The ups and downs of the life of the actor "Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback"

Editorial : The Rich Also Cry, Bao Qing Tian, ​​Journey to the West, Little House on the Prairie, the series of comedy king Sac-lo… were films associated with the childhood of the 8X and 9X generations in Vietnam. These are not only globally famous works but also the springboard that brought many artists closer to the audience, opening up brilliant careers for themselves.

However, behind the fame and money, artists also have hidden corners, feelings that they do not know how to share with anyone. Their screen life and their daily life are sometimes painfully different. After 20-30 years, their lives also go in different directions.

Dan Tri has created a series of articles called Famous Artists associated with the memories of Vietnamese audiences to recall famous films, recall beautiful memories and listen to the life stories of famous artists.

The TV series Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback (1996) has been considered one of the best Chinese TV series since its release. The story revolves around the character Liu Dung, who has a hunchback but a righteous heart and extraordinary intelligence.

Opposing Liu Dung is the sycophant Ho Than. The acting of Ly Bao Dien and Vuong Cuong is considered a perfect match, creating a classic Chinese film.

The confrontations between Liu Dung and Hoa Than are always portrayed as dramatic, intelligent, humorous, and profound, making viewers enjoy watching.

Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback is considered the film that opened the new development of Chinese historical dramas. The work is known as the "national drama", loved by audiences of all ages and levels.

Through the episodes, viewers see familiar human stories, presented naturally and attractively. In Vietnam, the public used to look forward to each episode of Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback airing every weekend.

It was from this film that the male lead Ly Bao Dien became known and loved by the Vietnamese public. Up to now, nearly 3 decades have passed, Ly Bao Dien is in his 80s, his life has gone through many ups and downs, fluctuations.

Li Baotian in the movie "Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback" (Photo: Sina).

It took half a lifetime to become famous at the age of 50.

Li Baotian was born in 1946 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China. His parents were very strict, they wanted their son to study well and become an intellectual, but from a young age, Li Baotian was passionate about acting. The young Li Baotian often skipped school to watch plays.

The boy was often scolded by his parents. When Li Baotian expressed his desire to study acting, his family did not support him. At the age of 13, Li Baotian left home to join a drama troupe. During the 5 years he wandered with the troupe, Li Baotian had no contact with his family.

Li Baotian had to work hard in the theater troupe to pay for his tuition and living expenses. One day, Li Baotian was exhausted and fainted. When he woke up in the hospital, he saw his father sitting by his bedside, looking after him. The two burst into tears and reconciled.

It turned out that the family had been following Li Baotian's journey until he fainted and his father appeared. This was also the time when his father was seriously ill and about to die.

Later on, Ly Bao Dien always felt guilty towards his father because he could not repay him. When his acting career was successful, his father passed away.

After resuming their relationship, Li Baotian's father also went to see his son perform plays, but only to watch and then leave. The father and son did not speak a word, and many times the father shook his head and walked away. This period was still within the 19 years of Li Baotian's hard work in the theater troupes.

During these 19 years, he was never given a leading role, only a supporting role and heavy work in the troupe.

Li Baotian’s life turned a new page in 1978, when the Central Academy of Drama (China) recruited students from all over the country. Li Baotian was 32 years old at the time, he registered for the exam and was accepted.

His acting skills improved rapidly. After graduating, he participated in stage plays, acted in television and movies, and participated in research and teaching at the academy.

Despite his highly regarded roles, it was not until 1996, when he appeared in Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback , that Li Baotian became a small screen star, at which time he was already 50 years old.

Ly Bao Dien cherishes the difficult and harsh experiences in his career. Thanks to that, later on, he had enough determination to live according to his own will, without fear: "I am a person with a strong and independent personality. I had to go through hunger, illness, failure, and bad luck before I could achieve success. Therefore, no matter what happens in life, I find everything normal, not too heavy."

Actor Ly Bao Dien is now 77 years old. He lives a simple, quiet life, no longer acts in movies, does not participate in events or entertainment programs, and limits giving interviews.

Ly Bao Dien in his old age (Photo: Sina).

Boycotted for being "stubborn and one-sided"

After Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback (1996) and especially after the movie Divine Doctor Hsi Lai Le (2003), Li Bao Tian received countless invitations to appear in advertisements for pharmaceutical companies. But he refused them all, no matter how high the salary.

Ly Bao Dien once said: "If I accept to act in commercials, viewers will confuse my image in the film with my image in the commercial, which would be a disservice to the character. Most of the commercials that invite me to act in are pharmaceutical commercials.

I have never taken those drugs, I don't know how beneficial or harmful they are. I cannot deceive the audience. They may buy the drugs because they trust me, I have to be worthy of their love."

