In 1984, CCTV decided to make "Dream of Red Mansions" into a TV series. For this masterpiece of Chinese literature, director Wang Fulin felt a great responsibility, and he made an unusual request to the leaders of the station to take a year off work and concentrate on studying the original work.
Impressed by his sincerity, the leaders approved the request.
Thus, Wang Fulin began his life of "retreat". Throughout the year, he devoted himself to reading Dream of the Red Chamber and consulting materials and research related to it. Through daily research, the characters in the book gradually became clear in his mind.
In order to restore the original storyline as realistically as possible, director Wang Fulin made a bold decision: to abandon the selection of actors who have already become famous, and instead use the national audition method to select newcomers.
Although this decision is full of risks, he firmly believes that only in this way can he find the actor who is closest to the image of the original book.
Not only that, Wang Fulin also specially applied for a grant of 90,000 yuan from Taili to hold two 60-day training courses in Red Mansions. He invited many experts in red studies to give lectures to the actors, hoping to give the actors a deeper understanding of the roles in this way.
This ingenious preparation method has laid a solid foundation for the success of "Dream of Red Mansions". However, even if you have done your best, there will still be flaws in the choice of characters. Although these flaws did not affect the artistic achievements of the TV series, they became the focus of heated discussions among the audience, and the most controversial of them was the role of "Xue Baoqin".
Wang Fulin's casting road is destined to be a challenging one.
Wang Fulin's casting process is very innovative, and he subtly describes it as the process of "falling in love" between the actor and the character, and himself taking on the role of "matchmaker". This metaphor is very vivid, and it also fully demonstrates his seriousness and responsibility for the casting work.
Wang Fulin did not decide on the role immediately after the end of the Hongxue training, he gave the actors the freedom to choose the role and perform the sketch. Then, the director team observes the actors' performances to determine whether they truly understand and fit the role.
With the same patience as helping lovers cultivate their feelings, Wang Fulin guided each actor to understand the role they had chosen. He is convinced that only when an actor truly "falls in love" with the character can he convey the truest emotions in his performance.
If the actor and the character don't match, it's like a failed relationship and needs to be re-chosen. This process may be repeated several times until you find the perfect match. Wang Fulin describes himself as like a dutiful "matchmaker", trying to find the most suitable "other half" for each "role".
Wang Fulin's choice of characters is full of warmth, and his respect and awe for "Dream of Red Mansions" and his craftsmanship as a director are vividly reflected. He knows that only by finding the most suitable actor for the role can these classic characters be brought to life on screen.
However, even with such a meticulous selection process, it is still impossible to completely avoid casting mistakes. This also laid the groundwork for later controversies, especially in the choice of roles such as "Xue Baoqin".
Nevertheless, Wang Fulin's casting method undoubtedly laid the foundation for the overall success of "Dream of Red Mansions".
After director Wang Fulin's careful screening, most of the characters in the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" have won high recognition from the audience. The performances of these actors are literally like characters from a book coming out and amazement the audience.
Lin Daiyu played by Chen Xiaoxu perfectly shows the image of this talented but sentimental girl. Wang Xifeng, portrayed by Deng Jie, is shrewd and capable, but also a little brutal, which leaves a deep impression.
Xue Baochai played by Zhang Li is dignified, generous and gentle, which appropriately reflects the temperament of this lady Ouyang Fenqiang, who portrays Jia Baoyu, who is innocent and revealing, reveals his rebellion against feudal etiquette and religion, and interprets this complex role deeply in the hearts of the people.
Cheng Mei's Jia Yuanchun, Zhang Jinglin's Qingwen, Shen Lin's Ping'er, Hu Zehong's Jia Xichun, Guo Xiaozhen's Shi Xiangyun, Zhang Lei's Qin Keqing, etc., each character is as if they came out of the book, which is fascinating, making the audience feel as if they are in the world of the Grand View Garden.
