At the end of last month, Hu Ge’s frequency of "going crazy" was a bit high, causing many fans to worry about his mental state.
I don’t know if it is due to changes in celestial phenomena or endocrine disorders. First, on August 21, I posted a tweet on Weibo, saying that I would retire from the circle for 5 years to pursue poetry and distance, which caused panic among fans.
Of course, Hu Ge had always had the habit of "going crazy" occasionally, which was understandable. However, just a few days later, Old Hu had another brace. On the night of the 29th, he posted a sloppy selfie on Weibo. This time, the caption was more sincere, calling himself sorry for many people, and also saying that he hoped to "be worthy of this short life".
It had to be said that for a person who had been handsome by him for almost 20 years, it was indeed a little psychological balance, but looking at what he wrote about "try to stay calm" and "short life", it was very worrying. It seemed that this time the matter was not small. Is Hu Ge really going to make some amazing decisions?
But soon, fans and friends refuted the rumors, probably because there was too much pressure to promote the new movie recently, and on the 29th 17 years ago, it was the day Hu Ge was in a car accident. In that car accident, he lost his assistant and friend Zhang Mian, so every day, it is inevitable that his thoughts will surge.
There was probably no problem with such a statement, but after all these years, how could Hu Ge be a star who was controlled by his fans? If he said he wanted to withdraw from the circle, he might actually withdraw. If this happened, I believe there would be countless fans in chaos.
#01
Hero Li Xiaoyao
– What?
As an actor, Hu Ge has always been very good at it. He is a person born for the camera.
When he was in middle school, Hu Ge became a famous local "advertising prince" because of his outstanding appearance.
When he arrived at university, Hu Ge, who was in his freshman year, was called by a friend to interview with a director. At that time, the friend was dubbing a TV series invested by Tangren Film and Television, which won him the opportunity. After meeting Hu Ge, the director soon introduced him to Tangren Film and Television.
In the millennium, Tang Dynasty Film and Television became very popular, and the popular TV series such as "Peerless Double Pride" and "Legend of Heaven and Earth Lotus Lantern" were all written by it. This paved a "shortcut" for Hu Ge to become famous at a young age. Of course, Hu Ge and Tang Dynasty were definitely "mutual achievements".
In 2004, Hu Ge starred in the first TV drama "Dandelion" without a big hit. It wasn’t that Hu Ge couldn’t do it, mainly because in 2004, it happened to be a "big year of idol dramas". At that time, there were big theatrical fires like "Meteor Garden", "Mischief Kiss" and "Midnight Sunshine". Hu Ge was indeed handsome, but surrounded by a lot of fresh meat, it was not difficult to stand out in one go.
Since the idol drama can’t be played, Tangren Film and Television quickly gave Hu Ge another resource. If the fashion doesn’t work, let’s turn to ancient costumes.
But for Hu Ge’s ancient costumes, many people are not optimistic about it. At that time, Hu Ge’s agent took him to a crew to try on the costumes. Hu Ge originally felt that there was little hope, but he did not expect that after arriving at the scene, he tried on a set of ancient costumes.
The boss’s name was Yao Zhuangxian – the father of "Immortal Sword". Many people knew the story behind, and Hu Ge was selected as Li Xiaoyao’s candidate. It was said that when Hu Ge knew that he was going to get the role, he was not excited, but nervous. Afraid of messing up and failing, after all, the people around him had always instilled in him the idea that "you are not suitable for ancient costumes".
However, it turned out that such worries were unnecessary. As soon as "Legend of Immortals and Swords" was broadcast, Hu Ge’s "Brother Xiaoyao" instantly became the youth of a generation.
I still remember chatting about QQ with my puppy love in elementary school, and the other party specially asked me to set my nickname to "Brother Xiaoyao". (Of course, she is "Sister Ling’er") In the group chat in the class, if you don’t know who the hero Li Xiaoyao is, you will definitely call it "Earth Cannon". (We mean bumpkin there)
On the contrary, if you had a stack of Li Xiaoyao’s Immortal Sword stickers, your friends would shine and come over to chat with you. It is said that after the drama came out back then, many people called Hu Ge Li Xiaoyao instead of Hu Ge, and some people didn’t know Hu Ge was called Hu Ge at all, but only Li Xiaoyao.
