Actor Zhang Songwen is famous for The Night Before.

Zhang Songwen, 44, has experienced the most difficult decade. Now many plays let him play the leading role, but he subconsciously wants to audition. The picture shows the hidden corner stills. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee/picture)

Because of the hit suspense online drama "Hidden Corner", actor Zhang Songwen once again stood in the spotlight. The last time he became the focus, it was in the Lou Ye movie Clouds Made by a Rain in the Wind, which was released on 20 19. He vividly played a director of the construction Committee in charge of demolition in officialdom.

In fact, in a hidden corner, Zhang Songwen is not the protagonist. He plays Zhu Yongping, a Guangdong aquatic businessman, who divorced his ex-wife, left his son Zhu Chaoyang to his ex-wife and gave birth to a daughter with his current wife Yao Yao. He has no fighting spirit and always wants to find a balance between the two sides. Zhang Songwen had only a few scenes in the play, but he left a deep impression on the audience. The son complained that his parents divorced because he was naughty, and all the mistakes were on his own head. The father he played was so sad that he buried his face under the table and didn't let his son see it. The audience couldn't see Zhang Songwen's face, but was deeply moved by a father's sadness. When asked about this scene, Zhang Songwen said he was embarrassed. He doesn't have any unique skills, but "listens carefully"-after listening to what his son said, a father will naturally have the truest reaction. If there are too many presets, there will be false.

In the past 78 years, Zhang Songwen has been called "acting teacher" in the circle-he once worked as a teaching assistant in the performance department of Beijing Film Academy. But he is a performance teacher who doesn't like being a teacher. "Just like I obviously want to play basketball, but you let me be a basketball coach. How can I be happy? But no one asked me to play basketball, so I had to choose someone who was close to basketball and stood by as a coach to watch them play basketball. At least I am still witnessing all this and feel that I have not been abandoned. " Zhang Songwen said.

Zhang Songwen was hungry for performance opportunities, and the standard was reduced to "just a movie, no money, no role". However, there are not many opportunities left by the industry for this "drama idiot". In the past ten years, Zhang Songwen has been running around and playing hard every day, leaving behind stories of being ignored and rejected.

He recalled the anecdote of his audition and laughed louder than others. Onlookers seem to have "listened" to the black humorous film for two hours. In fact, when he looked back, it was all bitter.

"Funny? It's really funny. My stories are comedies, but in fact all comedies are based on some very sad events. " Zhang Songwen said.

Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, Zhang Songwen has been off the air since the fourth day of the Lunar New Year in 2020, and the starting time of all previous dramas has been postponed repeatedly. "But I am also used to this state. Read the script every day and study every day. It is also very fulfilling. " He said.

The following is Zhang Songwen's account.

Because there was no filming and no living expenses, I was forced to teach acting. They only let me be an acting teacher. Some people I have taught will say "I learned it from Zhang Songwen" in interviews. Someone asked: Which teacher is Zhang Songwen? They said: The best international performance studio in China. The name has just leaked out. In fact, this so-called studio doesn't have any staff, just me, teaching one-on-one

However, I obviously want to play basketball, but you let me be a basketball coach. How can I be happy? Nobody asked me to play basketball, so I had to choose someone close to basketball. Isn't that just standing by as a coach and watching them play basketball? It's good, at least I'm still witnessing it, and I feel like I'm not abandoned.

The performance theory we teach in colleges and universities is the Stanislavsky system in Russia, which is also commonly known as experiential school. This system is very solid. It teaches the basic skills of performance and the appearance of sound stage. However, with this basic training, can you become an actor? Strictly speaking, no, you just completed the most basic training in the performance industry. There are many acquired factors that really determine whether you can be an actor or not.

