Her looks and figure are not outstanding, and she is not suitable to be an actress.
She is Wei Minzhi, a girl from the countryside.
Wei Minzhi, a girl born in 1985 in Ningbao Village, Chicheng County, Hebei Province, has helped her parents share the pressures of life since she was a child, first going to hunt pigweed after school and then going home to feed the pigs.
According to the normal trajectory, she is likely to be like most girls in the village, and after a few years of schooling, she will start working, marrying, having children, and becoming a housewife.
However, the trajectory of her life was completely changed by the appearance of a director.
In 1998, the famous director Zhang Yimou planned to shoot a film that reflected rural life, "No One is Missing".
In order to make the content of the film more realistic, he decided to look for amateur actors in poor areas.
In order to find the heroine in their minds, the crew conducted a comprehensive selection of actors in rural areas across Hebei.
Assistant director Li Hong met Wei Minzhi's sister Wei Congzhi in Ningbao Village and was deeply attracted by her talent and charm.
On the left is Wei Minzhi, and on the right is Wei Congzhi.
He gently asked his sister if she could sing and dance.
Wei Congzhi had never seen this kind of scene, and shyly hid behind his sister.
In order to let her sister behave, Wei Minzhi took the initiative to stand up and sing and dance, with an extraordinary bearing and no timidity.
When Li Hong saw this scene, her heart was touched.
Although Wei Minzhi didn't know what a movie was, she still replied firmly: "Dare!" ”
This little girl, who is only 13 years old, walked out of the mountains and came to the famous director Zhang Yimou.
Among the countless girls who auditioned, Wei Minzhi may not be the most beautiful, but she is undoubtedly the one who has the courage to challenge.
After several rounds of interviews, she made it to the final selection process with a more professional girl.
Faced with the crowd, Zhang Yimou had a hard choice, so he decided to test their determination.
He asked the two girls to go out into the street and shout at the crowd.
The professional girl looked at the crowd and looked a little nervous, and it was difficult to let go of her voice.
However, Wei Minzhi completely disregarded her image, shouting loudly in the crowd, screaming with all her might, as if she wanted to break through all restraints, her voice was full of unwillingness and longing.
At that moment, Zhang Yimou felt goosebumps all over his body, and immediately decided that it was her, Wei Minzhi.
After just a few months of filming, Wei Minzhi bid farewell to the director and crew and returned to that familiar mountain village. She laments not being able to taste the first strawberries grown at home, "If only I had come back sooner." ”
After returning to her hometown, her life was the same as before, going to school, mowing grass and feeding pigs, and doing all kinds of farm work, which was no different from before.
However, who would have thought that the appearance of this movie would completely change Wei Minzhi's life.
On September 7, 1999, "No One is Missing" became an instant hit, and the rural teacher played by Wei Minzhi adhered to Teacher Gao's advice, no matter how the students made trouble, they always stuck to the door of the classroom and firmly guarded her students.
This story touched countless audiences and made everyone deeply feel the difficulties of teachers and their perseverance.
A 10-year-old student was unable to repay his family debts, so he had no choice but to leave school to work in the city.
Wei Minzhi remembered Teacher Gao's parting promise: "Of the 28 children, no one can be left behind." ”
She resolutely embarked on a journey to find her students.
She persevered in the bustling crowd of people, and finally with the help of the TV director, she found the student who had dropped out of school.
The entire auditorium was moved to tears.
Director Zhang Yimou has won more than a dozen awards for one film, including the highest Golden Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival and the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film at the Chinese Film Golden Rooster Award.
And his former "Mou Girl" Wei Minzhi has also become a small star because of her outstanding performance in the movie, and is well-known and praised by the public.
However, in the face of interviews and invitations, Wei Minzhi was confused.
She hopes that her success will help improve her family's life, and becoming a big star seems to be a shortcut to "one step to the sky".
However, Zhang Yimou told her seriously that her success was just a life experience and could not change her fate.
He advised her to calm down, focus on her studies, and get into a good school because it was the best way to change her fate.
Zhang Yimou's words made Wei Minzhi wake up like a dream, and she realized that her value did not lie in her fame, but in the knowledge and skills she mastered.
For a person like her, who lacks knowledge and insight, fame is undoubtedly an ethereal thing, bringing more trouble and trouble.
Therefore, she followed Zhang Yimou's advice, gave up the ** in the entertainment industry, and devoted herself to studying.
However, how can such a person who has already seen the world be willing to spend his life in such an ordinary way?
The passion in her heart has never been extinguished, and in her junior year of high school, she decided to apply for the directing department to challenge a new future.