Later, there was a famous saying called "No Hu Ge, No Immortal Sword".
Hu Ge also instantly became popular all over the country, and the film flew like snowflakes.
He described it as "meeting the right character at the right time." Every time he interviewed, he would feel lucky. Tang people also saw the value of Hu Ge at this moment, and with the successful experience, the next step was to re-enact, so during this time, Hu Ge’s role had two major characteristics –
One is a bit "silly", such as Ning Caichen in "Liaozhai", in the face of Yang Mi’s Nie Xiaoqian’s teasing, just a sentence "You don’t have to do this, I have no idea", always unmoved, clean, and finally moved Nie Xiaoqian enough;
One was quite "Sa". The representative of this kind of character was Yang Liulang in "Young Yang Family General". After a group of fathers and brothers went to the golden beach and died in battle, he resolutely picked up the silver gun of the old Linggong, and the seven sons went to the six sons to return, continuing to write the story of the Yang family general.
Of course, sometimes these two characteristics will be combined. The typical character is Guo Jing in the 08 version of "Archery", who is paired with Ariel Lin. Although he is naive and silly, he can defeat Ouyang Ke to win the hearts of beauties, and finally become a famous generation of heroes.
Many years ago, a Tieba user commented that Hu Ge’s face looked like a handsome young man, but his eyes often revealed an unparalleled tenacity, which was the most suitable for playing some young heroes.
The scenes arranged by the Tang people for Hu Ge were also very similar. At first, they were naive and romantic, and they didn’t understand anything. After some opportunities and adventures, they understood their mission and responsibility, and resolutely took up their responsibilities. All of them were growth stories.
Of course, this kind of character audience looks enjoyable, and it has a good reading experience. Who doesn’t care to watch handsome men fight monsters and upgrade.
However, over time, the characters played by Hu Ge have a tendency to homogenize, and because the role of "Li Xiaoyao" is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, no matter who plays it, the audience feels that Hu Ge has the shadow of Li Xiaoyao. When he played "Young General Yang", my sister asked me directly after watching it, how did Li Xiaoyao switch to using a gun.
Such a situation gave Hu Ge a sense of crisis. It happened that at this time, he encountered a serious car accident.
#02
Not by face, by acting
– What?
How tragic was Hu Ge’s car accident? It was said that when it happened, Old Hu was sleeping in the back seat of the car. When he woke up, he was already sitting on the ground, and his mind was blank.
So when the police came to ask him if he could walk by himself, he had to move in the direction of the ambulance while supporting his injured leg. At that time, he thought that if he got close to the ambulance, there would be hope.
Later, when he arrived at the hospital, the doctor gave him more than 100 stitches. During his recovery, Old Hu learned that his assistant and friend Zhang Mian had passed away. Zhang Mian was very tired when he saw Hu Ge, and the last thing he said to Hu Ge was "Change your seat, sit in the back, and have a good sleep."
When Yuan Hong came to see him, he was startled. When he first got injured, he asked the people around him for a mirror, but no one was willing to give it to him. Later, Hu Ge’s luck was good, and his face recovered after surgery, allowing him to go back to work. However, the impact of this car accident was quite serious. Since then, Hu Ge’s ancient costume has always worn bangs to cover the scars on his eyes, which is said to have been written into the contract.
When filming "Condor Shooting", most of the time was spent on patching and polishing his face, looking for the intact left face. Things that were originally smooth suddenly became very troublesome, and then some little girls began to sigh, saying that the brother Xiaoyao was taken away by a car accident and would never come back. This kind of pressure has been slowly accumulating invisibly until the moment of finishing, Hu Ge completely collapsed, everyone was celebrating, and he ran away from the set.
This car accident should be said to have deepened Hu Ge’s desire to "seek change". Under the premise of being moved by his heart, God gave him a special boost. Now he doesn’t want to hone his acting skills or seek a breakthrough, and when will he wait. Later, "Southern Zhou" published a manuscript about Hu Ge, which was called – "I used to rely on face, but now I have to rely on strength". Hu Ge’s career can use this car accident as a watershed.
