Yan Ni speaks like a little girl, with a soft and gentle voice, easy to swallow words, and sometimes whispers, which is quite different from the strong mother and capable wife she often plays in the play.
Screenwriters Li Qiang and Yan Ni are good friends who have known each other for many years, and they have never found a chance to cooperate. A few years ago, Li Qiang told Yan Ni a story that Yan Ni must act in, even though the script has not yet been written. It has been more than two years since I said this to the script of "Grandma's New World". On the day Yan Ni finished reading the script, she chatted with Li Qiang for more than 8 hours.
"Grandma's New World" poster
This is an unusual story with an old man as the main character. Grandma Sun Yuping is nearly seventy years old and has gray hair. After decades of ups and downs, she lives with her daughter and granddaughter. What exactly does she need? What is the world of the elderly like? Li Qiang did not attempt to study and present the world of the elderly in the traditional sense. Sun Yuping did such a "rebellious" thing as running away from home after going through the gate of hell. This is an "adult fairy tale".
In the eyes of her relatives, Sun Yuping is a good old man with no temper, and she never thought that she would do such a thing as running away from home. The grandma who embarked on the journey made many new friends and met some old friends again. During this process, the grandma rediscovered many new things, such as pets and live broadcasts. An aborted marriage. This is a grandma's adventure, but also a journey to find herself. Some people saw the awakening of grandma after being suppressed for many years, while others saw the emotional needs of the elderly.
Stills of "Grandma's New World"
Li Qiang knew Yan Ni well. Although Yan Ni has not asked him why she decided to let herself play Sun Yuping so early, she feels some "connection" between herself and Sun Yuping. From Yan Ni's point of view, Sun Yuping's biggest characteristic is simplicity, she also believes in many things, which is too similar to herself. "Me too. For example, no matter how old I am, I believe in love. When I talk about this topic with some young people, they don't believe in love anymore, but I still believe in it." Another example, Sun Yuping is not afraid to try new things, and Yan Ni is also very willing People who go to experience, she always said, "Curiosity is with me all my life." Not only that, Sun Yuping has a twin sister, Sun Yulan, who is cheerful and capable, and likes to interfere in her sister's life. Yan Ni also has an older sister, "My sister seems to often have something I still care about me, I also look like I am listening, but in fact I don’t want to listen in my heart, I have some pursuits of my own.” Yan Ni’s tone was like a rebellious little girl, and her words were full of thoughts of “running away from home” at any time Impulsive, exactly the same as Sun Yuping.
"This character and I have a sense of God's will in it. If someone else plays it, it may not be the Sun Yuping described by Li Qiang."
how to play an old man
Despite God's fate, Yan Ni was under a lot of pressure, "It was a very good experience, and it was also a truly tormenting creation." She lamented that Li Qiang is a person who puts his life on art. In contrast, , she may only be "half-life", so she can't slack off in the slightest, let alone playing an old man.
Sun Yuping played by Yan Ni
The first is the "old" appearance. She and her team of makeup artists who have been with her for more than ten years have studied aging makeup. "In the past, when applying makeup to the elderly, they had to blow wrinkles, and the whole face was covered with wrinkles." What she wants to express, so she asked the makeup artist to remake the makeup for half a year, and finally determined the direction of the makeup, "When people are really old, it is not just wrinkles, but also structural changes, such as skin color, facial structure, and body shape. It may be possible to bring the audience in.”
In addition to appearance, what is more important is "oldness" in mentality. When people get older, their thoughts will be different from when they were young, right? Yan Ni doesn't think so. When she is not working now, she often stays in Xi’an and stays with her family. “Among my family and friends are women in their 60s. I can’t tell their age when I’m with them. Their skin is very good. It’s not the state of an old man, and he said that I should put on makeup when I come out. Maybe everyone’s life is getting better and better now, and it may be different from the old man in the past.”
"People in every age are different psychologically." Yan Ni felt that there are elderly people who are closer to the state of "children". She went to a nursing home, and basically 90% of them are Alzheimer's disease. "They may be in another state. They have become completely children. They don't know anyone. I also feel deeply. I must enjoy my life. Don't let me know no one one day. I haven't enjoyed it yet. arrive."
