In the recent hit new drama "Three Lives Lucky", 49-year-old Li Xiaoran plays the aunt of 35-year-old Ma Sichun's classmate.
However, the portrayal of this role has caused controversy, because there is obviously a generation gap between the two, and there is a huge contrast between Li Xiaoran's age and character setting, which makes it difficult for the audience to identify with her role.
This incident once again shows that the age of the actor should match the role, otherwise it will not be possible to make the audience feel a sense of substitution.
At the same time, it also reminds us not to put too much emphasis on acting, and we also need to take into account the audience's acceptance when creating characters.
"Three Lives Are Lucky" is a current hit drama that tells the love story of Ma Sichun and the male protagonist.
In the play, Li Xiaoran plays Xu Xiaoxiao, the aunt of Ma Sichun's classmate, a 35-year-old single mother.
The role of Xu Xiaoxiao should be a young and chic image, but Li Xiaoran is 49 years old, which is obviously inconsistent with the role setting.
This makes it difficult for the audience to identify with her as a 35-year-old single mother, who often feels "not a person of the world".
The crew arranged Li Xiaoran to play this role, probably because of her excellent acting skills.
After all, Li Xiaoran has played many roles of different ages over the years and has rich acting experience.
But this time, the age and character generation gap is too big, and no matter how strong her acting skills are, she can't cross this threshold, but it is easy to destroy the audience's plot experience.
On the contrary, if you find a real actor around 35 years old to play Xu Xiaoxiao, the audience will feel very compatible and natural.
The lines and dressing will be more realistic and more impressive to the audience.
After all, for the audience, the feeling of "it seems to be watching a relative and friend in their life" is far stronger than "watching an actor's acting skills".
This incident shows that when choosing actors, we should not only pay attention to acting skills, but also consider the audience's acceptance.
The appearance conditions and age of the actors directly affect the audience's sense of substitution.
If there is too much contrast between the two and the character setting, it will be difficult to win the audience's approval.
Especially for dramas like "Three Lives Are Lucky", the age of the actors should be highly matched with the characters, which is crucial to the plot effect.
Of course, acting is still important, but it should be based on respect for the audience's visual experience.
I hope that in the future, when producing similar themes, directors and producers will pay attention to this and not choose actors based solely on their acting skills, and forget the positive role of visual cognition.
Only by taking both into account can we attract the audience to the greatest extent, enhance the sense of substitution, and present a realistic and harmonious plot effect.
This incident also makes people wonder why middle-aged actors always like to take on young roles, even if the age gap is so large?
In fact, in the entertainment industry, this situation abounds.
Many actors in their 40s often challenge roles in their 20s.
Maybe they still have a young mentality in their hearts, and they also hope to prove their acting skills through this role challenge.
But in reality, this kind of "anti-age" performance is often difficult for the audience to recognize.
The charm of age is hard to simulate.
A real young man in his 20s, even if his acting skills are not good, still exudes an aura of youth.
And if a middle-aged actor wants to recreate this charm, it is not enough to rely on exquisite skills, because the audience's vision will still instinctively resist.
If an actor is overly eager to play young, it will weaken his original charm, which is something that many actors need to be wary of.
Of course, there are also some characters whose age should not be limited to the actual age of the actor.
If it is a comedy or fictional theme, then the age of the actor and the age of the character can have a certain amount of flexibility.
The audience will experience it with a more open mind.
But if it is a realistic work, the threshold for acceptance by the audience will be greatly raised.
This requires the actor to have a clear understanding and not be blinded by impulse or vanity.
Actors have to learn to accept their gradual age, which is an inevitable process of life.
Many excellent actors can find their own roles at different stages of life, and they are good at playing characters of different ages.
The precipitation and charm brought by age is also a unique charm.
I hope that the actors will not be bound by numbers, find the value of each age, and face the new possibilities on the road of acting with a positive and open attitude.