Someone asked Li Naiwen, what preparation did he do for the role of Wang Xianping in "Our Days"? Li Naiwen laughed, I have prepared for more than 40 years, is it not enough?
After all, Li Naiwen did grow up in that era. He is from Tianjin, born in Ningxia, and grew up eating a variety of meals, just like Wang Xuehua in the play.
"Our Days" Stills, Li Naiwen as Wang Xianping
Li Naiwen felt very lucky and happy. After graduating from Chinese opera, he has been acting, from drama stage to film and TV series, involving various themes and role types. Flipping through his work, the amount is astonishing. Not only the number, but from the very beginning, the roles he played are always memorable, his acting skills are stable and down-to-earth, and he maintains his own characteristics while completing tasks.
As soon as the period drama "Our Days" started airing some time ago, Wang Xianping, who he played, shouted at the door of his wife Liu Shuxia's delivery room to give birth with the mentality of blowing up a bunker, and it became a trending search. Not long ago, he played Wang Chongjiang, an upstart in the 1990s, in "The Returning Daughter" and was very scheming. Two years ago, he played Lu Ming in Zhang Yimou's film "Above the Cliff" as a senior spy... It can be said that Li Naiwen left behind a role that is more popular than himself.
Such a "model worker", he does not feel tired. He accepted phone interviews from reporters during the transition, and when he arrived at the filming scene, he would take a photo with great interest and send it to the interview dialog box, introducing, "This is the train we used when filming." He didn't even think about the question of whether he was tired from running around. In his impression, from the first day he officially entered the Chinese opera, he felt that he was "like a fish in water, as if he had found his own world", so, "Do what you like. I will never feel tired, just like playing will not feel tired, because I like it.”
real texture
Li Naiwen has different pursuits in different dramas. For the drama "Our Days", "very real" is what he feels and the characteristics he must present.
"Wang Xianping is so real that you will think he is you. I can imagine his real existence. I asked our screenwriter teacher Juanzi before, is the person you wrote about your father? She said it was similar, and Li Xiaoran also said it was her father Dad is very similar." In order to present a sense of reality, Wang Xianping's clothes are all plucked out by the styling teacher from the bottom of the relatives' clothes at home, and now they can't make that kind of texture.
Stills of "Our Days"
As soon as he walked into the scene and saw those broken cabinets, folding tables, including creaking doors and beds, and large colorful quilts, Li Naiwen traveled back to that era in a blink of an eye. Sometimes he and Li Xiaoran would walk around the scene in ragged long johns, regardless of their image. They really felt like they were at home, and they really acted like they were living their lives. Sometimes after filming the scene of chatting on the bed, they simply She didn't get out of bed anymore, and then leaned on the bedside to chat, "Xiao Ran joked that I was the man she had seen wearing long johns the most in her life."
The sense of reality brought by the natural revealing of these little details gives the period drama a texture. "Most of our stills are shot on film. The film camera is really uncontrollable. One shot is one shot, and everything stays in the film, overexposed, too much light, etc., but this is the truth. .”
Li Naiwen emphasized that the environment and persuasion are on-site skills, but he values the authenticity of this script more, because this story is full of "prejudice".
Stills of "Our Days"
"In fact, there are no bad guys in this play. In our real life, there are not many bad guys. But in the play, I think Yang Dashan is a bad guy. It's just that the Yang Dashan seen by the audience is definitely not a bad guy. This is also called reality, because we live There will be a lot of prejudice in life, there will be various subjective judgments, and there will be some misunderstandings. Therefore, we always only see one side of life, but life has many sides."
Of course, this real prejudice is also reflected in the protagonist. Wang Xianping is a hot-tempered soldier who loves to get angry. His characteristics are obvious, and he also has the machismo that was most common among northern men in that era. This is what makes this character interesting and the biggest difficulty. "With such a low EQ, how can someone like Liu Shuxia love him? In fact, sometimes Liu Shuxia can't accept him." Li Naiwen can only try to catch Wang Xianping To show his love when he is vulnerable, the characters are enriched step by step by prejudice and preference.
