On the playground of Nankai University, a chance chance changed the trajectory of Zhang Tong's life. On that day, the sun was shining, Zhang Tong was sweating and playing tennis, and a talent scout was attracted by this energetic young man.
Zhang Tong never thought that he would step into the entertainment industry, he originally planned to find a stable job after graduation according to his parents' expectations, however, fate opened a new door for him.
When he received the first invitation to shoot an advertisement, Zhang Tong was very excited and nervous. After a few hours of shooting, he was paid a few hundred yuan, which is a lot for a college student whose family is not wealthy.
In order to subsidize his family, Zhang Tong began to shoot advertisements frequently, and gradually gained some fame in this circle.
Opportunities came quite quickly. Zhang Tong was discovered by a modeling agency, which offered to sign him but asked him to go to Paris at his own expense. It was a challenging decision for Zhang, who came from a poor family.
However, in order to support their son's dream, his parents did their best and finally scraped together 400,000 yuan in tuition fees to send him on a flight to Paris.
Zhang Tong experienced the most difficult period of his life in a foreign country, in order to save money, he worked and studied at the same time, and sometimes even bought cheap dog food to satisfy his hunger. However, every time he called home, he always reported good news and bad news, and said lightly: "I'm fine, don't worry!" Only he knew how hard it was during those days.
During his time in Paris, Zhang Tong accidentally came into contact with acting and became interested in it. He resolutely decided to turn his profession to acting, and since then he has started his acting career.
This decision changed the trajectory of his life dramatically.
Zhang Tong has never encountered any difficulties and has never given up on his dream. He firmly believes that as long as he works hard, he will definitely break out in the entertainment industry. So he came to a foreign country and studied wholeheartedly to lay a good foundation for his future acting career.
Zhang Tong, who came back from Paris with a dream, faced the cruel reality of the entertainment industry as soon as he returned to China. In 2002, he participated in his first TV series "Flowers Bloom and Sound", although this work did not attract wide attention from the audience, he was not discouraged by this, but worked harder to devote himself to acting, looking forward to more opportunities.
Opportunity always favors those who are prepared. In the drama "Seven Fairies of Joy", although the "eagle" played by Zhang Tong was not the protagonist, it left a preliminary impression on the audience.
He began to feel the joy of being recognized, and that became his motivation to keep going.
The work "Bright Sword" is an important turning point in Zhang Tong's acting career. He put on the military uniform of Monk Wei for the first time in the play, as if this character had been integrated into his blood. Zhang Tong devoted himself wholeheartedly to perfectly showing the boldness, integrity and humor of Monk Wei.
After the broadcast of "Bright Sword", Zhang Tong became a household name overnight, and when people saw him on the street, they no longer called him Zhang Tong, but affectionately called him "Monk Wei", and the success of the role made Zhang Tong gain a firm foothold in the entertainment industry.
This experience of ups and downs made Zhang Tong deeply understand the cruelty and helplessness of the entertainment industry. He saw clearly the warmth and coldness of this circle in a short time, which made him feel helpless and lost.
However, Zhang Tong knew that since he had chosen this path, he had to go down firmly, and he told himself: for life and dreams, he must climb up step by step, after all, it is the road he chose, even if he kneels, he must finish it.
However, intense stress and self-doubt began to erode Zhang. He began to reflect: Am I really a good fit in this circle? Can I stay like this? These cloudy doubts hung over his heart, indicating the low point he was about to face.
However, this experience made Zhang Tong deeply realize that success does not happen overnight. He began to look at his acting career more rationally, worked hard to improve his acting skills, and waited for the next opportunity to prove himself.
After the success of "Bright Sword", Zhang Tong ushered in the peak of his career. However, with this comes the complexity and brutality of the entertainment industry. In an audition, a well-known director criticized Zhang Tong in person, saying: "Your acting skills are not even as good as Chinese opera, and Nortel's freshmen are also very poor."
This sentence was like a sharp blade, which deeply pierced Zhang Tong's heart.
Since that day, Zhang Tong has fallen into endless self-doubt, he can't face the camera, and he can't even play with other actors normally. The directors who once threw olive branches to him have now withdrawn their invitations.
Zhang Tong felt as if he had been abandoned by the entire circle, and the last line of defense in his heart was broken.
Because there was really nothing to do, Zhang Tong chose to go home to regulate his emotions. However, this break lasted for five years. During this period, his girlfriend Guan Siting was always by his side and accompanied him to the hospital for a physical examination.
It turned out that he was suffering from major depression, which needed to be slowly regulated by medication.
During that time, Zhang Tong often stood in front of the windows of high-rise buildings, struggling inwardly whether to end his life. Several times I had the idea of committing suicide by jumping off a building. Fortunately, his girlfriend Guan Siting was always by his side.
She firmly told Zhang Tong: "If you want to jump, I will dance with you" This sentence became the motivation for Zhang Tong to live, in order not to affect his girlfriend, he tried to restrain his suicidal impulse.
Guan Siting gave strong support to Zhang Tong's perseverance, accompanied him through the most difficult period, and helped him get out of the shadow of depression. In this process, Zhang Tong deeply felt the power of love and cherished the people and life around him even more.
After five years, Zhang Tong finally came out of the torment of depression, and this experience gave him a new perspective on life and career. He deeply realized that the profession of an actor requires not only talent, but also a strong heart to face the challenges of the industry.
