In the public's view, Gao Yuanyuan's beauty is always so hard to ignore. The beginning of her acting career was quite dramatic. In 1996, when she was still in high school, she was discovered by an advertising company on the street because of her fresh and refined temperament, thus starting her modeling career. Afterwards, she starred in a large number of commercials, and her sweet image quickly became popular, making her a household name in advertising. Afterwards, she welcomed her first work in her acting career - the movie "Love Spicy Hot Pot", and since then entered the film and television industry. To date, she has created many classic characters that remain in the history of Chinese film and television and in the hearts of generations of audiences.
Stills from Spicy Love
In recent years, she has devoted more energy to her life and family, but the quality of her film and television works remains at a high level. In the recently aired domestic drama "Top Secret Contest", Gao Yuanyuan's performance once again impressed people. The role she played, Zhao Yazhu, was a complex one, which placed higher demands on Gao Yuanyuan's acting skills. The precise grasp of the lines and the sense of proportion of the character became the key to shaping the character. Gao Yuanyuan said that although both are "villains", compared with the classic role she once played, Zhou Zhiruo, Zhao Yazhu is more proactive and purposeful, and the character is more difficult to portray.
Stills from "Top Secret Contest"
During the interview, Gao Yuanyuan was very frank. Behind her many achievements in her acting career, she also faced many challenges and confusions. She talked about how she had different moods at different stages of her life. In her early years, she might have pursued perfection in her performance and set extremely high standards for herself. When she was around 30 years old, she fell into a stage of disappointment in herself. She felt that she had worked hard but could not achieve the extremely high goals in her heart. However, now she is more transparent and open-minded. "Seeing the ceiling does not mean stopping, but means letting go of yourself."
She admitted that her attitude towards life is pessimistic and she believes that the ending of all things may not be perfect. But she did not take a negative attitude towards life because of this. Instead, she learned to reconcile with herself and enjoy the present moment. When facing anxiety, she firmly believes that anxiety will not exist forever. Life is a dynamic balance, and there will be different states in each stage.
She gave the example of a bird that she once saw hiding under the eaves when it was raining and was soaked, but it still flapped its wings and flew high after the rain stopped. Freedom and weakness are not contradictory. "I think learning to take shelter from the rain at the right time is also a kind of gathering of self-energy, and then setting off again. In fact, accepting your own weakness is also a kind of strength." She envies those friends around her who are full of curiosity about the unknown world and explore it without any burden, and she is also moving forward on her own life path in a gentle and firm way.
Stills from "Top Secret Contest"
【dialogue】
The process of polishing the accuracy of the character's lines is the most tiring
The Paper : Director Liu Jiang mentioned that you were a little hesitant and conflicted when you first saw the script, but Zhang Luyi convinced you. Can you talk about your mental process? What were you struggling with at first, and how did it move you later?
Gao Yuanyuan : First of all, I have great confidence in Director Liu Jiang. We have had good professional cooperation experience before. When I got the script this time, I was very surprised at first. At the same time, I calmed down and thought about it. Due to my lack of knowledge about national security themes, I often had doubts: Is what is written in the script true? Will this play land? Did these things really happen? Because I don't know enough, I ask this question.
In the process, they found (Zhang) Luyi. Since we worked together on "Perfect Partner", I am very sure that he is an actor worthy of trust. Both in terms of professionalism and cooperation chemistry, he is an actor I very much want to continue working with. After Lu Yi joined, including when we were doing field research later, the director told me about real events that he knew about the national security and the background of the entire play. This gave me a better understanding and my initial doubts were gradually dispelled.
I found that these stories really have roots. I think one very meaningful aspect of this drama is that it lets everyone know that the so-called security crisis can actually happen to anyone, and everyone can encounter something involving national security risks, and at the same time you can also raise awareness in this regard.
Stills from "Perfect Partner", Zhang Luyi and Gao Yuanyuan
The Paper : What attracts you most about the character Zhao Yazhu? What was the main difficulty in portraying her?
Gao Yuanyuan : I was very excited after I actually came into contact with the script. When I was reading the script, I felt like I couldn’t put it down. Zhao Yazhu’s character may be more aggressive and powerful than the characters I have portrayed before, which makes me feel fresh.
This is not the first time I have played a villain role, I also played Zhou Zhiruo before. But I think the tone of Zhou Zhiruo's character is different from that of Zhao Yazhu. Although Zhou Zhiruo's path to evil was relatively passive and a lot of it was due to fate, she always wanted to fight against fate. Zhao Yazhu, I think many of her actions are her own choices, she is a very purposeful person. For me, this role is indeed difficult.
Stills from The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber
When filming, everyone is sorting out the logic and understanding the status of the characters in the context of the characters. It is the most difficult to grasp the sense of proportion in each of her lines. Because of her multiple identities, every word she speaks to different people will have different expressions and meanings under different identities. The process of polishing the accuracy of this character's lines is the most tiring.
Stills from "Top Secret Contest"
The Paper : You have worked with Zhang Luyi before. How was the experience of working with you this time?
