When will I be the queen

Chapter 461 Personality
This perfectly metaphorically represents the emperor's reluctance to grow old and his resentment towards young people, especially when the emperor kills people indiscriminately.

The immortal lord agreed, saying that the comparison was quite good.

"The emperor has chosen artists who are all over fifty years old. They all have rich performance experience and have all played leading roles. There are eleven people in total. There shouldn't be any problems with these people. We'll just have to see how they feel when they act opposite you. The rest will be assigned to more important supporting roles." The immortal lord picked them out in advance and showed them to Cai Cai.

Cai Cai breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there were still such good people among the 130 candidates. "Why don't we choose the third prince consort from among them? Wouldn't it be more dramatic if an older prince consort forced himself on the Ninth Princess?"

"No." The Immortal Lord disagreed.

“You are still a minor. Even if you were an adult, acting alongside male actors who are much older than you would set a bad example and give the audience a negative impression of you.”

The immortal's words were vague, but Cai Cai understood what he meant.

This is the exploitation of actresses. The most blatant example is in many erotic films where young, beautiful actresses are paired with old, unattractive male actors. The camera even focuses on their sagging skin, obvious eye bags, baldness, etc., giving close-ups to satisfy both the malicious intent of the filmmakers and the hidden malice and desires of the audience. All of this is contempt and insult to women.

As for normal film and television works, setting aside censorship, the audience will naturally adopt a moral compass when watching them. Aside from those criticizing the subject matter, the only other themes that would make audiences willingly accept pairings of older and younger actors are ancient emperors or saviors of the world. The former, due to their imperial status, inherently carries the label of being older, while the latter are all about family relationships.

For actresses, it's generally not advisable to act in romantic scenes with significantly older male actors. Firstly, it can easily create the impression of them being much older than they actually are; even though they're young, the audience might perceive them as much older. Secondly, there's the issue of potential backlash against the actress herself, stemming from real-life situations. In reality, young women who choose older men are often stigmatized and vilified. Finally, it can negatively impact their career prospects; other young male actors are less likely to want to work with an actress who is perceived by the audience as a prime example of an age-gap relationship.

Cai Cai only wanted to find a decent male actor to play the Third Prince Consort, since it's a role with a lot of dramatic potential, but if the Immortal Lord said no, then no.

"If the Third Prince Consort can't act well, he can act solo, without acting with you." The Immortal Lord was not unaware of Cai Cai's thoughts, but he couldn't let a small matter cause a big loss. Cai Cai was always the most important person, and compared to her, everything else was trivial.

Li Muzi raised her hand, "The three prince consorts must be chosen for their gentlemanly appearance, that is, their upright appearance." When she was expanding the script, she made some simple designs for each character, which also made it easier for her to write the plot and lines.

Cai Cai understands the appeal of Li Muzi's gentlemanly appearance. He appears to be a kind and virtuous person who is loyal to his emperor and loves his wife, but in reality, he is a usurper who covets his sister-in-law. With a gentlemanly appearance, even if the acting skills are not good, the contrast in appearance alone can make the character stand out.

“This is easy, just pick one with a square chin.” Cai Cai flipped through the photos, but only managed to pick three.

"It's not like the past anymore; the V-shaped chin isn't fashionable anymore. Why do all these celebrities have such small chins? These photos are all original and unedited, and these people are all naturally beautiful without any surgery. Even if they've had Botox injections, they shouldn't all have such small chins."

"There's no way around it. Televisions are getting wider, bigger, and higher definition. A square chin on camera instantly adds 50 pounds. Unless there's a specific type or role requirement, almost no celebrity on screen will have a square chin." Huang Xin, as a director, understands this camera choice very well. "Besides, good faces are harmonious; even with a square chin, the overall look is still attractive. And these kinds of celebrities rise to fame very quickly and won't appear among these people."

That hurts.

