From "Literary Goddess" to "Director Harvester", Zhang Jingchu's rise to power is more exciting than imagined

One day in 2003, 23-year-old Zhang Jingchu rushed to the set of Gu Changwei's "Peacock" with a big bag filled with various styles of women's underwear.

In front of director Gu Changwei, Zhang Jingchu poured out all the "gadgets" in her bag. Gu Changwei closed his eyes and thought while picking.

At that time, Gu Changwei was worrying about a "nude scene".

There is a scene in the script of "Peacock" that requires the heroine to take off all her clothes, but Gu Changwei felt sorry for Zhang Jingchu and left a pair of underwear for her. That's why Zhang Jingchu brought many styles of underwear to audition.

In the end, 23-year-old Zhang Jingchu dedicated her life to art. Because the underwear I brought was almost boring no matter how I photographed it.

Zhang Jingchu also won the "Chinese Film Media Award" for this film.

This was Zhang Jingchu’s first time as a heroine. She was only 25 years old when she won the award.

Zhang Jingchu, who had the highlight moment, became famous overnight and was dubbed the "goddess of literature and art".

The story that followed gradually became strange. Zhang Jingchu’s title eventually became the “Director Harvester”, and there was no going back from the dropped reputation.

What has she experienced in these years?

01

Before the age of 19, Zhang Jing was originally named Zhang Jing.

In 1980, Zhang Jingchu was born in Yong'an, Fujian Province, during the "Family Planning" period. As the second child, she was sent to live with her grandmother since she was a child.

Her parents named her "Jing", which means "quiet and well-behaved". Unexpectedly, Zhang Jingchu was so "quiet" when she was a child that it made people feel distressed.

Perhaps due to the lack of parental companionship since childhood, Zhang Jingchu has an introverted personality and even has a low self-esteem.

She is obviously very beautiful, but she always can’t hold her head up in front of her classmates. She is obviously talented, but she doesn’t dare to sign up for the school party.

After growing up, Zhang Jingchu returned to her parents’ home, where she had an older brother who was “provocative” to her in every possible way. She felt lonely and became even less talkative.

When she was 15 years old, she used a lie to buy the money to leave home.

She told her mother that she was admitted to the Fine Arts Department of Beijing Film Academy. The parents who felt indebted collected the tuition fees, gave them to their daughter, and sent her on the train to Beijing.

Zhang Jingchu came to Beijing in this way. Of course she was not admitted to "Beiying Film". It was just her dream.

In order to realize this dream, the first thing Zhang Jingchu did after arriving in Beijing was to find an art training class to study.

After a year of hard work, Zhang Jingchu finally failed to get into the Fine Arts Department of Beijing Film Academy.

Some people thought she was beautiful and suggested that she take the acting department, but Zhang Jingchu couldn't lose face and sang and danced in front of everyone.

What she finally chose was the directing department, which did not require publicity. In the end, she enrolled in the junior college class of the directing department of "China Opera".

During college, Zhang Jingchu met director Gu Changwei, and the two became both teachers and friends. Zhang Jingchu’s graduation film was all completed under the guidance of Gu Changwei.

At that time, the intimate story of Gu Changwei and Zhang Jingchu was circulated in "China Opera".

Zhang Jingchu failed the postgraduate entrance examination after graduation and lost her direction for a while.

At this time, she was confused and changed her name to "Zhang Jingchu", which means "starting again."

In the following years, Zhang Jingchu, who was studying directing, began to work as an actor, and was signed by Li Shaohong.

Over the past few years, she has participated in many film and television productions.

It is said that Zhang Jingchu completed the "transformation" of her identity under the guidance of an "expert".

This expert is speculated to be Gu Changwei.

02

In 2003, Gu Changwei was planning to shoot "Peacock", and he wanted to use Zhang Jingchu.

However, there were various stories about him and Zhang Jingchu circulating in the industry at that time. If he decided to appoint Zhang Jingchu at this time, even if he didn't care about the rumors, he would not be able to get through the problem of his wife Jiang Wenli.

The plan of "hiding the truth from the sky" was born.

Gu Changwei sent a press release to the media, claiming that the heroine of "Peacock" will be selected through "selection".

As soon as the news came out, actresses from all walks of life rushed to the set, and Zhang Jingchu was naturally among them.

