In May 1990, when Chairman Mao's youngest daughter Li Ne was visiting the crew, she suddenly saw a tall figure. What people didn't expect was that after seeing it, Li Ne called daddy with tears in his eyes, then ran up to him, hugged him tightly and cried bitterly.

text | Chi Lu nostalgic

editor | Beicheng Nansheng

Foreword

In May 1990, when Chairman Mao's youngest daughter Li Ne was visiting the crew, she suddenly saw a tall figure.

What people didn’t expect was that after seeing it, Li Ne called daddy with tears in her eyes, then ran up to him, hugged him tightly and cried bitterly.

So what is going on? Click to follow and let’s continue chatting.

Chairman Mao

lost his parents when he was young, and he and his sister depended on each other.

The man Li Na called his father was not actually Chairman Mao. After all, Chairman Mao had been dead for 14 years at that time. He was actually Chairman Mao's special actor—— Guyue .

Gu Yue lost his parents when he was a child. Only his sister and him depended on each other, and the two of them could only live in an orphanage.

But the orphanage of that era was actually not a good place to go. This meant that Gu Yue had experienced the hardships of life and the dangers of the world since she was a child.

However, everything took a new turn when he was 12 years old.

Gu Yue

One night in 1949, Gu Yue, who was sleeping, was suddenly awakened by a burst of noisy gunfire.

He wasn't afraid at that time, he just looked out curiously. The first thing he saw were guns and military uniforms on the ground, and it was even more of a mess outside.

At this time, Gu Yue did not know that China had been liberated, and Nanning, Guangxi, where he was located, had also been liberated.

As the People's Liberation Army entered the city, Gu Yue and her sister saw the People's Liberation Army for the first time, and this unit was the 13th Art Troupe that influenced his life.

Liberation of Guangxi

After seeing the People's Liberation Army, these children seemed to see hope, so they all expressed their desire to join the army.

They think that as long as they do this, they no longer have to endure hunger and bullying. After hearing the children's request, the leader of the

art troupe looked at the young faces and couldn't bear to refuse.

then decided to select some children who were of the right age and good-looking to join the team.

Art Troupe

Fortunately, Gu Yue's sister was selected, and because Gu Yue didn't want to be separated from her sister, she volunteered to enlist in the army.

Unfortunately, Gu Yue was too young at the time and was rejected by the leader of the art troupe because of her age.

Hearing that Gu Yue was leaving his sister, he felt very reluctant to leave, so he secretly followed the art troupe on the day it departed. followed him for three days..

Gu Yue

The leader of the art troupe saw Gu Yue being so persistent and was deeply moved by their brother-sister relationship, and finally agreed to his request.

He has since become the youngest PLA member in the entire art troupe.

However, no one at the time would have thought that this very young child would form an indissoluble bond with Chairman Mao in the future.

Chairman Mao played by Gu Yue

From orphan to special actor

In 1976, our great leader Chairman Mao left the people and land he loved deeply, and the whole country was immersed in grief.

Two years later, as people's voices became louder and louder, countless people were eager to see Chairman Mao on the big screen again.

In 1978, the Ministry of Culture of the State Council and the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army issued a notice to select special actors suitable to play Chairman Mao across the country's military.

Chairman Mao and the People

At that time, Gu Yue had already been the cultural section chief of the Kunming Military Region.

In addition, someone had said before that he looked like Chairman Mao, so after seeing this notice, the idea of ​​signing up for the election came to his mind.

But he quickly rejected this idea. He felt that he was not from a major, and the person he was starring in was still the great founding leader of the country.

After all, Chairman Mao is the spiritual leader of all Chinese people. If he does not perform well, he will not only be embarrassed, but also damage the image of the great man.

Gu Yue

Just when Gu Yue chose to give up, the appearance of a person made him determined to sign up. This person was Hu Ke, the then Deputy Minister of Culture.

It turns out that one time when Hu Ke came to inspect the Ministry of Culture of the Military Region, the person who received him was Gu Yue.

After seeing Gu Yue's face, Hu Ke froze on the spot, and after a long time he said with emotion: "It looks so similar."

Hu Ke

It was this reception that made Hu Ke remember this life and death warrior of Chairman Mao.

Because of this, after the organization issued the order to find special actors, Hu Ke immediately thought of Gu Yue.

then came to Gu Yue’s home in person and expressed his desire to have Gu Yue sign up to be a candidate for a Chairman Mao-type actor.

