Wang Baoqiang, don’t be a ＂stupid root＂ in those years.

Wen | poisonous eyes

"Octagonal Cage" is showing, with a box office of more than one billion and a douban score of 7.5, which is far better than the last film directed by Wang Baoqiang. From making a scene in Tianzhu, which was rated as the most disappointing film by the Golden Broom Award, to becoming the most disappointing director, Wang Baoqiang has spent six years and new films to save his audience.

Born in the countryside, "Stupid Root" has worked hard to become a big star with diligence and hard work, and has always maintained a "grounded atmosphere" after becoming famous. This kind of character image is unique among domestic actors, and Wang Baoqiang can’t lose this label, which is the part that most conforms to the values of most ordinary people in his growth as a star.

Wang Baoqiang knew what he wanted from the very beginning, which coincided with popular perception. He is smarter than many star actors and has never been a "stupid root".

The birth of "stupid root"

Many stars play ordinary people and farmers in their roles, but Wang Baoqiang was born. Born in rural Hebei, his family was poor. He had never been to school before he was eight years old, but he went to Shaolin Temple to practice martial arts because he saw Shaolin Temple. Six years later, he drifted north and finally walked to the stage step by step.

In this process, Wang Baoqiang attaches great importance to polishing himself. In 2009, some media interviewed Wang Baoqiang’s master elder brother in Shaolin Temple, and got the evaluation that "Bao Qiang loves hardship and hates laziness". In the days of Shaolin Temple, he got up at five o’clock every morning to practice, and the training time was as high as eight hours. When ordinary people were still in primary school, Wang Baoqiang persisted in this way, and he was practicing while others were resting.

Because he started the dream of a star early, Wang Baoqiang knew that learning more would be useful for making movies in the future. When he first went to Shaolin Temple, he wanted to learn routines and weapons, rented cameras and bought films, and spent more than half a month’s living expenses without feeling distressed. He also knew that "taking pictures was for being famous as an actor for information" … In those years, he was a "madman" who dreamed of a star all day long in the eyes of almost all senior brothers.

After the accumulation of Shaolin Temple was completed, Wang Baoqiang began to take action to find opportunities in Beijing. I lived with five people in the courtyard next to the coal yard. In order to find a job conveniently, I pooled my money to buy a BP machine with digital display. Run a group while working; When I went to the North Film Factory as a group performance, I didn’t eat all day. I was so hungry that I ate five steamed buns in one breath and didn’t dare to drink water. "I was afraid that I would swell to death immediately."

But in a later interview, he said that even if life is hard, there is hope.

It has been reported by the media that because of the low level of education, all the lines are turned to the dictionary for phonetic notation, while other actors are shooting a scene to memorize the lines of a scene, and Wang Baoqiang memorizes all the lines in advance. "When I was not famous, I was said to be embarrassed, and I said everything."

But hope still came to him. Li Yang, the director who was called a noble by Wang Baoqiang, made him star in the independent film Blind Well. When he mentioned the advance payment from 500 yuan at first, Wang Baoqiang still trembled with excitement. It was a lot of money for him in 2002, but more importantly, this film won him the Golden Horse Award for Best Newcomer, and the career of Wang Baoqiang actor finally officially started.

In 2004, Wang Baoqiang became the "silly root" in world without thieves directed by Xiaogang Feng. Such a funny and simple character, who seems to have a dull brain, can be remembered by the audience at once, and also makes Wang Baoqiang a "stupid root". According to media reports, Wang Baoqiang, who became famous in 2006, still wants to go home to harvest corn-his public image is very clear, simple and hard-working, which fits people’s imagination of "stupid root".

At that time, Wang Baoqiang said that after filming this play, he knew that he would never worry about filming in his life, but he didn’t understand how to break through the audience’s impression of himself later. "Can you only play such a role in your life?"

Smart "stupid root"

While worrying about his career as an actor, Xiaogang Feng woke him up. "He told me that if you want to play a role that others can’t play, you Wang Baoqiang is unique, and you don’t have to pursue those Gao Fushuai things that others say. Eat this bowl of rice well first, let the audience accept it first, and then slowly you seek change."

It is true that if Wang Baoqiang after "Stupid Root" is a villain or a fashionable urbanite in the movie, it is difficult for the audience to remember his image as an "honest man". "The audience doesn’t know me, so they ruin their own way, because I haven’t set a foundation for acting yet." If the private life of Wang Baoqiang, who became a star, is rich and luxurious, the audience will also find it unacceptable.