However, her decision was opposed by her family and teachers.
They decided that she was not suitable for art school, and that it was better to choose to teach like her sister.
In the face of her family's opposition and doubts, Wei Minzhi did not give up easily, she firmly chose her own path, and although she was ultimately defeated, she never regretted it.
Her experience tells us that we should have the courage to pursue our dreams, and no matter how difficult the road ahead is, we should persevere, because only in this way can we realize our own value and live our own wonderful life.
Wei Minzhi's experience once again makes people think deeply, from the praise in the past to the ridicule now, she is under tremendous pressure. Netizens even thought that she lacked artistic talent, and it was inevitable that she would fail in the film academy examination.
Facing the ridicule of the outside world and the pressure of the college entrance examination, 19-year-old Wei Minzhi could not bear it.
At this time, she repeatedly read Wang Guozhen's poem "Learning to Wait", telling her to wait patiently and arrange herself, and that success does not require too much alcohol.
At the intersection of the college entrance examination, Zhang Yimou's hometown of Xi'an University of Foreign Chinese opened a new door for her.
They sent out an invitation to apply for the exam, promising that as long as she passed the art exam, she would be exempted from 11,000 yuan of tuition and miscellaneous fees every year, paving a bright road for her future.
Wei Minzhi's growth is moving. She decided to choose a less difficult choreography and directing major, and successfully passed the art exam.
Next came the challenge of cultural classes, in order to get into the ideal school, she asked her father to buy a flashlight for her and read it every night.
A few months before the college entrance examination, she used three broken flashlights.
In September 2004, Wei Minzhi was admitted to the School of Western Film, Film and Television Media of Xi'an University of Foreign Chinese with an excellent score of 200 points above the art score line, and became a student of the Department of Choreography and Directing.
She had been questioned, criticized, and ridiculed, but that was all in the past.
With her own efforts and strength, Wei Minzhi successfully rewrote her destiny and stepped towards a new future.
Wei Minzhi realized her dream of directing for many years while in college.
In her sophomore year, she took on the burden of directing for the first time and filmed the TV series "Mother's Wish".
Immediately afterwards, she relied on her college entrance examination experience to direct and act in the movie "Fairy Tale of the Night".
As long as we are prepared and have the courage to struggle, opportunities will always come to us.
Chinese-American professor Chen Ergang contacted Wei Minzhi in Hebei because of the movie "No One is Missing".
As long as she passes the English test, she will be able to study abroad at Brigham Young University. Although Wei Minzhi's English communication skills are very poor, she decided to seize the opportunity.
So she began to study English like crazy, and when she met Chen Ergang again two years later, she could already amaze the other party with standard spoken English.
Minzhi Wei was admitted to Brigham Young University (Hawaii) to major in Media and Television and received a full scholarship.
During her study abroad, she was active all over the school, and even in her first year of study, she hosted a world folk song concert brought by the Brigham Young University Choir to the Beijing audience in Zhongshan Hall in both languages (Chinese and English).
Not only that, but she also learned in-depth skills such as choreography, shooting, and editing.
Her life is like studying, step by step, steady progress.
At a party, she met Liu Jinhui, a Chinese-American, and the two fell in love, and after a period of dating, they came together.
Now, they have formed a happy family, and their son Liu Qian is very likable.
Everyone is qualified to dream big, no matter how mundane their status.
Wei Minzhi's experience proves that only through unremitting learning and preparation can opportunities come to you.
Therefore, don't give up on your dreams because you never know where you're going to go.
At the opening ceremony of the 30th Hawaii International Film Festival in 2010, Wei Minzhi and Zhang Yimou reunited again.
Fate is such a thing, sometimes it is really wonderful, this time Zhang Yimou came with his new work "The Love of the Hawthorn Tree", and the girl next to him, Zhou Dongyu, is his protégé.
At that time, Wei Minzhi had become a mature filmmaker.
Wei Minzhi's luck is self-evident, from an unknown rural girl to a movie star who has been in the global spotlight, her fate has changed dramatically.
However, digging deeper, we will find that her success was not accidental, but stemmed from her fearlessness, courage and indomitable spirit.
As one netizen said, a movie inspired her, but the path she ultimately chose was her own decision.
Wei Minzhi realized her dream, not only because of the opportunities provided by Zhang Yimou, but also because of her own hard work and diligence.
In a crowded world, the decision of whether she chooses to retreat or rise to the challenge is always in her own hands.
Only by bravely facing difficulties can you realize your dreams.