Gu Yue

After learning about Gu Yue's concerns, Hu Ke began to patiently persuade him, so that he didn't need to feel pressure and could learn everything slowly.

In addition, Gu Yue's wife also agreed with him to run for election. After all, not everyone can play Chairman Mao.

Under the persuasion of Hu Ke and his wife, Gu Yue was moved. After some thinking, she promised Hu Ke that she would participate in the election.

Gu Yue

When he learned that Gu Yue would participate in the selection, Hu Ke was immediately elated. It didn't take long before more than 20 actors who looked exactly like Chairman Mao in his youth were selected.

Because Marshal Ye Jianying was solely responsible for this matter, He Ke quickly sent the photos over for Marshal Ye Jianying to review.

Marshal Ye Jianying, who attached great importance to this matter, immediately picked up a magnifying glass and looked at it carefully.

Marshal Ye Jianying

When he saw Gu Yue's photo, Marshal Ye Jianying was also stunned, and then blurted out: "It looks so much like Chairman Mao, let him play the role!"

After finishing speaking, Marshal Ye Jianying took it casually. He picked up a pen and drew a circle on Gu Yue's photo.

In this way, Gu Yue started her "indissoluble bond" with Chairman Mao.

Gu Yue

encountered difficulties in his acting career

With a transfer order from the central government, Gu Yue received the order, and the organization required him to report to Bayi Studio immediately.

Gu Yue was very excited when she heard the good news and immediately left for Bayi Studio.

also told himself in his heart that he must work hard to play Chairman Mao well and not live up to the organization's expectations of him.

Bayi Studio

But life is certainly not smooth sailing. Gu Yue, who first arrived at Bayi Studio, soon encountered the first hurdle in her acting career.

Because before being selected as Chairman Mao’s special actor, Gu Yue had no experience related to acting.

Therefore, during the filming process of the movie, Gu Yue encountered many difficulties. Even with the director's step-by-step guidance, his progress still did not meet the shooting requirements.

Gu Yue

Seeing the angry look of the director and the helpless eyes of the on-site staff, Gu Yue blamed herself very much, and at the same time, she also made up her mind to perform well.

Under the pressure of the entire set, Gu Yue could only try his best to imitate Chairman Mao. In addition to studying a large amount of relevant information about Chairman Mao to deepen his understanding of Chairman Mao.

also imitated Chairman Mao's every move based on the image data left behind.

Gu Yue

At the same time, in terms of appearance, Gu Yue also followed the stylist's requirements and tried his best to be as close to Chairman Mao as possible.

His hairstyle was different from Chairman Mao's, so he asked the stylist to change his hairstyle. His forehead was not full enough and did not match Chairman Mao's, so Gu Yue pulled out the hair on his forehead.

Just like that, with Gu Yue's unremitting efforts, the film's progress began to advance according to the original plan, and all the staff on the set also saw his progress.

Gu Yue

In 1981, with the successful release of the movie "Xi'an Incident", Gu Yue, who participated in the movie for the first time, received unanimous praise from many people.

And his role as Chairman Mao also moved people very much, and they all said that they saw a more realistic and vivid image of the great man.

Facing the praises of countless people, Gu Yue has always maintained a humble attitude.

Although there are countless people following her wherever she goes, Gu Yue does not lower her requirements because of her fame. Instead, she becomes even stricter.

"Xi'an Incident" promotional poster

"Self-mutilation" training, just to show the most authentic image of Chairman

In order to more closely match the image of Chairman Mao, Gu Yue also worked hard. The first difficulty he had to overcome was to correct his own "accent".

Gu Yue is from Hubei, while Chairman Mao is from Hunan, so the accents of the two people can be said to be very different.

In order to learn Hunan dialect well, Gu Yue went to Chairman Mao's hometown to eat and live with the locals to learn more about their customs and habits.

Gu Yue plays Chairman Mao

In this way, Gu Yue forced herself to learn Hunan dialect. Many people who didn't know it thought he was a native of Hunan.

In addition, Gu Yue also studied Chairman Mao's eating habits. He knew that Chairman Mao loved chili the most, and even braised pork couldn't do without chili.

So Gu Yue, who had never been able to eat spicy food, began to practice eating spicy food crazily in order to perform the show of not changing her expression when eating spicy food.

Gu Yue

In addition to imitating some of Chairman Mao’s living habits, as a special actor, he naturally needs to play Chairman Mao of any period.