Huang Xin didn't dare say it, but actually, the Immortal Lord's chin, viewed individually, was a bit square, the kind of chin that might be a disadvantage on camera. It was handsome, but not the perfect chin for the camera. However, on the Immortal Lord's face, it possessed the unparalleled beauty of a god descended to earth, capable of bringing peace and stability to the land, a handsome man with a commanding presence yet gentle grace. What does it mean to possess such beauty? It means that just looking at him, there would be no worries, no fighting.
As for Cai Cai, she possesses a dignified and beautiful appearance, and her chin alone is perfect. Many people, both inside and outside the entertainment industry, including those in the plastic surgery field, have analyzed Cai Cai's appearance and even made intelligent predictions about her appearance at twenty, thirty, and even forty years old, which are almost identical to her current appearance. This is because Cai Cai's bone structure and skin are both exceptionally perfect and outstanding.

Her beauty is universally acknowledged; it's not something that can be faked.

Therefore, Huang Xin believes that comparing Cai Cai and Xian Jun in terms of looks is actually unfair to Xian Jun. After all, Xian Jun is older than Cai Cai and is a man.
The immortal lord had no idea what Huang Xin was thinking about him. He was also flipping through photos, thinking, "People with square chins who are good-looking are extremely rare. Let's choose the kind of face that looks like a young heartthrob from an old-fashioned Chinese TV drama. Like Teacher Zhu from the last century, someone whose face could even pull off a comedic sketch."

Huang Xin and the others were even more speechless. With your requirements, you might as well find someone with a square chin who is still good-looking.

Several people searched and picked, but couldn't find a single immortal who met the requirements.

"Well, to put it simply, the industry's aesthetic standards had previously declined. Most artists' appearances relied heavily on styling and finding special camera angles to enhance their looks. Although the industry later underwent rectification, these artists were swept away by the new generation of artists with strong looks and abilities, disappearing from the industry. However, the impact of these downgraded artists on the industry was significant. From the large headgear that Cai Cai previously criticized, to their role as capital and production companies behind the scenes, continuously supplying the industry with artists who conformed to their aesthetic standards, most of whom were their children or the children of their relatives."

Human aesthetics stem from our own subjective perception. To put it bluntly, it's about choosing people who resemble you in a mirror image. This person may be much more beautiful or much uglier than us, but there will always be one or two striking similarities, almost like clones.

In other words, the artists brought in from the early, downgraded artists will also share similarities with them. Mostly in appearance, but also in personality. This has always been the case in the industry; each generation of artists inevitably carries similarities to the previous one. This is even more true for artists deliberately brought in to resemble their predecessors. Leaving aside appearance and ability, while they may not all be famous, their numbers and the influence behind them are considerable.

Nine out of ten projects will feature artists who appear to be supporting roles but actually have tremendous talent behind them. The "Nine Princesses" project also has one.

In other words, when there are too many artists of a certain type, especially when the entry threshold for such artists seems quite low, it will affect the types of artists in the entire industry. Even though the industry has been regulated now, and in terms of the appearance of the artists, it is another peak era of beauty in entertainment history, overall, it is because of the unparalleled beauty of Cai Cai and Cao Xin that the upper limit of beauty has been raised. The lower limit is obviously quite low. Originally, most of these lower limits were for the offspring of stars, but they have become the source of confidence for many outsiders: "Someone like me can definitely do that too."

In other words, it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find an artist with the looks of Teacher Zhu from many generations ago.

"That's how the entertainment industry changes; it's almost always based on the foundation laid by the previous generation. Without industry reform, there would be even more supporting actors like this in the industry now, and they might even be playing leading roles, winning Best Actor awards and becoming top stars." Huang Xin said, and she and Li Muzi both shuddered. That was truly terrifying. Looking up at Xianjun and Cai Cai, they realized that today's top artists are such stunning beauties.
I was comforted by her beauty.

