First, under the bright spotlight, the second generation of stars in the entertainment industry seems to have been born to stand at the commanding heights of life. They have a prominent family background, and their parents' connections and resources in the circle have paved a broad road for them.
Relying on these relationships, they can easily enter a good crew, and the starting point is much higher than that of ordinary people. However, under this seemingly dazzling aura, there is hidden invisible pressure and doubt.
Although some second-generation stars have successfully entered the showbiz, they have been criticized for their lack of strength. For example, Yue Yien, the daughter of veteran actor Yue Hong, played a returned medical volunteer in "Emergency Doctor", but she attracted criticism because of her average appearance and jerky performance.
The audience described her as "squeezing her eyebrows, forcibly performing, and embarrassing on the screen". Personality and looks may be inherited, but acting skills are by no means innate. Some second-generation stars are rampant in the entertainment industry by relying on their parents' reputation, but they have become "Adou who can't be helped", which not only loses their face, but also shames their parents.
But this is not the case for all second generation stars. There are a small number of young people, such as Dong Zijian, Yang Jue, Guo Qilin, etc., who work hard and are talented, and occupy a place in the entertainment industry with their own strength.
Their stories are exactly what we're going to focus on today. These powerful second-generation actors use their performances to tell us that even if they are from prominent backgrounds, they need to work harder than ordinary people to be recognized.
They used their strength to tear off the fig leaf of the entertainment industry and show their true selves. Next, let's walk into their world together and see how Dong Zijian's acne and Yang Jue's tears interpret the role and move the audience.
In the team of the second generation of stars, Wang Xiao's experience can be called an inspirational story. As the son of dance drama director Wang Qun and Golden Rooster actress Wang Fuli, Wang Xiao could have easily stepped into the showbiz.
However, he chose a more difficult path. When Wang Xiao took the path of an actor, his mother Wang Fuli was opposed. But after studying animation in Canada for 6 years, he still insisted on returning to China to enter the entertainment industry.
Wang Xiao, who officially debuted at the age of 27, is later than most actors. For the first six or seven years, he had no name and just ran out of shadows in obscurity. This experience honed his will and laid the foundation for his later success.
In 2012, after a certain amount of experience, Wang Xiao signed a contract with Yang Mi's company and became the golden supporting role of Jiaxing Media. However, traffic dramas like "Midsummer Evening Sunny Day" and "Three Lives and Three Worlds Pillow Book" are not enough for Wang Xiao to show his acting skills.
Second, what really makes the audience remember him is the hit dramas in the past two or three years. In "Patrol Procuratorial Team", Shen Guangshun played by Wang Xiao was devastated by life, and in the face of the cruel reality of "his younger brother killing his daughter", he vividly interpreted the inner struggle of the character.
Those small eyes that are transparent with light convey complex emotions of tension, fear, and entanglement, which is impressive. Especially in the scene of "biting his tongue in order to keep secrets", Wang Xiao only showed one eye, but let the audience understand Shen Guangshun's helplessness and determination when he was forced to a dead end.
In "The Golden Years", Wang Xiao completely subverted his previous image and played Zhu Suosuo's warm-hearted boss Yang Ke. With his gentle and firm eyes, coupled with his slowly spoken lines, he interprets a beloved character just right.
Wang Xiao has not received orthodox actor training, but his line skills are first-class, his words are correct and round, and he is full of temperament. He is particularly contagious when it comes to elaborating large passages of lines. Whether it is a decent or a villain, or a low-level character or a social elite, Wang Xiao can perform it with ease, and he can be called a person with a thousand faces.
Now, Wang Xiao, who is over forty years old, not only did not usher in a mid-life crisis, but his acting path is getting wider and wider. In the recent hit "Our Marriage", he played Huo Liankai once again showed his delicate acting skills.
Wang Xiao's performance is very restrained, but the details are handled just right, making the whole character plump. Wang Xiao's story tells us that there are no small roles, only small actors.
He used his strength to prove that as long as he perseveres, he will eventually have his own highlight moment. When it comes to Dong Zijian, many people's first impression may be his "ordinary" face.
However, it is this inconspicuous face that has made him unique in the entertainment industry. Dong Zijian looks average, but he has memory points, the mole on his face makes people focus on his face, and his small and deep eyes often hit people's hearts.