Wang Baoqiang is very clever about this. He is not in a hurry to lose his label like many stars. Wang Baoqiang was once asked by the media, do you feel that your value lies in maintaining your true colors? If I let you go to college, do you like it? His answer is: "I don’t keep it. This is my true nature and I can’t change it."

So later, Wang Baoqiang starred in Xu Sanduo in Soldier Assault and in the plot against him.blind personAnd My Brother’s Name is Shun Liu. These characters are almost tailor-made for his image, which makes him consolidate his audience base. "I am willing to go to college, and I am afraid that people will not want me. I especially want to study literature, because literature is particularly helpful for writing scripts and creating. " After becoming famous, Wang Baoqiang was no longer confused and knew what was useful.

In 2011, he starred in Hello! Mr. Tree once again won him the recognition of the award, but it’s seven years since "Silly Root", and it’s time to make a change: In 2012, Wang Baoqiang’s "Too Bad for People to Embarrass" strongly refreshed the box office of domestic movies at that time, which opened a new era of high box office for commercial comedies different from "world without thieves", and Wang Baoqiang’s road to box office was thus opened.

But before that, he chose to star in Jia Zhangke’s Destiny. "Embarrassed in Thailand is very successful. Everyone likes the role of baby very much, but it is hard to surpass it in comedy, so I want to change my image and try different styles and roles." Even if there are other plays to pick up, he doesn’t want the audience to fix his aesthetics.

In 2015, Wang Baoqiang starred in the first film of detective chinatown, and the box office of the film was still good. As an important actor in commercial films, after working with directors such as Xú Zhēng and Chen Sicheng, Wang Baoqiang also wants to make his own films. "I want to be like them." At the launch conference of "Make a scene", Wang Baoqiang said.

In the media reports at that time, Wang Baoqiang said that in 2016, he abandoned everything, hollowed himself out, and put all the skills he had learned before filming into use, and finally made this film "Make a fuss". However, although the film got more than 700 million box office, the word-of-mouth completely collapsed.

In the ultra-low evaluation of the film Douban 3.7, "Your baby really can’t afford this sympathy score" and "This film proves that the director still has a threshold", and so on are everywhere. Because of this film, the audience base on which it was supported was loosened, and the voice of "Wang Baoqiang playing the fool" began to appear in public opinion, and the crisis came.

Stop playing the fool

Wang Baoqiang went to receive the "Golden Broom" award, which has never been won by a star, and delivered a sincere acceptance speech: "The Golden Broom is not a glorious award, but it can spur you to progress. I love movies, I also respect movies, respect the audience, and respect all the seniors present. I owe the audience an apology. This time, I owe the audience once. In the future, I will continue to study hard and become a more qualified director in everyone’s mind. "

As a director, some people have a high starting point and a high probability of success. Wang Baoqiang doesn’t have Xú Zhēng’s humor or Chen Sicheng’s business ability, but his advantage is that, just like his belief that he will become a star at the beginning of martial arts, his bottom values are still the same as those of most ordinary people: hard work is very important, and hard work can change his destiny.

He began to throw away "pretending to be crazy and selling stupidity" and "stupid roots" to find the audience. "At that time, I let the audience down. I was very guilty and very sorry for the audience. I said I would make a good movie for the audience in the future, and I will do it. So I put everything down and did it in six years. " During the publicity period of "The Octagonal Cage", Wang Baoqiang told many media that the good movies that were owed to the audience in those years should be returned this time.

Up to now, Wang Baoqiang has not appeared in many works, and the script of "In the octagonal cage" has been polished for more than three years. However, because of the poor reputation of the first work, it is not so easy for even the big star Wang Baoqiang to invest in the new work. In the media reports, he said that he could not afford to lose when he became a director for the second time. "I used to fall, but I can still stand up. Now at this age, I am very nervous. I would rather not do it. If I do it, I can’t finish it in a hurry."

Wang Baoqiang was really afraid that the audience would stop believing him. There is a poster in the film, which emphasizes in large letters: Please believe it! Wang Baoqiang!

Now "In the Octagonal Cage" is released, with good reputation and box office, and Wang Baoqiang has once again verified his national foundation. But carefully, the story told in this film is more like a review and emotion of his "stupid root" career and grassroots origin. The simple characters and words in the film echo the starting point of his star road again-the audience still loves "stupid root" narrative and likes stars not far from themselves.

It’s just that Wang Baoqiang doesn’t need to play the fool anymore. Even so, he can always be the "silly root" in the audience’s mind.