Acting stars are the foundation of our success.” Wang Keren summed up the criteria for selecting actors in Yanghua.
Ge Xinyi, who plays Xiao Xianglan in the 2021 CCTV version of "Dream of Dreams", was recommended by Xu Qing. After searching online, Wang Keren found out that Ge Xinyi came from a talent show. But after starting to rehearse, he found that this girl was not only talented, but also hardworking and knew how to train herself. "Because of her, I even changed my view on talent shows."
The role of Young Patient No. 5 has been played by Hu Ge for the past eight years. This time, due to schedule and other reasons, Hu Ge withdrew from the crew, which immediately brought a huge challenge: Hu Ge has been a great actor in dramas, movies and TV series. His lines, performances, image, popularity and professionalism are all good. It can be said that the role of Patient No. 5 he created has reached a peak. So, who can withstand the pressure and replace Hu Ge?
In 2020, Wang Keren was looking for actors everywhere. One day, actor coordinator Liang Yefeng recommended a star: Xiao Zhan.
To Wang Keren, this is a completely unfamiliar name. Once, Wang Keren led the crew to Wuxi for a performance, and happened to stay in the same hotel as Xiao Zhan. He witnessed a large number of fans surrounding the hotel, but other than that, he did not leave any more impressions.
Later, Xiao Zhan experienced a series of storms. The changes, ups and downs that happened to him, as well as the fierce, complex and contradictory social phenomena behind him, attracted Wang Keran's attention. A psychologist friend reminded him to pay attention to Xiao Zhan.
"Through Xiao Zhan, I have paid attention to various new rhythms in social development. Only by understanding this rhythm can the artistic works created be in line with the trend of the times. Drama must be an emotional connection between the dramatic actions on the stage at this moment and the people here and now." Wang Keren feels that the most mysterious thing about a person's destiny is impermanence, which is also the soul of drama. The impermanence in Xiao Zhan's destiny is highly consistent with Patient No. 5 in "Dream of Dreams".
In July 2020, when preparing for the "Special Action to Commemorate the 110th Anniversary of Cao Yu's Birth", Wang Keren wanted to find a young actor to have a live dialogue with Wan Fang to highlight the theme of the event "We are all after the thunderstorm".
He thought of Xiao Zhan and invited him to the event, with a task attached: ask questions based on Teacher Wan Fang's play "Winter Journey" and new book "You and Me" to see if there is fate.
At first, Wang Keren didn't have much hope. But a few days later, Xiao Zhan replied with a long list of 20 to 30 questions. It was obvious that he had read Teacher Wan Fang's works carefully and thought about them seriously. His questions were simple but profound. This gave Wang Keren a new understanding of him.
On July 31, at the backstage of the "Special Action to Commemorate the 110th Anniversary of Cao Yu's Birth", You Zhan, dressed simply and accompanied only by his agent, walked silently into the VIP lounge and sat down in a corner.
He greeted Wan Fang respectfully when he met her for the first time and listened to her attentively.
Wan Fang was very enthusiastic and said that she had never seen Xiao Zhan's works. Xiao Zhan quickly added a self-introduction, saying that he studied design in college, had not studied acting, and had never been exposed to drama, and asked Fang Fang to recommend good works.
Wan Fang thought about it and quietly recommended him a niche American TV series "Hundred Years Tavern", saying that the actors in it all had superb acting skills and he could watch it when he had time. Xiao Zhan nodded and took note of it.
That day was the first time for Xiao Zhan to appear on the stage. Although it was the first time for him and Wan Fang to meet, they completed a special session very tacitly: in the intervals between the performances of six classic drama clips, they had several conversations on the stage, discussing the topics of "sincerity", "choice" and "confusion" which are always popular.
His performance was very natural, which left a deep impression on Wang Keren. Originally, Wang Keren planned to invite Xiao Zhan to play Zhou Chong in "Thunderstorm" and "After the Thunderstorm". But after watching the conversation that day, he felt that Xiao Zhan's figure, temperament, and state were closer to the young patient No. 5 in "Dream of Dreams" - he was so clean, clear, contradictory and sharp, and could gain the trust and love of the audience.
