Benchang You: At the age of 52, he played Jigong. In his later years, he became a monk, sold a house and lost all his property. Life is more legendary than the script.

1.

37 years ago, Benchang You, who was filming in Dalian, received a phone call from his wife. His wife said that Shanghai TV station appreciates his performance style and wants him to make a comedy "Jigong", hoping that he can try it when he is free.

when Benchang You received the phone call, it took him a while to react. After the reaction, I responded to my wife three times in a row.

these three "good" words sent him to Jigong.

At the scene, director Zhang Ge asked Benchang You, "What do you think of Jigong?

Benchang You stood up quickly without holding it. Say to Zhang Ge: Shall I imitate it?

After that, I had a big brain turn and showed the version of Ji Gong, which I often watched as a child. He learned Shen Xiaomei's accent and said in Shanghai dialect: Boss, who is running around in the nest? Boss, what is running around in this pot? )

After listening, Zhang Ge said to Benchang You, "It's him.

Benchang You was very happy.

When receiving the leading role of "Jigong", Benchang You was 52 years old, over half a century old and no longer young. Before that, he never played the leading role and ran for 3 years as a walk-on. Played 79 roles, all of them little people.

with other small fresh meat, you might have lost your temper and ran away. Benchang You didn't. He kept insisting, and the reason for insisting was that he really loved art.

Benchang You loved watching movies since he was a child, and his second sister often took him to the cinema. He has seen most of the films of Chaplin and Shirley Temple. At the age of 6, he especially envied the people who could make movies on the screen.

In 1951, Benchang You was 18 years old. After graduating from high school, he successfully entered the Nanjing Art Troupe. Because of his excellent grades, he was recommended to the Performance Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy one year later.

He studied drama seriously for four years. After graduation, he was assigned to Beijing to be an actor in the Central Experimental Theatre.

2.

After Benchang You entered the Central Experimental Theatre, he played all kinds of roles. It's not that Benchang You's business ability is not good. The biggest reason is that he doesn't like to compete for roles by nature, and he won't say nice things and curry favor with leaders.

The person who started from Benchang You "flew" earlier than him, and he was still doing odd jobs in the same place.

Even so, Benchang You didn't lose heart. In his mind, there are only small actors and no small roles. To this end, he can ponder a role repeatedly.

In order to play "serf" well, he actually looked through 19 translations of Strovsky's original Thunderstorm. Only in this way, can his heart be emboldened, and he can determine how the walk-on should be played, which is in line with the characters.

In Thunderstorm, after the hostess committed suicide, the "serf" was the last one to appear. The whole scene didn't have a line, only a short ten seconds.

after repeated speculation and analysis, he finally appeared as "blind in one eye and lame in one leg".

This performance, without a single line, was rated as a "classic walk-on". His "serf" became the core of the whole play.

Benchang You, who is diligent in filming and obsessed with drilling, didn't think of becoming famous quickly, making quick money and becoming famous quickly.

Fate favored him because he met Huang Yihe, the director of the first CCTV Spring Festival Evening in 1983.

At that time, Benchang You played a pantomime called Opening a Shop in Sun Erniang. It happened that Huang Yihe went to the theatre. Seeing Benchang You's performance was very interesting, he invited him to the 84 Spring Festival Gala.

Benchang You has finished listening to the music.

I've been unknown for so many years, and suddenly I'm going to attend the Spring Festival Evening. What is the nature of the Spring Festival Gala? It means that you are about to enter the national people's sight and become a household name.

So, on the Spring Festival Evening in 1984, Benchang You brought the pantomime Bath.

This performance lasted less than four minutes, from when he almost fell down, pretended to take off his clothes, turned on the tap to wash his body, and when he washed his head, he was "cut off", and when the water came again, it was "too hot", which made him tremble and drift.

However, in these few critical minutes, Benchang You became famous, and the stage of the Spring Festival Evening made him feel the glory he had never felt before.

3.

A work is an actor's passport.

Not long after the Spring Festival Gala, director Zhang Ge found Benchang You. Let him try out Jigong.

At that time, there were several candidates, including Yan Shunkai, a student from Benchang You (the true story of Ah Q). But in the end, Zhang Ge chose Benchang You.