After finishing the three costume dramas of "Myth", "Xuanyuan Sword" and "Xianjian III", Lao Hu began to "take an unconventional path". He began to take on some period dramas, such as "Shangri-La", "Revolution of 1911" and "The Pretender". Since they all feel that my acting in costume is homogeneous, I will order something else.
The most familiar of these three plays may be "The Pretender". The role of Mingtai played by Lao Hu in it is quite contradictory and torn. Many people have raised their throats when watching this play.
At the same time, he also started to try fashion dramas again, typically "Good Times" and "Hunting Ground", and also made a cameo appearance in "Love Apartment" as a cheap scum. It can be seen that Lao Hu is really trying to broaden the scene and want to give the audience something different. But fashion dramas may really be one of his lifeblood. Every time Hu Ge performs fashion dramas, he always causes a lot of complaints. For example, "Hunting Ground" was scolded a lot in the past, and now Douban has a 5.6 score, barely passing.
If you still play ancient costumes, you have to distinguish it from the past.
When "Langya Ranking" found Hu Ge, he refused. Now he has an instinctive rejection of ancient costumes, but the fans did not give up and tried their best to send the original to Hu Ge. After reading Hu Ge, he realized that Mei Changsu was not like Li Xiaoyao, but more like himself. After going through teenage success, suddenly encountering disaster, he fell to the dust and then returned.
For Hu Ge, this role can only be described in four words – it is natural. It has a sense of brokenness, bears the hatred of the family and the country, hides itself, gives up everything, is patient and tenacious. After playing this role, Lao Hu won four awards in a row: National Drama Festival, Huading, Magnolia and Golden Eagle.
Everything seemed good, but was Hu Ge’s transformation complete?
#03
Hu Ge is very "difficult"
– What?
The answer to this question is debatable.
Although after 2006, Lao Hu has contributed many outstanding characters, here I borrow a comment from a certain movie number, that is – "Hu Ge’s character recognition is actually not clear in recent years." The contrast between these characters he created is always a little bit worse.
What is the "sense of contrast" of a character, take a very typical example – Zhang Yi.
You can compare An Xin in "Hurricane" with Lu Wenzhao in "Embroidery Spring Knife 2". The same character played by Zhang Yi gives people a very different impression. An Xin is tough and sincere and a little weak, while Lu Wenzhao is sinister and cunning and very smooth, but these two characters are played by the same person, and the two temperaments presented have the contrast of ice and fire.
This huge sense of contrast, this distinct character recognition, is actually what Hu Ge has been pursuing. (This can’t be achieved by changing fashion styles)
However, until now, Hu Ge still lacked this.
Over the years, no matter what role Hu Ge played, it was impossible for everyone to "forget Hu Ge and only immerse themselves in the role." The reason for this phenomenon is not only the stereotype of Li Xiaoyao and some of Hu Ge’s early works, but also Hu Ge himself.
On the one hand, Hu Ge’s handsome face is so right that it affects his character shaping; on the other hand, it is Hu Ge’s character. When many people think of Hu Ge, the first thing they think of is humility, elegance, not at all flamboyant, and a very nice person. His 2016 acceptance speech is still called "textbook speech" –
"I didn’t get this award because of how good my acting was. I think it was because I was lucky. I probably knew earlier than more people what an actor should be like."
The formation of this personality is inseparable from Hu Ge’s tutoring. As a child, Hu Ge’s mother was very strict with his requirements. Lao Hu described his childhood as "I will always live under my mother’s gaze."
Hu Ge’s mother was originally a teacher, but when she retired at home due to illness, she focused all her attention on educating Hu Ge. Hu Ge had long planned for his life: to become a doctor or a lawyer, detailed in every step. And the first thing to do is to do well in school. Once, he was beaten up because he didn’t get an 80 score.
This kind of harsh growing environment made Hu Ge accustomed to obedience from an early age. Including the actors he became an adult, it was also the result of obedience.
At that time, Hu Ge’s parents felt that he was too introverted, so they signed him up for the "Little Radiant Star Art Troupe" for more exercise. Hu Ge obediently took the exam, and after the results came out, he stood out from the 30,000 and became a child star. One after another, he was asked to participate in advertising, hosting programs, participating in readings, choruses and plays. But in fact, in the memory of the teachers of the troupe, he has been in the back row.
