From the delicate young woman in "Little Flower" to the heroic queen in "Vo Tac Thien", Liu Xiaoqing was once a leading star of the Chinese entertainment industry at the end of the last century.
To this day, although she is 75 years old, she still appears with high frequency in public, becoming a typical symbol of the "will not get old" spirit of the Chinese entertainment industry.
But recently, a revelation from the famous producer of Kim Dung's martial arts films - Zhang Jizhong - directly pushed Liu Xiaoqing into the center of public opinion.
Zhang Jizhong used a joking tone mixed with a bit of sarcasm to tease Liu Xiaoqing - who also participated in the program. He humorously said that years ago he intended to invite Liu Xiaoqing to play Xiao Long Nu in the 2006 version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes", but because he saw that she was too old, he finally had to choose Liu Yifei to be younger.
According to the program's style, this saying is not necessarily completely true, it is likely just a joke. However, Truong Ky Trung's statement immediately caused a stir.
Because many people believe that, whether the story is true or false, it is not entirely unfounded that Liu Xiaoqing may want to play Little Dragon Girl. Up to now, her acceptance of young roles seems to have not decreased at all.
Not long ago, in the short film "The Legend of Wu Zetian", Liu Xiaoqing played Wu Zetian from the age of 16 to old age.
She is over 70, so the childhood scenes are controversial. Netizens complain that no matter how thick the filter is, it is difficult to hide traces of time, trying to "pretend to be young" still creates a feeling of awkwardness.
This is not the first time Liu Xiaoqing has caused controversy because of "playing a young role". Liu Xiaoqing herself has spoken out many times about this issue. She does not think that her actions are wrong, even declaring that actors should not be limited by age, the most important thing is to play the role well.
However, the media analyzes that TV series are not stage plays, the level of suitability between the appearance of the actor and the character is a very important factor. Once the difference is too large, no matter how dedicated you are, it is difficult to make viewers get into the role.
At the time Liu Xiaoqing was considered for the role of Little Dragon Girl, she was 54 years old; and Liu Yifei was only 17 years old. The two are 37 years apart in age.
Besides, page 163 believes that the controversy surrounding Liu Xiaoqing "liking to play young roles" at first glance seems to be just a personal choice, but in essence, it is a common difficult problem in portraying female roles in the Chinese entertainment industry.
For a long time, Chinese cinema has always considered youth as the core competitiveness of female roles. Young and beautiful girls are always the central characters, with mature and complete emotional lines. Whether it's ancient or modern films, the main roles almost all belong to actresses over 20.
Meanwhile, middle-aged and elderly female roles are mostly stereotyped as supporting characters such as "evil mother-in-law" or "kind mother", lacking their own story and appeal, making it very difficult for actors to develop.
Liu Xiaoqing's acceptance of young roles at the age of 75 is actually stemming from the "desire to have a role to play". This is not only her own problem, but the common situation of many middle-aged actresses.
Many talented actors when reaching a certain age, either can only play supporting roles, or gradually disappear from the screen, rarely have the opportunity to receive a weighty main role.
The worry about age in the entertainment industry also forces many actresses to "pretend to be young" to prolong their "peak period". But this approach leads to a vicious cycle: the more you pretend to be young, the more you are criticized.
This also poses a problem for screenwriters, how to break the mindset of "only worshiping youth", so that female roles no longer revolve around young girls.
How to give middle-aged and elderly female characters a complete and attractive story, so that they can also become the center of attention on screen.
