Interview with Ding Yongdai ｜ From a generation of bandits to the national father, he circled by role.

Special feature of 1905 film network In 2023, he won the Magnolia Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Central Zhou Zhigang. The "old father" holding the trophy on the stage was filled with emotion, and several "Zhou family members" witnessed this glorious and warm moment together at the scene — — This makes the audience seem to be instantly pulled back to the northeast of the last century, which is not spacious, but always steaming and full of home flavor.

When the battle for the best supporting actor in the "Magnolia" was fierce, Ding Yongdai admitted that he didn’t want to win the prize. However, the netizens in the comment area unanimously gave a "deserved" evaluation, and some even left a message saying: You should have taken it long ago!

Recently, Ding Yongdai has become a new "national father" in the minds of many audiences because of his roles in The World, Coming from South to North and other works.

Before these "explosive dramas", he was also an "emperor expert" in nirvana in fire and Changfengdu, and the wicked Bai Baoshan who left a "psychological shadow" on many people.

In an exclusive interview with Film Network in 1905, faced with honors and praises, Ding Yongdai modestly attributed these to the help and good luck of people around him, but he laughed and said that he was "dissatisfied". In the face of every role and opportunity, Ding Yongdai still holds the momentum and sense of crisis of stepping out of the comfort zone.

Compared with being a "anchor needle" in a play, he feels that he should be a "pin" in more works in the future, not missing every good role and worthy of the recognition of the audience.

Actor Ding Yongdai accepted an exclusive interview with 1905 Film Network.

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The new "national father"

In "Going South and Going North", the character Ma Kui became a "difficult-to-understand" who earned everyone’s tears by sacrificing the ending. "As an audience, I also think this is a bit’ tough’." Ding Yongdai said, "But isn’t this the profession of police? In peacetime, they are the people closest to danger. I think this is what the teacher wants to express. "

Ding Yongdai is very grateful to the director and screenwriter for giving him a chance to experience and shape a police role that is close to reality and different from the past. Although Ma Kui also has many shortcomings — — Complaining, impatient and abusive, he is undoubtedly a railway policeman who is full of responsibility, devoted to his work and full of love.

It’s not just Marquis. Ding Yongdai has also become a new "national father" in the hearts of many audiences, especially young audiences, including his recent interpretation in such big-bang works as "In the World".

This title makes him nervous, but Ding Yongdai is very happy, and more and more young people are willing to learn about our parents through chronological dramas. As an actor, we need to show our predecessors better through performances, which is also a kind of inheritance.

"After I played these fathers, many young people left messages,’ You are too much like my father’ and’ I think of my father when I look at your play now’." Every time I read these, Ding Yongdai always felt quite touched. "I can feel that children nowadays may be a little lonely. Now people may have less living atmosphere like in the past, but they may be a little envious, which is part of the reason why chronological dramas are now accepted and even welcomed.

For Ding Yongdai, it is not difficult to find the traces of these fathers’ lives and condense them into their own performances. "I have experienced that era, so I fully understand that generation of fathers." He recalled getting along with his father when he was a child. "When I was young, my father was an engineer and he was not with me all the year round. But when I was a child, I was different from these children in the play. I was very happy at that time. I was very free when he was not at home. When my father came back, he was very stiff. "

But when he became a father himself, Ding Yongdai began to understand the silent and indebted love in "In the World" and "Going South and North". "I think they are still far away from me and much greater than me." He said with a smile, "Zhou Zhigang and Ma Kui’s generation are a great love, but our present situation is sometimes smaller."

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Actor’s road

Ding Yongdai has long been used to performing on the stage. When I was a child, my mother, who was a teacher, would take him to movies and plays whenever she had time. On weekends, the curtain will be raised at home, and he and his sister will prepare programs and performances for uncles and aunts who come to visit according to their mother’s arrangement and requirements in advance. "That’s how I played it." Ding Yongdai said with a smile that his mother’s interest in art has deeply influenced him.

Later, Ding Yongdai occasionally got some opportunities to get in touch with performances at school. In the second year of junior high school, he was selected by Inner Mongolia Opera Troupe to play a minority boy. When the school propaganda team rehearses the dance, Ding Yongdai is always asked by the teacher to attend.

At that time, Ding Yongdai had not really realized what acting meant to him. He first became a worker, but the seed he had planted in his childhood always reminded him repeatedly in the most difficult time — — "At that time, you often associate your destiny with someone in movies and plays. It has inspired you countless times, and you will often have such and such assumptions. This has also become the driving force for me to choose this career later. "

Going around, the first batch of art colleges resumed enrollment. The teacher of Inner Mongolia Opera Troupe, who had invited Ding Yongdai to perform, found him again and encouraged him to take the exam. Although my father hoped that he could follow in his father’s footsteps and complete the career planning of science and engineering, with the full support of his mother, Ding Yongdai returned to his yearning artistic career.