Gao Yuanyuan : Because Lu Yi and I had worked together before, and we established very good tacit understanding and trust at that time, so when we worked together again this time, it seemed that there was no need for a familiarization process. The trust and tacit understanding were there from the beginning. Everyone had a unified aesthetic, and what they wanted were very similar. We were almost all trying to work towards the same goal, and the whole shooting process was very enjoyable.
Stills from "Top Secret Contest"
The Paper : Director Liu Jiang has been your partner for many years. "Let's Get Married" was a phenomenal drama more than ten years ago. What's different about working together again?
Gao Yuanyuan : In Let's Get Married, I played a role that was very suitable for me at the right age. Although it was my first time working with director Liu Jiang, we quickly established trust and tacit understanding. I remember that when filming that play, the director was very willing to give the actors space. Sometimes the director did not call for stop, but let the actors play and perform on their own.
Of course, that play is different from "Top Secret Contest". It is a play that condenses many interesting things and emotional expressions from life. The more lifelike the expression is, the more wonderful it is. "Top Secret Showdown" is different. It cannot be too lifelike and the lines must be highly accurate so that all the plot links are closely connected and to avoid causing doubts among the audience due to inaccurate expressions in certain links.
This collaboration made me feel that the director is a person who is willing to constantly break through himself, and he will extend his tentacles widely into various types and themes.
Stills from Let's Get Married
Accepting your own weakness is also a kind of strength
The Paper : In some previous interviews, you talked about your attitude towards life, the ceiling of an actor, and other issues. Can you elaborate on this?
Gao Yuanyuan : First of all, I am pessimistic. I believe that our lives will definitely go downhill. No aspect can always be at its peak, and the ending of all things cannot be an absolutely perfect ending.
When I was in my early twenties and insisted on being a female intellectual, I went looking for solitude. Later, I found that I had been growing up in a very loving family and had been nourished by such things, so I was not actually lonely. Around the age of 30 is the stage when you feel most disappointed with yourself and feel that you cannot achieve your goals no matter how hard you try. But in the past 10 years, I have been in a relatively peaceful state. I have realized my ceiling as an actor, but this will not stop me from working hard.
. I have been still filming in the past two years. I think I should enjoy the present and the possibilities that filming brings me. Sometimes, people push themselves really hard. But if you have a clear understanding of yourself, or know that you may not be able to reach the ideal position in your mind at certain times, then let yourself go. If you get tired, take a break. When you want to start again one day, you can try again, or what if you don’t try again?
Since I was a child, I have always wanted to see the road ahead clearly before setting off. I think this is driven by fear. Because I am afraid of losing control, I keep wanting to see where the end is. If you can see the end, is it possible to stop moving forward? This may be the pragmatic way to go, and also allow yourself to cut yourself some slack. But there is a kind of friend in my life who doesn’t want to see where the ceiling is. They are full of curiosity about the unknown world, have no burden, and are always willing to explore. I admire and love them from the bottom of my heart.
Stills from "Top Secret Contest"
The Paper : I find your attitude towards life quite inspiring. Can you give some advice to young women who are anxious and confused?
Gao Yuanyuan : Sometimes I am afraid to talk about these things with others, because everyone’s growth experiences and circumstances are different, so the content condensed from my perspective and growth experience may not be useful to others. But take me as an example. At different stages, my state will be different due to different experiences and thinking.
When I feel anxious in my life, I will be firm: anxiety will not exist forever. The current anxiety is the anxiety that arises when I want to fulfill my obsession or when my thoughts are highly concentrated. When it condenses to a certain strength, it will definitely have new fission and changes, and will not always remain in the same state. I have also experienced a period of anxiety, and after that period, life seemed to be relatively peaceful. After a while, you will think lying down is boring, so you will try to move forward again and challenge yourself again.
Therefore, there will be different states in every stage of life. If you are anxious right now, don’t worry too much, because you will definitely be able to get out of it. This is a dynamic balance.
The Paper : You once said in an interview that if you could be an animal, you would choose to be a bird. You have seen birds hiding from the rain under the eaves. You think they are free creatures, but at the same time they are weak. Freedom and weakness are not contradictory. When discussing women's independence and strength, people tend to avoid mentioning the possible weak parts of women, or even actively castrate the weak parts of themselves, as if only in this way can they be called strong.
Gao Yuanyuan : I think in the animal food chain, animals without natural enemies are definitely one of the rare species in the entire animal kingdom. If we want to be a person without natural enemies from the beginning, then people with my biological philosophy will feel very tired. Most animals have natural enemies and need to rest and show their weak side. As you said, everyone is currently discussing women's power, but strength does not mean that you can't have soft and weak moments. It is not shameful for women to have a weak side, nor will it make you lose your power.
When facing a storm, a bird can hide under the eaves and wait for the rain to stop. After the rain stops, it can shake its wet feathers and still fly into the sky. I have never heard that a bird will be soaked by rain and will never be able to fly again. I think learning to take shelter from the rain at the right time is also a way to gather self-energy before setting off again. In fact, accepting your own weakness is also a kind of strength.