He taught at the Beijing Film Academy for seven or eight years and worked as a teaching assistant in the performance department. He was not formally established and his basic salary was not high. At that time, I really wanted to act, because I had never acted before, so I felt unconvincing. But it's hard to ask for leave as a performance assistant in the film academy, and I don't want to lose my job. Can only wait for winter and summer vacations, winter vacation is about 25 days, summer vacation is 50 days. Only these two times a year are free. I'm not priceless. Who will wait for me if I don't shoot the whole play? It's impossible. So in the end, I didn't have a chance to film at all, so it was a waste.

In 2004, I starred in the first TV series starring Lapras. At that time, there were not many movies, but many TV plays. Interpol's true colors, black ice, black holes, ten-year marriage, big house door, big dye house, Yongzheng dynasty ... At that time, TV dramas were everywhere.

Zhang Songwen (middle) started his career as an actor in a TV series. The picture shows the stills of Lapras's Strange Husband, his first TV series starring in 2004. (data map/map)

But in the TV drama market at that time, the real stars were mainly Mesozoic actors, such as Chen, Chen, Wang, Li Baotian, Jison, Jiang, etc ... Those of us who just graduated were very embarrassed. When you are in your twenties, you can only play some small roles, such as the protagonist's son, brother or ministers around you.

At that time, I looked in the mirror every day, hated being young, and longed to get old quickly every day. When you go to see the tour group, every time Mr. Chen's name is posted on the wall, you know that you are hopeless, because the first echelon is all Mesozoic actors.

Looking down again, those young actors in the second echelon, at that time, I felt that Huang Xiaoming posted the most in each cast. At that time, I went to run a group and met many actors of my age. Deng Chao impressed me the most. At that time, Deng Chao was already a little famous, and he was also running a group. I used to be in a group with Deng Chao. I remember that the TV series was called Duke of Lushan, Deng Chao played Wei Xiaobao, and I played the emperor. After the audition, I took a photo with Deng Chao. Many years later, when I was cleaning my computer, I accidentally saw a photo of me and Deng Chao. When did I know him? The two of us are still so close that we took a photo with each other. I tried to remember what I was doing during that time, only remembering that we all tried a Duke of Lushan. The result can be imagined. At that time, both of us failed and neither of us was elected.

In 2009, I took over a costume TV series of great significance to me, The Secret History of Yang Guifei directed by You Xiaogang, in which I played the courtier Yang. When the play was broadcast, the audience rating was the first in the same period in the country.

I tried the role in the secret history of Yang Guifei. On that day, the crew tried boys and girls again. Director You Xiaogang doesn't want me to worry. He just said, don't go yet, help me show it to other actors, and I agreed; He also said that you can play a young one to help her build it, and I said yes. I tried again and again, and finally I got Yang.

This play has many lines, and it is ancient Chinese. As a prime minister, I often report a lot of data to the emperor. Those data can't be wrong, because there is history to check. That line made me miserable, because it was illogical and I had to recite it. It was summer, and it took three clothes to shoot this costume drama. At that time, I was very thin, only 120 kg. Wearing ancient costumes is ugly and shabby, and they have to add cotton-padded jackets inside. Imagine 40 degrees in summer, wearing a cotton-padded jacket inside, two coats outside and a hat, often suffering from heatstroke. At that time, we all distributed a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi water at the scene, because drinking it would not cause heatstroke, but I couldn't drink it. I can't make a movie after drinking it all day because it contains alcohol. After drinking a bottle, my face will turn red for two or three hours. Looking back now, the play was enjoyable in creation, but the shooting process was very painful.

My first chance to appear in a movie was also related to the secret history of Yang Guifei.

One day, two Hong Kong directors came to visit the crew of The Secret History of Yang Guifei, and I wasn't there when they came. I didn't play that day and went home. The actors called me: Wen Song, come on, there are two film directors coming! The TV actor was very excited when he heard what the film director said. I asked him who he was, and he said it was Liu Weiqiang and Chen Jiashang. My mother, this is beyond our knowledge. It is too far away from us. I asked them what they were talking about, and he said that he came to an actor here and booked the next play for him to act in a movie. I also asked the actors, are you sure you can act in this play? He said it was basically settled and talked with the director and them for three hours. Let me come quickly, maybe I can get a part. I said yes!