In addition to Sun Yuping, Yan Ni also played the role of Sun Yuping's sister Sun Yulan
Yan Ni does not think that she or Sun Yuping can show the state and psychology of the elderly. The environment and life experience have different influences on everyone, just like young people and middle-aged people are completely different. Why? What characteristics do old people have in common? "My father and my mother have lived together for so many years. They are together every day, but their psychology is completely different."
What she needs to guess is the mentality of the old Sun Yuping. "She has been caring for her children all her life, and she is also very sensitive. There is a kind of politeness and embarrassment between her and her daughter. She never wants to cause trouble to others. This is a manifestation of her kind heart. "
Yan Ni understands Sun Yuping very well. First of all, she and Sun Yuping have very similar personalities, "Both have a great sense of shyness." Secondly, she thought that when Sun Yuping experienced the moment of life and death, she found that her daughter had gone to prepare the shroud. Maybe the child could accept her departure, and she didn't want to trouble anyone anymore. "From a certain point of view, she also left for the child. , not just for myself."
Yan Ni thought about it for Sun Yuping, "My mother had a brain attack a while ago. I think people in our era still have to take care of the elderly. But when I get old, I don't want my children to take care of me, and I don't want to give Others cause trouble, and I want them to have their freedom."
Sun Yuping ran away from home, is it the awakening of independent women?
In fact, Sun Yuping's departure was the starting point of this drama, but the screenwriter Li Qiang didn't make it clear, at least at the beginning. Different audiences can see different reasons. Some people saw Sun Yuping's depression at home, and some people Seeing Sun Yuping's curiosity, someone saw Sun Yuping's awakening like an independent woman.
"Many behaviors of people may be caused by one thought. When Sun Yuping was young, her sister controlled her. She has always been submissive. Until she got married, she has always been for others. Maybe the backlog of people has reached a certain level. To some extent, there will be an explosion, which requires a process from quantitative change to qualitative change, and it may all need to have something. I think she wants to find herself. When a person’s heart has no outlet, she will definitely find an outlet. , so she left suddenly that day."
Stills of "Grandma's New World"
Yan Ni didn't think about this issue too complicatedly. What she thought of was running away from home after quarreling with her parents when she was young. What? It must be something that inspired you. Some people can elope for love, why can’t Sun Yuping go? As the saying goes, sixty ears are compliant, but she has been compliant all her life. Maybe at that moment, she didn’t want to be compliant. Find a more authentic self."
Some female viewers wrote in their post-viewing impressions that Sun Yuping has been bound by marriage and family for almost a lifetime, and this journey is also the beginning of liberation and awakening for elderly women. Yan Ni thought about it for a few minutes, and she thought it might not be the case.
"She was not tied down. It's like when the teacher said that there was something at home tomorrow and there would be no class. The students cheered. This happiness is actually a little less restraint, and Sun Yuping is also. She just felt more comfortable at that moment. Her departure is also the same. Give children a space to experience a world without her. In fact, Sun Yuping has always been secretly insisting on liberating herself, and it didn't start when she left. This can be seen from the details, although when she was young, her sister often told her, "You want What', but she didn't do exactly what her sister said."
On the contrary, what Yan Ni felt was that Sun Yuping was looking for the innocence that once belonged to her. "This is something that she has in her bones, and she didn't just wake up before she left suddenly. It can also be understood as , what she is looking for is a kind of youth, and her running away is like a dream. Some time ago, a friend of mine said that he dreamed of me, and we have known each other since we were teenagers, maybe when we were young. It is difficult for you to dream of many people you meet now. The things brought by youth may be beautiful, but what people yearn for all their lives is not beautiful? Only when they experienced this state of mind when they were young, can they Falling into a dream."
The emotional needs of the elderly should be seen
Embarking on this journey, Sun Yuping encountered 12 different stories, and many talented actors came to play guest roles, such as Yao Chen, Geng Le, Hou Yansong... Yan Ni can't relax for a moment, after all, acting requires cooperation with the opponent.