This was undoubtedly a huge challenge for Gu Yue at that time.

not only needs to perform the charm of Chairman Mao in each period, but also needs to restore the true demeanor of that time. At the same time, it also needs to adjust itself according to the needs of different periods.

Guyue

When filming "Four Crosses of Chishui", Chairman Mao at that time was dining and sleeping in the open with the soldiers, so he was very thin.

But at that time, Gu Yue was more than 20 kilograms heavier than the required weight, so the director gave him a death order, requiring him to lose weight within a month.

So Gu Yue started to exercise like crazy and cut down on his diet. Three meals a day almost consisted of vegetables. He even had acid reflux in his stomach at the end of the meal, but he did not give up.

Gu Yue

When his wife saw Gu Yue's almost "self-harm" way of losing weight, she felt very distressed and asked him more than once not to work so hard.

But in the face of his wife's persuasion, Gu Yue just said lightly:

"As long as you can play Chairman Mao well, everything you do will be worth it."

Soon "Four Crosses of Chishui" came out, which caused a strong response from countless people. Among the films released in the same year, it ranked third in attendance.

Promotional poster for "Four Crosses of Chishui"

Since then, Gu Yue's fame has gradually grown. Some old Red Army soldiers even wrote to Gu Yue to express their gratitude to him after watching the film.

And the critics did not hesitate to praise, saying that it must be very difficult for an actor who has become a monk halfway to perform the role to this point.

Countless movie fans would write letters to him. Gu Yue was also fascinated by this. She would take the letters home every day and read them one by one, savoring the joy of being a movie star.

Gu Yue plays Chairman Mao

"You look so much like my father"

It is worth mentioning that Gu Yue's miraculous acting skills have not only been recognized by countless people, but also deeply moved Chairman Mao's family.

In 1990, when Gu Yue was filming in Hebei, Chairman Mao's daughter Li Na happened to be also in Hebei. After learning that the crew was filming, she took time to visit the crew.

It was this visit that left an indelible impression on Gu Yue in Li Na's heart.

Gu Yue

On the day Li Ne visited, Gu Yue was not wearing a suit, but was wearing Chairman Mao's clothes prepared by the crew.

When he saw Gu Yue, Li Ne was stunned on the spot. He seemed to see the father he missed day and night again.

couldn't control his emotions for a while. He rushed up and hugged Gu Yue as if hugging his own father. He choked and said: "You are so much like my father."

Gu Yue plays Chairman Mao

Gu Yue was also moved by Li Ne's true feelings, so she gently patted Li Ne's back and comforted her silently.

On this day, Li Na chatted with Gu Yue for a long time. Not only did she tell him many stories about her father, but she also shed tears countless times during the conversation.

When they parted, Li Ne bowed deeply to Gu Yue, and this bow was not only a respect for Gu Yue, but also a kind of gratitude to him.

Gu Yue plays Chairman Mao

He will only play Chairman Mao in his whole life

"I will only play one great man in my life. I must act well and try to act in a hundred of his movies." These are Mr. Gu Yue's original words, It is also his lifelong pursuit.

In order to maintain the image of a great man, he has never accepted any advertisements and refuses all endorsements.

It is precisely because of his spirit and belief that in 2001, he became one of the 17 civilian generals in the army.

Gu Yue

In 2005, the 68-year-old Gu Yue participated in "The Wind and Clouds", and this was the 85th time he portrayed Chairman Mao, with only 15 films left to his goal of 100 films.

Unfortunately, on July 2 of the same year, Gu Yue went to to lose weight for her role and unfortunately suffered a myocardial infarction.

Although the doctors tried their best to save him, Mr. Gu Yue still left us, and his acting career also came to an end with the regret of not playing Chairman Mao in a hundred movies.

Gu Yue passed away

Conclusion

Looking at the development of the whole thing, if Teacher Gu Yue had not passed away suddenly, I believe he would have contributed more classic images of Chairman Mao to us.

But there are always regrets in life. Not making a hundred movies is not only a regret for Teacher Gu Yue, but also a regret for all viewers.

At the same time, for Teacher Gu Yue, there may be no regrets in his life.

Gu Yue

Because until the last moment of his life, he was working hard to play the role of a great man. This was not only dedication to his career, but also dedication to his faith.

Although Teacher Gu Yue has left us forever, his works will definitely last forever, and his name will be engraved in the history of Chinese film and continue to shine with incomparable dazzling brilliance.