Stills of "Our Days"
"He's just so annoying, so he's real"
If you want to pursue truth in performing period dramas, you cannot avoid the limitations of the times. Wang Xianping is a character who is not pleasing to young audiences at the moment, and his machismo is now a character that will be comprehensively criticized. Li Naiwen analyzed: "This is the commonality of men of that generation. It is a product of the times. We can't say it is a fault. His way of communication and the angle of consideration are not particularly suitable. For women, why don't you treat yourself well?" Talk? Why don’t you put yourself in another place? But he can only express it in a very direct way. Many times, he was kind and ended up doing bad things. In fact, most of the northerners are straight men, and they are much better now than in those days, but It still exists. I think women think about problems better than men.”
"Our Days" lines publicity photo
Even if the characters appear unlikable because of this, he does not think that this weakness should be removed. It is precisely because of this machismo that is the real limitation of the times.
"I have also read some comments saying that Wang Xianping is too annoying. But I want to say, yes, he is that annoying, so he is very real. There are no great men, no saints, only human beings in the play. That's how the script is written, I Accept him, I also respect him, I also respect the screenwriter, respect the existence of such a person."
He went to Douban and watched the barrage, and saw countless people saying that they had abandoned the drama, or criticizing this kind of character for being outdated and giving negative comments. He doesn't care much about whether the characters he plays can please the audience. "The characters themselves are like this. There is no evaluation of whether it is good or bad in the play, and it doesn't show right or wrong or good or bad. To be honest, I don't care (those comments) , because I serve the role, and I just want the role to be imperfect."
Sometimes he goes to Douban to check the bad reviews, and even ponders the mentality of the reviewers.
"When I was young, I liked to read good reviews, but the good reviews are often not true, but they are bad or critical. First, they can truly reflect whether the work is good or not, and at the same time, they can also see the mentality of the other party. , he doesn't want to face the real 'flaw', but I dare. Can this thing be avoided? If you want to improve, don't avoid anything."
Stills of "Our Days"
The bad reviews he read were not only about machismo, but also some people commented that it was difficult to give birth to a child, and the eldest had health problems. This drama made people afraid of marriage and childbearing. Li Naiwen's mentality is quite interesting, not only is he not angry, but he can respond slowly.
"If you feel that this drama scares you, maybe your mind still needs to be tempered, and you are still not mature enough. Watching a TV series can scare you like this. There will be more things in life that you can't accept, but you still have to To face it, so I feel sorry for them. Everyone has to face tomorrow's day, and no one knows what tomorrow will bring you."
"Some people even said that it was too bloody, but when we were acting in dramas, the most common thing we said was that life is always more exciting than TV dramas, and life always gives people many surprises. It may be real surprises or it may be quoted' Surprise', but we all have to face it."
"Sometimes look back, stop and look back, feel"
The dislocation of period dramas is very interesting. We can always see characters like Wang Xianping in period dramas that are close enough to reality, who will be criticized at the moment. But at the same time, period dramas are also domestic dramas that many young people repeatedly watch.
Li Naiwen thinks that it is because the nature of people will not change. "The kindness of that era may be different from the kindness of today, but the roots are the same."
Stills of "Our Days"
"When we can't understand the people of that era, you can see what pure emotion is like at a glance. Don't be in a hurry and always look at how much money I will make tomorrow. Sometimes look back, stop and look back Let’s feel it. Yesterday I thought, take out the novels I read more than 30 years ago, the works of Lu Yao and Wang Xiaobo, and read them again. Through the works or books, to experience that era is not a bad thing for us. Maybe It will make us understand better how to face our tomorrow or today. Why are there still so many people watching period dramas, which means that there are quite a lot of people who want to go back and watch."
Back to Wang Xianping, Li Naiwen wanted to understand before acting that his goal is first to let the audience take their seats, regardless of the advantages and disadvantages, it must be real enough to see his father and brother, and give the audience a familiar touch. Secondly, in the era of dislocation, look back at your elders.
