Text | Asakura leaves
Editor | He Runxuan
Probably the reason why Ang Lee said he was Xiaosheng was because Chen Guilin still showed some uninhibited youthful atmosphere at the beginning of the film, as if there was a shadow of the monk who amazed the world. But at that time, Ruan Jingtian did not know that the gift given by fate too early could only be close to him, even if it was another ten years, and it was difficult to repeat.
Many mainland audiences may be surprised by Ruan Jingtian’s acting skills in "The Three Evils of Zhou Chu", mainly because most mainland audiences still know him as Ji Cunxi of "Destined I Love You" – a classic tyrant who stands at the peak of Taiwan puppet history. But Ruan Jingtian’s comfort zone has always been a "punk" like a monk and Chen Guilin. For him, who is not an acting professional, this is almost his true character, so he can contribute such a moving texture.
"Removal of the Three Evils"
Returning to the comfort zone is not only a "40-year-old", but also a rare luxury. Although Ruan Jingtian’s acting career has been luckier than most people, he has also faced confusion and bottlenecks during the bubble period of the film and television industry. However, the bottleneck did not eventually compress him to the status of a bad drama professional or a live streaming host, but allowed him to be recognized again and become a teenager again.
"Everyone likes Ji Cunxi, but I don’t."
Ruan Jingtian’s starting point is much higher than others.
The first time was to accompany a friend to interview for a model, but his friend didn’t want to do it anymore, but he was taken by the modeling company. He even reached the level of a professional reserve team when he practiced swimming from a young age, which also developed his long and shoulder-wide model figure. His first appearance after his debut was as the male lead of Penny Dai’s MV. In Hunan Satellite TV’s "Behind the Story" program, he mentioned that he had never learned to act at that time, and was commanded by the director like a marionette on the set. "Xiao Tian, look to the right, look up, look at the camera… This is how I played my first MV."
After that, he took on a large number of MVs of diva-level singers, such as Sun Yanzi, Wang Fei, Zhang Huimei, etc. Zheng Yuanchang, He Junxiang and he from the same company were called "Kaiwo Three Musketeers", and they often bound variety shows in this capacity. Kaiwo is also a leading modeling agency in Taiwan. Lin Zhiling is the senior sister of "Three Musketeers", and Xu Weining, who later ran a long-distance relationship with Ruan Jingtian for seven years, is also an artist of the company.
Two years later, Ethan Ethan made his film and television debut in "Michael’s Dance," in which he played a gloomy dance genius. It was also in this work that he was first noticed by the later "Bole" Niu Chengze.
A year later, Ruan Jingtian starred in the infatuated second man of "Green Light Forest", which is a typical person setting the ceiling. The performance of the show was supposed to take his acting career to the sky, but he was frozen by the agency for his affair with the 17-year-old heroine Liu Pinyan. After that, he could only play supporting roles and cameos for many years. Ruan Jingtian ushered in his first disappointment. At the same time, Zheng Yuanchang and He Junxiang have successfully soared with "Mischief Kiss" and "The Devil Is Around". Only he has been unable to survive.
"Green Forest" stills
Before encountering the project "I’m Destined to Love You", Ethan Ruan was ready to quit the acting industry. The original proposed lead actor Ming Dao refused, and the director Chen Mingzhang tried his best to persuade Ethan Ruan to play. He reluctantly accepted because he thought he had never played a male lead.
Ji Cunxi was not a typical "man setting a ceiling". He was always hesitant between his ex-girlfriend and his current girlfriend, and he was always beaten up for being too scum in the play, and was once evaluated as "the most miserable tyrant". This is also the reason why no one liked the project before it was broadcast.
Who knew that once the broadcast was a mess, the average audience rating of a single episode was 10.91, and the highest segment audience rating was 13.64, which became the first audience rating in the history of Taiwan puppet in one fell swoop, and no one has surpassed it so far. Ruan Jingtian and Chen Qiaoen, who were both at a low point at that time, would cry every time they released the ratings data, for the disappointment of those years.
