Editor's note: On April 27, 2022, Mr. Zeng Jiang, a veteran Hong Kong actor, passed away at the age of 87.
In 2008, film critic Wei Junzi interviewed Zeng Jiang, and published the article "Zeng Jiang: A Generation of "Crazy" Heroes in Hong Kong Film Circles in the column "The Strange Man in the Film Industry", reviewing Zeng Jiang's decades of acting career. This article was reprinted by The Paper with the authorization of Wei Junzi.

Tsang. dance drawing

Foreword: Zeng Jiang is arrogant and arrogant. The most famous incident is when he said angrily in front of the media: "Hong Kong actors do not have a professional!" At that time, he was favored by the Hollywood film company. He co-starred with Brosnan in "007" and fought with Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat, earning a lot of money. U.S. dollars, it's time for high spirits.
And when he joined the TVB "True Love" crew, he demanded a lot of licorice actor Yu Mulian, but the other party failed to meet the requirements.
Perhaps it is because of this character that Zeng Jiang played the cynical Dongxie Huang Yaoshi so handy and won great praise.
Nowadays, Zeng Jiang focuses more on the drama, and his speech has become much kinder, but the audience has always been indelible for the arrogant image he has created on the screen for decades.
It is a rare opportunity to interview this "old drama bone" with superb acting skills. His experiences and opinions are worth thinking about by young people.
1. Marry and form an acting family
Zeng Jiang has been involved in film for a long time, and he participated in performances in the mid-1950s. But it was not until he went to the University of California in the United States to finish building construction and returned to Hong Kong, where he worked as a painter for three years.
In the 1960s, he joined "Xianhe Ganglian Company", and Xie Xian, who were both popular students at that time, had acted in many Cantonese films. It's amazing to say, even the series of Hu Peng's "Once Upon a Time", which broke the Guinness World Record, had a performance by Zeng Jiang. He played Ling Yunjie, Guan Dexing's apprentice.
In Zeng Jiang's eyes, it is a small matter, and there is not much to be proud of. He said: "This is Guan Dexing's little apprentice, not his big apprentice. In fact, these are all fictions."

Stills of "Once Upon a Time" in the early years. From right: Zeng Jiang, Guan Dexing, watermelon planer. The little apprentice of Ling Yunjie played by Zeng Jiang arrived in the version of Tsui Hark and became Ling Yunkai

The Cantonese martial arts films in the 1950s and 1960s were the prototype of the later Hong Kong genre films. Zeng Jiang participated in many and had his own say: "The beginning. They are all trying. How is this format? Is it possible? Because James Bond just came out at that time. , they also said that we would also come to play with this thing. They were trying, they just filmed, and filmed a few episodes. Heroes were pursued by everyone. After making more than 90 films, the big production "Once Upon a Time" was very successful. ,very nice."
Zeng Jiang lives in a family of performing arts. His sister Lin Cui (formerly known as Zeng Yizhen) was a Hong Kong star in the 1950s and 1960s and was known as the "student lover". She married the director Qin Jian (Chu Yuan's master) back then, and the two returned from their honeymoon in Europe. The established National Art Company started the filming of the entrepreneurial work "The Circus", and the male protagonist was Lin Cui's brother Zeng Jiang. It was also from this play directed by his brother-in-law that Zeng Jiang officially entered the film industry.
However, there have been two claims in the online information. One said that Lin Cui was Zeng Jiang's sister, and the other said that it was his younger sister. It would be better for Zeng Jiang himself to answer this question. Only after asking, did he know that it was all a misunderstanding caused by Lin Cui's early debut and fame.
Looking at Li Hanxiang's memoirs, I learned that Lin Cui later got another nickname in the film circle. Everyone who met her did not call her "student lover", but changed her name to "crazy girl". This is really because she acts without scruples in public. Lin Cui is a man of temperament. She married Qin Jian and had a son, Chen Shanhe. She then divorced and married Kung Fu star Wang Yu. After giving birth to Wang Xinping and three daughters, she divorced again. At the end of the 1970s, Lin Cui gave up being a celebrity with a lot of fame and a lot of income, and went to the United States to open a coffee shop and live "the happiest day of her life" (Lin Cui said to herself).
As a result, Zeng Jiang has 2 more brother-in-laws, a nephew and a niece in the entertainment industry.
And Zeng Jiang, the elder brother, "doesn't show weakness" in this regard. He has experienced three marriages. The first wife is the late actress Lan Di. After the marriage, the two have a son and they divorced for 10 years. The second wife is the columnist Deng Gongbi, who gave birth to a daughter. Zeng Muxue, this marriage also lasted only 10 years before it ended; the current wife is Jiao Jiao, a famous Shaw Brothers actress. The two got married in Singapore in 1994 and often work together on film and television dramas and live in harmony.

