The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 532 Liang Jiahui

"Lu Sheng, do you want a cigar?"

Johnnie To walked to the cupboard and took out a new cigar from the drawer.

Lu Yuan declined. Johnnie To loved cigars and as soon as he got off the car, he smelled a strong scent of cigar on the man.

The office is filled with all kinds of sundries. On the cabinet by the window is a set of "TOYO VIEW" cameras. On the top cover are the conspicuous words "Mr. Du", indicating that it is unique to Johnnie To. The things of the owner of FIT look quite mysterious.

The most eye-catching thing is the rice paper with cursive calligraphy on the desk.

Seeing Liu Shishi's curiosity, Johnnie To said, "I was filming "Drug War" in Tianjin last year. A local master gave me a brush and asked me to write a few words. As a result, I looked at my handwriting and lamented that it was too ugly. So I started to develop the habit of practicing calligraphy."

"It's pretty good." Liu Shishi looked at the disgusting handwriting and praised it against her will.

My honest opinion is that this messy handwriting is similar to the dog-crawling handwriting that Yaoyao wrote when she was frowning and doing her homework sloppily before school started again after the winter vacation.

Johnnie To was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. Lu Yuan also laughed, making Liu Shishi feel embarrassed.

Over there, Liu Dehua sat on the sofa, holding the script of "New World", and sighed: "This ending is really a pity. From the perspective of the drama of the work, it might be better if the male protagonist completely turned to the dark side."

"It's good, but it's a pity that it won't pass the censorship." Lu Yuan showed a helpless look on his face: "The current version was revised with the help of President Han. When the movie is finished and sent for censorship, I don't know if it will be cut again."

"Hiss!" Johnnie To took a puff of his cigar, letting the smoke linger in his mouth, and he felt the same way.

When he was filming the "Underworld" series, he did not initially consider entering the mainland market.

But driven by profit, it was finally released in mainland China, and as expected, it was shattered into pieces.

When it was released, it became a special edition of "The Warlords", which made him so angry that he later told the media that he had never filmed this movie.

"The review system is really confusing and there are no specific standards."

Johnnie To sighed, and when he saw everyone looking at him, he continued.

“You all know the “Underworld” series. Earlier this year, I sent the script of “Drug War” for review. It contains drugs and a lot of gunfights. I was actually worried that I might be asked to change it too much, to the point where I couldn’t recognize it.

But amazingly, the relevant departments only asked for two changes: first, not too many gunfights and not too many police deaths. Second, the police-poison scenes can be filmed, but they should be fewer.

Lu Yuan had no idea what the drama "Drug War" was about.

Although the mainland version of the "Underworld" series has been edited beyond recognition, it is easy for him to watch the complete version through DVD and other channels.

In order to film "New World", he and Wen Muye watched no less than a hundred Hong Kong gangster films.

"Underworld" is one of them, and it is inevitable that it will fail to pass the review.

The film was originally titled: election.

It was just around the corner from the tenth anniversary of universal suffrage, and public opinion was very loud.

In the film, Johnnie To intentionally or unintentionally uses some gang elections to reflect, imagine, and even satirize scenes.

Although Lu Yuan admires many Hong Kong directors including Johnnie To, he only approves of their filming style and does not agree with their content or viewpoints.

A common problem among many people working in the entertainment industry in Hong Kong is that their memories are always stuck in the glorious 80s.

Today, the rise of the mainland market is unstoppable. Several talented young Hong Kong actors have collapsed due to a fatal blow from a certain photographer. Those with some fame have also moved north, resulting in a gap in the new generation.

As a result, many Hong Kong directors lamented that Hong Kong films were dead, the market was no longer there, there was a lack of successors, and so on.

But they are just unwilling to analyze where the foothold and market of Hong Kong films are now as they are gradually losing the Southeast Asian market.

It's the mainland.

If Hong Kong films want to survive, they must learn to compromise with mainland audiences.

What did the audience like to watch in the past, what do they like to watch now, and what will they like to watch in the future? These are the issues that need to be considered most.

Most directors are used to staying in their comfort zone and sticking to the old ways.

I’m still shooting the same types of films now as I did before, and I’m always stuck in the same genre.

For example, the plots of police and gangster films are all the same. Once you have watched a few of them, you will have a general idea of ​​what other films are like.

There are many gaps in the current mainland genre film market, including romance films, youth films, comedy films, and science fiction films.
These types of films can be further subdivided.

If Hong Kong films continue to bask in the glory of their past and stick to the old ways, they will certainly not starve to death. After all, the mainland market is large enough and there will always be people who like this type of film, but they will definitely wither.