"Li Qiang often tells me that he shoots according to 12 movies, and each movie has a different type, so I have to keep adjusting. These actors who come here are all capable and accomplished actors. When they come It is relatively short, how we have to run in in a short period of time is a great challenge for me. Each of these 12 stories is very important to me, and I can’t neglect any of them, and I have to give more than 100% I put my energy into it, and I like it.”
Stills of "Grandma's New World"
From the story level, she prefers the unit that Yao Chen participated in, "because there are some suspenseful things in it", and the story of Geng Lelai, which is a very topical story, and it is also the evening love of grandma. In order to stay with his wife Haiyan all the time, Chen Tong took away Haiyan's body who could not speak, move or feel, and even tried to trick his grandmother into guarding this relationship together. Yan Ni and Li Qiang also had the most controversy because of this character.
"We were discussing whether this character is good or bad, and produced a lot of things that made people think. At that time, I thought he was a bit perverted character like kidnapping others. Our colleagues discussed that Chen Tong really made people feel sympathetic. , but I don’t think so. On the surface, this person may be the closest to you, but in fact, you don’t know what his heart is like.”
"Grandma's New World" Stills, Geng Le as Chen Tong
But the twilight love between grandma and Chen Tong deserves attention. In mainstream film and television works, the emotions of the elderly are always ignored. Yan Ni thinks that the emotional needs of the elderly should be seen.
"Some time ago, my daughter's grandpa celebrated her birthday. Her grandpa is 90 years old, and her grandma is also in her 80s. They have lived together for so many years. On that day, her grandpa suddenly called grandma 'dear'. I said, oh, why are you still saying that? Fashionable words. Grandpa said, you all said dear dear, I also want to say one. My daughter said, let’s hug, they hugged, and grandpa said kiss again. This picture shocked me, daughter grandpa It is an old soldier. He never let us see this side before. At that time, he showed me that the elderly may need emotions more. Their kind of love is more like a return of the heart. They are like two kindergarteners. Hugging each other like children, that moment is very beautiful, as if all the grievances and quarrels are over, they just want to give each other the best love. I think the elderly may need some pure love more, but we as children don’t notice."
The scene where Yan Ni felt the most about the character Sun Yuping was when she stood in the cemetery and talked to herself after learning that her husband who died young had an extramarital affair. Before Yan Ni took the photo, she had already thought about it, she shouldn't cry.
"I went to his cemetery to chat with him, as if this person was still alive. I wanted to tell him that even if they were both gone, we would make a negotiation between yin and yang. But when I was performing that scene, tears It was an involuntary flow. That day I kept saying, one more and one more, I didn’t want to do this, I didn’t want to do this. But I was really touched that day. Sometimes on the surface, if you hate this person, it’s because you and This person's emotions have been injected into the bones, and the tears are involuntary. At that moment, I might really have Sun Yuping's upper body. I later thought that the characters are really full of emotions." It is a pity that this scene did not stay. too long.
Stills of "Grandma's New World"
One day after the filming, the makeup artist removed Yan Ni's makeup and found that part of her hair was really white, which was unexpected for her, "Although this is an adult fairy tale, after I experienced Sun Yuping's journey, Unknowingly, my body has changed." But Yan Ni still feels that this journey is very precious.
For her, the preciousness lies in making important changes in herself.
"I used to worry about some things in the past. For example, if I didn't get divorced, would I be better? I might not be lonely. But after the show, I didn't worry about it anymore. I don't have time to worry about it. Everything in life is yours. Everything is the best arrangement, this is my biggest feeling, don’t get entangled in the past. I am a Pisces, and it was easy to get entangled in the past. This is a big change after I finished filming. I don’t get entangled anymore, I feel relaxed It also brings ease to the people around me, my daughter and my parents are also more relaxed."
For the audience, the preciousness lies in Sun Yuping's "pearl-like brilliance".
"There is such a passage in "A Dream of Red Mansions", which roughly means that when a person is young, she is like a pearl. When she gets married, the pearl will lose some of its luster. When she gets old, she will become a fish eye. But now some young people are very young, but you think he has a pair of fish eyes. Sun Yuping is an old man, but what she showed me in the end is not a real old man, but a long search process, the process of rediscovering pearls brilliance.