In 2004, when filming the movie Imperial Envoy , the actor signed a contract with the producer. In it, both parties agreed that the movie would be 30 episodes long. When the movie was finished, the producer arbitrarily extended it to 33 episodes, including scenes that had been cut by Ly Bao Dien.

As the film's actor and art director, Lee Bao-Tian took the case to court. The film production company lost the case because of breach of contract.

This incident caused a lot of turmoil in his career. After that, many film production companies agreed not to cooperate with Ly Bao Dien, they would force him to retire from acting.

In response to this news, Lee Bao-Tian said he only wants to work with people who truly love and respect his profession. He has had to turn down so many scripts that being boycotted by a group of people does not affect him at all.

Li Baotian then appeared in the TV series The Clown Turtle (2010) and the movie Nightingale (2012), for which he received critical acclaim.

However, the actor also proactively withdrew from the film industry because of his old age and no longer receiving the quality roles he had always desired.

Ly Bao Dien with his son Ly Uc (Photo: Sina).

The reason behind choosing to go filming instead of attending son's wedding

Lee Bao-tian married early and had a son. His son is actor and director Lee Yu, who played the supporting role of Liu An in The Hunchback.

Li Yu graduated from the Central Academy of Drama (China). He failed the entrance exam to the Academy three times, where his father used to teach.

Ly Bao Dien decided not to take advantage of his connections. He wanted his son to achieve success by his own ability.

After graduating, Ly Uc opened a film production company. Very quickly, someone contacted him to invest in the production of the film and invited Ly Uc to be the director, the only requirement was that his father - Ly Bao Dien - had to appear in a supporting role in the film.

Ly Uc immediately agreed to sign the contract. Because of this incident, Ly Bao Dien was angry with his son and did not speak to him for 4 years, because according to him, the movie script was very bad.

Because his son had already signed the contract and he didn't want his son to fall into poverty right at the beginning of opening the company, Ly Bao Dien only once agreed to appear in a movie that he didn't like.

Ly Uc with his wife and daughter (Photo: Sina).

Later, when Li Yu got married in 2009, Li Baotian chose to go film instead of attending his son's wedding. When the incident became known, Li Baotian explained that he did not want to let his personal matters affect the work of the entire film crew.

However, in 2023, Li Baotian's daughter-in-law - actress Tran Yen Lam - decided to reveal the real reason why her father-in-law was absent from the wedding.

When planning the wedding, Li Yu wanted to invite many guests, while Li Baotian wanted to hold a small, simple event. Because Li Yu did not listen to his father and invited many guests, Li Baotian was angry and did not attend his son's wedding.

Tran Yen Lam said that although her father-in-law was very strict with his son, he was always gentle and considerate towards his daughter-in-law, so the relationship between her and her husband's family was quite good.

After his son got married, Ly Bao Dien rarely visited his son's house. Only when Ly Uc and his wife had children did he often visit his grandchildren. However, every time it was time for dinner, he and his wife would leave, no matter how much his son and his wife tried to persuade them to stay.

Later, the mother-in-law told Tran Yen Lam that Ly Bao Dien ate simply, he did not want his daughter-in-law to be pressured with cooking every time her parents-in-law came to visit.

Some paintings and sculptures by Ly Bao Dien (Photo: Sina).

Old age becomes painter, sculptor, but does not sell works, does not exhibit

Li Baotian has been "in hiding" for many years. Currently, his hobbies are painting and sculpture. Li Baotian is considered by experts to have abundant creative power. The works he introduced in the photo book Li Baotian's works (2020) or Self-portrait: Li Baotian (2022) are considered very impressive, demonstrating his talent.

In the book Ly Bao Dien's works , he also wrote about his own thoughts and reflections on work and life.

He once revealed in this photo book: "The role in Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback opened up many opportunities for me. The audience still loves historical dramas, stories set in the royal palace, and the struggles in the officialdom. In fact, the idea of ​​making a sequel to Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback was brought up, but I was no longer interested so I refused."

Currently, although he has painted hundreds of paintings and published books to introduce his works, Ly Bao Dien does not sell his works nor exhibit them.

Ly Bao Dien said that between acting and painting, painting makes him feel more satisfied. He realized that acting has many limitations and depends on the script's ideas. Meanwhile, painting or sculpting is a free and independent creative activity, the artist is not controlled by others.

According to Sina/Sohu

Lesson 4: The ups and downs of the cast of "Little House on the Prairie" after 50 years

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/cuoc-doi-chim-noi-cua-nam-dien-vien-te-tuong-luu-gu-20240618145722992.htm