Maybe in his heart, there is no success or failure, only one role after another.
Written by |Li Xinyi Edited |Cao Ying.
Original production of "See the World" magazine
At the filming site of the TV series "Flowers", a dinner scene is underway. Actor Hu Ge observed that You Benchang broke a piece of meat and ate it. He thought that You Benchang had bad teeth, but You Benchang explained that he played the role of Uncle Shanghai, and he couldn't eat meat in large pieces, and if he ate meat in large pieces, he would become Jigong.
On the one hand, there is an elegant Shanghai uncle, and on the other hand, there is a crazy monk Jigong, both of whom are You Benchang. At the age of 90, he was once again noticed with the role of his uncle in "Flowers", and his perfect acting skills were unforgettable, and the audience called him a "performance artist".
On January 12, 2024, at the CMG 2nd Annual Chinese TV Drama Ceremony hosted by ** Radio and Television Station, You Benchang came to the scene in a wheelchair due to physical exhaustion, but he still stood on the stage.
I have been yearning for movies since I was a child, I like movies, and when I reached 80 (years old), I never got it, and I was already desperate, but I suddenly told me that Director Wong Kar-wai was looking for me to act...You say, you can imagine my feelings. You Benchang smiled heartily, "Young friends, I will always accompany you and move forward together!" ”
In 1984, 51-year-old You Benchang got the first leading role in his life and starred in the TV series "Jigong".
In You Benchang's life, the opportunity came a little late, he had a fire, he was silent, he had left home, he had sold his house, and the only thing that remained unchanged was that he had been acting with sincerity.
79 tricks
Before meeting the first protagonist in his life, You Benchang ran for 30 years and played 79 supporting roles.
In September 1933, You Benchang was born in Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province. He has liked to watch movies since he was a child, likes the films of Chaplin and Shirley Temple, and also likes movies such as "Mulan in the Army" and "Fisherman's Song".
His interest in the stage showed signs in elementary school, where he often participated in speech contests and led his classmates to read texts aloud, and his teacher called him "Little Mister". When he was in high school, he organized a theater troupe at school, performed brilliantly, and was selected to join the Nanjing Art Troupe, and later was escorted to the performance department of the Shanghai Theater Academy. After graduating from university in 1956, he was assigned to the ** Experimental Drama Theater (now the National Theater of China).
I didn't take exams when I entered the Art Troupe, the Drama Academy, or the National Theater. "At this point in the story, You Benchang's journey is very smooth. But fate always likes to play tricks on people, and is unwilling to keep telling stories that are soaring.
After shining brightly, You Benchang began a supporting career.
At that time, (actors) paid attention to being tall and comprehensive, and I was not tall enough, and my image was relatively thin and not full enough. In the jargon of Peking Opera, it is an actor in the line, not an actor on the face. ”
He played 79 supporting roles in the theater, many of which had no lines or even names, just ordinary masses, communication soldiers, etc. But he dared to say that none of these 79 characters were taken lightly.
Rehearsing the playwright Ostrovsky's masterpiece "The Great Thunderstorm", You Benchang plays the role of the serf of the hostess's family, this role appears for only 19 seconds, and the description of this role in the script is only written: the servant follows the hostess and goes down.
For these 19 seconds, You Benchang flipped through the different translations of the original work of "The Great Thunderstorm" to fully understand the background of serfdom at that time. Combined with his own understanding, he designed details such as lame legs and blind one eye for this supporting character, wanting to enrich this small role. When the hostess committed suicide, the serf cried, although he didn't appear for a long time, You Benchang was very satisfied, because he performed a crying scene on the stage, and he wrote his feelings with his heart, and the title was "I can also shed tears on the stage".
has been playing a supporting role for many years, and some people persuaded him to change careers. He said, "What do you do when you change careers?" What I love is acting. ”
Even if it is a small role, if it is performed well, it will make You Benchang satisfied.
In the 80s of the 20th century, the new art form of pantomime spread to China, and You Benchang decided to work this new form of performance, when he was almost 50 years old, an age that was about to retire in the eyes of others. "(I want) to show what no one has ever done, what no one has done, what no one has done, what no one has written. "He was not satisfied with the status quo and rehearsed a batch of pantomime shows. In 1983, he performed 11 shows on his own in a welfare institute in Shanghai, and one-third of the audience were deaf and mute students. His pantomime performance was also appreciated by Huang Yihe, the director of the first Spring Festival Gala, who invited him to perform the pantomime "Shower" at the second Spring Festival Gala in 1984. The people of the whole country have known You Benchang.