Cai Cai was quite surprised by the barrage of industry trivia, because she hadn't realized there were so many supporting actresses in the industry. But that's normal; the industry is incredibly competitive right now. Even celebrities like Er Ya, who are born into stardom, are getting involved. If someone isn't as good-looking as her, they'll have to keep a low profile if they don't have real talent; otherwise, the industry won't tolerate them.

“This industry is like a lawnmower that never stops. Anyone who can’t do anything gets shredded as soon as they enter.” Cai Cai rested her chin on her hand. “When the industry was down, everyone was just going through the motions, and there were makeshift teams everywhere, but it looked like everything was thriving. Now that the industry is booming, everyone is vying for a piece of the action, some openly, some covertly. There are countless career paths to choose from, and it seems like everyone can make it big and become a star, but in reality, most artists are just churning out small circles.”

Cai Cai sighed, "Sometimes I think it's not so bad if everyone just slacks off. Because it seems like as long as you work hard, you become an industry benchmark and you'll get good results." She sighed again, "Unlike now, where everyone is working so hard, everyone is an industry benchmark, but there aren't any good results. The main problem is that not only are the artists working hard, but the capital is working hard too, which is very annoying. In the past, the capital didn't work hard at all."

If capital didn't work hard, the Ninth Princess project wouldn't have so many options.

"." That's a great rant, let's not say any more.

Li Muzi spoke up, "I still really like it when capital gets involved like this. Because only when capital gets involved will there be more and more artists of all types in the industry. Think about the TV dramas my mom watched when she was young, it was always the same few actors, just switching between them. When I was little, I always thought my mom was watching a long-running series where the main characters were falling in love with each other in different time periods. Later I found out it was actually more than a dozen TV dramas." "..." Don't bother complaining.

Huang Xin tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Oh dear, back in the day there were on-screen couples, and audiences were really into shipping them. Now, it's almost impossible to get the lead actors to team up again for a project, which kind of diminishes the fun of shipping them." There are just too many artists and too many projects; there's absolutely no need for them to team up again, and there's no opportunity for them to do so either.

The immortal tapped the table. "Alright, I know my requirements are a bit high, but it's not really impossible. We'll see how it goes. If some artists' personalities match, that's fine too."

Huang Xin believes that if even good looks aren't enough, then there's no point in talking about charisma. Most young actors have a rather bland charisma, almost nonexistent. Those with truly outstanding charisma wouldn't be struggling to succeed.

Let's continue. Although the more we discuss, the more tiring it gets, but we still need to discuss, otherwise it will cause even more trouble later.

"The young hero is played by Cao Xin. Given his acting skills and character design, this sarcastic and arrogant persona is basically a natural fit for him." Cai Cai felt that giving the role of the young hero to Cao Xin meant the focus was on his appearance, and his acting skills were not worth mentioning.

Several people nodded in agreement.

Li Muzi subtly reminded him, "Cao Xin's public image as the ultimate fantasy of dream girls" is quite different from being sarcastic and arrogant, so even if it were his true nature, his team would probably reject it. "His team definitely prefers a gentle and loyal dog-like persona."

“Have his team revise it, and just say we can’t change it.” Cai Cai said decisively.

"Um," Li Muzi raised her hand again, "His team will make other roles give way because of the similarity in character types."

"Then tell them there's no such thing as a gentle, loyal dog." Cai Cai was even more blunt. "A bunch of men with ulterior motives. Gentle? Loyal? I've only ever seen those two things in dogs. Men don't exhibit those traits, and it's very rare to see them in women either."

"." That's a bit too sharp.

The immortal waved his hand, "Continue, young hero, you've passed."

"To put it simply, the richest man is someone who seems mercenary but actually has a strong sense of righteousness, is a bit talkative, but is very capable and reliable in critical moments."

Cai Cai nodded, "Okay, that's a very stereotypical view."