Wang Keran gave the script of "Dream Like a Dream" to Xiao Zhan and made a formal invitation. A few days later, Xiao Zhan said that he liked the role of Patient No. 5 and was willing to accept the invitation.
In March 2021, the crew of "Dream of Dreams" entered Tangshan and began closed rehearsals for more than half a month at the Tangshan Grand Theater.
On the first day Xiao Zhan joined the crew, he surprised everyone: many actors need one or two days to read the script, familiarize themselves with the lines, and discuss the roles before they can get into the state, but Xiao Zhan is not like that. Before coming, he watched all of Hu Ge's performance videos and memorized the lines. He could recite them as soon as he entered the crew and rehearse. He got into the state almost immediately. Actor Huang Lu played Jiang Hong in the play and had the most scenes with Xiao Zhan. She was surprised to hear that Xiao Zhan had memorized all the lines, because this is almost unimaginable for film and television actors with tight schedules.
After a few days of rehearsal, executive directors Chen Limei, Zhang Rui, as well as seniors such as Xu Qing and Kong Wei, all had a good impression of Xiao Zhan. He has a good voice, excellent lines, and is very hardworking. The stage positions of "Dream Like a Dream" are very complicated, and Huang Li occasionally can't remember the position.
Xiao Zhan will lead the way quietly.
In order to better portray Patient No. 5, he would deliberately try different acting styles during daily rehearsals. In one scene, Patient No. 5 and Jiang Hong went to a French villa for a visit and were mistaken for oriental artists by some pretentious French rich people. They were quick-witted and improvised a few words in Japanese to get away with it.
In order to accurately express the funny and absurd nature of this scene, Xiao Zhan created several voice memes.
Deliberately speaking the lines in a ridiculous tone - after this change, the scene became more fluent, lively and humorous, becoming the highlight of the performance.
In Tangshan, after rehearsals every day, the executive director would gather all the actors and point out everyone's problems by referring to the notes. Xiao Zhan made no mistakes in his lines, emotions, and expressiveness. He was mostly reminded of small details such as paying attention to the speed of the rhythm and taking two more steps when queuing for movie tickets.
In the impression of executive director Zhang Rui, Xiao Zhan will not make the same mistake again, which must be because he did his homework when he went back that night; Tian Lan, deputy general manager of China National Theatre, was a little worried about Xiao Zhan's lack of stage experience, but after watching the rehearsal, his concerns were completely dispelled.
If you pay a little attention, you will find that Xiao Zhan has quietly paid attention to many details in his physical performance: he always frowns slightly, his limbs will not be fully stretched, and even when he laughs, his eyes are still melancholy. The frail, thin, clean, dreamy Patient No. 5 is so far away from him. Getting closer.
At the end of the rehearsal in Tangshan, Wang Keren specially invited some drama critics to watch in advance. After watching the rehearsal, the famous drama critic Cheng Hui wrote: "Xiao Zhan's performance exceeded my expectations. Not only did he not have the awkwardness that is easy to bring when he first shows his talent on stage, but he was also able to blend the character with his own personality traits, and blend the rhythm of action with the relaxation of emotions. The image of Patient No. 5, who is simple, ignorant, youthful, kind, and fragile, is emotionally defenseless, which is particularly in line with the setting of young people who have just entered society... Xiao Zhan has the ability and reason to achieve better results on the future drama stage...
On April 23, the 2021 CCTV version of "Dream Like a Dream" premiered in Wuhan. It was a rare scene in the Chinese theater world: the moment the tickets were released, all the available tickets were sold out; on the day of the performance, the specially customized brochure of "Dream Like a Dream" was sold out, and the square in front of Wuhan Qintai Grand Theater was almost flooded with flower baskets.
Before entering the theater, the famous writer and cultural critic Fei Xingjia didn't even know what Xiao Zhan looked like. As for Xiao Zhan, he planned to only look at two things: one was whether the new actor would be overwhelmed by the energy of the old actor on stage; the other was whether his fans could abide by the audience rules.
After watching it, he said: "Both things turned out well. The venue was very quiet the whole time, and Xiao Zhan performed Patient No. 5 in a different style, with a very good control of the rhythm."