At the talent show, various dialects were spoken, and various talents emerged. It was very lively.

After a lot of struggle, Zhang Jingchu stood out and made her debut successfully.

Gu Changwei's move not only made "Peacock" a hit before filming, but also legitimately made Zhang Jingchu the heroine.

During the filming, there was a scene at the beginning of the article where Zhang Jingchu was carrying a bag full of underwear.

When Gu Changwei saw Zhang Jingchu who devoted herself to art, he felt pity for her and couldn't help but take care of her a little more.

Unexpectedly, this matter reached Jiang Wenli's ears. Jiang Wenli said nothing and stopped filming. She ran to the "Peacock" crew with her one-year-old son in her arms to visit and declare her sovereignty.

When two women with an age difference of more than one round met, nothing "bloody" happened.

In the end, it was proved that Gu Changwei's choice was right. Zhang Jingchu's wonderful performance in "Peacock" won her the "Queen of Best Actress" title at the Chinese Film Media Awards.

Gu Changwei also won numerous awards for this film and established a firm foothold in the director circle.

Zhang Jingchu, who became famous overnight, has since reached the peak of her career.

Director Zhang Jiarui had a special liking for her. After filming "Peacock", Zhang Jiarui took Zhang Jingchu to film "Flower Bride" and won an award.

Director Tsui Hark also brought Zhang Jingchu to star as "Liu Yufang" in "Seven Swords" where many big names gathered.

Before Zhang Jingchu could recover, Zhang Jiarui, who had never forgotten her, found Zhang Jingchu again and took out the "Fragrance Journey" tailor-made for her to please the beauty.

"Aromatic Journey" made Zhang Jingchu win the "Queen of Best Actress" at the Cairo Film Festival. Her relationship with Zhang Jiarui became closer, and scandals between the two began to spread in the industry.

As luck would have it, at this delicate moment, Gu Changwei approached Zhang Jingchu and asked her to star in "The Beginning of Spring", and the heroine of this film was Gu Changwei's wife Jiang Wenli.

Watching the excitement is not too big a deal. The entertainment media speculated on a complicated triangle relationship and wrote an article about Jiang Wenli and Zhang Jingchu competing for the heroine.

In fact, Gu Changwei invited Zhang Jingchu to play a guest role.

But then things started to get strange again - when "The Beginning of Spring" was released, Zhang Jingchu's scenes were completely edited out.

Neither Gu Changwei nor Jiang Wenli responded to this, and then there were rumors that "Jiang Wenli teamed up with director Fu Rentuan to block Zhang Jingchu."

Zhang Jingchu seems to be very consistent with the rumors. She suddenly gave up the mainland market and entered the overseas and Hong Kong and Taiwan film and television circles.

03

In 2006, Zhang Jingchu’s first international film "Jade Warrior" failed to create any splash.

Later, she came to Hong Kong and participated in Er Dongsheng's "The Disciple".

It was through Gu Changwei's recommendation that Er Dongsheng let Zhang Jingchu come to audition. Unexpectedly, Er Dongsheng was shocked by this audition.

Co-starring Andy Lau and Daniel Wu, Zhang Jingchu was not nervous and relaxed.

The intimate scenes were even more exciting.

The scene after death was even more exciting. Zhang Jingchu insisted on not using a substitute and let more than a dozen big rats crawl up and down her body.

After filming "The Disciple", Yee Dong-sheng said: "Zhang Jingchu is as good as Maggie Cheung."

With the care of "The Disciple" and Yee Dong-sheng, she just came to Hong Kong Zhang Jingchu has his own place. He has collaborated with Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung.

But the two great directors far away in Beijing still miss Zhang Jingchu.

In 2008, when Zhang Jingchu returned to Beijing, she was called out by Gu Changwei to have dinner with her. After dinner, it was getting late, and the two of them drove together and disappeared into the sea of ??people. The paparazzi only captured them. Photo of two people having a meal.

The night party with Gu Changwei did not cause much trouble, but the incident between Zhang Jingchu and another director Zhang Jiarui caused a bit of a fuss.

Still in 2008, Zhang Jiarui approached Zhang Jingchu for the third time with the carefully selected script "Red River".

As a result, there was an accident during the filming.

