China's acting schools - tougher to get into than Harvard or Yale

[Hyooga]

Chinese schoolgirls put on pristine look for acting school audition

 

 

rom Shanghai Youth Daily, IFENG

 

 

Yesterday is the first day of the preliminary examinations for acting department at Beijing Film Academy. 4,371 high school graduating seniors applied for its undergraduate program in acting,  which plans to enroll only 30 students.

 

Beijing Film Academy (BFA) is one of the nation’s top three acting schools. Many of China’s well-known actors and actresses, including Zhao Wei and Chen Kun, are its alumni.

 

Inspired by film director Zhang Yimou’s casting for his latest film Under the Hawthorn Tree and complaint that “Untarnished beauty is just so hard to find these days, we can’t very well go look for our lead lady in the kindergarten now, can’t we,†many girls showed up with a ponytail and a face unadorned. Some even said point-blank that they just want to imitate the style of Zhou Dongyu, an 18-year-old actress starring in Under the Hawthorn Tree and see if they can bump into a famous director here and gain fame overnight. Although it sounds like a wishful dream, it is a viable alternative path to stardom. Yesterday, while the audition was going on, a pretty Uyghurgirl from China’s northwestern Xinjiang (see her pictures at the bottom) was discovered by scouts who hung about the school and invited to play a part in their production.

 

 

 

 

Poster of Under the Hawthorn Tree directed by Zhang Yimou. The girl in the poster is Zhou Dongyu, the film's leading actress.

 

 

Interestingly, Zhou Dongyu herself also applied for the acting program and came for the examination.

 

Zhou Dongyu, the leading actress in Under the Hawthorn Tree, shows her examinee card

 

 

Beauty salons and stylists have capitalized on the ingénue trend. A hair salon owner nearly Beijing Film Academy said that many girls who registered for the acting tests came to his store for a perm or a dye, as was the case in the past years. “This year, most girls who came want their hair flat-ironed, or even simply pulled up into a ponytail to look the part.

 

Many beauty salons have put forth an “Ingénue Package,†which includes ponytail, light makeup and so forth. They said the package is pretty well received.

 

Each year, young Chinese who dream of becoming a celebrity apply to Beijing’s drama schools in a bid to rise to stardom via the seemingly fast track. However, the extremely selective enrollment inevitably disillusions a vast majority while exhilarating a small number of them.

 

According to the director at BFA’s admissions office, 4,371 students applied for its acting program. Only 30 of them will pass the three rounds of tests, making its acceptance rate as low as 0.6%, more selective than Harvard (7%) and Yale (8%).

 

A parent waiting outside said the family in south China’s Yunnan province has plunked down quite a lot of cash for the child’s dream, “We spent 40,000 yuan (US$6,000) on one-week acting training alone.†However, the parent said they didn’t insist that the child become a superstar one day; they just want the child to have a try. “It doesn’t matter if the kid doesn’t make it. Just view this experience as an opportunity to steel the kid.â€

 

 

Zhao Wei (left) and Chen Kun both graduated from BFA.

 

 

Zhou Dongyu (girl on the left) submits her application form at BFA

 

 

Zhou Dongyu stands in line at BFA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 19-year-old Uyghur girl named Guli Nazha who also applied for BFA’s acting program, quickly drew attention from scouts and reporters on the scene.

 

Reporters and talent scouts take pictures of Guli Nazha.

 

 

A staff member from a media production company invites Gulu Nazha to join them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.ministryoftofu.com/2011/02/chinese-schoolgirls-put-on-pristine-look-for-acting-school-audition/

 

PS - deleted some photos because too much for one posts 

[5201314]

BFA is pretty legendary 

[혹시��]

The Uyghur girl is gorgeous 

[atreyuavenged]

 Both of the girls highlighted here are very pretty.

[selectsupport]

wow! 

[양 지]

Both of the girls highlighted here are very pretty.

Tbh. Hugh standards if they don't get in.

[Darling]

Zhang Yi Mou's greatest beauty is Gong Li so I can see where he is coming from

[Hyooga]

Tbh. Hugh standards if they don't get in.

 

 

They got in and eventually graduated from BFA

 

Guli Nazha is even acting with Yoona in that Cdrama. 

[i_apologize]

This girl:

 

 

Looks like NCT Winwin:

 

[Ogre Shrek]

They got in and eventually graduated from BFA

 

Guli Nazha is even acting with Yoona in that Cdrama. 

 

I was wondering the same thing.  The names are slightly different (Guli Nazha as opposed to the name of the ingénue mentioned in the article, Gulu Nazha).  Thought they could very well be the same person: they look strikingly similar and have similar backgrounds.

 

The ingénue:

 

The actress:

 

Edit: Just checked the source article and realised it's dated February 2011.  They are most likely ARE the same person; the name difference is likely to be the result of the transliteration of the original Uighur name گۈلنەزەر بەختىيار aka Gülnezer Bextiyar aka å¤åŠ›å¨œæ‰Žå°”·拜åˆæ亚尔.

[Ron Swanson]

Oh SNH48's ace applied

 

I think she made it in? Idk

[5201314]

I don't know if she did or not tbh since I don't follow Savoki much. I know it was more competitive this year since the acceptance rate was around 5% in 2016. I know she placed thirteenth in the test.

[양 지]

They got in and eventually graduated from BFA

 

Guli Nazha is even acting with Yoona in that Cdrama.

 

That's good, I need better reading skills lol.

[Zenist]

Its not surprising.

 

Being a Chinese actor/actress is THE most lucrative job Asian entertainment industry have.

 

Once you get on a show with 1.5% ratings and you are a headline, you are pretty much set for life as long as you don't fuck up by burning bridges left and right. 

[Hallyucination]

.

[VISION]

Yet half of these students who come out and debut still can't act

[ScarletWhimsy]

Oh yeah, I think Savoki got accepted.

 

Frankly, I'm pretty sure her SNH background (or something else) gave her a boost. With these insane acceptance rates, and what with the performance level we saw from her in SNH activities, I was surprised she got in. Unless she's been honing them acting skills like crazy during her absence.