Zeng Jiang and Deng Gongbi have a daughter named Zeng Muxue, which means "admiration for Snow White". Back then, Snow White also called to congratulate him on the birth of his daughter. The daughter later entered the drama circle.

Zeng Jiang and Jiao Jiao got married in 1994, and the two who live in harmony are a model for middle-aged and elderly people to remarry.

2. Arrogant to Hollywood
Zeng Jiang's entry into the industry was a bit unexpected, but he was happy that he could choose to act: "Lin Cui debuted very early. Because I don't really like doing something in Hong Kong. I don't know what I do, what should I do? I don't like doing it a little bit. If you can find one thing, you like to do it, and it can give you a good life. You are so happy.”

When he was young, Zeng Jiang was very handsome, and he often collaborated with actresses such as Chen Baozhu and Xue Ni. When watching Chen Baozhu and Xiao Fangfang set up the "Seven Princesses", he and Xie Xian and others wanted to set up "Seven Consorts" to take advantage of others, but they failed.

After falling in love with the movie, Zeng Jiang couldn't help himself: "In the beginning, I tried every one, and touched every one. After watching it, you can't do it, you can't do it. You are so bad on the screen. Later Why don't you do a good job of it? Go after this thing, and gradually you will fall in love with it. Then it will be over, you will eat opium. You will become addicted to drama. The more you pursue it, the more you will You will get in. You can’t get out. When you get to this point, if you think you can go on, then go for it. That’s fun. It’s like a movie, it’s like this in this day and age.
He likes movies, and unexpectedly joined the Screen Actors Guild in the 1960s, earlier than many Hong Kong star idols who dream of going to Hollywood. Ask him about his background in joining the Screen Actors Guild. He explained: "I think one of the prerequisites is that you have a little bit of English. Many people can speak Mandarin. Many people can speak Beijing dialect. They speak every word correctly, but they speak It doesn't taste like that. People in Beijing speak English with a Beijing accent, Hong Kong people have a Hong Kong accent, and Singapore has a Singaporean accent. Sometimes they don't accept this accent. We are lucky, although many people are educated there, But they still haven't (rigid)."
Finally, he added: "I'll give you a dialogue, you're like studying, then it's over."
Although Zeng Jiang joined the Actors Guild of America early, his real "break into" Hollywood began in the late 1990s. He co-starred with Chow Yun-fat in "Blood is Still Not Cold", "Anna and the King", and played "The Cutting Edge 2" with Jackie Chan. , The most famous is Brosnan's "007 Die Another Day" as a Korean general, and then Spielberg's "Memoirs of a Geisha"...
When asked about Zeng Jiang's views on Hollywood filmmaking, he said: "It's different, every place has its own system for filming. Their system is already deeply ingrained. That's how they are. They all have to figure it out, It is a number. Jackie Chan also said that Hong Kong is a bit more artistic. He would think, why do we have to jump over here. But the United States cannot do this, he is like this.”

"The Lame Man" Zeng Jiang plays Lei Tiger, the first of the four detectives, who is arrogant and domineering. The film sparked a gangster movie craze in Hong Kong.

Zeng Jiang in "Cupid Moment 2"

Zeng Jiang: "This will be more convenient and easier, because he gave it to you a few days ago, and you will be filming this in three days. The dialogue is like this in these few scenes."
Zeng Jiang played many villains in Hong Kong, giving too many people the impression of being treacherous. Even Hollywood came over and played most villains. And he is chilling in the movie, and his aura is often overpowering the decent protagonist. In this regard, Zeng Jiang's opinion is: "It's very simple, you are a villain, and it seems that you can't fight a positive person. What do you like? At first glance, the positive person must lose, and the negative person must be overwhelmed. This is It looks good. This is the play. As soon as the positive characters come up, they beat the negative characters to death. How can it look good? I didn't watch it."
When it comes to the roles played by Zeng Jiang, for movie fans, the most familiar ones are Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung and their "foster father" in "Across the Four Seas" and Uncle Jian in "The True Color of Heroes". One is positive and the other is negative, one is ruthless, the other is ruthless. Both are impressive. Coincidentally, these two roles are Woo Yusen's play.

Uncle Jian, who specializes in taking prisoners in "The True Color of Heroes", also pointed out Dillon.