Third, in front of the camera, Dong Zijian is full of aura, stretching, free, and down-to-earth, which is an actor's talent. In 2013, 20-year-old Dong Zijian officially debuted with "Youth Pie".
In this youth film, he plays the role of "Actually", a high school junior who failed the college entrance examination and confessed his failure. Dong Zijian's appearance has a sense of youth, wearing a school uniform, playing a high school junior has no sense of disobedience.
It is worth mentioning that he starred in the film without makeup, and the acne and pores on his face are clearly visible, which is particularly real. His performance is natural and traceless, as if he were a rebellious and hard-working high school student in our youth class.
Subsequently, in "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers", Dong Zijian played Zhang Zhile, who lacked maternal love. When the memories flooded into his mind, the tears in his eyes, and the slow saying "I haven't seen her", vividly showed the loneliness in the character's heart.
Especially the "year-old love" scene staged by him and Zhang Aijia, although the two are 40 years old apart and have no sense of CP, Dong Zijian uses veteran acting skills to show the character's desire for love.
When it comes to "Big River", Yang Xun played by Dong Zijian is even more infectious. A rural child from a difficult background, eager to change his fate with his hands. Dong Zijian uses delicate performances to show every psychological activity of the character in detail.
For example, in the scene where he talked to Lei Dongbao about buying and selling wires, Dong Zijian portrayed Yang Xun's inner apprehension, nervousness, temptation and other complex emotions through his eyes, expressions and body language.
From "Youth School" to "Big River", in less than 10 years, Dong Zijian has completed the transformation from immaturity to maturity. His acting skills are more natural than professional.
Fourth, as Jia Zhangke said: "It is rare to see an actor who is very free and comfortable in front of the camera, without a sense of restraint, and has an innate potential and talent that cannot be concealed." Dong Zijian used an ordinary face, away from the spotlight and the crowd, and shone the greatest light in the story.
Put him in a world full of fireworks, there will always be a gripping story. Zhang Ruoyun is the son of mainland producer and producer Zhang Jian, and his stepmother is film and television actress Liu Bei.
His appearance is very recognizable in the entertainment industry, with a small face, smooth lines, and a sense of superiority on camera. Zhang Ruoyun made his debut at the age of 16 and has been shuttling back and forth between idol dramas, Republic of China dramas, and revolutionary dramas.
After 10 years of training and 4 years of professional study, his acting skills "gradually improved" and ushered in an explosion in 2016. That year, Zhang Ruoyun had two popular dramas, namely "Forensic Qin Ming" and "Sparrow".
In "Forensic Qin Ming", he plays Qin Ming, who has strong logical ability, rich experience, introverted personality, and is born with a sense of arrogance. Some viewers complained about Zhang Ruoyun's "facial paralysis", but in fact, this is a character setting, and a serious forensic doctor will inevitably not show too many expressions.
Zhang Ruoyun used his eyes and tone to convey emotions, interpreting the role well. In "Sparrow", Zhang Ruoyun plays the undercover agent lurking in No. 76. His special identity is destined to make him unable to express his emotions like ordinary people, but Zhang Ruoyun shows the character's inner struggle and complexity through subtle changes in his expression.
Especially in the scene of being buried alive, Zhang Ruoyun shows an atmosphere of "seeing death as home", which is the despair of the world and the calmness of death. In "Celebrating More Than Years", Zhang Ruoyun completely brought Fan Xian to life.
Fan Xian is multifaceted, both secular and naïve, scheming and cute, both good and evil, Zhang Ruoyun interprets it vividly. His performance is rich in layers, and he can quickly switch the emotions of the characters, showing Fan Xian's complex inner world.
Fifth, in contrast, Yang Jue's growth trajectory is more stable. As the son of national first-class actor Yang Lixin, Yang Jue grew up in the atmosphere of the Beijing People's Art Theater since he was a child.
To improve his expertise, he attended the University of United States Virginia's Department of Drama, and then transferred to Duke University's Department of Theater. Yang Jue's performance is naturally not pretentious, although it is not particularly eye-catching, but he savored it and had his own skills.
In the 2015 drama version of "To Youth", he played Chen Xiaozheng who was complex and changeable, and interpreted the character's loneliness, coldness, inferiority complex and sensitivity just right. Yang Jue's version of Chen Xiaozheng has more fireworks than Zhao Youting's version, and there is warmth and pride surging under the cold appearance.