I especially remember that day, the night of June 2009 1 65438+1October1,the snowstorm. You can check the weather that day. It is said that this is the biggest and earliest snowstorm in Beijing in ten years. Before autumn was over and the leaves were still there, it began to snow. It was particularly cold that day. The crew is about 50 kilometers away from my home, outside the North Sixth Ring Road, a winery in Niulanshan, and I flew there.

As soon as my bus arrived, I saw four or five actors escorting two directors on the bus. After getting off the bus, I ran as fast as I could, rushed over and gasped, and stopped the car door with one hand, which startled Chen Jiashang. I am talking about two directors. Let me introduce myself briefly. My name is Zhang Songwen. I am an actor. I have been making TV series for six or seven years. I have some experience. Making movies is my dream. You two can ask me to play any role in your movie. I am willing to be a passerby without lines. Liu Weiqiang laughed himself to death. "What are you doing?" . Then they got on the bus. I was so sad that I thought it was all over.

But Liu Weiqiang suddenly said "Come, let him come and play" at the moment of closing the door, and then closed the door and left. I'm sure this sentence is addressed to me. I asked to introduce my actor friend. What does this mean? They said that Liu Weiqiang was very serious. He joked that he would come to play, which meant that he agreed to let you play.

I was so happy that when I looked up, it began to snow desperately. Everyone's gone. Go back to their rooms. I am still standing there. I told myself at that time, it seems that today will be a watershed, and I am going to make a movie.

Later, my first play was their film, called Jason Wu Fengyun. I play a man without a name. Now I see that there is a name in the file called "Moon Jae in", which is actually my own name. I asked the director, doesn't this role have a name? Liu Weiqiang said there must be. I said what the name was, and he said it wasn't in the script. Then I said, can I give him a name? He said you did, I said my name was Zhang Songwen, and I hit someone else's messenger, so please call me Wen Zai.

Lou Ye gave Zhang Songwen (left) "absolute freedom and generosity" in the film, because he felt that he was "a performance teacher and should have a rich performance system to complete his role". The picture shows Zhang Songwen (left) performing in the movie "A Night Indulged in the Spring Breeze". (data map/map)

The first time I played a movie, I made a lot of jokes.

Jason Wu Fengyun is a drama of the Republic of China. Shu Qi plays a Japanese spy, disguised as a nightclub singer, and lurks beside Liu Ye, the man of the hour in Shanghai. One day, her identity was exposed, and she confronted Liu Ye with two Japanese soldiers. Liu threatened her. Do you think you can escape from Shanghai? Shu Qi said, let's see who can't escape. No sooner had she finished than the man behind Liu Ye drew a gun and killed the two Japanese soldiers.

I asked the director that it was written in the script that "the man behind Liu Ye" killed the two Japanese. Can I shoot? The director said yes, what do you think? I said that the messenger around him wears a suit every day, very gentle, like a secretary, but at this moment I am a killer, no longer an ordinary secretary. The director said, well, then kill it. I said I wanted to design guns. Wherever he goes, Wen Zi always puts his hand in his pocket, but there is a gun hidden inside. At that time, all the killers pinned their guns to their waists. I don't think it's awesome to pin them on your waist, but to put them in your pocket. I designed it. Bang, bang, two shots. The shooting speed is extremely fast, and one shot knocks down one.

The director didn't object, but said that he could act like this. When shooting, the prop teacher took out the gun, and I was dumbfounded-it was a big T pistol bigger than a slap. I tried my best to put the pistol in my trouser pocket, but I couldn't get it in. At this moment, I heard the director say, ready, action! I was sweating like a pig, so I tore open my trouser pocket and forced the gun into it. I keep telling myself not to lose the chain.

