37 years ago, Benchang You, who was filming in Dalian, received a phone call from his wife. His wife said that Shanghai TV station appreciates his performance style and wants him to make a comedy "Jigong". I hope he can try it when he is free.
Benchang You received a phone call, and it took him a while to react. After the reaction, I replied to my wife three times in a row.
These three words "good" sent him to the Jigong crew.
At the scene, director Zhang Ge asked Benchang You, "What do you think of Jigong? 」
Benchang You also don't carry, hurriedly stood up. Say to brother Zhang: Do you want me to imitate it?
After that, I had a big brain turn and played the version of Jigong that I used to watch when I was a child. He learned Shen Xiaomei accent and said in Shanghainese: Boss, who is running around in the nest? Boss, what's running around in this pot? )
Zhang Ge said to Benchang You, "It's him. 」
Benchang You was very happy.
When he got the leading role in Jigong, Benchang You was 52 years old, more than half a century old, and he was no longer young. Before that, he never played the leading role, and he ran as a walk-on for 30 years. Played 79 roles, all of them little people.
For other small fresh meat, you may lose your temper and run away. Benchang You didn't. He has been insisting because he really loves art.
Benchang You likes watching movies since he was a child, and his second sister often takes him to the cinema. He has seen most of the films of Chaplin and Shirley Temple. At the age of six, he was especially envious of those who could make movies on the screen.
195 1 year, Benchang You is1year. After graduating from high school, he successfully entered the Nanjing Art Troupe. Because of his excellent performance, he was recommended to the performance department of Shanghai Theatre Academy one year later.
He studied drama seriously for four years. After graduation, he was assigned to Beijing to be an actor in the Central Experimental Theatre.
02.
After Benchang You entered the Central Experimental Theatre, he played various roles. It's not that Benchang You's business ability is not good. The biggest reason is that he is naturally not fond of fighting for roles, can't say good things, and can't curry favor with leaders.
People from Benchang You "flew" earlier than him, and he was still doing odd jobs in the same place.
Nevertheless, Benchang You did not lose heart. In his mind, there are only small actors and no small roles. To this end, he can ponder a role over and over again.
In order to play "Serf" well, he actually rummaged through the translation of 19 Bunster Lovsky's original "Thunderstorm". Only in this way can his heart be emboldened, and he can determine how to play a walk-on to meet the role.
In Thunderstorm, the "serf" appeared last after the woman committed suicide. He didn't say a word at the whole scene, only for ten seconds.
After repeated pondering and analysis, he finally appeared as "one eye is blind and one leg is lame".
The performance was rated as a "classic walk-on" without a single line, and his "serf" became the core of the whole play.
Benchang You, who is diligent in filming and obsessed with drilling, did not expect to become famous quickly, make quick money and become famous quickly.
Fate blessed him, because he met Huang Yihe, the director of the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
At that time, Benchang You performed a pantomime called "Opening a Shop in Sun Erniang". It happened that Huang Yihe went to the theatre. It was interesting to see Benchang You's performance. He invited him to the 84 Spring Festival Gala.
Benchang You finished listening to the music.
After so many years of obscurity, I suddenly want to go to the Spring Festival Gala. What is the nature of the Spring Festival Gala? It means that you are about to enter the national people's sight and become a household name.
So, on the Spring Festival Evening of 1984, Benchang You brought a pantomime bath.
This performance, from when he almost fell, pretended to take off his clothes, turned on the tap to wash his body, "washing his hair" encountered "water cut off", and when the water came again, "the temperature was too high", which made him tremble and drift ... The whole performance was less than four minutes.
However, just a few key minutes made Benchang You famous, and the stage of the Spring Festival Evening made him feel unprecedented glory.
03.
A work is an actor's passport.
Shortly after the Spring Festival Gala, director Zhang Ge found Benchang You. Let him try Jigong.
At that time, there were several candidates, including Yan Shunkai (played by the true story of Ah Q), a student from Benchang You. But in the end, Zhang Ge chose Benchang You.
