Recently, the TV series "Flower Order" has been popular, and Zheng He Huizi has received widespread attention from the audience. Although she only played in a few episodes, her performance has received a lot of praise. The role of Yang Caiwei she played in the play was very impressive.
“As soon as we got the script, we immediately decided to participate in this project.” Yang Caiwei’s identity as a corpse carrier and her rough life experience made Zheng Hehuizi and the team feel that the character was very special.
The identity of the corpse carrier left Yang Caiwei scarred.
Zheng He Huizi has a sweet appearance and made her debut in comedy, so most of the roles she was offered in the past were lively and cheerful girls. A character like Yang Caiwei feels fresh to her, especially since this role requires a scar that runs across the face, which Zheng He Huizi finds very interesting.
"There's absolutely no problem with being ugly in a role."
Zheng Hehuizi found the scar that ran across Yang Caiwei's face interesting.
She really likes this character. It is rare for a character to appear in such a difficult and miserable situation, with a low status and in an embarrassing situation, which makes the audience feel pity. "But she is also like a tough grass. The audience may see thousands of ordinary women in her. They are all ordinary people, with their own bitterness and pain, but they are all living tenaciously. I think this can resonate with the audience."
"She is a sunflower that grows silently"
In just two or three episodes, Zheng He Huizi portrayed the complexity of the character of Yang Caiwei: the arrogance and vision of a daughter of a wealthy family, and the tenacity and clarity of a woman from the lower class, coexisting at the same time.
"Her family background and education made her a girl with backbone and vision." Zheng Hehuizi mentioned the screenwriter's description of the character: Even if she is a small person who is as low as dust, she will stand up for injustice, have a tolerant heart for the world, and have awe for life. That is why she can still grow into an optimistic person after experiencing those ups and downs. "Her optimism may not be a happy little bird, but a sunflower that grows silently."
A sunflower that has gone through hardships but remains positive.
In the play, Yang Caiwei and Pan Yue have to complete the complex emotional changes of recognition, resistance, suspicion, acceptance, etc. in a short period of time. It is not easy to perform, and the actors need to conduct detailed research and thinking on the characters. In Zheng Hehuizi's opinion, Yang Caiwei's initial rejection of Pan Yue was not due to inferiority. "She can clearly recognize the reality: our status is no longer equal, and there is still the misunderstanding that you abandoned me, so there is no need for us to be together anymore."
When faced with the resolution of the misunderstanding and Pan Yue's confession, in this important emotional scene, Zheng He Huizi did not shed tears but instead had mixed emotions.
"At that time, I considered, should I cry here? But then I thought: If Yang Caiwei shed tears at this moment, it means she has been shaken and accepted it. But she was rejected by the Pan family that year, it is impossible that she had no resentment in her heart. When she knew the truth at that moment, she must have felt relieved and understood. He was hurt for her again, and she must have had feelings and been touched for him at this time. But she felt: no matter in terms of status or appearance, we are already worlds apart. I can not care about the public's eyes, but what about his family? What's more, we haven't seen each other for many years, and you suddenly say you want to marry me. Can I feel at ease marrying this person?" Zheng He Huizi said in detail.
The two resolved their misunderstandings and the male protagonist confessed his love
In the play, Yang Caiwei puts on her wedding dress at home alone and faces herself in the bronze mirror. In this scene, Zheng Hehuizi talks about many of her thoughts from Yang Caiwei's perspective: "I have feelings for him and I have expectations for him. I have never worn such beautiful clothes. When I was dressing up and holding the gold hairpin, I was in a trance. Is this my happiness? Is this true? But did I decide to marry him the moment I put it on? I didn't think about it. Everything is like a dream, but will this dream continue? I don't know." These girlish feelings are hardly expressed in the lines throughout the play, but there is an emotional flow in her performance.
Yang Caiwei tries on wedding dresses at home
“Not considering the protagonist or the supporting role”
But as an actor, the opportunity to create a character in detail like this is hard to come by.
Zheng Hehuizi admitted that generally speaking, when actors first come into contact with a project, they rarely get a complete script, so they don’t know whether the character will be full and rich later. Zheng Hehuizi is particularly resistant to stereotyped and thin roles. "People should be vivid, with shortcomings and weaknesses."
But the problem is that in a very busy crew, it is difficult to give actors, especially supporting actors, enough creative space and time. Zheng Hehuizi will strive for it. "On the basis of respecting the screenwriter and director, can we discuss whether we can make some adjustments to the character's lines, or add some interactions to make the character more stand out?" She said frankly, "But this discussion depends on the specific situation. First of all, the director's workload is huge, and he may not have time to discuss these things with you. And if you make adjustments, will it affect the performance of other characters? Will it cause incoherence in the script? Will others think you are making decisions on your own?" So most of the time, when faced with a relatively thin role, actors can only make some improvements within the scope of their own performance. "
The broadcast effect of "Flower Order" and the response brought by Yang Caiwei's role were beyond Zheng Hehuizi and her team's expectations. But after the surprise, she and her team became more determined to choose projects "based on the script and the role".
