From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Honestly, Ansen is very busy and doesn't have time to deal with those nobodies.

The role of Johnny Cash is, without a doubt, the biggest challenge Ansen has faced so far, both in terms of acting and singing performance.

Of course, this is also an important reason why Ansen took on this project.

If Ansen hopes to break free from Joaquin Phoenix's performance in his mind and inject a brand new soul into the character and the film in his own way, then he must stay focused and start from scratch.

As for the rumors outside, Ansen doesn't care at all.

Ansen was not in a hurry, did not rush to try to enter the role, but calmed down, slowed down, and started from the basic work.

On the one hand, he carries a guitar with him, learning guitar, getting used to guitar, adapting to guitar, no matter how the character performs, no matter how the movie is filmed, first of all, he must become an intimate friend with the guitar.

This takes time, it cannot be accomplished in three or five days or one or two weeks.

Just right, Ansen can use this time to conduct research properly, and enrich his understanding of background knowledge before delving into the performance.

On the other hand, starting from the era in which Johnny Cash lived, temporarily setting aside the protagonist himself, understanding the popular culture and characteristics of the time, and understanding the life of this protagonist before he became a country superstar.

Perhaps for most movies, such actions are superfluous, because this information is rarely shown in movie shots or actor performances.

But for biographical films, it is an important step for actors to enter the role and organize the character's context—

Just like Ansen has always studied the character's appearance.

Johnny Cash was born in Arkansas in 1932.

Here are two important pieces of information: 1932, that was the end of the Great Depression in the United States. The economic depression and social unrest still shrouded the land. Poverty and food security were the primary tasks that plagued countless families. Everyone could feel the fatigue of the times.

Arkansas, located in the southern United States, was once a gathering place for Indians, mainly engaged in mining, animal husbandry, and agriculture. Farmers and workers are the main survivors of this land. It is conceivable that during the Great Depression, residents here may have faced even more severe survival pressures.

And later, in 1950, when Johnny was eighteen years old, he joined the Air Force. After training, he was sent to Germany and did not return to San Antonio until 1954.

Suppression, depression, frustration.

These are the main colors in Johnny's childhood and teenage memories, and these memories later became the shadows that Johnny could never get rid of throughout his life. He didn't know how to love or how to be loved. So-called happiness was always fragmented and might disintegrate with a slight touch.

At the same time, because he lived in Arkansas, Johnny, like countless Southern children, regarded the church as an indispensable part of their lives. For most of his life, he was a devout believer and published many gospel albums.

After ending his Air Force career, the first thing Johnny did when he returned to San Antonio was to propose to the girl he met during training at the Air Force base, entering the marriage hall early and completely following the guidance of the church.

This belief is Johnny's persistence, but it is also the source of his inner struggle.

For example, about the death of his younger brother; for example, about the misfortune of marriage; for example, about his own depravity in alcohol and powder.

On the one hand, he tried to be loyal to his faith. Although his marriage had already become a mere formality in 1961, he had countless women during his tours, and his wife repeatedly demanded a divorce; but he still covered his ears like an ostrich, refusing to end that marriage.

On the other hand, his doubts and questions were never answered by his faith, which made him fall endlessly in the darkness, not just indulging in pleasure-seeking; in the day and night together, he fell in love with June Carter and hoped to bravely pursue his own happiness, but he hesitated to do so.

Obviously, for them, "divorce" is something that goes against faith.

Famous Korean director Hong Sang-soo is also like this.

Hong Sang-soo's wife is a devout Catholic, faithfully adhering to her marriage vows. In 2016, she discovered Hong Sang-soo's affair with actress Kim Min-hee. She stood up and launched an accusation. Although Hong Sang-soo tried his best to deny it, it was soon confirmed by various sources.

After that, Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee also publicly came and went together without avoiding suspicion; at the same time, Hong Sang-soo filed for divorce and created a series of smokescreens, saying that he and Kim Min-hee had broken up, but the other party's lawyer and the media revealed that he was just lying for the divorce lawsuit.

In the end, Hong Sang-soo lost the divorce lawsuit.

Later, Hong Sang-soo gave up and became an open lover with Kim Min-hee, and repeatedly used Kim Min-hee as the heroine of his movies, and tirelessly praised Kim Min-hee in the movies, trying his best to show affection to the world.

In order to respond to those attacks at the social level, Hong Sang-soo even made a work specifically, "The Novelist's Film", and ruthlessly complained back through the characters inside: Mind your own business.

Some people are curious, this marriage already exists in name only, why does Hong Sang-soo's wife still refuse to divorce?

There is only one reason: faith.

In her faith, divorce is not allowed, so she would rather hold a marriage certificate that no longer exists than let Hong Sang-soo go and refuse to let herself go.

Johnny is the same. Faith is the light that guides him forward in the darkness, but it is also the shackles that bind his soul in difficulties and disasters.

Is Johnny perfect?

No, Johnny calls himself "I am the biggest sinner in the church", he knows his own badness and awfulness, but he still can't get rid of it.

To some extent, Johnny often punishes himself. It is indulgence, depravity, and torture. Maybe alcohol, women, etc. are a kind of pastime and enjoyment; but later it gradually evolved into a kind of torture. He still allows himself to gradually slide into the endless abyss in the darkness.

Some things cannot be shaken off just by saying you can shake them off.