Benchang You, a southerner, is familiar with life in the south. He also has a very strong "Shanghai temperament", elegant and civilized.
And most importantly, when Zhang Ge observes Benchang You from a distance, the way he talks to others, his demeanor and manners are all his imagination of helping others. In addition, Benchang You himself believed in Buddhism (at the age of 6, the monk said that he would not live beyond 65,438+03 unless he converted to Buddhism. His father sent him to the Fazang Temple in Shanghai for conversion.
To sum up, Benchang You belongs to "Jigong", which seems to be interpreted as: Benchang You has not played the leading role for more than 30 years, and the role of "Jigong" is reserved for him.
Benchang You didn't care about money when he played Jigong. He didn't talk to Zhang Ge about any remuneration, which meant that he would give as much as he wanted, and then he went straight to Shanghai.
Finally, Zhang Ge paid for one episode 120. Six episodes were filmed first, then two episodes were made up, and the effect was good. The last two episodes were given to 150. Over * * * 1000.
04.
Zhang Ge didn't give Benchang You a long preparation time, from preparation to shooting, only a short month. Benchang You, who has many years of shooting experience, fell into a panic. Although I often watched Shen Xiaomei's Ji Gong when I was a child, I really couldn't make up my mind as soon as I appeared.
Until one day he saw a statue of Jigong in a stall in Hangzhou, he was inspired at once.
The statue in front of him has a long pointed chin and a broken cattail fan. It's like telling Benchang You to act like him.
Benchang You looked at this bamboo root carving and felt it in an instant. So I spent 25 yuan and respectfully invited Jigong home.
After returning home, Benchang You made old clothes for "Jigong" and cut the fan into rags. I looked in the mirror and felt very satisfied.
The character "Jigong" has a specific outline, and Benchang You is wondering how to play it, which will be more appropriate.
Benchang You ponders the script every day, such as how to play the drunken state. This is a knowledge and a test. You can't be crooked or sick, you must be beautiful.
He remembered Gai Jiaotian's "Song Wu Da Hu", and he was intoxicated with beauty, just like the wind swinging a lotus leaf and stepping on cotton. This idea gave me another idea.
In the first two episodes of Ji Gong, Benchang You felt a little bad. In the third episode, he has completely entered the role, like a real "Jigong" possessed.
Speaking of which, Benchang You has to thank these shoes.
Benchang You is in three pools in the West Lake. After filming the sunrise, he sat there to have a rest. The director is preparing at the other end. Call him when he is ready. When he crossed the zigzag bridge, he ran unsteadily, because his shoes were too big to keep up with him. Benchang You ran and ran, and suddenly felt that this was the gait of Jigong, kicking and kicking.
He just walked up to the director and said, "This is the feeling of Jigong! 」
05.
Benchang You gave up his half-life while filming Ji Gong. He especially cherishes the hard-won role of "Jigong". I only sleep four hours a day. Play during the day and summarize at night. At the age of 52, he fights harder than many young actors.
In the play, he is even crazier. Ji Gong has several impressive scenes.
First, "Jigong" eats meat. He drank in a big bowl and ate meat in large chunks, which made the audience greedy.
But in fact, elbow meat, it stinks.
The meat was bought the afternoon before and put in the refrigerator. In order to catch up with work, I had to leave at four or five the next morning, and the meat was taken out of the refrigerator and put in plastic bags. The film crew stayed in the mountains all day. At that time, in summer, the temperature was 39 degrees, and my elbows stinked.
The "Jigong" in the script is "wine and meat wear the intestines." Benchang You must show his carnivorous temperament. The meat stinks, so he has to pretend to be delicious.
He "bites and chews" to make it delicious. The director didn't stop, just chewed over and over again. When this one passed, Benchang You dared to spit out all the bad meat.
In another scene, the Jigong was beaten. He shot that scene 12 times, but body double was useless.
Benchang You is covered with thin protective mats. This group of people play with him and beat him gently, but they can't get through. If you can't get through, you have to be beaten again and again. Benchang You finally "begged for mercy", let the group play for real, let him live once, and get rid of it quickly.
