There are so many things in this world that are mixed with truth and falsehood. The plot in the story is sometimes real, and sometimes it is fictional; Some things are said to be what they are, but they are not; Some things are denied, but they exist.
Liu Luoguo was a famous prime minister in ancient China.
"Prime Minister Liu Luoguo", which aired in 1996, became a popular drama series at that time, and Li Baotian, Zhang Guoli and Wang Gang became the pillars of the ratings.
However, when the director was ready to take advantage of the victory to pursue and make a sequel, Li Baotian refused. He bluntly said that some people have different temperaments and personalities, and it is impossible to cooperate again.
He was suddenly caught in the whirlpool, and then more than 10 investors gathered in Beijing, unanimously accusing Li Baotian of being a "drama bully", and said that they would never cooperate with him again in the future.
Pan Changjiang once bluntly said on a show that Li Baotian may have "offended a lot of people", and Li Baotian's response was: Rules are rules.
The struggle for "hegemony" in the opera industry.
In 2006, the heads of more than a dozen film and television companies in Beijing gathered at a meeting called the "Denunciation Conference," whose goal was to denounce Mr. Li.
The "Li Baotian" they called is a "drama bully", who not only interferes with the casting of actors, but also is very difficult to cooperate with during filming, and often strikes for no reason.
One of the things they couldn't tolerate the most was that Li Baotian had a one-minute scene with the actress in a play, but it took a full 8 hours to shoot.
At that time, the "condemnation meeting" set off an uproar, and people joined in watching the battle. Some people think that there must be a reason why these investors are making such a big fanfare, and they think that there must be a problem with Li Baotian.
Some people said that they did this to protect their rights and interests, to silence the few who told the truth, and that the entertainment industry needs an upright person like Li Baotian to rectify it.
The reason why Li Baotian was involved in the turmoil was actually related to a lawsuit he participated in not long ago.
A year ago, Li Baotian participated in the filming of the TV series "The Minister of the Imperial Mission". Before his participation, the contract he signed with the filmmaker clearly stipulated that the show had a total of 30 episodes, each episode was 100,000, and the total salary was 3 million.
The contract also clearly stipulates that if adjustments are required, they must be approved in writing by Li Baotian; Unauthorized adjustments will result in compensation of 300,000 per episode and 1 million liquidated damages will need to be paid to him.
However, when this TV series was broadcast, Li Baotian was surprised to find that the original 30 episodes of the plot were cut out by the filmmaker for 33 episodes. At that time, TV dramas were usually sold to TV stations according to the number of episodes, and one more episode paid an extra penny.
Stills from "The Minister".
From a profitability standpoint, this is seen as a "common rule in the industry" and it is rare for anyone to argue with the producers, who are the main party.
Li Baotian believes that this is the filmmaker's opportunistic tricks to make money and break the rules. However, he did not have a direct seizure, but first negotiated with the filmmaker.
However, whenever he tries to have a good conversation, the filmmaker always ignores him. Li Baotian realized that he was there"Play the harp to the cow", so he decided to directly sue the filmmaker in court and demanded a claim of 1.9 million.
At a time when the case has not yet been decided, Li Baotian is facing a joint "bombardment" from more than a dozen film and television companies, but in fact, only three or four companies have cooperated with him.
Li Baotian eventually won the lawsuit, but was jointly attacked by more than a dozen companies**. Despite this, Li Baotian does not regret it, because he believes that he must follow the rules in this industry, otherwise he will have to bear the blame of others.
Some viewers believe that in the face of such a result, Li Baotian is only talking about moral norms verbally, but in fact, he is in league with those filmmakers, all out of economic interests.
People who are familiar with Li Baotian think this statement is funny, because considering Li Baotian's reputation at that time, it was too easy for him to make money, and many advertisers and dealers vied with him to endorse him, and the advertising and appearance fees given were surprisingly high.
However, since his debut, Li Baotian has never received an advertisement. According to his son Li Yu, his father once rejected some advertisements, some of which even cost more than 20 million yuan.
It's not because he doesn't like the money, but because he can't do immoral things, and he doesn't want to do anything wrong for the sake of money.
