The 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" has been hailed as an unsurpassed wonderful chapter in the history of television, and more than 30 years have passed, but it still exudes brilliant light.
This immortal classic is thanks to the craftsmanship of the crew and the perfect performances of the actors.
The successful casting of the actors has won high praise, and almost every character is appropriately combined with the original book, as if it came out of a book.
Back then, director Wang Fulin adopted the form of a national audition when casting, rather than choosing actors who had already become famous. His criterion is not experience or acting skills, but whether the actor's appearance and temperament fit the character image.
"Dream of Red Mansions" took a total of 5 years from preparation to the end of filming, and it took 3 years to shoot alone.
During the three-year filming period, the entire crew was fully engaged, and everyone was immersed in the atmosphere of "Dream of Red Mansions".
The leading actors are almost all a group of young people in their prime, and the actresses are all good-looking. Now 37 years later, what is their current situation and what stories have happened to them?
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Deng Jie, the actor who plays "Wang Xifeng", is one of the most well-developed actors in "Dream of Red Mansions". That year, she won the Best Supporting Actress in Feitian for this role.
In fact, it was not Deng Jie who originally chose the role of Wang Xifeng, but Le Yun. Later, Le Yun withdrew, and Deng Jie became the leader of this role.
Except for director Wang Fulin and screenwriter Zhou Lei, almost no one is optimistic about Deng Jie. Everyone thinks she's not pretty enough and she's not tall enough. But Deng Jie completed the filming under great pressure, and finally proved that she was the chosen Wang Xifeng with her strength.
When Dream of Red Mansions first aired, it was not as highly rated as it is now. Many actors are considered by the audience to be inappropriate enough for the original work, such as Lin Daiyu played by Chen Xiaoxu. But Deng Jie is one of the only actors who is not controversial and won an award for her role in this play.
Deng Jie has been active in the public eye for many years, and in addition to being an actress, she also serves as a producer.
Almost all of Zhang Guoli's film and television works are produced by Deng Jie.
The reason why Zhang Li played Baochai was purely accidental. At that time, she only accompanied the teacher's daughter to the interview, but the director of the final casting felt that Zhang Li's temperament was very in line with the character image in Dream of Red Mansions.
Zhang Li, who was chosen, never thought that she could play Baochai. Because Zhu Biyun's case was already finalized at that time, she mainly played the role of a maid when she auditioned.
However, later Zhu Biyun heard that she was going to shoot for three years, so she decided to quit because she was worried that such a long time of filming would delay her plan to study abroad.
Zhang Li's appearance, manners, and conversation are very close to the original book's description of Baochai, so she was recommended to the director team. Although she has played many other roles, she has always been Baochai in the eyes of the audience.
Zhang Li decided to go abroad to Canada for further study and study directing to break the limitations of roles. However, a chance encounter changed her decision, and she decided to give up art and pursue business. She rented a house, but the landlord urgently needed **, and the house price was 170,000, so Zhang Li decided to buy it herself. However, before the renovation was carried out, someone was interested in the house and offered 270,000. So, Zhang Li bought and sold, making a net profit of 100,000. In view of the success of this experience, Zhang Li decided to devote herself to the real estate industry, start anew, and gradually explore the experience. Eventually, she even created her own real estate company, which prospered and reached hundreds of millions of dollars.
For many years, Zhang Li has been living abroad, not married and having children, and living a free and chic life.
Qin Keqing is one of the most mysterious characters in "Dream of Red Mansions". There are not many descriptions of her in the book, her life experience and encounters are all suspicious, and she is the first person among the twelve hairpins to die of incense. Zhang Lei, who played Qin Keqing in film and television dramas, was also the same as Qin Keqing, who amazed the audience for a moment, and then disappeared from the public eye for 30 years.
Zhang Lei is known as the most beautiful woman in the Dream of Red Mansions, she has a sentimental temperament, and she is Daiyu's first choice. However, because she is too old and is already in her twenties, she is no longer suitable to play a teenage girl who is in love. Wang Fulin assigned her to play Qin Keqing, a petite and delicate character with a romantic personality, somewhat similar to Daiyu.