Because of the truth before, when the last round of live ammunition was finished, Benchang You couldn't get up on the ground. It took several days to limp slowly.
In addition to being beaten, there was a scene in which Qin Xiangfu dumped the body.
Although it is padded, it must be thrown upwards, more than two meters. It happened that my wife was visiting with her daughter. The daughter cried with a wow when she saw her father working so hard.
Benchang You quickly comforted her daughter, saying that all these were taken and all were "fake". Whether it's true or not, Benchang You knows best what meat does to him.
Bitter is bitter, but "Jigong" received a good response and caused an unprecedented upsurge.
Everyone else copied the cattail leaf fan at home and cut it to pieces. Children also learned to rub the mud on their bodies and treat people well. This "Jigong fever" even spread abroad. A parent took Benchang You's hand and said with great excitement, "Thank you so much! My child is interested in traditional literature now because he saw Jigong. 」
"Jigong fever" is far more than that. During that time, even the crime rate dropped a lot.
"Jigong" can be described as fame and fortune.
Benchang You himself won the "Best Actor in the 4th China Golden Eagle TV Award" for "Jigong". The scene of him munching on meat was later compiled by Beijing Film Academy as a teaching material for future generations to watch.
06.
After Ji Gong, Benchang You fell in love with Ji Gong completely.
In his view, "Jigong" is no longer a title, but a culture-Jigong Jigong, saving the world for the public. Jigong has a great influence on his world outlook and artistic view. This is not only a role, but also his role model and spiritual mentor.
In order to carry forward this culture, Benchang You filmed sequels such as Jigong, Jigong Living Buddha and Jigong Travel Notes.
The Living Buddha of Jigong was published in 1989, and The Travels of Jigong was published in 1998. This decade is also limited to these films. During this period, Ji Gong's Travels were all self-directed and fund-raising performances. Fortunately, the response was good, making a million dollars.
In 199 1, Yang, his wife, was diagnosed with cancer. Benchang You gave up all film contracts and took good care of them for four years. Finally, under his careful care, his wife miraculously overcame the terminal stage of cancer.
However, the film and television industry was not so lucky, because Benchang You refused to make an appointment to make a film, so others stopped looking for him later. As a result, I was idle for 20 years.
Benchang You believed in Buddhism very much, so he went to school to teach family education and performed when there was no drama. Growing flowers and collecting "Jigong" statues, there are more than 20 "Jigong" sculptures in his family.
No, he refused. Do it if you like, and do it if you lose money.
Benchang You himself loves pantomime and is bent on developing pantomime. He made a large pantomime series "Mr. You's Dumb Laughter" out of his own pocket. After the broadcast, the response was very general, and he lost all the 65,438+0 million he earned.
Later, he didn't give up and filmed "Leaving Fan". But these are not mainstream commercial TV dramas. Although they have a good reputation, they don't make money. After two performances, he lost everything.
He doesn't regret losing money to make movies.
In 2009, in order to film Master Hongyi, 76-year-old Benchang You became a monk in Daguangming Temple, and Master Chang Huai gave him a dharma name. One is to experience the role, and the other is to believe in Buddhism.
Benchang You, who accepted the Five Commandments, seems to be one step closer to "helping the public".
20 1 1, Benchang You formally rehearsed the drama Master Hongyi: The Final Victory. As soon as the play was named, it had no commercial value and no one invested in it. Benchang You sold his house, set up his own "Benchang You Art Troupe" and recruited 24 actors to rehearse.
Drama costs a lot of money. In the first year, Master Hongyi only ran three races, but spent nearly one million on venue fees and labor costs. After seven performances in the second year, I still lost money.
In the third year, the response was slightly better, and Master Hongyi performed more than 60 performances in the United States and Canada.
Benchang You smiled knowingly.
Today, Benchang You is 88 years old. She wants nothing, is carefree, and is extremely happy.
It has been 36 years since he starred in Jigong this year.
He is a late bloomer in life.
"Jigong" made him, and he made "Jigong".
Two people become one, true and false, false and true.
He has no regrets all his life.