Chen Jieyi: A 30 Year Work Summary of a Female Celebrity

When she was in the drama academy, Chen Jieyi learned the most important lesson, "The judgment others give you is based on your last performance." This sentence accompanied her for 30 years, "The key is not how great you were 20 or 30 years ago, or how beautiful your last song was, or even how excellent your performance was the night before. What I care about is this performance, this moment. The applause, cheers, and support that are expected on stage need me to win."

2023 marks Chen Jieyi's 30th year in the entertainment industry. Her professional performance on the variety show "Love City Youth Season" left a deep impression on the audience. At the beginning of her work, her sense of freshness and competitiveness supported her as a young person to move forward. In her 30th year, everything became commonplace. What supported Chen Jieyi's passion to continue?

Interview with Jacky Cheung

Born and raised in Singapore, Chen Jieyi released her first Mandarin album "Don't Hurt Harmony" in 1993. In 1997, she joined Jacky Cheung to lead the musical "Snow Wolf Lake". "During the interview, I pushed open the door and Jacky Cheung sat there. I sang the selected song for 'Cat' as required. He asked me, 'Can you dance?' I spent 15 minutes learning dance, and two weeks later, I was notified that I was selected."

26 years later, Chen Jieyi recalled this efficient interview, "Not everyone can succeed in the interview. Some actors are very good, and they always fail in the interview, not because of their talent, but because they are not suitable for the role. I first debuted as a pop singer, and when the production team knew your personality and voice beforehand and thought the role was suitable, they came directly to you, so I saved a lot of interview time. The production team of 'Snow Wolf Lake' was like a big family. At the end of the tour, everyone was very sad, and many dancers usually dance for concerts, they all fell in love with musicals."

When studying theatrical performance in Singapore, Chen Jieyi interned at the West End Theatre in London, enriching her behind the scenes production experience. A stage manager recommended her to interview for the musical "Miss Saigon". "My college teacher advised me to become a pop singer first. The pop music industry is very age sensitive, and female singers may not be able to perform well after the age of 30. Musicals can be performed until old age, and there will always be opportunities."

Chen Jieyi has achieved good results in both pop music and musicals. "The profession of a pop singer has helped me get used to big scenes, and I won't be afraid on any stage. Although both pop music and musicals sing, even the standing posture is different. Pop singers stand straight, like goddesses. Musicals need to change their roles."

Chen Jieyi has been playing the role of a beautiful woman with a strong aura in musicals. In a Matteo Ricci themed musical, she challenged the role of a maid for the first time. "At first, my posture was quite elegant and upright, but later I realized it didn't work. My feet had to be separated and I couldn't stand so straight."

In "Love City: Youth Season", Chen Jieyi also values the contestants' understanding of the characters and arranges for the youthful Jing Yanqiao to play the role of boyfriend, while Zhu Hanbin, who refuses to give up, displays a rebellious taste. Zhang Qindan transformed from a mother who disregarded her image to protect her child to an elegant and dignified wife, with such a great change that Chen Jieyi couldn't help but praise her. After receiving the excerpt from "The King of Circus", she encouraged Sun Shengkai and Zhu Hanbin, who were not good at dancing, to step out of their comfort zone and try singing and dancing, in order to have innovative expressions in the song.

Chen Jieyi in "Love City: Youth Season"

From Cixi to Teresa Teng

"Don't mind the characters, play more and give yourself time." As the manager of the "Eternal Thoughts" theater troupe in "Love City Youth Season", Chen Jieyi has always encouraged young players, "It is indeed not easy to walk your own path, especially when starting, don't take shortcuts, don't care about others' opinions, maintain your own pace, and the path is gradually taken step by step."

After "Snow Wolf Lake", Chen Jieyi insisted on staying on the stage, "If it weren't for playing a musical for three to five years, my soul would wither."

She admired the musical actors who appeared on stage every day. "Personal concerts are more free, musicals live for characters, it's a constraint, it can also be said to be freedom, actors can freely become another person."

Last year, Chen Jieyi played the role of Lee Kuan Yew's wife, Ko Yuzhi, in the musical "Glory of Jianguo Road". The 35 shows of "Glory on Jianguo Road" attracted nearly 70000 viewers. "In order to play Mrs. Li well, I started wearing qipao all day and didn't take off even when eating. At first, it was very painful and stiff. After a week, I could wear qipao and run up and down freely."

