Text: Mu Ke
Edit|Ah Yu eats melons
In the 1985 Spring Festival Gala, Chen Chong was invited to return to China to participate in the Spring Festival Gala.
At this time, Chen Chong had already become an instant hit with "Little Flower" and became the youngest Hundred Flowers Award actress in China.
But a speech at the Spring Festival Gala made his popularity plummet, and the subsequent abandonment incident made everyone even more indignant.
1. The history of the cultivation of national flowers
In an interview for the selection of actors by Shanghai Film Studio, 14-year-old Chen Chong was successfully selected with a recitation of "Serving the People" in English.
In the 80s, when everyone was keen to learn Russian, it was very rare for Chen Chong to be able to use English proficiently.
Therefore, even in the interview scene of many handsome men and beautiful women, Chen Chong's fluent expression and generous temperament still dazzled the judges.
And she was able to join Shanghai Film Studio because of her living environment since she was a child - a typical intellectual family.
Chen Chong's parents were both university professors, and in an enlightened family environment, his brother became a painter and Chen Chong became an actor.
Becoming a member of Shanghai Film Studio also represents Chen Chong's official entry into the film and television industry.
It can be said that so far, Chen Chong's life has been green, but her luck does not stop there.
At the age of 15, she was favored by Xie Jin, a leading director in Chinese film history, because of her pure temperament, and played the role of the dumb girl in "Youth".
Later, Chen Chong became popular by playing the innocent girl in "Little Flower", and won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress, becoming the youngest actress.
And this officially opened the era of Chen Chong's "national flower".
Soon, Chen Chong became a household name.
At that time, only Zhang Yu, who starred in "Love in Lushan", could not be compared with Zhang Yu, like Liu Xiaoqing and other actors we are familiar with now.
is such a national flower, but she has been involved in public opinion storms many times.
Two: From the stage of the Spring Festival Gala to the public opinion turmoil of abandoning the twins
Huang Yihe, the director of the Spring Festival Gala at the time, even said in a later interview: "I didn't want to live at that time."
On Chinese New Year's Eve in 1985, Chen Chong was invited to participate in the Spring Festival Gala.
Because the Spring Festival Gala was moved to a stadium for the first time at that time, the audience and the cast and crew were too far away, resulting in a very cold scene.
Seeing this, Chen Chong took the initiative to say that he could say a few words of blessing to liven up the atmosphere.
However, Chen Chong's statement that "China is now" and that "fortune tellers only came to the scene" caused great controversy.
At this time, Chen Chong has been studying in the United States for more than four years, coupled with this inappropriate speech, the audience thinks that Chen Chong admires foreign flattery, and his film and television image has been greatly affected in our country.
CCTV also received a lot of report letters, and finally the news network came out to apologize to the national audience for the incident.
In addition, Chen Chong's abandonment of the twins has also been controversial.
An accident that occurred after Chen Chong adopted twin daughters made her reputation plummet.
After Chen Chong married her second husband in 1992, she adopted twin daughters in Nanning, Guangxi Province in 1998.
Unexpectedly, in the process of going through the adoption procedures, Chen Chong, who was once diagnosed by the doctor as difficult to conceive because of a miscarriage, suddenly became pregnant.
After the birth of his daughter, Chen Chong said very emotionally in an interview:
"It's hard to express this problem, and I said that we treat our four daughters the same and no one else will believe us. But I have the same love for all four daughters. ”
But soon after, the pair of twins were transferred, and it was called "no mother-daughter fate".
What he said when he adopted a child before: "We got the two pearls of Guangxi" has also become a joke.
Netizens also named him "Abandoning Chen" to condemn Chen Chong.
Three: The legendary life from the Hundred Flowers Award actress to the Hollywood rookie
Chen Chong, who was deeply involved in the turmoil of public opinion, still insisted on working hard in the United States.
In order to gain a foothold in Hollywood, she even did not hesitate to appear in large-scale films to gain popularity.
In order to make ends meet in the United States, the popular little flower in China has had to do odd jobs in many places.
Brushing dishes, cleaning toilets, and working as waiters are even more common.
When working in a restaurant, the boss also told people everywhere: "Chen Chong is a movie queen from the mainland." ”
Chen Chong also felt very ashamed at that time!
But she always believes that "no matter what the situation, life is in your own hands".
So no matter how difficult life was, she never gave up her studies.
In this way, while working part-time, he studied film production at the State University of New York at Paltz, United States.
At first, Chen Chong could only receive some roles stereotyped by Asians.
Even after a director found Chen Chong, he asked him to star in some large-scale films.
In order to gain a foothold in Hollywood, Chen Chong accepted an offer from a Italy producer, Dino · De · Laurentiis, in 1986 to star in a United States film "Taipan".
In the 80s, even in United States, everyone's thinking was still relatively conservative, and the prostitutes played by Chen Chong had many large-scale shots.