Li Baotian is very similar to his parents, both adhere to principles, are straightforward and honest, and have a sharp vision. However, at one point he had a very bad relationship with his parents, which led him to run away from home for 4 years, during which time he completely cut off contact with his family.
Those who are close are strict, and those who are sparse are wide.
Li Baotian's parents are very proud people, his father is a cadre, and his mother works in a hospital. They are all associated with the military, so they are very strict about the education of their children.
Li Baotian has been a rebellious guy since he was a child, but he likes to listen to dramas, and sometimes even skips class to go to the theater. Every time he was caught by his father, a meal of "fried meat with a belt" was indispensable.
Li Baotian became more and more insistent on the play, although his parents always wanted him to go to school well. In this stalemate, my father finally said a cruel sentence directly: Do you think you are worthy of this profession?
Li Baotian was only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time, and when he heard these words, he ran away from home in a rage, and as a result, he was gone for four years.
Before leaving, he said a word to his father: I swear that one day I will let Comrade Lao Li take home Xiao Li to become a successful person!
In this way, he joined the Xuzhou Bangzi Troupe at the age of 13, however, all the children in the troupe thought he was different. Li Baotian was outspoken, which caused the unhappiness of many people, and he was often bullied, and the most troublesome thing was that he could not eat enough.
Li Baotian has always had a lot of energy in his heart, eager to achieve something, eager to hold his head high in front of his parents, so no matter what difficulties he encountered, he persevered.
Until 1964, he had been with the troupe for more than four years, but had not achieved much. Eager to change the status quo, he practiced desperately, carried out high-intensity physical training, and was malnourished, and soon fell ill.
He had a high fever of 40 degrees many times at that time, and he was almost in a coma, but even though he was seriously ill and tortured for half a month, he still insisted on performing. Until finally, a Sichuan director discovered his condition and arranged for his secretary to send him back to Xuzhou to recuperate.
Li Baotian plays the image of a harlequin.
After the secretary sent Li Baotian to the door of the troupe, he went to meet friends, but at this time the troupe was performing outside, and Li Baotian could not enter, so he had to lie down in the corridor.
When he woke up, he found himself in the hospital receiving an infusion** while his mother, whom he hadn't seen for four years, was standing by the bedside crying. At this time, Li Baotian realized that he had contracted typhoid fever, and it can be said that he escaped by luck.
Not far from his ward, his father lived in the ** ward, and before he was admitted to the hospital, his father had been admitted to the critical care ward due to severe liver disease, which was an even more unexpected thing for him.
Although they lived in the same hospital and on the same floor, the father and son never actively looked for each other.
Until a few days later, Li Baotian was receiving the infusion**, and gradually took a nap, in the haze, he felt that someone touched his infusion hand, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that it was his father, which turned out to help him adjust a more comfortable position.
Li Baotian At this moment, all of a sudden, all these years of resentment towards his father disappeared.
Li Baotian later continued to work in the troupe until he returned home again for funeral.
Li Baotian's lifelong regret is the death of his father, and he regrets that he once rebelled and stubborn, resulting in missing the precious time spent with his father.
In order to make up for this regret, Li Baotian began to learn to express his love to his mother, but his mother was an introverted person and rarely showed her emotions on her face.
She was strong all her life, never complained about hard work and fatigue, never asked for help from others, never used her connections to help her children, and was very strict with all the children's upbringing.
When she reached the age of 100, the representative of the city ** directly sent a banner with the words "Innocence of Life", which fully demonstrated the noble character of their family.
It wasn't until she was in her 80s that she gradually got used to her son's hug, and she felt a little unaccustomed and resistant to her son's changes at first.
Li Yu with his father Li Baotian.
Even so, the mother did not dare to be overly happy, because she was afraid that she might suffer grief after being too happy. Li Baotian has the same concerns.
He once said: You can be proud, but don't be rampant, because once you are arrogant, you must be more than lucky. This sentence is the experience he summed up in the process of crawling.
Some people can no longer work together.
When he was only 18 years old, Li Baotian began to rely on drugs to fall asleep, because the goals he set for himself were too arduous, and his mental capacity was limited, so he could only rely on drugs and ** to seek relief.