"Destined to Love You" stills
After "Boss Ba", Ruan Jingtian went all the way. The next year, he starred in "The Lost Dog Queen", and with Yang Jinhua, he performed the "sister-brother love" that was very advanced at the time. Rather than being an idol drama, "The Lost Dog Queen" is actually closer to a female growth drama, and his role as Lucas is the healing and redemption of the elderly female protagonist.
The transformation was like a whirlwind, and in another year, Ruan Jingtian produced the movie "Menga" that won the best actor. Director Niu Chengze developed him who can act in movies. Completely different from the idol drama, he did not have to wear fancy clothes and read exaggerated lines to interpret the "Boss Ba" who was far away from him, but only needed to play the street "little gangster" by instinct.
The year he won the Golden Horse Best Actor, Ruan Jingtian was only 28 years old, and the "praise" and "call" came to him prematurely at the same time, making him feel like a downhill road wherever he went.
In 2013, during the 50th anniversary of the Golden Horse, Ruan Jingtian was absent for no reason. Although he later responded that he was rushing back to shoot "Military Paradise" because the itinerary was not clear, this statement was not accepted by the circle. Later recalling that period, Ruan Jingtian said in an interview, "I was very resistant for a while, and I tried a lot of roles during that time… But the audience seemed to only remember Ji Cunxi, and my performance perception was still stuck at the age of 25."
Although there have been many twists and turns, Ruan Jingtian’s noble luck has always been good. When he first joined the modeling agency, he was introduced to resources by an agent 12 years older, and the MV contract was only softened. Later, thanks to the appreciation of Chen Yushan, the co-producer of "Destined I Love You" and "The Queen of Lost Dogs", he established a foothold in the field of idol drama. The producer of "Mengka" and "The Three Evils in Zhou" is also the same person – Luo Dayou’s ex-wife Li Lie – who was once regarded by Ruan Jingtian as a mentor.
Li Lie later responded to the media that because of the absence of the photo of the golden horse, she had not contacted Ruan Jingtian for ten years, and only broke the ice during the casting of "Removal of the Three Evils in the Week". To some extent, this may also have led him to go to the mainland after the Jinma incident, and the movies, dramas and variety shows he has taken on have not been able to produce a single work. At the nomination of "Removal of the Three Evils in the Week" last year, Ruan Jingtian told the media, "Thank you, Sister Lie, for taking me home."
In fact, Taiwan’s domestic films have had a difficult time these years, and the situation is very similar to that of the Hong Kong market. Imported films occupy an absolute high box office. In the top 10 box office of the Taiwan film market in 2023, there is only one local film, "About Me and the Ghost Becoming Family". Of the top ten domestic films at the box office, 6 are comedies and 3 are ghost films, and the situation of single genre is also very serious. Although there is still a guarantee of artistic status, the Golden Horse award-winning film is also difficult to compete at the box office. "Three Harmies in the Week" is only NT $46.91 million (equivalent to about 10 million RMB) in Taiwan. The shrinking of the local market makes Taiwanese films doomed to be unable to invest high costs, and comedies, ghost films, crime films and other genres are precisely the most suitable for low-cost creations.
"Removal of the Three Evils"
The epidemic was no doubt an important factor in Mr. Ruan’s return to Taiwan, and he mentioned in the interview that he had taken more time to spend with his family and reorganized his life because many of his jobs had been suspended. In addition to "Zhou Chu," Mr. Ruan starred in "Hunted," a film produced by Zhang Junjun, which landed in mainland theaters late last year.
To a certain extent, the re-entry into the low-budget crime films is also a replica of the self in the "Monga" period. Only after the re-production of convincing works did Ruan Jingtian have the confidence to reveal his heart to the outside world. In the idol drama, it is not his true self. "I say in good conscience that many people like the character of" Fated to Love You ", but I don’t like it that much. I am not that kind of person."
A gangster, but not a hopelessly illiterate
"Little thugs" like monks and Chen Guilin are really Ethan’s comfort zone. This is not entirely an afterthought based on high-profile works, but because such characters are closest to his true self.
