Actor Chen Dayu: As an artist, you have to always remind yourself not to "float"

Beijing, May 5 (Zhongxin Net) -- His hair is slightly curly, he loves to wear holes and shoes, and he talks about art endlessly... The actor Chen Dayu in life can easily make people feel intimate. In the drama "Shocking Dreams", which recently opened the curtain of the tour, he successfully created a very characteristic character: "dramatist" Young Master Chang.

Chen Dayu grew up in an acting family, his father Chen Peisi is a famous comedian, and his grandfather Chen Qiang is a famous film performance artist. However, he majored in biology in college, and the word "filming" has nothing to do with it.

After studying abroad for two years, he became interested in theater and gave birth to the idea of becoming an actor, and since then he has starred in many dramas such as "Old House" and "Balcony", looking for feelings little by little, and has won a lot of audience popularity with his increasingly mature stage performance.

Throughout "Shocking Dreams", Chen Dayu's "Young Master Chang" is quite joyful, with constant laughter, and almost every appearance can push the story forward, "As soon as the audience sees him, they know that the drama team is going to be unlucky again."

Chen Dayu. Photo courtesy of Avenue Culture

The elders named him "Big Fool" in the hope that he could lose his little wisdom and do his own thing steadily. After becoming an actor, he still uses this to remind himself: as an artist, you can't "float", nor can you be lost by foreign objects.

After entering the industry, he saw all kinds of life in the play, and he had a deeper understanding of life, "We came to this world to experience an interesting life, and this process of continuous efforts is your precious wealth." ”

"Transform" the character into yourself

Before the curtain of this year's national tour began, "Shocking Dreams" had already had two rounds of tours. Chen Dayu said that during the first round of performances, he didn't care to think deeply about the psychological motivation of the characters, and he always felt that the character did not materialize on himself.

He calmed down and asked the screenwriter for advice: What did Young Master Chang go through? What do you like to watch and eat? Integrate these things naturally into yourself, and the interpretation of the role is more natural and full.

In "Shocking Dreams", Chen Dayu and his father Chen Peisi performed on the same stage. However, he did not feel particularly pressured.

This was thanks to the intensive rehearsals that had previously been held offstage. As a director, Chen Peisi has high requirements for the quality of performance, and if he finds that Chen Dayu has a problem with his understanding of the role, he will directly call "stop", and criticize it mercilessly.

Earlier, there was a scene in "Old House", where the character played by Chen Dayu was so angry that he slapped the table, and for the stage play, when he pulled his arm, he had to be a little bit, so that the audience could feel the change of the character's mood more obviously. But he just can't learn.

If you can't find the character feeling, then keep practicing. At the request of Chen Peisi, it was just the action of slapping the table, and Chen Dayu repeated it more than fifty times, and finally performed the character state relatively well, which was considered to be passed. At that time, the hand was already swollen.

"Crossover" became an actor

In the eyes of others, Chen Dayu grew up in an acting family, his grandfather Chen Qiang is a famous film performance artist, and his father Chen Peisi is a famous comedian, it seems that he should naturally become an actor, but this is not the case.

"When I was sixteen or seventeen, I often debated with my father whether life is important spiritually or materially." Unlike Chen Peisi, Chen Dayu always felt that material is the first thing at that time, "There must be good conditions to live better." ”

Chen Dayu's "Shocking Dreams" performance stills. Photo courtesy of Avenue Culture

So, he designed a future path for himself, because he liked plants when he was a child, so he chose biology in college, thinking that when he came back, he would grow rice, or learn a technology that could synthesize a lot of food.

As his life experience became richer, his thinking changed: a person's material life is rich, but his heart may also be very "empty", comedy can make people happy, can also be thought-provoking, give people strength, it is meaningful to do this, "I want to be an actor".

The idea of changing careers was opposed by Chen Peisi. "When I was a kid, I was more introverted, and my dad thought I didn't have acting talent, and I have to say do this line of work, then it definitely won't work." Chen Dayu said.

In order to be an actor, he tried to transform himself little by little, slowly finding a feeling from rehearsals, stimulating the active side of his personality, and getting acquainted with the stage. From scratch, this process took ten years, and his performance was gradually recognized by the audience.

As an artist, Chen Dayu has a very long-term plan, always remind himself not to "float", the higher you float, the more painful it will be when you fall, "When you feel that you want to float, you must 'deflate', don't be lost by foreign objects." ”

Sweat doesn't lie to yourself

In fact, Chen Dayu is an old actor on the drama stage, and has acted in many works such as "Old House" and "Balcony".

The first time he participated in a formal performance, he was so nervous that his palms sweated, ""Old House" is a purely interactive play, which is particularly difficult to perform. It's like a large-scale script kill, the audience chats while reasoning according to the plot, and follows the plot forward. ”

Chen Dayu. Photo courtesy of Avenue Culture

After the performance, he only relaxed offstage, "I often hear old artists say that some plays need to form muscle memory, otherwise in an emergency, the brain may not be able to respond." So train repeatedly, sweat never fools yourself. ”

During rehearsals, the actors are secretly competing to find ways to catch up with others, and the long rehearsal cycle just provides time to eat through the script. The curtain opened, the lights lit up, and every time he saw the audience in the audience, Chen Dayu would feel cordial and warm.

Occasionally, he would look over the audience's evaluation of "Shocking Dreams", and a small sense of accomplishment would arise, "I may feel that this is also proof that I have mastered a little bit of acting skills." ”

"If you want to be an actor, you have to think and be observant." This is the experience summed up by Chen Dayu.

Observe life and accumulate acting skills

How to accumulate acting experience is a topic that every actor has to face, and Chen Dayu is no exception.

He often accumulates acting skills through careful speculation on life, accepts interviews with reporters, often pays attention to the other party's clothing, demeanor, etc., refines commonalities, and also pays attention to characteristics, "If one day I want to create such a character, this may help." ”

In the mobile phone memo, Chen Dayu has three different types of documents all year round, one is the character experience, one is the beautiful text recorded casually, and the other is interesting bridges and materials, and over time, he has saved a large number of them.

"You have to love life. When acting, you have to love the life of the character you want to create, and then 'transform' all kinds of material into yourself. He always believed that acting comes from life, and actors just reproduce fragments of life situations.

There are suitable roles, Chen Dayu also wants to try to appear in film and television dramas, but this is not in a hurry, "My dad is at this age, I want to accompany him and do everything he wants to do better, and when he wants to rest, I will do what I want to do, it's not too late." (End)