"The bodyguard should be an open character, so the audience can immediately tell he's not a good person and can't be trusted. Just choose someone with a villainous appearance. The character should be lecherous, subtly lecherous, pretending to be affectionate, but actually lecherous." Cai Cai had already thought about how to choose the bodyguard: "A character with dramatic flair, the kind that makes people both laugh and hate."

The immortal shook his head. "These artists can only rise to fame through positive roles; they can't be lecherous. Especially young male artists, they absolutely cannot have lecherous characters. In the past, they wouldn't even take on roles like eunuchs, but now, with fierce competition, eunuchs have become sought-after roles. But lecherous characters still won't do." Because some male artists are genuinely lecherous, and they dare not play roles that reflect their true nature.

Cai Cai clicked her tongue. "Being lecherous isn't a flaw, but being lecherous and vulgar is what's wrong, isn't it?"

This also represents a significant gap between the domestic and international film and television industries.

The immortal explained, "Domestic and international film and television works differ in their character settings. Take the character of a womanizer, for example. Abroad, it's common for actors, not just the characters they portray, but also the actors themselves, to openly admit to being womanizers. However, in China, especially in mainstream media, this characterization is still fixed on negative roles, at best a supporting character. Even if there are male leads with a 'playboy' type of character, they are fake playboys with genuine innocence. The audience's moral standards are such that they cannot accept positive characters being womanizers. Don't go against the audience."

"What China has always insisted on is having righteous and exemplary figures as the main characters, which plays a very important guiding and regulating role in society. It's similar to the political correctness that foreign countries uphold, balancing different groups." Abroad, different groups have different themes, and it's almost impossible to find two people in the entire country who have watched the same programs. This is impossible in China. Besides the Spring Festival Gala, there's also the CCTV News Broadcast; even if there's a language barrier, people watch the same programs.

This has created a highly differentiated entertainment production system. Cai Cai, having never worked in China for an extended period, was unaware of this.

Cai Cai quickly said she remembered, "I really didn't realize it, because the 'protagonist' trope is quite common in the movies and TV shows I've watched. But thinking about it carefully, it's true that the protagonist's lust is just a design of first suppressing and then highlighting. Thinking about it this way, lust can't be associated with anything negative." Uh, "Many characters have a hidden lustful trope. Isn't love at first sight an obvious lust? In reality, everyone is lustful, otherwise, how could you and I become top artists?"

"Your lust is not the same kind of lust as most people's."

The immortal lord was too lazy to talk about this topic, anyway, it just wouldn't work. "You can set her up as a paranoid, a crazy person who would do anything to get the Ninth Princess, a madman who is obsessed with love."

Huang Xin nodded, indicating that it was acceptable. "This setup will make this obviously disliked bodyguard character a hot commodity." The most popular character types among young male artists are either gentle or crazy. These two are also relatively easy to play.

Cai Cai was confused. "How is it easy to play a madman? I've only seen two people at school who played madmen well. I can't play one myself." She turned to look at Xian Jun and said, "Oh, you played it very well."

Xianjun raised an eyebrow. "It's easy to portray a stereotypical madman in movies and TV dramas. Physical movements, lines, and makeup—just let loose a little, and a madman comes to life. It's just that mental illness in movies and TV dramas can be faked, but in real life, mental illness is immediately recognizable." Cai Cai was referring to those who were clearly mentally ill, saying, "Young male actors like to play madmen who are obsessed with love, with perfect makeup and a sense of fragility—it doesn't mean the character is actually a madman."

"." Okay then. Everyone's pretty good at choosing roles.

Next, Master.

"A white-haired look, taciturn and gentle, a silently devoted and protective type. Add a cute trait, like liking small animals and children."

Okay, pass.

"Senior brother is a reckless brute. We need to choose a tall actor to play him, someone with a commanding presence and a slightly loyal demeanor, which means blindly obeying the Ninth Princess and being her strongest supporter." Of course, the Ninth Princess doesn't trust him.

Li Muzi thought it was too stereotypical. "How about adding a cute element? A foodie?"