After he entered the showbiz, he experienced the baptism of "industry rules", although he was reluctant but had to compromise occasionally, and every attempt made him unable to suppress the shame of a few days.
He admitted in a show that he hated hypocrisy the most, but he had to do hypocritical things every day, and although he hated it the most, he had to do it every day, which made him feel tormented for 4 years.
After experiencing some things, Li Baotian gradually became bearish and gradually returned to himself.
The director originally planned to shoot a sequel to "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo", and the other actors agreed, but encountered obstacles here in Li Baotian.
He said the script looked like it had been put together in a hurry, and that it wasn't worth performing. You know, it's not easy to create a great character, but it's fairly easy to ruin.
In a later interview, Li Baotian said more frankly: There are some people I can no longer work with, and I will not perform inferior scripts to the audience for money or other purposes.
The arrival of Zhang Guoli and Wang Gang directly pointed to the people who played with them at that time.
Subsequently, Zhang Guoli and Wang Gang cooperated with Zhang Tielin to form a new "Iron Triangle" and jointly filmed the tetralogy of "Iron Tooth Bronze Tooth Ji Xiaolan".
When Li Baoguo was later asked again why he did not cooperate with them in the first place, he did not explain much, but simply expressed the view that "it is not harmonious".
After leaving the "Iron Triangle", he also created many excellent works, such as "Divine Doctor Xilaile", which is a very classic TV series.
When success comes, he is not as relaxed and happy as his mother, because he knows what it is like to be happy and sad.
He had just finished the film "The Tramp and the Swan", which was his happiest moment, when he received news that his 28-year-old painter brother had died in a car accident on his way to Xinjiang to sketch.
Li Baotian praised his younger brother because he showed talent and pursuit at a young age, but unfortunately he died in an accident before he had the opportunity to show his talents in the field he loved.
He put the blame on himself, although this should have been a force majeure disaster, in fact, he felt that if he had given his brother some pocket money in the first place, his brother might not have taken a ride to Xinjiang. This matter has always haunted Li Baoquan's heart and has become a knot in his heart.
From then on, he also began to use the paintbrush, hoping to leave something for his brother. Subsequently, he even let his son Li Yu start studying art at the age of 6. However, it is a pity that Li Yu is just as stubborn as he is, and he also wants to try acting.
The father and son stubbornly argued for a long time, unable to convince each other. In the end, Li Baotian still respected his son's choice, but put forward stricter requirements for him.
Li Yu was eager to be admitted to Chinese opera, but he suffered a setback on his third attempt. He knew that his father had graduated from Chinese opera and had some connections there, and that his mother was a teacher of Chinese opera, so he wanted to seek advice and help from his parents.
The couple agreed that they would either repeat the exam or give up, and would never use the relationship to help him. Li Yu finally passed two exams before successfully entering the Chinese opera.
Li Yu once cooperated with his father in acting, so he was very obedient to his father's requirements, and even dared not cooperate with him again for a while, because Li Baotian had very strict requirements for acting.
Li Baotian entered the drama troupe at the age of 13, and he has always regarded drama as the top priority in his life, and even gave up attending his son's wedding in order to film.
He believes that filming is not a difficult thing, and the only secret is to put your heart and soul into it. In his opinion, the practice of art was a noble profession, but now it is belittled.
In an interview, he was unafraid to criticize the current state of affairs: nowadays, everyone has become an actor, and the threshold for an actor is already low. People see acting not only as a means of making a living, but also as a tool to make money.
Drama is supposed to be used to sculpt characters and bring spiritual pleasure and sensual pleasure to people, but now that the threshold is so low that everyone can become famous overnight, what is the point!
In 2022, at the Golden Eagle Festival award ceremony, Li Baotian won the "Lifetime Achievement Award", and his words in his speech made us understand that he has not left.
The audience is like the actor's "food and clothing", playing the role of a weighing stone between heaven and earth. Therefore, actors need to be worthy of the audience and their profession when filming. Just like what is said in "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo".
Li Baotian, 77 years old, has settled down in his hometown of Rongcheng. He meets with friends occasionally and does physical exercise from time to time. He is still waiting for an excellent script, ready to serve the audience at any time. We look forward to seeing him on stage again and giving a great performance to the audience."