Gao Hongliang successfully played the role of Jia Lian, which impressed countless audiences! Although there is no specific description of Jia Lian's appearance in the original work, Gao Hongliang has successfully created an image of a romantic but not obscene son with his outstanding appearance and superb acting skills, which is eye-catching and exceeds the audience's expectations.
His performance made the role of Jia Lian more three-dimensional and vivid, which was impressive.
Wang Fulin's unique casting method has created many lifelike characters for the success of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions", which is not only the result of the actors' hard work, but also the embodiment of the soul of this TV series.
However, despite the success of this drama, there are still regrets behind it. Among the many excellent roles, the choice of some roles has caused controversy, among which the most criticized is the role of Xue Baoqin.
These controversies did not affect the artistic achievements of the show as a whole, but they became the focus of heated discussions among the audience, adding a touch of uniqueness to this classic.
During the filming of the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions", Jia Yingchun's actor experienced an unexpected change, but this change brought unexpected surprises.
Initially, Wang Fulin chose Jin Lili to play Jia Yingchun. However, Jin Lili has no acting experience and has never acted in dramas, and she behaved quite wooden in the audition, which just fits Jia Yingchun's image of "two woods".
Subsequently, Wang Fulin thought that she was exactly the person he wanted.
However, when Kim Lily began to act out the role, some problems surfaced. The corners of her eyes and eyebrows can always inadvertently reveal a shrewdness that cannot be concealed, which is obviously different from Jia Yingchun's gentle and silent character in the original work.
This kind of shrewdness is even reminiscent of Sister Feng's qualities, which leads to a lot of conflict between Jia Yingchun's character image and the original work.
Just when the crew was struggling with how to adjust Jin Lili's performance, an accident caused Jin Lili to be admitted to the Central Academy of Drama. For this girl with a rural hukou, going to university means that she can change her hukou and is an opportunity for her to change her fate.
Faced with the choice between "Dream of Red Mansions" and university education, Jin Lili finally chose to go to college.
Jin Lili's decision made Wang Fulin very angry. The actors have signed three-year contracts, and many actors who have finished filming are still helping in the group, but Jin Lili is about to leave before the play is finished.
But after careful consideration, out of consideration for the future of young people, Wang Fulin still reluctantly let Jin Lili leave.
Just when the crew was troubled by the loss of actors, the god of luck favored them. A young woman named Mu Yi is spotted on the street by the casting director. Mu Yi used to be a dispatcher for a car company and had never been involved in the acting industry.
In the crew, she has not been trained in Hongxue, and she is not very familiar with other actors, so she seems a little restrained and does not talk much.
Surprisingly, Mu Yi's restrained and reticent personality is highly consistent with Jia Yingchun's character in the original book, from appearance, demeanor to temperament, she is closer to the image in the original book than Jin Lili.
The acting teacher taught Mu Yi the basic techniques of acting in just three days, and her performance surprised everyone.
This unexpected substitute for the actor instead made the audience appreciate a more realistic "Ermu". The addition of Mu Yi not only successfully created the role of Jia Yingchun, but also made the whole drama more natural and real.
This episode has become a legendary story during the filming of the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions".
Although most of the characters in the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" have been recognized by the audience, there are still several character choices that have caused controversy, the most criticized of which are the three characters of Xue Baoqin, Li Kun and Duo Girl.
Xue Baoqin is played by Wang Yang and has become the most controversial role. In the original book, Xue Baoqin is the first beauty in the Red Mansion, and she is younger than Daiyu, and she is glamorous. Baoyu praised her as "the essence of Lingxiu, the person of the people", and Jia's mother also called her more beautiful than the beauty of "Shuangyan Tu", but Tanchun thought that Baochai and other people's beauty could not be compared with Baoqin.
It's a pity that Wang Yang was over thirty years old at the time of filming, with a puffy face and a bloated body, which is far from the image in the original book.