It suddenly occurred to me, oh, no one taught me how to shoot. Is it a real bullet or a fake bullet My mind is a mess. At this moment, I heard a "stop". The director came up and said, Wen Zi, what are you doing? Why didn't you pull your gun just now? I've finished writing my lines. It's cold and you don't even open the room. I didn't even notice. All I can think about is how to shoot. It's called performance distraction. I'm not listening to anyone at all.

The second time, I made up my mind to stare at the hero and say lines. As soon as I finished reading the lines, I immediately took out my gun. I don't know. At the scene of hundreds of people, everyone stopped to look at me. I pulled it five or six times, but the gun got stuck in my trouser pocket and couldn't get out. The audience laughed violently. Two Japanese actors are particularly innocent. They were lying on the stairs, not knowing what to do. The teacher who shot didn't know whether to press the button or not, because he would wait for me to shoot and press the explosion point, and the plasma bags on the two actors would spill blood.

The director can only stop again. No one scolded me, but I was particularly sad. I was supposed to be a person with a lot of acting experience, but I made a clumsy mistake. I really want to dig. That gave me a very valuable experience-but if you design a lot of odds and ends in advance, it is not feasible in performance.

After the appearance of Jason Wu Fengyun, I became the god of the cast. Everyone must hold back when they see me, and don't laugh. Everyone is protecting my self-esteem. Why don't you laugh at me? Because they can't bear to hit a decent man. How serious am I? My play will be over in four days, but I asked Liu Weiqiang: Director, can I still live in this crew? He said, what the hell? I said I just wanted to see you filming. He said, aren't you watching now? Can I say that I want to watch it every day? He said you can have anything you want. I stay at the scene every day when I have nothing to do. I stand by and watch whoever plays. Looking at it, I feel as if I have touched a little doorway.

I especially remember one day, I stood on the monitor and Shu Qi stood there watching. I asked Shu Qi, why do you always watch actors' plays? Shu Qi said, look at other people's acting skills, regardless of gender. I think this sentence is very awesome. I thought Shu Qi was so famous that he won several Golden Awards and Golden Horse Awards for his acting skills, and he was still watching other actors' performances. Why don't we young people watch it? So I'm not leaving. I'm staying on the set.

Seeing other actors perform every day left a good impression on Liu Weiqiang. He asked me, what do you think? Is it fun? I said it was fun. Can you call me next time you make a movie? There is no role, I will come without paying. Later, Chen Jiashang called me when filming "Four Famous Hunters", and I had two shots. Thanks to Liu Weiqiang Chen Jiashang, who gave me a little industry dignity in my most difficult time.

20 10 I participated in five films intensively, and I asked for these opportunities. During that time, I begged the director to let me act everywhere. It doesn't matter what role, size, as long as it is a movie. I don't talk about money and I don't pick roles. I really want to be in a movie. Later, the first president gave me two scenes, and the golden robbery gave me three scenes. I robbed the gold because Ning Hao asked me to be the teacher of his acting training class. I went to ask Ning Hao if there was a role suitable for me. No. Finally, he gave me a role in three scenes.

These films were all released on 20 1 1, and some of them were rated very low. The audience must have their reasons for giving such a low score. But at that time, I didn't think it was a low-scoring work, because your performance was all-out, and you must think it was a high-scoring work. But what if you try your best? There are only two scenes in your character. What pattern can you shoot?

You ask me, in those years when the China film market took off, was the standard of film performance getting higher and higher? Sorry, I haven't studied it. As an actor, all my energy is focused on how to act. It is impossible for a hopeless person to study the macro situation. You live in the basement for 250 yuan a month, and there is still water leakage and no electricity. You smoked two and a half cigarettes in it. People asked you what you were up to, and I said I was thinking about the overall performance level of China films. Is this ridiculous?

I especially remember one winter when Beijing came. I lived in the countryside and had no heating. Hong Kong director Qiu Litao asked me, will you come to Hong Kong to film? I especially wanted to say at that time, can I shoot for a winter? As a result, people said no, just five days.

Zhang Songwen (right) began to "choose scripts" after the premiere of the movie Summer of the Xijiang River 20 17. The picture shows the film stills. (data map/map)

I will really choose the script, starting from 20 17. That year, Summer on the West River premiered.