Benchang You is a southerner and is familiar with life in the south. He also has a very strong "Shanghai temperament", which is elegant and civilized.

and most importantly, when Zhang Ge observed Benchang You from a distance, he saw him talking to others, and his manner and demeanor were his imagination to help the public. In addition, Benchang You himself believed in Buddhism (at the age of 6, the monk said that he would not live beyond the age of 13 unless he converted to Buddhism. His father sent him to the Fazang Temple in Shanghai for conversion, and his name was given to him.)

All kinds of reasons add up, Benchang You belongs to "Jigong", which seems to be interpreted as: Benchang You has not played the leading role for more than 3 years, and the role of "Jigong" is reserved exclusively for him.

Benchang You didn't care about the money when he played the play "Jigong". He didn't talk about any remuneration with Zhang Ge, which meant that he could just pay whatever he wanted, and then he went straight to Shanghai.

In the end, Zhang Ge paid 12 for an episode. First, six episodes were filmed, then two episodes were made up with good results, and the last two episodes were paid 15. Over * * * in their early 1s.

4.

Zhang Ge didn't give Benchang You a long preparation time, from preparation to shooting, it was only a short month. Benchang You, who has many years of shooting experience, was in a panic. Although he often watched Shen Xiaomei's Ji Gong when he was a child, he really couldn't make up his mind when he appeared.

until one day he saw a statue of Jigong in a stall in Hangzhou, he was inspired at once.

The statue in front of me has a long pointed chin and a broken cattail leaf fan. As if telling Benchang You, just act like him.

Benchang You, who had no bottom, looked at this bamboo root carving and felt it instantly. So I spent 25 yuan and respectfully invited Jigong home.

When he got home, Benchang You made old clothes for "Jigong" and cut the fan into rags. I looked in the mirror and felt satisfied.

The figure of "Jigong" has a figurative outline, and Benchang You is wondering how to play it, which will be more appropriate.

Benchang You ponders the drama every day, such as how to act in a drunken state. This is a knowledge and a test. You can't be crooked or ill, but beautiful.

He thought of "Wu Song Beats the Tiger" told by Gai Jiaotian, and he was drunk with beauty, just like the wind swinging a lotus leaf and stepping on cotton. This thought gave me another idea.

In the first two episodes of Ji Gong, Benchang You's feeling was a little worse. By the third episode, he had completely entered the role, like a real "Jigong" possession.

Speaking of which, Benchang You has to thank those shoes.

Benchang You is at the San Tan Yin Yue in the West Lake. After filming the sunrise, he sits there and has a rest. The director is preparing at the other end. Call him when he is ready. When he passed the zigzag bridge, he ran jerkily because his shoes were too big to follow his feet. Benchang You ran and ran, suddenly feeling that this is the gait of Jigong, kicking and kicking.

He just walked up to the director and said, "This is the feeling of helping the public!

5.

Benchang You gave his half-life when he filmed Jigong. He especially cherishes the hard-won role of "Jigong". I only sleep four hours a day. Play during the day and summarize at night. At the age of 52, he fights harder than many young actors.

in the play, he is more crazy. There are several impressive scenes in Jigong.

First, "Jigong" eats meat. He drank in a big bowl and ate meat in large chunks, which made the audience greedy.

but in fact, that elbow meat is all smelly.

The meat was bought the afternoon before and put in the refrigerator. In order to catch up with the work, we had to leave at four or five o'clock the next morning, and the meat was taken out of the refrigerator and put in a plastic bag. The crew stayed in the mountains all day. At that time, in the summer, the temperature was 39 degrees, and the elbows were all smelly.

in the script, "Jigong" means "wine and meat go through the intestines". Benchang You must show his meat-eating temperament. The meat stinks, so he has to pretend it tastes delicious and eat it.

He "chews, chews" to make it delicious. When the director didn't stop, he chewed it over and over again. When this one passed, Benchang You dared to spit out all the stinky meat.

In another scene, Ji Gong was beaten. He shot that scene 12 times, but it didn't work for body double.

Benchang You was covered with layers of thin protective mats, and the group performance felt sorry for him. They hit him gently, but they couldn't pass. If you can't pass, you have to be beaten again and again. Benchang You finally "begged for mercy", let the group play for real, let him live once and get rid of it quickly.