Stills of "Our Days"
"When my friends met me one day, they said that the first thing they did after watching this drama was to put their arms around their mother and say I love you. Then the value of this drama will naturally come out. Memories are a On the other hand, aftertaste may be a more appropriate term, and aftertaste refers to the reconciliation of the current relationship with oneself, reconciliation with oneself, reconciliation with family members, and reconciliation with one's own life."
In fact, period dramas are gradually declining now. Li Naiwen feels that although he has thought a lot, he has to admit that it is very difficult to make a good period drama. The emotions of everyone, the kind nature of everyone... It depends on how you express it, so that the audience can accept it. This is the most important thing. There were too many things that could be written in that era, but it was difficult for us to express many things. In the limited creative framework In the film, it is very difficult to show the torrent of that era, the big background, and to reflect the individual stories, so we can only dig out the bits and pieces of life, which is really not easy.”
Actors should be as soft as sand
Many actors have stages on the road of performance, and their cognition of performance is different in different periods, but after Li Naiwen thinks carefully, he feels that he does not have a so-called clear stage or change, even if there is a difference, it depends on life outside the play Experiences are different. From the beginning of learning acting, the purpose of an actor is to get close to the most real, the reaction of the characters.
As for how to be real? Take the recent drama as an example. In "Our Days", Liu Shuxia's mother got cancer, and Li Xiaoran didn't cry. Li Naiwen noticed a lot of bullet screens saying, why isn't Liu Shuxia crying at this time? Is it true that the feelings are not true?
"Our Days" Stills, Li Xiaoran as Liu Shuxia
"In fact, this cognition may be a little biased. When our whole family learned that my father was ill, everyone lived as usual. We should treat the illness and heal the illness. We won't cry all at once. Don't think that it's wrong not to cry. , everyone’s attitude towards life is different, including the death of the grandmother in the play, I told Xiao Ran that my father passed away, but my mother did not shed a single tear, because I was filming in other places, and I rushed back the same day, and I knew Can't cry in front of my mother, everyone is holding back in their hearts, but the moment I saw my mother, her eyes were dry and there was no tear at all, but I could see her eyes were empty. Be with me for a few minutes My wife of ten years, the lover who loves each other and lives together, my heart is empty when I leave her suddenly. When did she cry? Later she called me and said that two years later, when she was alone at home, suddenly It just broke down. This is real life. I also shared this real process with Xiao Ran at the scene."
He believes that without this experience, ordinary people may feel that facing a family member who is seriously ill, what kind of reaction they "should" will be. This kind of "should" is actually not taught, and the ability to perform an infinitely close to the real reaction can only come from I have experienced it myself, "Acting is like life, whether it is reading a book or experiencing, it is all accumulated bit by bit, and it will affect you subtly, so the depth of the character you create may change at different times. Everyone's experience is different, so no one should use their own eyes to judge whether it is true or not." Therefore, for him, life itself is his wealth on the road to being an actor. Just being good at using the experience."
This kind of use, Li Naiwen calls it "introspection", "not only introspection at work, but also introspection in all aspects of life at all times, which is helpful for performances."
Stills of "Our Days"
So far he is still thinking, for an actor, should he get closer to the character or bring the character closer? But he feels that no matter how far or near, as an actor, he must first have one characteristic, that is, to be soft, "Be kind to every character, treat him as your friend, and understand him from many aspects. , you need to make up your mind, no matter if you describe it on the pen or in your mind, you must really understand him and understand him. Or, you must be able to think differently, and look at some people and things in the play from his perspective. , to find the correct character relationship.”
"Actors should be like sand." Sometimes I discuss acting with my peers. Although there is no conclusion on the subject of "what is a good performance", at least it must be as soft as sand. "Each character is a container of different shapes. Sand can take different forms in different containers."
"They are not professional, but we are"
But there are things that need to be kept unchanged in this "change". For example, in different eras, the audience likes different actors. , the current audience likes to dig out the details and look at the character design. Li Naiwen has acted in dramas for more than 20 years. I don't think actors need to change their professional judgment because of this. They have to make adjustments according to different directors and different crews.