In "Thirty Only", Yang Jue's acting skills are more mature. There is a great contrast between the front and back of Chen Yu played by him, from a typical "straight man" to realizing his own shortcomings and opening the "chasing wife" mode, Yang Jue's performance is natural and layered, which is convincing.
Especially when expressing Chen Yu's inner emotional changes, Yang Jue vividly portrays the complex psychology of the character through subtle expressions and movements. In the team of the second generation of stars, Zeng Guoxiang's experience is particularly different.
As the son of Zeng Zhiwei, a bigwig in the film and television industry, he did not stop at the identity of an actor, but set his sights on the more challenging field of directing. Under the influence of Zeng Zhiwei, Zeng Guoxiang has had a dream of movies since he was a child, but his dream is to become a director.
After graduating from the University of Toronto, Canada, Zeng Zhiwei arranged him into Chen Kexin's film company. Although he is a "related household", Zeng Guoxiang did not enjoy special treatment, but started from the most basic field records.
Sixth, he was responsible for recording the shooting content and shooting time on the set, and observing whether the camera would be worn out, which laid a solid foundation for his future directorial career.
In order to better understand the whole process of filmmaking, Zeng Guoxiang also tried his hand at working as an actor. He played tricks in films such as "DreamWorks", "Flying Tigers" and "Lao Li", and experienced the work in front of the camera.
This experience gave him a more comprehensive understanding of filmmaking. After nearly 10 years of hard work, Zeng Guoxiang finally ushered in the opportunity of his directorial debut. In 2013, he directed "Lovers' Whispers", which tells the entangled love story between five couples of men and women.
This script was written by Zeng Guoxiang and Yin Zhiwen together, and the two planned for several years, crossing the river in terms of funds, and finally came to the final film. Although he was nominated for the Golden Horse Award for his first directorial time, he still seems a little immature in terms of filming techniques and storytelling.
Six years later, Zeng Guoxiang appeared again with "July and Ansheng". This movie changes the conventional routine of youth films, focuses on the emotions between girls, and vents the emotions of the characters to the extreme.
Zeng Guoxiang went off the rails, weakening the bloody part of youth movies, and focusing on the emotions between girls and girls. The film not only sent Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun to the throne of the actress, but also won Zeng Guoxiang the "11th Chinese Youth Film Forum" Annual New Filmmaker Award.
In 2019, "Young You" directed by Zeng Guoxiang once again detonated the topic. This film, which focuses on school violence, not only achieved a box office of more than 1.5 billion, but also sparked widespread social discussion.
Zeng Guoxiang extended the fate of the two teenagers to the entire social issue, showing his pattern and vision as a director. In an interview, Zeng Guoxiang said: "I hope that some people's thoughts and values can change a little after watching the movie, at least they will not feel that the fate of others has nothing to do with them, and they will not remain indifferent to the harm suffered by others."
From actor to director, Zeng Guoxiang has used 20 years of hard work to get rid of the halo of the second generation of stars and prove his strength. Zeng Guoxiang was 40 years old this year, and he told us with practical actions that success is not achieved overnight, but needs to be taken step by step in the long years.
Seventh, Dong Zijian, Wang Xiao, Zhang Ruoyun, Yang Jue and Zeng Guoxiang, these five second-generation stars used their own strength to prove that it is possible to live without fighting for their father. Their success did not happen overnight, but over a long period of time, step by step.
From Dong Zijian's acne to Yang Jue's tears, from Wang Xiao's persistence to Zeng Guoxiang's transformation, these second-generation stars used their strength to tear off the fig leaf of the entertainment industry and show their true selves.
Their stories tell us that even if you come from a famous family, you need to work harder than ordinary people to be recognized. The road of being an actor seems to outsiders to be very glamorous, but in front of the camera, there can be no sloppiness and timidity.
These second-generation stars have embarked on a convincing path, no cutouts, no perfunctory, only do their best and be low-key and pragmatic. I hope that there will be more such good actors and directors in the entertainment industry in the future, so that the ecology of the entire industry can develop benignly.
After all, true talent and hard work will eventually be proven by time. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, personality and appearance will be inherited, but acting skills will not be inherited. Only those hard-working and talented second-generation stars can occupy a place in the entertainment industry by their own ability.