Because of the truth before, Benchang You couldn't get up on the ground when he finished the last live ammunition. It hurt for several days before I limped around slowly.

In addition to being beaten, there is also a scene in which Qin Xiangfu throws a corpse.

although it is padded, it has to be thrown up, more than two meters. At that time, it happened that my wife came to visit the class with her daughter. When her daughter saw her father working so hard, she cried with a wow.

Benchang You quickly comforted her daughter, saying that all these were filming and were "fake". True or not, Benchang You knows best that meat hurts him.

Suffering is suffering, but the response of Jigong was very good, which caused an unprecedented upsurge.

others cut the cattail leaf fan at home in imitation. Children also learn to rub mud from their bodies and treat people. This "Jigong craze" even spread abroad. A parent took Benchang You's hand and said with great excitement, "Thank you so much! My children are now interested in traditional literature because they saw Jigong.

"the craze for helping the public" is far more than that. During that time, even the crime rate decreased a lot.

Ji Gong is famous for both fame and fortune.

Benchang You himself won the "Best Actor in the 4th China TV Golden Eagle Award" for his role of "Jigong". The scene of him munching on meat was later compiled by Beijing Film Academy as a teaching material for later generations to watch.

6.

After Ji Gong, Benchang You completely fell in love with Ji Gong.

In his view, "Jigong" is no longer a title, but a kind of culture-Jigong Jigong Jigong, saving the world for the public. "Jigong" has a great influence on his world outlook and artistic view. This is not only a role, but also his role model and spiritual mentor.

In order to promote this culture, Benchang You made the sequels of Jigong, Jigong Living Buddha and Jigong Travel Notes.

Living Buddha of Jigong was released in 1989, and Travels of Jigong was released in 1998. These ten years have been limited to these films. During this period, Ji Gong's Travels was self-directed and performed by raising funds. Fortunately, the response was good and it earned one million yuan.

In 1991, Benchang You's caring wife, Yang Huihua, was diagnosed with cancer. Benchang You gave up all film contracts and took good care of them for four years. Finally, under his careful care, his wife miraculously defeated the terminal cancer.

But in film and television, I was not so lucky, because Benchang You refused a film contract so much that others stopped looking for him later. As a result, I have been idle for 2 years.

Benchang You is very Buddhist, so he goes to school to teach and perform when there is no drama. Raising flowers and collecting "Jigong" statues, there are more than 2 "Jigong" sculptures in his family, large and small.

no, he refused. If you love it, you have to do it if you lose money.

Benchang You loves pantomime himself, and he is bent on developing pantomime. He made a large pantomime series "Mr. You's Dumb Smile" with his own money. As a result, the response was very general after the broadcast, and he lost all the more than 1 million he earned.

Later, he didn't give up, and filmed "Leaving Fan". But these are not mainstream commercial TV dramas. Although they have a good reputation, they don't make money. After two plays, he lost everything.

he doesn't regret losing money and filming.

In 29, in order to film Master Hongyi, 76-year-old Benchang You was shaved and became a monk in Daguangming Temple, and Master Chang Huai gave him a dharma name. Shaving is to experience the role, and secondly to believe in Buddhism.

Benchang You, who has received the Five Commandments, seems to be one step closer to "helping the public".

In 211, Benchang You officially rehearsed the drama Master Hongyi: The Final Victory. This drama has no commercial value as soon as it is named, and no one has invested in it. Benchang You sold his house, set up his own "Benchang You Art Troupe" and recruited 24 actors to rehearse.

Dramas burn a lot of money. In the first year, Master Hongyi only ran three performances, but it cost nearly one million yuan in venue fees and labor costs. After seven performances in the second year, he still lost money.

In the third year, the response was slightly better, and Master Hongyi performed more than 6 performances in the United States and Canada.

Benchang You smiled knowingly.

Today, Benchang You is 88 years old, and he has nothing to want and nothing to ask for, so he is carefree and happy.

This year, 36 years have passed since he played the role of Ji Gong.

in his life, he was a late bloomer.

"Jigong" achieved him, and he achieved "Jigong".

two people become one, true and false, false and true.

all his life, he has no regrets.