Later, with the blessing of Bole’s teacher and Good Luck, Ding Yongdai had more opportunities to perform and gradually became the protagonist on the stage.

Ding Yongdai in Winter Solstice

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Actors have no "comfort zone"

Several roles have been recognized in succession, and historical and chronological dramas seem to have entered Ding Yongdai’s performance "comfort zone", but he never dared to make himself feel comfortable. Life experience and accumulation enable him to control these roles and find the most accurate expression as much as possible. As an actor, Ding Yongdai hopes to perform different characteristics for each character.

"This is what professional actors should do. Of course, I can also’ lie flat’, how comfortable it is, but it is the same, which is irresponsible to the audience. "

At the age of 62, Ding Yongdai received the most challenging "task" in his career, playing Marshal Peng Dehuai in the film. Faced with such a great figure, he and the creative team hope to present a civilian, life-like and flesh-and-blood image.

To this end, Ding Yongdai not only thickened his teeth and lips in appearance, but also returned to a more ontological and life-oriented perspective to find and feel the characters — — For example, in order to restore the most natural walking form, Ding Yongdai walked around the community every night for a while. "Many people later asked me, Teacher Ding, what are you doing at night?" .

Before shooting, he still thought repeatedly, if I were an audience, would I like the actors to act like this? Is it acceptable? "We advocate heroes, and the general audience needs to admire themselves. I can feel it. The responsibility is great, and there is no reason not to do it well. "

In a previous recording, the host asked the audience if they knew the actor Ding Yongdai, and more people were familiar with the role than himself. Even recently, in the discussion of dramas such as "In the World" and "Going North and South", there are still many people who are obsessed with the classic image he created in the past.

Ding Yongdai said with a smile, as an audience, I will "n brush" the dramas I have participated in. The sparks from the impromptu collision with the opponent actors are still impressive. For example, filming "nirvana in fire", driven by the performance, Emperor Liang’s emotions are out of control. There is "In the World", the last moment of Zhou Zhigang’s life and the tender moments of his children.

But what he watched the most was "The End of the Road 1997" ("China Criminal Investigation No.1 Case"). Ding Yongdai, whose original appearance didn’t conform to the prototype, won the role by virtue of her ruthless temperament. After playing this "felon" for a long time, as soon as he went to the street, someone would chase him and call him "Bai Baoshan". It is this role that has influenced his performance style and made Ding Yongdai truly feel the meaning and happiness as an actor.

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Recognition and sense of crisis

In 2023, Ding Yongdai won the "Magnolia Award" for Best Supporting Actor with his performance in "In the World" that touched countless audiences. Although in the face of honor and praise, he is always used to modestly attributing "winning" to the help and luck of people around him, in the eyes of many audiences, Ding Yongdai’s trophy is not only deserved, but also made them look forward to it for a long time.

Ding Yongdai said frankly that when he was young, he would have a stronger desire for fame and fortune. "I want an award and a play, and I always hope to be different overnight." But as we get older, these things gradually become less important. As an actor, happiness begins to come from the role, whether you are remembered or not.

"Still has something to do with the work. At that time, my own skills and so on have not yet arrived. Actors, some people may become famous overnight, and some people have been unknown all their lives. Let nature take its course, and when it comes, everyone may remember you. "

Nowadays, with more and more explosive works and roles, Ding Yongdai has obviously become a quality actor recognized by the audience. The wonderful performance dedicated in recent works has made many people praise him as the "anchor of the sea" in the crew.

But he still has a lot of "dissatisfaction" with himself. In Ding Yongdai’s view, he is a "stupid actor". Compared with the enviable aura of some actors, his thoughts and feelings about performance always need to be shown by slowly pondering the characters.

At the same time, Ding Yongdai always has a sense of crisis. At present, the source of this sense of crisis is "cruel time". "I used to play young people every day. In 1996, I played" Tuodao ",and I started playing at the age of 15; In 1998, when I filmed "The Ballad of War", my role was only 18 years old. Today, I can only play grandpa and dad. "

This time, Ma Kui has a lot of action scenes that need to be done by the actors themselves. "If you can’t reach it, you can’t play this character." Ding Yongdai hopes that he can always keep the performance required and never miss every opportunity and role.

Compared with "fixing the sea needle", he felt that it was enough to be a "pin": "Hold down the work and let the young people draw the latest and most beautiful pictures on it."