At that time, Zhang Jiahui was riding a motorcycle with Zhang Jingchu, but he lost control and overturned, and Zhang Jingchu was left on the edge of the cliff.

When Zhang Jiarui recalled this incident, he said bluntly: At that time, my mind went blank, I just thought that I might have to raise Zhang Jingchu for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, Zhang Jingchu suffered some skin injuries in the end and was not serious.

At that time, the media often photographed Zhang Jingchu and Zhang Jiarui having sex together. Based on Zhang Jiarui's words, the scandal spread like wildfire again, and the two did not clarify it.

However, the relationship ended without a problem. Zhang Jiarui also expressed emotion - "It is difficult for actresses in this industry to be at ease and take care of their families."

Subsequently, Zhang Jiarui's The new film "Lost in the City" changed the heroine. Zhang Jingchu returned to Hong Kong again, but she seemed to have an indissoluble bond with the Beijing-based director.

In 2010, Feng Xiaogang filmed "Tangshan Earthquake" and invited Zhang Jingchu again.

As soon as the filming of the film was completed, the scandal between the two came out. Zhang Jingchu publicly praised Feng Xiaogang for taking care of others and being very considerate.

When scandals spread, Zhang Jingchu inexplicably chose to study abroad.

The melon-eating public began to associate this matter with "directors' wives forming a group to ban", and rumors were flying all over the place for a while.

In 2013, after the calm, Zhang Jingchu, who was studying abroad for further studies, returned to Beijing again and met her best friend Qin Lan’s then-boyfriend Lu Chuan.

At that time, Zhang Jingchu already had capital and wanted to transform into a director. Lu Chuan happened to be a well-known director.

Over time, the two of them had a close personal relationship.

In the end, Zhang Jingchu failed to become a director and only became a producer.

The reason is a bit showy - Lu Chuan was worried that Zhang Jingchu was working too hard, felt sorry for her that she was too tired to be a director, and urged her to start as a producer.

In "The Era of Derailment" produced by Lu Chuan, the scandal between Zhang Jingchu and Lu Chuan came to light.

What’s even more subtle is that Qin Lan, who was already in the stage of discussing marriage with Lu Chuan, broke up with Lu Chuan at this time.

Subsequently, the label of "mistress" was pinned on Zhang Jingchu's head. Fortunately, Qin Lan did not forget her old relationship with her best friend and stood up to clarify the matter for Zhang Jingchu.

After so many years of various rumors with the director, Zhang Jingchu's title has also changed from "Art Goddess" to "Director Harvester".

Zhang Jingchu has also faced these problems head-on and boldly stood up to explain. However, the fact that she has only been rumored to have an affair with the director these years is too weird. No matter what she says, everyone always turns a deaf ear.

04

At the age of 34, Zhang Jingchu began to restrain herself. She seemed to deliberately keep a safe distance from the director.

Since then, there has been no director about the man who appeared next to her.

In 2014, Zhang Jingchu and a man appeared at the Civil Affairs Bureau and were rumored to be getting married. Later, they refuted the rumors and said they were looking at the venue with the producer.

In 2015, Zhang Jingchu admitted that she had a boyfriend who was not from the entertainment industry. The media also broke the news that the man was in business and had been in love with Zhang Jingchu for many years.

In the years since Zhang Jingchu and the director were "separated", her resources have also withered.

She even appeared in many bad movies and online dramas when she had nothing to film.

Until 2017, Zhang Jingchu appeared again in "Wu Shuang" starring Chow Yun-fat and Aaron Kwok, which aroused heated discussion among the audience.

Her performance in the film once again amazed the audience. Some people joked that Zhang Jingchu's scenes, even the cigarettes, were full of acting skills.

Although "Wushuang" became popular, Zhang Jingchu's career failed to recover. After the film, Zhang Jingchu disappeared from the audience's sight again.

In October 2021, 41-year-old Zhang Jingchu appeared at the Wuzhen Theater Festival.

Here, she admired the antiquity, listened to Zhang Jie's singing, and tasted the drama masterpieces, looking leisurely.

It has been 19 years since his debut. He devoted himself to art at the age of 23 and stayed away from it at the age of 41.

No matter how exciting the story between her and the directors is, it is not as real as her acting skills.

Zhang Jingchu has experienced brilliance and endured setbacks, but now she looks down on everything, which is also wonderful.

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