"We still don't consider the main role or supporting role as the criteria. I am happy to accept supporting roles in good scripts. I don't think that I must play the main role or act in a big project just because a role has become popular. I don't have such thoughts." She said, "We will be more cautious in accepting roles and hope to live up to everyone's expectations. So many people like you and praise you, if you hand in something substandard, it will hurt the audience and myself."
The "sacredness" of actors has nothing to do with me
Unlike many young actresses who debuted with sweet love stories and idol dramas, Zheng Hehuizi signed with Wanhe Tianyi right after her debut, and collaborated with young comedians from amateur backgrounds such as Bai Ke, Zhang Benyu, and Liu Xunzimo, and starred in many comedies. "The director and the brothers in the company are very nice and interesting. When acting, they interacted with me naturally."
At that time, she, who was a professional host, believed that she acted based on instinct and aura. "I used to think that aura and talent are the most important in acting." When she first entered the industry, many people praised Zheng Hehuizi for her aura, but "aura" itself is easily consumed, so Zheng Hehuizi became more and more sober. "Later, I felt that aura and talent are the foundation, but what is more needed is hard work, concentration, and exploration."
How to stay focused, or to be an ordinary person outside of all the colorful scenery. When she is not filming at home, Zheng Hehuizi goes downstairs with her family to go shopping. "I wear floral pajamas, big slippers, no makeup, and a sun hat." She laughed and said that her back looks like "a grandmother picking up her grandchildren from school."
"My mom thinks I'm sloppy. She says you're an artist after all. I say, can't artists wear florals? It doesn't matter if I take photos with people in shorts. I think I'm just my mom's daughter. After dinner, we go to the nearby park for a walk or climb a mountain. This is my life."
Behind the Scenes of "Flower Order"
"It's the attributes of the actor's profession that are 'sacred', and it has nothing to do with me as a person." In her opinion, the "sacredness" of an actor lies in the fact that it is a job that requires the efforts and assistance of many people to complete. "You need co-actors, you need the efforts and assistance of teachers from various departments such as costumes, makeup, lighting, and art. It is the efforts of everyone that make you the most shining one on stage, so this profession is 'sacred' and we must respect it."
"But when I'm not acting, am I just an ordinary person in life? You can't enjoy the glamour of being an actor and say you don't have time to live, right? You can give up something and slow down a bit, right? If I don't come across the right script, I sometimes don't take any roles for several months, but it doesn't mean I have to act."
"It seems that everyone in your company really has little desire to make money?" the reporter asked.
"No, not really. I still like making money, but there are some money that I can choose not to make," Zheng Hehuizi said with a smile.
"When you are not rolling, live a good life"
Young actors are easily stereotyped by the market. When she first debuted, Zheng Hehuizi, who had a "sweet girl face", was approached by most projects such as campus dramas and sweet pet dramas. "Maybe it's because I don't have much girlish heart and don't have much feeling for campus dramas and sweet pet dramas. At that time, I really wanted to try different roles, so I declined many such dramas."
But later, as she became more mature, she recalled that she should have given it a try. "Because I still lacked the accumulation of works at that time, I should have accumulated recognition and polished my acting skills within the scope of the works I could choose, and then make the transition and challenge at a more appropriate age."
Stills from "Summer Solstice"
She said frankly, "I used to have some fantasies, wondering if I could suddenly become famous and have more good projects, but now I feel: If I don't improve my performance, can I take on good projects? Am I worthy of good projects? What do the audience see in me? So now I will be more down-to-earth."
At the age of 20, Zheng He Huizi felt that the most important thing was to "make progress, and keep making progress". Now, she feels that the most important thing is to "live a good life down to earth" so that she can enrich herself and her roles.
"An elder sister told me that the most important thing you need to do is 'not feel pressured'." Not feeling pressured seems to refer to a very light state, letting some complicated things flow through you without stopping. "If you care too much about something, your mind will be overloaded and you won't be able to focus on your performance. Don't fight against things you are not satisfied with or the current situation you are not satisfied with. Just be quiet and do what you should do first."
Now she feels that the "progress" she pursued at the age of 20 was more of a conceptual and secular progress. Now, she hopes that she can face all things good and bad in a healthier and more peaceful way.
Stills from "The Legend of Strange Stars: The Young Age"
After so many years in the industry, Zheng He Huizi believes that she has never had too many "burdens". This is not only due to her own personality, but also the influence of "the brothers" at Wanhe Tianyi. The company does not count money, nor does it force overtime. During holidays, they give everyone flowers and shopping cards, and go skiing and Universal Studios for team building.
Zheng Hehuizi is very confident about her luck, because "I always win the lottery at the annual meeting", "I won Apple headphones last year and a shopping card this year, I'm so lucky!" But when it comes to acting, the artists in the company "are also very focused, without any rules or ideological burdens, and are down-to-earth." She laughed and said, "I think our company may really be like what netizens say, not like this industry, with a 'class flavor'."
"When you are not busy, just live your life well and live every day happily as an ordinary person. Everyone should do the same."