Li Naiwen (left) plays a medical representative in "I'm Not the God of Medicine"
"There is no contradiction between what the actor likes and what the audience wants. The first thing to do is what kind of play to watch, and the second is what kind of role to face. Each play has its own different acting methods. Communication, see if he asks you to be natural or tense. The style of a play must be unified, and the whole is controlled by the director. I respect the director very much. After a play comes out, every aspect of it has "breathing". 'Breathing' needs to be smooth, so that the audience can watch it comfortably, so I don't think there is any question of how I have to play a role, I don't have a specific concept, it depends on the needs of breathing."
If the audience really has different preferences for acting methods, he thinks that actors should also lead, "Literary and art workers themselves have a responsibility to bring good things to the audience and influence their aesthetics in a subtle way. You can’t blindly cater to it. You can’t just act whatever is popular for a while. Some audiences say they like special tension, so you can act like that. If you can’t do this, the audience’s tastes will be difficult to adjust. Actors must have a sense of their own profession. You have to know who you are. The aesthetics will always improve slowly. You have to bring good things to the audience. They are not professional, but we are professional. We should influence the audience, not let the audience influence us."
Li Naiwen (right) played the role of Lu Kuangou, the nine-company blaster in "Assembly"
This sense of responsibility also includes picking characters that are good enough to present to the audience. Li Naiwen didn't just read the script randomly, it took a lot of work, "It depends on whether the story about him is exciting or not. Not only the one in front of him, but also the story behind him." He will reverse the role, through The character given in the script, his behavior, deduced why he did it. Some characters may be doing interesting things right now, but if they are pushed behind the scenes, if the character can’t push it, then it’s not interesting. "In my dictionary, there is no purely bad person, there is always a reason. There is only badness, without the other side of humanity, this character is too thin."
Li Naiwen emphasized that what actors fight for in the end is culture and understanding. How can we have these abilities? "Then you have to read more books, watch more movies, increase your own experience, and finally be able to interpret a character." In the case of such a "model worker" in his filming, he still maintains the frequency of watching movies and can keep up At the moment of the interview, he recommended the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front", and mentioned that he would go back to make up the TV series "Moses on the Plain".
unusual parenting
Li Naiwen mentioned the influence of his mother in different interviews.
His mother is a drama actress, and under the influence of his ears and eyes since he was a child, Li Naiwen had the idea of becoming an actor. In high school, he was in a key school in the city. Although he was placed in the city, he had good grades in mathematics, physics and chemistry, but in his own class, he was a headache for the class teacher. In the end, he decided to apply for the Chinese opera.
Li Naiwen played the role of newspaper reporter Liu Cong in the TV movie "I'm a Vegetable" (2010)
Although he watched his mother perform on and off the stage since he was a child, the application process was not smooth, and he could only enter the Chinese opera as a self-funded student. To a certain extent, this incident really brought a big turning point in Li Naiwen's life.
It was an era when the economic situation was not good, and the money that each family could provide was very limited. The annual tuition fees of public-funded students were several hundred yuan, while my family had to give 5,000 yuan at once. How much pressure was this on parents? , which is equivalent to borrowing money to go to school. Li Naiwen was uneasy, under a lot of pressure, and felt very sad. His mother talked to him, "She told me first of all not to be pressured, and secondly, she made a request, hoping that after I went to college for four years, the teachers would think it was wrong for me to pay for myself." Li Naiwen felt that his mother was very wise, "I won't give I was stressed, but at the same time it gave me motivation, she let me relax in a flash, and at the same time, I had a goal."
Li Naiwen fulfilled his mother's request in only one semester. The report performance at the end of the semester, group rehearsal, and the groups Li Naiwen participated in all made the teacher very satisfied, and he was the main force in each group. In front of him and his mother, the teacher expressed his appreciation and "regret".
This is not the result of Li Naiwen's deliberate rivalry. In fact, from the first day of his school in Zhongxi, he returned to the ocean like a fish. He was enjoying, not studying. I didn't doubt myself because of the status of "self-funded student".
Li Naiwen played Song Shaoshan in the TV series "Frontier of Love" (2018)
This kind of self-confidence and peace not only comes from his talent, but also is closely related to his parents' education since childhood.