Before he was picked up by the modeling agency, Ethan went through a rather rebellious adolescence. He studied in high school for five years, transferred five times, was persuaded to quit school because of constant fights and absenteeism, and finally attended a night school before barely graduating. But his physical fitness is quite good. His family originally wanted him to become a pilot, and he had passed the exam, but in the end he sneaked back to Taipei to break into the entertainment industry.
For those who have not received any acting training, real-life experience is the most important reference for him to perform. And Ruan Jingtian is a pure experientialist. The heart-wrenching crying scene of a friend dying in his arms in "Mengka" is the most colorful part of the entire film. After the scene was filmed, Ruan Jingtian was still immersed in emotions and could not stop crying. The director came to hug him but was pushed away. He asked the director, "Just for a scene to open my wounds, does it have to be so painful to be an actor?"
"Mengka"
Including later going to shoot "Military Paradise", playing a recruit in the movie, and also won the nomination for Best Actor at the Asian Film Awards. At that time, he had just finished his military service, and the recruit was himself.
Although his education level is not high, he is different from the "desperate illiterate" who have been soaked in art examination institutions since childhood, and he has not shown any shyness in all situations where words are required. For example, in the interview, he used the blackboard and eraser to compare the divide between reality and performance. "There is a dividing line between the requirements of the script and his real experience. When the performance starts, you can wipe it off with the board as much as possible, but no matter how hard you wipe it, there will still be a little bit, a little visible but invisible line."
"It’s actually not the so-called feelings and ambiguity," he said of the relationship between Cheng Xiaomei and Chen Guilin. "It’s not that simple. It should be said that at the moment of their lives, the two people who were originally parallel have intertwined, but each other has more important things to complete. Cheng Xiaomei to Chen Guilin, maybe when a person is quiet at night, he will recall that this is one of the few romances in his limited life."
Compared with some artists who replied "I don’t think your question is meaningful", it has to be said that there is also a gap between illiteracy.
Even after becoming famous, his life is extremely normal, which may be an important reason why he can continue to enrich himself from real life and supply it to the performance, and it is also the biggest difference between him and the "208s". He mentioned in an interview with the Beijing News, "My circle of friends includes vegetable farmers, pork sellers, people who have to get up at two in the morning to work night shifts, and very ordinary workers. This is my truest circle of friends. Everyone thinks that artists are very mysterious, and that mystery is just self-restraint, trapping myself in a cage. I just live as an ordinary person, and I happen to work as an actor, and I happen to have the opportunity to act out what I see and hear – I am not a star, just a normal ordinary person."
Using Ning Hao’s metaphor in "Mr. Red Carpet", Ruan Jingtian is not the kind of traditional Chinese medicine bag soaked in warm water that does not eat human fireworks. Neiyu is still building a false "Boss Tyrant" in the world of idol dramas one after another, eating leftovers from Taiwan puppets. And the group of people who first interpreted "Boss Tyrant" have come out of the false mold.
"Removal of the Three Evils"
To a certain extent, the Taiwanese actors in the front line are all people like Ruan Jingtian, who can see the breath of living people, and the life behind them has never been a black box.
At the shortlisted luncheon, the five handsome men did not regard themselves as stars at all when facing the media, but revealed the details of their lives very casually. Ethan Ethan praised the muscles of Xu Guanghan and Lin Baihong, and Wu Dianren would not avoid his girlfriend Shao Yuwei when he met his birthday. He even said that "it is more convenient to rent a house in Hong Kong" when participating in the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.
"I want to finish tonight and then go back to my mother tomorrow and go back to my normal daily life," Mr. Ruan said in a group interview with the media after the awards ceremony. "I want to remember this moment, my current mood, which day in the performance, you will see."
"Three Evils in a Week" is not a perfect movie, but the kind of Taiwanese actor that Ethan represents is a good entertainment footnote. Artists in mainland China never seem to understand what it means to be a living person, either completely emasculating their true character and turning it into a puppet in front of the stage, or interacting with their faces in the live stream. Living person means that the audience can see his small world and his origin from the actor’s body, but they don’t have to know everything.
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Proofreading | Prickly Pear