I used to be an acting teacher, and later I became an actor. Actually, my position is very embarrassing. There are two kinds of directors. One kind trusts you very much and thinks that you are a performance teacher and should have a rich performance system to complete the role, so give me absolute freedom and generosity, such as Mr. Lou Ye.

There is also a director who knows that I am a performance teacher, but doesn't mind and enjoys transforming me. Summer in Xihe is like this. The director of this film is Zhou Quan, born in 1987, ten years younger than me. This is his first time directing a feature film. In terms of experience, he should be deficient. He's never filmed it. But two days before we got on the phone, after a play, I was particularly willing to give myself to him.

As described in the original script, I went to a grocery store to buy eggs, and my wife (Tan Zhuo) asked me to buy them. I looked at the counter of the shop, and some people were selling cream. I played a very rigid director of the guidance office. I don't usually give gifts to my wife, but he was in a particularly good mood that day, so I bought a vanishing cream by the way. My wife was cooking in the kitchen when I got home. I went in and put down the eggs. The lines say "I bought the eggs", and then the family of three eats. As soon as I started eating, I took the cream out of my pocket and pushed it to my wife. I said, "I saw this when I was buying eggs just now, and I bought it for you." My wife took it, looked at it, smiled, then said, "Eat, eat" and brought me food.

I read the script and thought it was okay, so I acted it out. But after the performance, Zhou Quan was not satisfied. He said, teacher, you play a very life, but I don't know why, I still can't live. I asked what went wrong. It suddenly occurred to me that you and Tan Zhuo are parents in their forties, similar in age to mine. They don't seem to give presents to their wives in front of their children at the dinner table. Later, he asked me to remake the scene and change the plot. My husband came home, went into the kitchen and put down the eggs he bought without saying anything. After dinner, I handed the cream to my wife and said that I had left my eggs in the kitchen.

Then I said, it's classic. It is not easy for Zhou Quan to have such an understanding of life at such a young age.

Summer on the Xijiang River is very strange, and the box office is extremely low, but overnight, many people are willing to discuss this movie and don't know why. Later, many people asked me about my acting skills. I said I had no skills. I only caught a few cores: first, whether he is in my logic; Second, have I ever seen such a person? Third, if I haven't seen it, can I believe there is such a person through imagination?

In "A Cloud Made of Rain in the Wind", I played the role of Director Tang of the Development Zone, which is a career I have never experienced. I start from two aspects. First, he is a civil servant, so I recalled the civil servants I knew. Everyone has seen it in my mind once, and I have chosen a few representative ones to put in my mind. I also found such a unit to "work". After half a month, I know what this person's usual working state is like.

In order to play the role in Clouds with Rain in the Wind, Zhang Songwen (second from right) specially found a unit to work for half a month. The picture shows the film stills. (data map/map)

I don't have much role in the hidden corner. Because there are not many scenes worth cherishing, if every scene is there, you may not have so much energy to ponder.

In one scene, my current wife's daughter was killed. I took a recording pen to find my son Zhu Chaoyang, my ex-wife, because my current wife Yao Yao told me every day that my daughter was killed by Chaoyang. As a father, I certainly don't think it's him, but how can I convince my present wife? Moreover, Yao Yao sent someone to fight Chaoyang, and Chaoyang's mother also came to see me. I'm caught in the middle, and both ends want to calm down.

Zhu Yongping, my father, is not a man with fighting spirit. This role is more about living a good life, earning money and taking care of the family, which is enough. He thinks my son and I are related by blood, which is an inseparable family relationship. You have to say he killed him. All right, I'll talk to him once. But if I come back and tell you that he said it wasn't him, it won't be convincing. The best way is for me to record it and bring it back to you. This is me and my son. He told me frankly that he didn't kill my sister. The only reason for recording is this.