"Across the Four Seas" Zeng Jiang took a gun to kill "god son" Chow Yun-fat

Zeng Jiang has his own thoughts on how his cooperation with John Woo can have a profound impact on everyone: "This is also very accidental. John Woo asked me, and he said that I don't know how to deal with this thing. When we talk, this kind of thing is not a Human affairs require cooperation. The director says you want to do this, so just listen to him, he is cooperation, not necessarily. I think cooperation is to create something with the director. This is cooperation. The director tells you to laugh , you just laugh. Is this cooperation? This is a slave, this is a slave. It’s boring. John Woo also has his own opinions, but he will consider your proposal.”
Zeng Jiang said: "There are some directors who are very autocratic. He wants you to be like this, and you have to be like this. As an actor, you need to cooperate with him, and you have to think for him. There must be his reason for his request. It should be."
Talking about the old friend John Woo, we can't help but ask this old friend to talk about his views on the recent high-profile "Chibi".
Zeng Jiang said: ""Red Cliff" is difficult, I haven't seen it, but I don't think it's easy. The production is a problem, the story is a problem, how to deal with the characters. Because everyone, you have your Zhou Yu, he has him How to deal with it? How to tell this story, it's not easy. I don't think the drama can't be based on big productions and big scenes. You always have to have drama. How about Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao? If there is no such relationship, this drama It doesn’t look good. I’m playing all day, does it look good? Visually, it’s okay, very enjoyable, but I don’t feel it. It’s not okay to have a movie without feeling, I think. So it’s not easy. This is also his challenge. Plus The rehearsal conditions are relatively easy to ask for, and no one has ever filmed such a big scene like this. It’s hard. I think he’s very courageous.”
3. Switch to a drama to win Best Supporting Actor
It’s not that there are no artists whom Zeng Jiang admires, but there are very few in Hong Kong. For example, Jiao Huang from the mainland, when he talks about it, he is full of praise: “Mr. Jiao has nothing to say. (His play) is to watch...” And he plays it himself. As early as 1993, he cooperated with the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre to perform the stage play "Other People's Money". In recent years, Zeng Jiang has devoted more time to dramas.

Zeng Jiang and his daughter Zeng Muxue. After the divorce that year, the mother and daughter lived together, and the relationship with the father had a modern gap. Later, Zeng Muxue studied at the Academy of Performing Arts and devoted himself to drama, and Zeng Jiang also participated in the performance of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in due course, and the father-daughter relationship improved greatly.

In 2007, Zeng Jiang won the Best Supporting Actor at the 16th Hong Kong Drama Awards for his role as Rong Lu in "De Ling and Cixi". Won one of his few individual awards. "De Ling and Cixi" has been performed three times in Hong Kong. After watching it, Brigitte Lin liked it very much and said that she must act as a messenger of communication. The play was written by Ms. He Jiping, who moved to Beijing from Hong Kong in 2008 to perform at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
"Brigitte Lin is very supportive, we don't have too much contact. But she also likes it, she is a person who likes drama. She has this emotion, and what she likes will want more people to see it, she is quite sincere, this Little girl. We worked together at that time, and she was still a little girl." Zeng Jiang said that the cooperation was that they filmed "Dao Ma Dan" together, when Brigitte Lin played his daughter.

"Knife Horse" Brigitte Lin and Zeng Jiang

In the stage play "Impression Su Sihuang", Zeng Jiang and Jiao Yuan have a hot love relationship, singing and dancing for the first time

Talking about the difference between acting in a movie and acting in a drama, Zeng Jiang said: "There are not so many actors who can be successful on both sides. Because the two are different media, of course there are certain things that can be connected, and the dialogue can be connected. , the sound can also be connected. There are different ways of performing, there are different places. There are successful examples, but there are not many successful examples. If I say it, it is easier for the movie to move to the stage. Because the stage is generally a It's a little bit bigger. Because it's so big, you have to pass it a little bit. But in the lens, with a camera as big as him, once you pass it, your eyebrows move twice, it's already too much. It's more difficult to close it, or let it go It's easier. You can put it on the stage. But you have to know in front of the camera, you can't put it on too much. It's a matter of skill."
Although "Der Ling and Cixi" is a member of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, the performance in Beijing this time is in Mandarin. Zeng Jiang felt that there was a lot of difficulty: "That was a big test. Our native language is Cantonese, and many of our actors basically speak Cantonese. If they were to perform a Qing Palace opera in Beijing, in Mandarin, yes A big challenge. A lot of our young actors are working hard, and in a few months, this problem is like this, for Bai, he can rote, can handle, can live. But if you talk to him normally, No. They tried hard, but there was no way."