"When I was young, I always moved. At that time, when I moved, I had to change schools. After I transferred to an elementary school, the head teacher didn't like me very much. I don't know why. I was very disobedient in his eyes. But my parents knew that they would not You will feel that it is my fault. I have transferred primary schools several times, and all the teachers except this school like me. They trust me, and in order not to make me feel inferior, they resolutely let me transfer after one semester.”
The impact of this trust on him is far greater than the professional impact of his mother. As a literary and art worker, his mother rarely discussed acting issues with him, and cared more about his conduct in the world.
Li Naiwen still has a deep memory. When he first started acting, someone recognized him on the road. He was very embarrassed on the spot, and subconsciously avoided it when he got nervous. Mother was not happy about it. Li Naiwen was puzzled. His parents taught him to be low-key since he was a child. Isn't it very high-key to admit it now? His mother gave him another answer.
"People recognize you, which means that you have performed well. This is a kind of affirmation of your role creation. But if you don't admit it, it is actually a disguised way to distinguish yourself from others. But actors also It’s just a profession, and it’s just a different division of labor and different nature from other professions of the common people, but the other aspects are the same, and if you don’t admit it, you think you are special in your heart.”
Li Naiwen (left) plays Wang Chongjiang in "The Returned Daughter"
For a period of time, because of filming, Li Naiwen had less contact with his family. His father quietly told him to call his mother quickly. His mother thought that he was "bloated, and felt that he was too busy to ignore his family."
The concept of "acting is just a profession" is really rooted in Li Naiwen's heart. After so many years of acting, his attitude towards acting has not changed when he encounters big and small things. "They let me know my professional knowledge. What it should be. Don't be inflated, don't be overly inferior, and have a good mentality, which has a great influence on me."
Li Naiwen feels that acting is a profession that relies more on understanding, "The master leads the door, the practice is in the individual, and the performance belongs to the individual and is unique. After the attitude problem is corrected, the rest of the road can be taken by yourself. They are open. style of education."
The Personality of a Great Director
In the past two years, Li Naiwen has successively filmed "Above the Cliff" and "Sturdy as a Rock" directed by Zhang Yimou, and he deeply admires Zhang Yimou.
"Because of the epidemic, I didn't finish filming a scene in Shandong, and I had to go back to make up for it. I was filming "Above the Cliff", so I told him (Zhang Yimou) to take a leave of absence, and he immediately said it was understandable. But tonight Hold a meeting with the director of Group B and the action director, and discuss the schedule. We filmed until two or three in the morning, and the next day the producer told me that Director Zhang held a meeting overnight after returning home to discuss, and the next day he told I can ask for three days off. That night we had another big night of filming. Director Zhang’s team told me that he had never seen a director like this. I know that every crew is not easy, and I also know that actors are the most difficult at this time. I am embarrassed to rush the time, so he took the initiative to remind him, and his emotional intelligence is very high. He is such a famous director, but he respects everyone and can change positions Thinking, putting yourself in your place to know your difficulties, and helping you as much as possible, this is the charisma of personality.”
Li Naiwen plays Lu Ming in "Above the Cliff"
Li Naiwen feels that every director he has worked with has benefited him a lot, especially the years of continuous dedication in his career, which also made him feel emotional.
"They love their careers too much. Directors Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang, you can tell from their tirelessness that they have always maintained high-intensity and fine work. They can shoot movies 24 hours a day. How do you make each shot? Talk to each actor about acting. In every aspect, they don’t know how tired they are in their own field. Usually I also observe. The director of Triumph is usually the first to arrive early in the morning and the last to leave. When the actors have a rest , the director does not have a break. Director Zhang Yimou is also watching the scene all the time. After returning home, he will have a meeting to discuss tomorrow’s script, and he will also go to the computer room to read the rough cut. If he is not satisfied, how can he modify it? How many hours of sleep do you have? He is over 70 years old. This is their commonality, which I admire and inspires me. To put it bluntly, you must have a good attitude when doing things. If you don’t have an attitude, what will happen? Can't do well."