"As a woman myself, I would like to tell female audiences that we can live our entire lives without losing the brilliance of pearls. This is not about youth in age, but youth in spirit. The reason why grandma left is actually like flower petals , it opens not because of fear, but no matter what the world is like, I dare to open myself, I have lived my whole life, and I still dare to experience life like this, no matter whether I have suffered, loved or hated, human life For one lifetime, to experience your happiness and your pain, so that you will have no regrets when you die. We should always keep our life young and lively and a kind of joy that can not be enjoyed in life.”
Stills of "Grandma's New World"
Every age group has its own preciousness in it
"Grandma's New World" is a story about women's growth. It focuses on elderly women who are rarely discussed and cared about, and focuses on the relationship and differences between three generations of different women, especially the relationship between mother and daughter. Yan Ni also faces similar issues. She often goes back to Xi’an to accompany her mother. She also has a daughter who is an actress. Although her three-generation female story is somewhat different from Sun Yuping’s, it is also a representative of many families. She has a lot of feelings.
"My mother asks me about everything, my marriage, my work life, and even the person my daughter is looking for now. I said you are so old, why do you want to control others? And because I With such an experience, I respect my daughter very much. I will provide you with what I want to do within the scope of my ability, but all your ideas are taken by yourself. Like what I wanted to do when I was young, first of all Ask the parents, I can only do it if the parents agree. This is very different from my daughter and I. I really teach by example, what I do, and maybe the children will see the same thing in the end. I love my job now. This kind of thing will also be conveyed to my daughter. Everyone may have a different way of getting along with their children and mothers, and I grew up with my daughter."
"Grandma's New World" poster
Yan Ni recalled, "I used to argue with my mother, but now I find that we have no process of reconciliation. You can never change a person's mind. It is absolutely impossible. Now let's go along first, and she is also old." When I grow up, when I follow her, one day she will suddenly say something that shocks me, and she will understand you a little bit, and that is a moment that makes me feel very precious."
Therefore, when it comes to her daughter’s generation, Yan Ni thinks that she should change herself, “I believe my daughter is a person with independent thinking. I respected her ideas very much when she was a teenager. She said she wanted to study abroad. , it stands to reason that I was in the army at the time and couldn't accompany her. Her father was busy with work at the time, but she insisted on going. In this case, the family would not let her go, but I think she should be respected and let her go. break."
Yan Ni and her daughter also discussed their careers, and her daughter suggested to her, "Let me act in a drama, she thinks it will help me."
I have to admit that as we get older, the bottleneck of actresses is an inevitable problem. "Grandma's New World" is a female-oriented drama, but in the mainstream market, older women are often not the focus of the story. Yan Ni has also played many mother roles in recent years, this time she simply played the role of grandma. Some netizens lamented that the original shopkeeper Tong has already started to play grandma? Yan Ni is very open about this, and feels that as long as it is practiced, there will be no bottlenecks.
"Every age group has its own preciousness. Yin Ruzhen, Michelle Yeoh, and Cate Blanchett also show the charm of women in "Tal". As long as there is real ability, the audience is also inclusive. And, I I think that nothing can get rid of the environment. Acting is sometimes like a commodity. It has a supply and demand relationship. What the audience needs at the moment, naturally what kind of actor is better. The investor must take into account the taste of the audience. I am not deliberately To please the audience, I don’t think too much about it. Some audiences always mention Tong Xiangyu, but in fact I never put the feeling of Tong Xiangyu in any other role, but if someone wants to say that, I can’t control it. I just need to know what I’m after. It’s just what the thing is, what kind of backbone you have in your heart is very important.”
Yan Ni plays Tong Xiangyu in "Wulin Biography"
After several years of rebellious wandering, Sun Yuping finally returned to a peaceful life. What would an ideal retirement life look like? Yan Ni, who shaped Sun Yuping, never thought about it.
"My daughter told me that as an actor, there is no rest in my life. Indeed, because actors are still observing and preparing in life, I don't think about retirement now. But I think, if I am old After that, I can still eat delicious food and sleep well, which is good. In addition, I can have my own life, and I can chat with friends, drink some wine, and have music. It would be very nice."