In fact, Wang Yang has always been in good shape, and he looks much younger than his actual age. In the 86th edition of "Journey to the West" in the same period, she can also play a playful and lively Taoist child, full of girlishness.
However, two months before the start of filming of "Dream of Red Mansions", she had an illness, which caused her body to be out of shape, although she knew that she was not in a good state and was always worried that Wang Fulin would be replaced by someone else, but Wang Fulin did not do it For many years, Wang Yang has always felt guilty and regretful about it, thinking that she acted in the worst state and dragged down the whole drama.
Li Kun is played by Sun Mengquan. In the original work, Li Kun should be about 20 years old, but Sun Mengquan was nearly 30 years old at the time, so the character image created was more mature.
In order to get closer to Li Kun's image, the makeup artist and costume artist designed an old-fashioned makeup for her, dressed in a plain gray robe with a little powder, making her look more like a middle-aged woman who has gone through vicissitudes, and even looks like a peer with her mother-in-law, Mrs. Wang.
Sun Mengquan was only confirmed as the actor of Li Kun 3 days before leaving filming. Originally, this role was played by Zhou Yue, but Le Yun resigned because of the role of You Sanjie and was going to Hong Kong, so Le Yun's role was replaced by Zhou Yue, and at this time, Li Kun's role was vacant.
The assistant director thought of Sun Mengquan, she is an acquaintance in the plot, has a son who is more than a year old, and knows this person's personality traits and living conditions very well, although Sun Mengquan's acting skills are not problematic, but her sense of age is a little heavy, which is somewhat inconsistent with the image of Li Kun in the original work.
The many girls in the film and television drama "Dream of Red Mansions" are played by the crew editor Tian Shaochun. In the original book, Duo Girl is portrayed as a handsome girl in her twenties. However, Tian Shaochun's appearance was mediocre, which caused dissatisfaction among many audiences.
The reason for this situation is that in the relatively conservative social environment of the 80s, young actresses were reluctant to play such negative roles, and they were worried about affecting their image and could not find a suitable actor, Tian Shaochun stepped forward and volunteered to take the role.
Although the choice of these three roles was controversial, their respective acting skills were recognized. Especially Tian Shaochun, although her appearance is not in line with the original description, she can grasp the spiritual core of many girls, and portray the frivolous, charming and sociable image of this character vividly.
The make-up artist painted her a high-eyed make-up look, which was not stunning, but it was unique and full of style.
Although there is a certain gap between the appearance of these controversial characters and the original book, their acting skills and understanding of the role are quite high, and their existence has brought a unique color to the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions", and has also become a hot topic of discussion among the audience, leaving some memories for this classic.
Although the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" sparked controversy over the choice of the main character, it is still widely recognized as a classic in the history of Chinese television, and the controversy did not detract from the show's artistic standards, but rather made the work even more legendary for the audience.
Director Wang Fulin showed great care and ingenuity in this work. From a year off duty to study the original book, to the unique "falling in love" casting method, his series of behaviors reflect the awe and persistence of this work.
The actors' performances, whether they are widely recognized or controversial, breathe life into this production.
Although the 87 version of "Dream of Red Mansions" has some flaws in the choice of characters, it has won the love of several generations of audiences with its excellent artistic charm and exquisite expressiveness, which also fully proves the strong influence of excellent works in terms of overall artistry and appeal.
This "Dream of Red Mansions" has achieved a high degree of restoration of the essence of the original work.
In addition to a few controversial characters, the choice of characters such as Tanchun, Jia Zhen, and Jia Yu has also raised some questions, but these controversies have not affected the important position of "Dream of Red Mansions" in the history of Chinese television and in the hearts of audiences.
The success of this hit drama lies not only in the fact that it has successfully restored the world of "Dream of Red Mansions", but also in the fact that it has created a "Dream of Red Mansions" that belongs to television art, and has become an unforgettable collective memory of a generation.