Mao Zedong from Zhejiang

Since Mao Zedong passed away on September 9， 1976， there have appeared many films and television dramas that depict Mao in historical events. Mao Zedong in these films has been impersonated by some actors who look like Mao. Among them are Gu Yue， Wang Ren， Zhang Keyao and Tang Guoqiang and Wang Ying.

Wang Ying was born in 1957 in Hangzhou， the capital city of China’s coastal Zhejiang Province. He entered Zhejiang Academy of Performing Arts after his graduation from primary school. He trained as a Yueju Opera actor. He entered Zhejiang Second Yueju Opera Troupe in October 1973. He then entered the Red Flag Yueju Opera Troupe under the Ministry of Culture. In 1983， he studied drama at the Central Experimental Drama Troupe. After successfully appearing in a few movies， he joined the Central Experimental Drama Troupe.

The year 1989 was the turning point in his artist career. That year Shanghai Film Studio decided to shoot a feature film that related the birth of the Communist Party of China in 1921 and its founding fathers. More than100 historical personages were to appear in the events--the precursors to the birth of the party. Twenty-two actors applied for acting as Mao Zedong in his youth. A colleague of Wang Ying came through the first selection. One day， assistant director Hu Lide and his assistants came to the troupe and went through the actors files. They spotted a photo of Wang Ying and thought he resembled the young Mao Zedong better than the other 22. Wang Ying was immediately summoned. Hu Lide was amazed by Wang’s striking resemblance to the young Mao Zedong. A week later， Wang Ying was invited to audit. When he walked out of the dressing room in a long gown， a traditional garment popular in the early decades of the 20th century， everyone was convinced. The 32-year-old actor got the offer.

The preparations for the impersonation brought a lot of pressure onto Wang Ying. The movie was designed to be a blockbuster. Some other actors had already successfully acted as Mao Zedong in his old age. They had set an exemplary sample how Mao Zedong should look like and behave in movies and television dramas. Wang Ying read books， watched documentaries and studied photos. He twice visited Shaoshan， Mao’s home village in central China’s Hunan Province， trying to pick up the local dialect and understand more about Mao’s early years in Shaoshan. While visiting the tombs of Mao’s parents in Shaoshan， Wang knelt in front of the tomb and made a wish.

The movie was screened in 1991， the 70th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. It was a blockbuster. It won all the top Chinese film awards available at that time.

The movie catapulted Wang Ying into success and offers flooded in. So far he has successfully appeared in more than 30 movies and television dramas that depict Mao’s legendary career. The resemblance is just the first requirement and hard work was his passport to success and breakthroughs.

While shooting Autumn Harvest Uprising， which occurred in 1927 and initiated Mao into armed endeavors， Zhang Zhen， the then vice president of the Central Military Committee， came to inspect. He met with Wang Ying and eyeballed him closely. The red army veteran shook his head. The old man in 1927 was just a boy in the uprising army and he saw Mao Zedong at that time. He described Mao Zedong at that time: Mao was very thin and lanky， dressed in a threadbare way; he even limped somewhat; Mao did not shine like a great man. Wang was plump at that time. After Zhang Zhen’s visit， Wang was hugely disappointed， but he began to get on a diet to cut down his weight. For 28 days， he ate nothing but some fruit and his weight dropped from 84 kg to 70 kg.

Weight loss is not the only barrier Wang Ying has conquered in his acting as Mao Zedong. Mao spent 22 years (1927 to 1949) in military activities and many of these years were spent in difficult conditions. To reenact the part of Mao Zedong in these war years， Wang experienced the hardships. In 2000， Wang appeared in a television drama that related the meeting of Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the Jinggang Mountains， the first revolutionary base set up by the CPC， which had determined to seize the national power through armed struggle. The historical meeting occurred in early winter and the shooting also occurred in early winter. To reenact the past， Wang dressed in thin uniform and got a few colds during the shooting.

Bad weathers play a big part in filming hardships Wang Ying has gone through. In some television dramas and films， Wang needed to eat and smoke like Mao Zedong. Mao preferred chilly pork and Mao was a heavy smoker. Wang forced himself to look like enjoying chilly pork and smoke in front of the camera.

And hard work does not mean weight loss and bad weathers only. Hard work sometimes means gritty physical and mental endeavor. “The Jinggang Mountains” was a television series made by China Television Drama Center. Wang got the offer to act as Mao Zedong in the 36-episode drama in less than two months before the first camera take. He was to appear in more than 400 scenes. He needed to be extremely familiar with his part. It was more than lines he would speak. He needed to memorize all the details of the script and acting requirements and instructions. More often than not， he got up at half past four in the morning to get himself dressed up， spent a long day before the camera and then threw himself to bed in torpor at night.

Wang’s performance as Mao Zedong has been highly appreciated. He won the best actor in eighth Huabiao Film Awards， the top government awards for his characterization of “Mao Zedong in 1925”. In October 1927， he was the best support actor of the 16th Golden Rooster Film Awards for his role of Mao Zedong in “My Long March”.

In addition to career success， Wang has also met the woman he loves during his years acting as Mao Zedong. Wang Ying first met He Yalin in Yunnan on November 12， 1996. In that film， he was just a small-part actor and she was a makeup girl. Later he ran into He Yalin again in another production in which he acted Mao Zedong. This time， they felt attracted to each other. They got married and they have worked together. He Yalin has successfully designed Wang’s images as Mao in different periods and different movies and televisions. □