Facing the camera, Chen Chong had a lot of psychological pressure, but fortunately, the director at that time was very professional and patient, and often provided psychological counseling to Chen Chong, and told Chen Chong:
"A good actor shouldn't play who looks like whom, and she should be that person."
This experiential way of performing also subtly and deeply influenced Chen Chong.
And Chen Chong, who has a very high pursuit of art, finally ushered in a turning point in his acting career in 1987.
She starred in the epic film "The Last Emperor" directed by Bernardo · Bertolucci and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Wanrong.
This is also the first time in history that a Chinese has appeared on the Oscar podium.
Chen Chong also became the first Chinese actor to be accepted as a member of the Foreign Film Society because of this work, and became a lifelong judge of the Oscars.
After that, Chen Chong's career has grown all the way, not only starring in many Hollywood blockbusters one after another, but also starring in "The Joy Luck Club" in 1993 also won the Oscar for Best Screenplay Screenplay.
Although Chen Chong became famous in Hollywood, the large-scale movies she starred in were transmitted back to China, but she was infamous as "treason", and people accused Chen Chong of disgrace to the motherland.
After Chen Chong joined the United States nationality in 1989, he was criticized by countless Chinese people.
Four: Self-reinvention from Hollywood to the Chinese film industry
Hollywood's career is in full swing, but Chen Chong is not resigned to the status quo, but returns to the Chinese film industry.
Completely different language environments, shooting methods, cultural differences, etc., are all great challenges for Chen Chong, who has just returned to China.
Although he is over the age of six, Chen Chong is still full of enthusiasm for the career of an actor.
She once said in an interview: "The older I get, the more passionate I am to live than when I was younger." ”
In the face of the rapid development of the Chinese film market in the early 2000s, Chen Chong seized the opportunity and successively starred in many different types of films such as "My Father and Mother", "Red Rose and White Rose", "Beijing Meets Seattle", "I Am a Special Soldier", and officially returned to the Chinese film industry.
Five: The transformation from actor to director and writer
The experience of studying abroad and acting in Hollywood has given Chen Chong a unique international vision and accumulated a profound artistic heritage.
In 1995, Chen Chong became a jury member of the Berlin Film Festival, and in the process, she found many films of poor quality and lack of meaning.
Therefore, she decided to become a director and show her inner emotions and thoughts through the lens.
In 1997, 36-year-old Chen Chong participated in the screenwriting and directed the feature film "Heavenly Bath".
There is such a scene in the film:
"The salesman didn't take her away, but just told her that as long as she used her body to tie up with those people in the field, she could exchange for the qualification to go back"
The director nakedly showed the ending of the pure girl Wenxiu falling into the abyss step by step in a special era in front of the audience.
After the film was broadcast, it was not only widely praised in China, but also shined in the international market.
Chen Chong, who returned to China in old age, has expressed his deep attachment to the motherland more than once.
She said in an interview: "I feel Chinese, my roots are in China."
Therefore, Chen Chong chose to use words to show the old Shanghai in his memory.
From actor to director to writer, Chen Chong has never stopped his steps.
In July 2024, 63-year-old Chen Chong released his first non-fiction feature, "Catfish".
The book is 330,000 words long and spans more than 100 years.
Chen Chong wrote in the book: "My name is Chen Chong, my father's name is Chen Xingrong, my mother's name is Zhang Anzhong, and my family lives at No. 10, Lane 170, Pingjiang Road. ”
The simple self-introduction in the book not only reflects Chen Chong's frank character, but also reveals her deep nostalgia for old Shanghai when she was a child.
The famous director Jiang Wen said in disbelief when talking to Chen Chong about this book:
In "Heavenly Bath", it seems that your understanding and expression of emotions and the emotions of men and women are similar to those in "Catfish". "Heavenly Bath" made me feel like I was stepping on a knife edge at the time, but now you write like light on those things. ”
For Chen Chong himself, Jiang Wen praised:
"She is unafraid to invite readers to step into her inner world, to go through her life, to meet her friends and family. This kind of courage is not something that anyone can have, and Chen Chong has done it. ”
Write at the end
In this former national goddess, we see a lot of labels on her.
National Little Flower, Golden Horse Actress, Oscar nomination, return to China to make money, abandon Chen and so on.
Under countless labels, we can't simply take Chen Chong's behavior and judge him morally.
Take a closer look at Chen Chong's life experience, from the youngest queen of a hundred flowers, to a Hollywood rookie, and then to return to China in old age.
Chen Chong always has the courage to start over, the passion that is not afraid of age, and the firm and persistent choice, which should be the part we need to pay attention to at the moment.
Information sources:
Sohu News: Chen Chong, who became famous at a young age because of a "Little Flower", became a famous actor in Hollywood, how is she now
Personal Library: Revealing the inside story of Chen Chong's abandonment of his twin daughters 16 years ago