This kind of growth experience made Hu Ge know how to smooth his own edges and corners, accustomed to suppressing those inappropriate personalities, so he became gentle and humble, which is an advantage in dealing with people, but not in artistic performance. It led to many of Hu Ge’s characters giving people the feeling of "more than elegant, but not enough energy."
Take his performance of "County Party Committee Courtyard" in 2022 as an example. During the visit, Mei Xiaoge, the county party secretary played by Hu Ge, drank a bowl of mutton soup and learned that there were arbitrary charges by the urban management, and then named and criticized the relevant departments at the conference. When hearing the boss say that there are arbitrary charges in the local area, Hu Ge’s expression is like this –
Hands on the waist, thoughtful, with a little doubt in his eyes. After that, at the meeting, he opened fire and trained the relevant responsible parties one by one.
You can’t say there is a problem with such a performance, but there is no harm without comparison. In "In the Name of the People", there happens to be a similar scene, that is, Li Dakang, played by Wu Gang, learned from his sister Xingzhi that the window of the Guangming District Petition Office was too short, which caused the people to stand or sit, and suffered a great crime. When he heard this, Wu Gang’s expression was like this –
He stopped eating, and his eyes were full of doubts and guilt. After being stunned for a long time, he said, "If this is true, see how I deal with them." Li Dakang’s sense of responsibility and personality were all outlined in one action.
This is the character’s "strength". Once you lack strength, it will be difficult to highlight the character’s recognition and personality. It is like blowing up a balloon. You have to inflate the balloon to know what it looks like and how high it can fly.
Many of Hu Ge’s characters had this problem, but many of them had exciting settings. For example, Mingtai and Mei Changsu, these characters had personal entanglements, family feelings, and some personality contradictions. You didn’t have to "blow" them to the full, and they were just as outstanding.
Like the play "County Party Committee Courtyard", the feeling that Hu Ge, Mei Xiaoge, gives people can only be said to be just passable.
This was probably the dilemma that Hu Ge was currently facing. For a person like him who had a strong sense of morality and didn’t like to disappoint, his failure to break through this level might be one of the reasons why he felt "sorry for many people".
At the same time, a group of actors from the same period as him also entered a new realm of acting. Take Wang Kai as an example. When they worked together on "Langya Ranking", Wang Kai was shocked by Hu Ge. Old Hu was surprised and said that Wang Kai was still playing a sissy in "Ugly Girl Invincible" a few years ago.
In short, judging from Old Hu’s crazy behavior of making ugly photos, and the fact that he had been a volunteer all these years and was clamoring to quit the entertainment industry, what was actually hidden behind it was that Old Hu wanted to be different from the past. This was his practice.
However, it is obviously not easy to give people a refreshing feeling. Take Wang Chuanjun, who recently starred in "All-in-One".
When he realized that he couldn’t stay stuck in the role of "Miracle of Sekiya", he decided to stay away from "Love Apartment", refused to participate in the big movie and the fifth season, broke with the crew, and didn’t care about the expectations of fans. At the same time, he was unemployed for nearly a year, had no filming, and had no income. At that time, his mother was suffering from cancer, and the hospitalization and treatment expenses were very expensive. He had to pay the mortgage.
Daring to break with the past and being able to endure it is not enough. If you want to make a successful transformation, you have to be lucky enough. At that time, Wang Chuanjun, who came back to film, happened to participate in the film directed by Wen Muye – "I am not the God of Medicine", in which he played the patient Lu Benefit.
Wang Chuanjun seized the opportunity and performed quite brilliantly. With the blessing of such a film, Wang Chuanjun came out again and bid farewell to "Guan Gu Magical" completely.
The weather, the location, the people, and their own efforts and pursuits are all indispensable.
Is this difficult? Very difficult.
Hu Ge’s transformation would be no less difficult than Wang Chuanjun’s, so his breakdown, madness, and anxiety were understandable to a certain extent. He needed to vent and adjust. If such a "madness" could help Old Hu open the two veins of Ren Du and break through the "ninth form of the Tathagata Divine Palm", then I just want to say –
Old Hu, as crazy as you are, it’s alright.
After the madness is over, it is good to be able to produce good works.
Original title: "Hu Ge announces that he doesn’t want to film in the next five years," and the latest response is confusing. "
Read the original text