I've been doing drama for decades, and people don't know that this night, they think I'm a pantomime. You Benchang felt self-worth: "When anyone is needed by society, it is a sense of happiness. ”
At the age of 78, You Benchang sold his house to set up a theater troupe and rehearsed the drama "Master Hongyi: The Final Victory".
Become Jigong
You Benchang rarely takes the initiative to fight for it.
To be honest, I have a principle that I don't want to compete for roles, and that's been the case since I was in high school. Several important roles are instigated by others or assigned by leaders. Three Spring Festival Galas, I have nothing to do with it, I won't give the director **.
The only two attempts to take the initiative ended in failure.
Before the filming of the movie "The True Story of Ah Q" started, You Benchang wrote a letter to recommend himself, and the role had been assigned to Yan Shunkai, the director's student.
The movie "Furong Town" intends to travel to Benchang, he hurriedly prepares, and wants to strive to play the role of the actor Qin Luzi, only to learn later that the filmmaker has already decided on Jiang Wen, "In fact, he (the director) just looked at me."
You Benchang summed himself up: "Emotional intelligence is very low, a bit of the old intellectual's high level, and he doesn't ask for anything." Perhaps it was because of this personality that the opportunity that belonged to him came a little late. However, people who do things seriously can always be seen.
In 1984, director Zhang Ge prepared to shoot the TV series "Jigong". After You Benchang learned the news, he felt that he could play the role of Jigong. But when he saw the news in the newspaper that Yan Shunkai was going to take over the role, he didn't have hope. Fortunately, Zhang Ge noticed You Benchang through the Spring Festival Gala program "Shower", thinking that he was very suitable for the role of Jigong and had the temperament of a "Shanghai-style actor", so he personally came to Beijing to invite him to play. This contributed to the first protagonist of You Benchang's life.
At that time, the Chinese TV drama industry was just starting, and everyone was groping, and You Benchang made a lot of suggestions in order to play Jigong well.
Jigong is a seemingly insane monk who punishes evil and promotes good, looks like a beggar, but often uses his own small spells to punish those bullies who oppress the people. You Benchang saw that the clothes prepared by the crew were too new, so he proposed to change the clean robe, patch it, pull it, twist it, and then crumple the complete fan. The classic image of Jigong that the audience saw later was born.
In order to shoot the plot of Jigong's wonderful hand tumor removal, the props team made a "normal tumor that has been medically examined". You Benchang said that this is art, and it is more effective to be a tumor like a big burden. The props team switched to balloons, and the exaggerated form had a comedic effect.
In addition to appearance, You Benchang also thinks about Jigong's character building.
In the original plot, Jigong's dirty hands touched the white steamed buns, leaving black marks, and the boss asked him to take them away for free if he felt dirty. You Benchang felt very uncomfortable after filming this scene, thinking that this kind of behavior was ripping bamboo, and Jigong was not this kind of person, so he asked to make up the scene that Jigong paid.
In the original script, it was written that Jigong and the prime minister bowed. But You Benchang felt that Jigong would not be in the company of the powerful, he was a person who despised the powerful and helped the weak, so he suggested that this plot be deleted. He also proposed to add details that can reflect Jigong's love, "I added a lot of parts to play with children, as well as liking all flowers, birds, fish and insects, and liking nature, because this is to increase people's love for him and increase his love." "There is a rumor that when "Jigong" was on the air, the crime rate across the country dropped because of its probationary effect.
When filming "Jigong", the funds were limited and the special effects technology was not developed, and in the filming of Jigong's use of small spells, You Benchang's efforts in the pantomime performance were brought into play. Pantomime can't speak lines, and the requirements for body language and expressiveness are exceptionally high. Through his body movements, You Benchang convinces the audience that Jigong really has a spell that can turn his arm into a knife.
His seriousness towards acting also continues. In the classic scene in the play, Jigong feasts on the fragrant elbow. In fact, that elbow was left for a day, and it was already stinky, and You Benchang couldn't hold back his nausea and threw up when he turned around. This performance was selected as a textbook for the Beijing Film Academy.