Chen Jieyi starred in the musical "Guangyao Jianguo Road"

In the past 15 years, Chen Jieyi has also played Empress Dowager Cixi four times in the musical "The Forbidden City: Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi". "Singaporean audiences call me 'Empress Dowager'. I have had a great time playing a play from young to old." She wore a huge wig and headdress, hugging a three-year-old actor and running around the field. "The child can't control it, there are accidents every night, and I must maintain a high level of tension."

Chen Jieyi participated in the musical "The Forbidden City: Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi"

Besides in Singapore, Chen Jieyi has also performed many musicals in Hong Kong and Taiwan, China. In the Taiwanese Chunhe Theater Troupe's "What's the Reason for Love", she collaborated with Wu Qixian to create a musical series composed of songs by Li Zongsheng. "The song's popularity is better than that of original musicals. The key is how the actors break through, so they can't make the audience feel like they're singing the same song as the concert." Chen Jieyi collaborated with Eason Chan and Zhong Zhentao on the theme musical "Walking on the Road of Life" by Teresa Teng. "When I was studying performance in Singapore, I received Western vocal education. In" Walking on the Road of Life ", I imitated Teresa Teng's Chinese folk singing style, and many songs were" collected "and sung, learning a new thing. I was very happy."

Madness and self-discipline

In her 30 year career in the entertainment industry, Chen Jieyi did a crazy thing - quit the entertainment industry for two years and become an ordinary white-collar worker. "I was very young and became a singer. I was introverted and had always been cared for by a brokerage company. People who knew me thought I was strange, arrogant, and didn't like to talk. In the 1990s, the competition among singers was fierce. At the age of 28, I found myself getting tired of singing, and my work made me disconnected from the outside world. I couldn't take on many things my good friends told me. I needed to pause and go to the bigger world to see."

"After two years of leaving the entertainment industry, Chen Jieyi returned to college and obtained her graduation diploma, which was delayed due to a work leave. She then went on to work at a public relations company." I am outgoing and have some ideas. "In" Love City Youth Season, "she extended an olive branch to Sun Shengkai, who had been away from the stage for 7 years and returned," I seem to see my past self. "

Looking back, Chen Jieyi admitted that interrupting her performing arts work for two years posed a huge risk. "Since I went out, I was prepared, and by the time I returned, this position had already been replaced by someone else. Leaving was not something I wanted to do, because I couldn't go on at that time. When a crisis came, I had to face it."

On September 10th, Chen Jieyi completed three commemorative concerts for her 30th anniversary of debut in Singapore

After experiencing a career crisis at the age of 28, Chen Jieyi has come to this day, singing for 30 years and acting for 30 years, still active in front of the screen. She has the composure and self-discipline of a seasoned artist. Although she loves to eat cakes and ice cream, she is required to eat two balls of ice cream a week and not more. "As an artist, you are constantly scrutinized by countless eyes. Freedom does not mean indulgence or giving up. Even if we don't pursue this profession, we should take good care of our bodies, study hard, and enrich ourselves."

Chen Jieyi's self-discipline is not closely related to her profession. "Why do you take care of yourself because others see you? Even if I am not an artist today, I should do appropriate exercise and maintain a suitable diet. But I strongly disagree with not eating starch or sugar, as living like this is meaningless."

During work and leisure time, Chen Jieyi looks like a completely different person

She likes Shanghai food, sugar lotus root and Dongpo Braised Pork. "After all my work, I will have a good meal. I love eating very much, and there is only one thing I can control - performing on the stage. If I want to sing tomorrow, I will not eat greasy fried food, too cold and too sweet food these days, because I am afraid of affecting my voice."

After completing a day's work, Chen Jieyi likes to walk in nature for 45 minutes to an hour. "I don't like to burden myself with hard work. When I need to exercise, I exercise. If I don't have time, I let nature take its course and won't feel guilty or self blame," she said

Chen Jieyi and members of the "Yi Nian Jian" theater troupe are also teachers and friends

Despite that, Chen Jieyi never let nature take its course while working. She often sends more than ten 60 second voice WeChat messages to the "Yi Nian Jian" theater troupe to help actors improve details. Feng Difei and Jing Yanqiao play opposite roles, while Chen Jieyi asks the two to become a "one-day couple" to enhance their understanding, search for childhood memories in the retro market, and apply life experiences to their performances. "Even if rehearsing a hundred or a thousand times, we still need to impress the audience with the true emotions and emotions of the first rehearsal."