After getting out of the shadow of depression, Zhang Tong proposed to his girlfriend who had been by his side. After having a sense of responsibility for his family, Zhang Tong understood the truth of "if you don't explode in silence, you will perish in silence", and he made up his mind to regain his strength and return to the showbiz that once scared him.
The five-year silence was a painful torment for Zhang Tong, and it was also a precious precipitation period. When he stood in front of the camera again, there was more fortitude and composure in his eyes. This experience made Zhang Tong cherish everything in front of him more, and had a deeper understanding and firmer determination for his acting career.
2016 was a major turning point for Zhang Tong, because the TV series "Desperate Defender Division" extended an olive branch to him. This opportunity rekindled Zhang Tong's passion for acting.
During the filming process, Zhang Tong devoted himself to the role, and he accurately grasped the emotional changes of the character, which made people shine.
After the broadcast of "Desperate Defender Division", the audience was pleasantly surprised to find that the "Monk Wei" played by Zhang Tong not only returned, but also became more and more superb in acting. His performance has been greatly recognized by the audience and industry insiders, as if it makes people return to the Wei monk in "Bright Sword".
This success not only allowed Zhang Tong to regain the love of the audience, but also impressed industry insiders with him.
Zhang Tong won the first important award in his life - Feitian Award for Outstanding Actor because of his outstanding performance. Needless to say, the weight of this award is needless to say, and Zhang Tong competes with powerful actors such as Yu Hewei and Zhang Yi.
When the news of the award came, Zhang Tong was still in a state of confusion and could not believe the good news.
Standing on the podium, Zhang Tong's heart was surging, and he said sincerely: "I didn't prepare any words of thanks, because I didn't know that I would win the award. These simple and unpretentious words tell his inner excitement and gratitude, and also trigger some people's memories of Zhang Tong's past experiences.
For Zhang Tong, this award is not only an affirmation of his acting skills, but also an encouragement for him to stick to his dream, and it successfully eliminates Zhang Tong's inner self-doubt. Zhang Tong doesn't need to care too much about the director's denial now, because this award is the greatest affirmation of his acting skills.
Zhang Tong won the honor of the Feitian Award in his acting career, which means that he has successfully stepped to a new level. This award is not only an affirmation of his past work, but also an expectation for his future development.
He knows that this is just a new starting point on the long road of acting, and he still has more challenges and roles waiting for him to shape.
In 2021, Zhang Tong will play the role of Li Dazhao in the TV series "Awakening Age", which will make his acting career climb to the peak again and once again attract widespread attention from the audience.
At first, the audience didn't realize that Li Dazhao was played by Zhang Tong. Because Li Dazhao has a lot of roles in "The Awakening Age" and is a key figure in promoting the development of the plot, many people think that the director will find a little fresh meat with traffic to play it.
However, the director chose Zhang Tong, who was not so popular, and this decision surprised many people.
Zhang Tong is well aware of the importance and challenge of this role. He devoted a lot of time to studying the life of Li Dazhao and figuring out the thoughts and spirit of this great man. On the set, Zhang Tong often sat alone in the corner, silently reciting lines, and thinking about the inner world of the character.
His professionalism infected the entire crew.
When the camera is aimed at him, Zhang Tong seems to be transformed into Li Dazhao, and his performance is in-depth, successfully integrating Li Dazhao's scholarly temperament and the enthusiasm of a revolutionary, leaving a deep impression on the audience.
After the broadcast of "The Awakening Age", many viewers were surprised to find that Li Dazhao was actually played by Zhang Tong. Many people don't realize this until they watch the whole show, which just says about Zhang Tong's excellent performance and his remarkable plasticity.
For Zhang Tong, the audience did not recognize him during the viewing process, which is also a good thing, which indirectly proves that his acting skills are online, and he has achieved "playing a role like a role", so that the audience is completely immersed in the plot without playing.
This success not only made Zhang Tong the focus of heated discussions among the audience again, but also impressed industry insiders. Zhang Tong proved with practical actions that he is not only an actor with acting skills, but also a "drama face" who can fully integrate into the role.
For directors, drama-throwing actors like Zhang Tong are very rare, because the plasticity of this kind of actor is often very high, if you want to improve the texture of film and television dramas, you need more actors like Zhang Tong to participate.
Zhang Tong's role as Li Dazhao in "The Awakening Age" is not only another milestone in his acting career, but also sets a model for the entire film and television industry, showing the qualities and abilities that an excellent actor should have.
After achieving great success in the film and television industry, Zhang Tong did not stop exploring. He chose a path that many people did not expect – to turn to the theatrical stage. For Zhang Tong, the stage play is a new challenge, and it is also a rare learning experience.
This decision made Zhang Tong shift from the screen of film and television dramas to the big stage of dramas. For him, theatrical performance is a new experience and challenge. Standing on the stage, facing the audience's immediate reaction, Zhang Tong felt the charm that was different from film and television performances.
His eyes flashed with anticipation for the future, as if to say: No matter what stage I am on, I will do my best to shine my own light.
However, Zhang Tong's choice also made his film and television fans feel a little regretful. The audience is very much looking forward to seeing his wonderful performance on screen again. For Zhang Tong's fans of film and television dramas, this is undoubtedly a huge loss.
However, Zhang Tong knows that as an actor, only by constantly challenging new fields can he maintain his creative vitality. He firmly believes that this transformation can not only broaden his acting horizons, but also inject new vitality into his acting career.
Although the future is full of unknowns, Zhang Tong still cherishes his love for performance and bravely embarks on this new artistic path.