Zhang Songwen (second from left) has played many fatherly roles. Zhu Yongping, who he played in the online drama Hidden Corner, tried to be a good father, but failed. The picture shows the stills of the play. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee/picture)

I have played my father many times. In Hidden Corner, Summer in Xihe River and Cloud Made of a Rain in the Wind, I am also a father, playing the father of Tang Xiaonuo (Sandra). Playing the father, strictly speaking, just grasp a few points. First, you must be sure that parents all over the world love their children; Second, in your eyes, what kind of person is your child, that is, how the father feels about the child; Third, what kind of father do you want to be? Knowing these three points, I think the tone of this role will come out.

The third point is the most interesting. In fact, what kind of father you want to be is not decided by you, but by this play. What happens to the characters in the play determines what kind of father you want to be. According to the script, if you hit your child every day, you will play a father who loves my child very much but can't find an educational method. My educational method is to beat him. I didn't design this, it was decided by the script.

The hidden corner provides some blueprints made by my father. In the first scene, the appearance is playing cards, and then the son comes to him. The description in the script is that several business partners playing cards praised my son there and won the first place in the exam again.

In fact, any father is happy when others praise your child for being the first in the exam. But some parents care about their children's grades, while others don't. The script didn't say much, so I thought, should I care? Later, I decided I shouldn't care. Because I am a businessman and a Cantonese who is engaged in aquatic products, I deal with many people every day. The people around me who have money and no money are not directly proportional to their educational level. For example, in the street of aquatic products wholesale, there is a man with a net worth of 200 million who just graduated from elementary school. So I think that this father will be a person who doesn't care about academic performance. He thinks that a person's future and academic performance can't decide anything.

You can scold Chaoyang's father and say that he is not a good father, but it doesn't prevent me from wanting to be a good father. You must believe that if you want to be a good father, you may not be a good father, because you may not be a good father.

You all think I'm angry because I played director Tang of the development zone in Fengyun, but I don't think so myself.

I have a WeChat group in junior high school and high school, with hundreds of people in it. I haven't seen anyone discuss Director Tang. So you said everyone saw me. I don't believe it. I don't think everyone saw me. On the contrary, this time, the hidden corner made me feel as if someone had seen it. Yesterday at two o'clock in the morning, in the group of my primary school (there were 43 students), a female classmate sent a screenshot showing that I ate cold noodles in the play, and then she called me and said that you enjoyed the play very much.

Another female classmate, the monitor of our primary school, immediately jumped out and said that she had seen it, and then the third person jumped out and said, I'm almost finished with the ode, which is very nice. Three out of 43 people saw it. That's great. No one has ever said anything about my previous work in this group. So although you said that Fengyun was watched by many people, it should be said that it was watched by film critics and a group of people who especially love movies, it doesn't mean that people in China watched it. The praise of film critics makes me very dignified as an actor, and the recognition of those ordinary audiences will make me feel satisfied as an actor, because filming is for ordinary audiences.

I am especially lucky that my classmates never treat me as an actor. When I was filming Fengyun, a primary school classmate asked in the group, Zhang Songwen, are you in Guangzhou? I said, how do you know? She said: I saw a news that there was a film crew in Guangzhou, starring Jing Boran. Click Open to see you standing on the side of the road. Come out for a meal. I said yes. Two or three hours later, she appeared in front of me. Originally, Lou Ye's crew wouldn't let me watch it, but I wanted to show my old classmates around. I didn't expect her to say, I won't watch it. Let's go out for dinner after work. Finally, she helped me make an appointment with four primary school classmates. We went to dinner together and talked all the time.

There was a report recently that I had a hard time before. My classmate suddenly forwarded this report to our classmate last night, and then said, Zhang Songwen, you don't have to pay for my meal, just bring two bunches of bananas, and then I laughed. She said, I am telling the truth. Another classmate also jumped out to laugh. Everyone says that we are 45 years old and haven't read the report of Ode. I said yes, and I am middle-aged. I cherish the close relationship with my children, which is very beneficial to my performance.