It is obviously wishful thinking to try to satisfy the huge market in the mainland with Hong Kong films that have already solidified their genres.

As a co-production, "New World" naturally needs to use Hong Kong actors.

However, Lu Yuan did not plan to use too many people. Except for a few supporting roles, most actors could be found suitable candidates in the mainland.

Only the role of Ding Qing made him hesitate for a long time.

Gangster themes are scarce in the mainland film and television industry, and there are even fewer that are outstanding, so it is difficult to find a suitable actor.

Sun Honglei played a gangster boss in "Conquer", and his image was deeply rooted in people's hearts, but his face was too fierce and arrogant, which deviated from the complex personality traits required by Ding Qing.

Another example is Yu Rongguang, who is also considered a representative actor of the tough guy image in mainland China, and most of the roles he plays are villains.

In 1995, he starred in Jet Li's movie "A Letter to Dad", playing the role of Fu Guang, the leader of a criminal group. He wore black sunglasses and looked very ruthless, and his every move was deadly.

Another example is Chen Baoguo. Chen Baoguo always gives people the impression of being righteous, and the characters he plays are all very upright.

He did play a cruel villain father in "Baby Project".

When she found out that the baby was not her son's biological child, she actually wanted to freeze the child to death next to her son.

Although he is a supporting role with few scenes, Chen Baoguo's image is very much like a gangster boss.

It’s just that Ding Qing has a bit of comedic elements, and Chen Baoguo has too serious a face to be suitable for humor.

On the night when Lu Yuan won the Flying Emperor Award, he was actually quite embarrassed watching the other party and the award presenter on the stage.

Similar to Chen Baoguo is Chen Daoming, who played Shen Cheng in "Infernal Affairs 3". He was capable, reserved and gentle, but when he got into action, he could dunk with a wine bottle. He was still domineering, but still not suitable for the role.

After much deliberation, the role of Big D in "Underworld" caught his attention and made him feel that it was an inexplicable fit.

That’s right, it’s Liang Jiahui.

Street snack culture is prevalent in Hong Kong, with a wide variety of food, including Hong Kong-style egg tarts, pineapple buns, siu mai, and barbecued pork buns.

Liu Shishi took a string of curry fish balls from the stall owner, took a bite of one, and perhaps it didn’t taste that good, so she held the remaining three above her head.

"Brother, why is Tony Leung Ka Fai's acting so good, but not as famous as Chow Sun Chi and Tony Leung Chiu Wai?"

Lu Yuan looked at the pile of leftovers in his hands, the egg waffle that he had only taken a bite of, the braised squid that he had basically not touched, and half a bowl of steamed dumplings, his forehead was full of black lines.

"I said, can you buy as much as you can eat?"

"But I don't know if it tastes good or not." Liu Shishi acted cute, and when Lu Yuan took it, she hugged his arm and acted coquettishly: "You haven't answered me yet."

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "This question may be a little difficult for you to understand."

"Humph!" Liu Shishi punched him: "Don't underestimate me."

Lu Yuan didn't feel any pain, but he was thinking about how to answer.

Liang Jiahui is known as the actor with a thousand faces. He has a wide range of acting skills, including being naughty, funny, and criminal.

Whether playing a supporting role or the leading role, he can play any role perfectly, whether it is an elegant martial artist or a brutal gang leader.

He is a typical drama-obsessed person, frequently shuttling between various types of movies.

He could be the crazy and funny Prince Duan in "A Chinese Odyssey", or the domineering Zhou Chaoxian in the crime movie "Black Gold".

He is a real acting talent.

But this is also where he suffers a disadvantage compared to several other actors of the same age, such as Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Chow Sun-chi.

As an actor, it is their job to broaden their acting range, enjoy the acting process and constantly hone their acting skills. What's wrong with that?

Lu Yuan used to think there was no problem, but when he became the "King of Spy Wars" through "The Disguiser" and "Before the Dawn", he became the "King of Spy Wars".

As all his peers looked up to him, he gradually figured out something different.

Lu Yuan did not directly answer Liu Shishi's question, but asked: "If there is a role of an emperor, you are the director, and the salary is unlimited, who would you like to find?"

"You." Liu Shishi nodded at him, blinked her eyes, and said admiringly: "I'll look for you, it seems you can act well in anything."

Lu Yuan didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he pretended to be angry and said, "Seriously, the middle-aged emperor."

"Middle-aged." Liu Shishi muttered, without thinking: "Teacher Chen Baoguo or Teacher Chen Daoming."

"What about an exaggerated and nonsensical character?" "Zhou Xinchi."