In 1985, after the broadcast of "Jigong", it became popular all over the country, and the theme song of "shoes are broken, hats are broken, and robes on the body are broken" spread all over the streets and alleys. With the first leading role in his life, 53-year-old You Benchang won the 4th China TV Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor and became a well-known comedian in the country.
Although the opportunity came late, he finally went from "inside" to "face".
In "Flowers", Ah Bao (played by Hu Ge) and his uncle (played by You Benchang).
The final victory
However, under the fame, You Benchang did not appear in a large number of new TV series, and he found that the crew he found wanted to use his popularity, but the script was not good, so he refused. The leader of the film studio once persuaded him for an hour, but he still did not agree. His merciless refusal offended a number of people.
In 1990, when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to leave his work first and concentrate on accompanying and caring for his wife.
There was a long silence again.
However, even if he is not acting, You Benchang has always maintained his figure and image in order to cope with the opportunities that may come at any time. "I'm always ready, some actors have gained weight because of this, some have aged, and I haven't relaxed. There was no suitable role to come to the door, You Benchang created opportunities by himself, and he did not stop "tossing" as he got older.
In 1994, 61-year-old You Benchang set up his own company to shoot Jigong's sequel "Jigong Travels" and earned 1.8 million yuan. Then he used the money to shoot the pantomime TV series "Mr. You Smiled Dumbly", this form lacked a public base, no TV station bought it, and in the end it was not broadcast, and the money was lost. You Benchang was very open-minded about this, saying that these were all given by Jigong anyway.
At the age of 78, he did something even crazier, selling his house to set up a theater troupe and rehearsing the drama "Master Hongyi: The Final Victory".
There is a subtle connection between Master Hongyi and Jigong. Uncle Li became a monk in Hupao Temple and became Master Hongyi, and Hupao Temple is the place where Jigong passed away. When he was 6 years old, some people said that he "could not live to be thirteen years old, and only by taking refuge in Buddhism can he survive this catastrophe", and his family sent him to Fazang Temple in Shanghai, where he was called Chengpei, and did not take him home until he was 15 years old. Later, when he starred in Jigong, You Benchang also felt that the monk Jigong "tempered me, and he made me understand the true meaning of life: helping the world for the public and being happy".
After seeing the story of Venerable Hongyi, You Benchang felt that his life and compassionate state of mind in his later years were valuable and worth spreading. "There used to be a lot of dramas about Master Hongyi, but the focus was on the first half of his life, because it was dramatic. After reading his biography, I felt that it would not work in the same way as before, and the most exciting part of his life should be the last five years, and his achievements are precisely at this stage. ”
In order to better interpret the role, he became a monk in the Daguang Temple in Heilongjiang. I didn't get investment, so I spent my own money and formed a team. In the first year, the play was performed only 3 times, the second year it was performed 7 times, and the word of mouth gradually fermented, and in the fourth year, the troupe was invited to perform in Singapore, Italy and other countries, and in 2017, it performed 130 times a year.
The "final victory" in the title of this drama also alludes to You Benchang's life, the first half of his life is hardworking, and the results are only revealed one by one in the end.
In "Flowers", Uncle saw the male protagonist Po wearing a suit, as if he saw his former self, staying in place, tears rolling in his eyes. Outside the play, You Benchang was also unable to play for a long time, and he couldn't stop crying at the scene. can play a good uncle, perhaps because the story in "Flowers" is exactly what You Benchang has personally experienced.
A "Flowers" was filmed for three years, and under the hands of director Wong Kar-wai, who is known for "making actors suffer", Hu Ge found that You Benchang had obviously lost a lot of weight, "But I admire him very much, no matter how tired he is, as soon as he turns on the camera, his breath will be lifted immediately." And he rarely made requests on the spot, saying that he wanted to finish work earlier today, and he was a little tired, almost nothing. ”
In 2021, the National Theatre of China awarded You Benchang the title of "Lifetime Achievement Artist" at the age of 88. Compared with many people who became famous at a young age in the entertainment industry, You Benchang can be called a late bloomer, but perhaps in his heart, there is no success or failure, only one role after another.
As You Benchang said in his short **, no matter what age he is, he is just doing one thing, "I have been engaged in creation."