What Will You Do When You're 90?

8 What Will You Do When You're 90? If you were 90 years old, what would you plan to do? Few people want to take up new challenges at that age. This is the story of one old man who did something that surprised a lot of people. At the age of 93, he accepted an invitation to play the role of the number one male actor in The Barber, a movie about the life of an old barber. Although he was familiar with the story, he needed to memorize all the lines in the script. He needed to live with the crew for many days. And he needed to act. What an enormous challenge! His name is Jing Kui. He still lives in his own home in Beijing. He met the challenge and successfully finished the film. On top of that, the movie won both national and international awards. Mr. Jing took home a trophy for a special acting prize.

Mr. Jing has been a barber all his life. Born in 1913, he began his apprenticeship at age sixteen. When he was 88, he was still doing the same job. The only change was that he began to travel from home to home to serve his loyal customers. Most of them were senior citizens. He cut hair and shaved beards, using a traditional razor blade. In fact, all his tools were manual. Imagine an old man with a full head of grey hair and a curved back, working smoothly -cutting, clipping, shaving, and washing. You would be touched by the scene. That's how he attracted the attention of the film director, who decided to make a film about him. At age 93, the old barber began his movie adventure. Each day, he got up early to rehearse the script. Memorizing the lines was a big challenge. He worked hard at it, for he didn't want to disappoint the director. The movie director was nervous throughout the entire process because he didn't know whether Mr. Jing could keep it going until the filming was done. But Mr. Jing surpassed both his own and the director's expectations. The two set a world record in the movie industry by having a non-professional 93-year-old actor star in an award-winning film.