this in a book: "Torn monk's clothes, not taking advantage of the body, broken monk's shoes , only the bottom is left, the sutra is not discussed, Zen is ignored, and eating wine and meat is so humorous." You Benchang decided that in order to portray Jigong well, he must first start with dressing up.
When the costumer brought a set of monk clothes to You Benchang, You Benchang remembered the description about Jigong he had seen. He suddenly had inspiration. He found a pair of scissors and cut out many holes of different sizes in the clothes and hat. Then he added some patches and put the clothes on the ground to rub a layer of dust. Then he deliberately tore the fan in his hand to pieces, and finally found a wine gourd to hang on his waist.
During the filming, You Benchang put on this tattered monk's robe, shook a tattered fan, and then deliberately blackened his teeth with an eyebrow pencil.
Just like that, the living Jigong with "torn hat, torn shoes, and torn cassock" in the play appeared.
At that time, TV dramas were filmed and broadcast simultaneously. After two episodes of "Ji Gong" were broadcast, the audience did not seem to buy into the Jigong played by You Benchang. They all felt that this Jigong seemed to have some shortcomings. Therefore, You Benchang and the crew were under great pressure.
You Benchang cherishes this rare opportunity very much. If he wants to portray Jigong well, he not only needs to look like him in appearance, but also needs to find the spirit of the character Jigong. Therefore, he only sleeps 4 hours a day to ponder this role carefully.
One day, You Benchang took a nap in the theater because he was too sleepy. The director called him, and he ran over with his shoes in a daze. During the run, because the shoes did not follow his feet, they made a clicking sound, and he bumped when he wanted to walk quickly. At this time, You Benchang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he suddenly realized that this was the Jigong's gait he saw in the novel. So, the popular Jigong Walk was born.
During the filming process, You Benchang also suffered a lot. For example, in the play, there is a scene where Jigong eats elbow in the temple. Watching him eat it with big mouthfuls, it is so delicious that everyone watching it is envious.
However, what we didn’t know was that because it was summer and the temperature was 39 degrees, his elbows were already smelly. Because the director didn’t call to stop, he had to chew big mouthfuls until the director called to stop. After
, some people laughed at him and asked him why he still eats meat when he knows it smells bad? But he said: This is the professionalism that a professional actor should have.
This filming process has also been included in the Beijing Film Academy's teaching materials, with the purpose of allowing the younger generation to learn from his spirit.
There is also a scene in which Jigong is tortured in the yamen. In the play, Jigong is protected by immortal energy. No matter how hard the yamen servants try their best to hit Jigong's board, he still sleeps very soundly. In fact, in order to reflect the reality, the director shot this scene 12 times before calling it quits. Although protective measures were taken in advance, after the filming, You Benchang could not stand up.
It was his professionalism that brought Jigong to life and infected countless people. This is the artist of the older generation.
03
Recently, the online drama "Young Song Xing" has become popular, and the 89-year-old teacher You Benchang plays the role of Master Wangyou in it.
He is the same monk as Jigong back then, but he has a different personality. Teacher You Benchang grasped it very well.
When Master Wangyou, played by Mr. You Benchang, appeared on the stage, he once again demonstrated the charm of an old artist. His face was natural and Buddha-like, making people feel that this is the living Buddha who saves all sentient beings.
When Teacher You Benchang opened his mouth, his powerful line skills immediately brought the audience into the plot, making people burst into tears.
On the set, the 89-year-old was still very rigorous in his lines. When filming officially started, his lines were firm and powerful, and his emotions were very contagious.
Master Wangyou's appearance not only fits, but also surpasses the original animation, and is full of the master's style.
After watching it, many netizens said that this is the Wangyou Master in my heart.
Teacher You Benchang used his performance to reflect the original intention of actors of that era, and he is a well-deserved veteran actor.
People's Daily once commented on teacher You Benchang:
At an old age, there is no trace of twilight, Mr. You lives a free and enjoyable life. It may seem cynical, but there is a precious truth: sincerity to art, even if you are a minor player, you have high self-esteem like the protagonist; you have true love for life, and you can't just make a living in this world. This is how life should be, even humble condiments can make life more flavorful.