Qin Keqing doesn't have many scenes, and he will be offline soon. So, before joining the group, Zhang Lei was already going through the procedures for leaving the country and waiting for the visa to come down.
She explained the situation in detail to the director, and the director arranged for Zhang Lei's role to be placed in the front. By the time the director informed Qin Keqing that the scene had been filmed, Zhang Lei had already gone abroad to study.
Later, the director found that Qin Keqing still had two unfilmed scenes, although there were not many, they were very important. It's a pity that Zhang Lei couldn't be contacted at that time, so the director had to find a drama actor Xia Lirong who was very similar to her to replace her.
In the 80s, the communication conditions were much worse than now, and Zhang Lei almost lost her voice after going abroad. For the next three decades, various speculations about her have been different, and it was not until 2017, when the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" was reunited, that the audience learned the true situation of Zhang Lei.
After going to the United States, Zhang Lei chose to study filmmaking at Columbia University, but she did not continue her acting career. Instead, she pursued a major in accounting and eventually founded her own pharmaceutical research and development company.
Thirty years have not seen, Zhang Lei still retains her beauty and elegance.
Dongfang Wenying, who plays the role of "Tanchun", joined the crew with photographer Li Yaozong. In the beginning, she served as a field reporter.
Dongfang Wenying is smart and capable, exuding a kind of masculinity. She has always dreamed of becoming a director, which coincides with Tanchun's character traits of "being smart and ambitious".
At first, Baoyu's actor has been difficult to choose, so someone proposed that the actress should be reversed, and Dongfang Wenying actually recommended herself to play Baoyu. It is precisely because her temperament and personality traits are too suitable for Tanchun that the director team decided to let her try out the role of Tanchun, and it turned out to be very suitable.
Dongfang Wenying's acting skills left a deep impression, especially in the scene of "Flesh and Bone", which brought tears to the eyes of the audience, and her performance was full of infectiousness. In the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions", Dongfang Wenying is not only an excellent actor, but also directed many scenes, such as "The Death of Sister Feng", which she was responsible for. After completing the filming of "Dream of Red Mansions", Dongfang Wenying devoted herself to her career as a director, and although she experienced some twists and turns, she eventually found that she was more suitable to be a producer, so she changed direction. She has been very successful in her production work, directing several excellent dramas, some of which have won awards such as "Women's Prison", "Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee" and "Gobi Mother".
The first half of Shi Xiangyun's image is very cute, but the second half is heartbreaking. The two scenes that impressed me, one was "Drunk Lying on Peony Medicine", which was romantic and beautiful; The other scene is when she reunites with Baoyu, who has become a boat prostitute, she shouts "Second brother, redeem me" to Baoyu, which is heartbreaking. Guo Xiaozhen interprets Xiangyun very vividly, and her own life experience is also quite bumpy. Guo Xiaozhen is an actor at the Huangmei Drama Theater in Anqing City, Anhui Province, she originally wanted to continue to develop in the entertainment industry after filming "Dream of Red Mansions", and she has played small supporting roles in several plays, and has tried to apply for Chinese opera many times, but each time she was rejected due to insufficient grades in cultural classes. She entered the drama school at the age of 13 and has been busy performing, and the foundation of cultural classes is not good. Although she could have audited at her own expense, Guo Xiaozhen's family's financial situation did not allow it, and she has always been the main breadwinner of the family, because her parents are disabled, so she can only return to her hometown to continue her work as a singer of Huangmei Opera.
Guo Xiaozhen's work in the Huangmei Opera Troupe is quite stable, and later she moved to the local Huangmei Opera Academy as a teacher, and has been mixing in the Huangmei Opera industry.
There are two actors in the role of Yingchun, one is Jin Lili and the other is Mu Yi.
Jin Lili filmed a section first, and then she was admitted to Chinese opera. However, the rules of Chinese opera do not allow first-year students to take over the play. After careful consideration, Jin Lili decided to give up acting to study.
Mu Yi was found on the road by casting director Xia Minghui. At that time, Mu Yi was still a dispatcher for an automobile company.
Compared with Jin Lili's shrewd Spring Festival, Mu Yi, who looks a little wooden, is closer to the image of "Ermu" Spring Festival.
Mu Yi had never acted before, and he was not good at acting. all relied on the guidance of the teacher of the crew, and she could keep up with a teacher's lines. However, her experience and temperament have succeeded in presenting the weakness and woodenness of Yingchun.
After "Dream of Red Mansions", Mu Yi stayed in the film and television industry to continue to develop, filming a few dramas, but he always lacked opportunities.
So, she simply started a jewelry business in the name of "welcoming spring". At that time, it was a great honor to be able to perform in "Dream of Red Mansions", and the audience recognized it. Later, she also expanded her business to the field of construction machinery, and the business was booming.
Now that more than 30 years have passed, looking at Mu Yi again, how can he still look cowardly back then, he has completely become a business boss with brains, dares to think, and dares to do.
Like Mu Yi, Yuan Chun's actor Cheng Mei was not born in the theater industry, she was a saleswoman in a department store before acting in "Dream of Red Mansions", and she also joined the crew by chance.
Wang Fulin felt that she had no confidence in Cheng Mei's role as Yuanchun at first, she was not tall, and she was worried that she would not be able to play Yuanchun's temperament, but Wang Fulin was very confident in her.
Changing into costumes and putting on makeup, Chengmei powder is majestic, graceful and luxurious, and the image of the dignified and generous imperial concubine is immediately presented.
Although Cheng Mei's appearance time is short, her role as Yuan Chun is impressive, although this is just a provincial scene, there are not many scenes, but it is extremely important.
After that, Cheng Mei starred in several plays one after another, but it didn't attract much attention. At the time of going abroad, Cheng Mei chose to study abroad, studying for a double bachelor's degree in advertising design and photography, and finally engaged in the insurance industry, and has been living abroad.
It turned out that Hu Zehong, who was also Daiyu's candidate, actually went to play a small role at first. As a Yue Opera actor, she has played the roles of Zijuan and Qingwen in the Yue Opera version of "Dream of Red Mansions".
Wang Fulin thinks that it is a pity for Hu Zehong to play a maid, because her beauty is outstanding. So, Wang Fulin arranged for her to go to the Daiyu group.
Hu Zehong once joked that the reason why she was not selected for Lin Daiyu was because she couldn't pretend. She thinks Daiyu is sentimental, and she herself has a cheerful and lively personality, and she is an optimist.
Wang Fulin explained that although Hu Zehong is beautiful and has good acting skills, his figure is not slim enough. Although Chen Xiaoxu is not beautiful enough, his figure and temperament are more suitable for Lin Daiyu.
In Dream of Red Mansions, it is difficult for many actors to get out of the influence of the role, but Hu Zehong is different, she can quickly get out of the shackles of the role after the performance.
Hu Zehong later started a business with her husband, first opening a restaurant, but closing it because she was too tired. Then he started an advertising agency and has been doing it ever since. She doesn't have much ambition and is content with her current life.
Ji Peijie (later renamed Ji Yu) was originally a temporary worker in a leather shoe factory. Because her eyes are a little resentful and her temperament is cold, she was selected to play Miaoyu. She has acted in more than 300 film and television dramas, but she has never surpassed the success of Miaoyu. My career is not going well, my life is not satisfactory, I got married in my early 20s, and divorced at the age of 26 to become a single mother.
Perhaps because he experienced fame, career failure, loss of marriage and emotional failure at a young age, Ji Yu found sustenance in Buddhism and has been devoted to Buddhism ever since. There are many actors in "Dream of Red Mansions", we only chose the main characters, and the stories of the actors of the other characters are equally exciting. However, due to space limitations, I will not expand it for the time being, and I will have the opportunity to talk about it next time.