"Where's the silly boy with a simple face?"

"Wang Baoqiang."

"Ugly, loser."

"Huang Bo."

"Where's the handsome guy?"

"Well, there are a lot of them, many of them are quite handsome, such as Jiao Enjun in ancient costume, Gu Tianle who didn't get tanned, modern Li Ming, Liang Chaowei"

Liu Shishi was reading the menu. Seeing her boyfriend's increasingly dangerous look, she changed the subject: "These people are not as good as you, brother. You are the most handsome in the world."

Lu Yuan curled his lips and said, "Actors can actually be divided into two types, one has their own style, and the other has no fixed style.

The former retains their own distinctive characteristics, while the latter will discard and eliminate their own individuality.

Stylish actors need to take care of their reputation, carefully manage and maintain their brand image, and it would be best if they could reach the top of a certain type of film as soon as possible.

Just like what you said just now, as soon as the audience sees a certain type of character, they will subconsciously compare them with them and regard them as the benchmark for that type of character.

And this is where Liang Jiahui suffered a loss.

To give a simple example, after becoming famous, he shot a large number of purely market-oriented entertainment films such as "92 Black Rose vs. Black Rose", as well as thriller, horror or crime films, playing a variety of roles.

Has not formed its own style and fixed passers-by.

From a business perspective, during this period he frequently took on bad films, which destroyed his brand image and his ability to carry the box office.”

Having said that, Lu Yuan paused to give Liu Shishi time to think.

Liu Shishi listened carefully. The stinky man had told her before that the so-called box office ability is, after all, a kind of expectation management. For investors, it is a kind of investment confidence, and for the audience, it is a kind of brand image. But no matter which one it is, it needs careful maintenance.

Lu Yuan continued: "Don't just talk about Liang Jiahui, even if it was Xu Guanjie, Chow Yun-fat, or even Shing Long and Jet Li at the time, if they starred in third- or fourth-rate movies at the box office for several consecutive years, it would be difficult for the audience and investors to have high expectations for them.

This is also the reason why Chow Yun-fat and Zhou Xinchi quickly reduced the number of films they took on after becoming popular.

There are quite a few similar actors in mainland China. To put it nicely, they are cautious in choosing scripts. To put it bluntly, they are careful about their reputation.

On the other hand, Liang Jiahui has appeared in a lot of bad movies, and his acting skills have undoubtedly been honed and improved, but his image and style are mixed and difficult to describe.

From the performance level, Liang Jiahui is abandoning himself. "

"Discard yourself?" Liu Shishi didn't understand and felt like she had learned a new term.

Lu Yuan explained: "The so-called abandonment of self refers to the fact that some actors or veteran actors seek to completely integrate themselves into the plot and the role in their performances."

"Oh, and then what?" She didn't quite understand, but pretended to understand. She used to do this when she was in school, and it worked really well.

Lu Yuan once again showed a caring look to the mentally retarded girl. Seeing that she opened her mouth to bite someone, he hurriedly hugged her neck and held her under his armpits.

"But this pursuit usually comes at the expense of completely abandoning the actor's individual thinking and perspective, or to put it bluntly, the depth of the performance."

"Isn't this great? The actor gets into the role and becomes the character." Liu Shishi didn't understand, but she tried her best to do it. However, her boyfriend was too strong and she could only be bullied.

Lu Yuan easily suppressed it and said, "From a technical point of view, there is no problem at all. But after completely abandoning the self, another situation will arise. Because of the proficiency of the technique, such actors are very practical and can easily become a panacea, while the protagonist often needs an actor with distinct characteristics.

All these are practices that damage one's own star light.

Actors including Simon Yam and Zhang Xueyou, as well as many golden supporting actors in the Hong Kong film industry, have gone far on this path.

No one would say that these actors have bad acting skills, but almost no one can say what their performance characteristics or styles are, and it is difficult for them to determine the temperament of a movie.

Because they are all moving towards a more subtle and seamless performance.”

Liu Shishi was a little bit unbelievable: "So what you mean is that Liang Jiahui doesn't have the qualities to be the protagonist because his acting is too good, so he can only be a supporting role?"

Lu Yuan frowned and said, "You can't simply understand it this way. He originally had the opportunity to be like Liang Chaowei and others, but he ruined it by constantly taking on bad movies."

"Why did he do this?" Liu Shishi asked.

"Yeah, why did he do this?" Lu Yuan also asked himself.

Apart from Liang Jiahui, it is really hard to find a second actor with such a high reputation and such a wild way of accepting films.

With this model of casting both good and bad scripts, no one can carry the box office. His current fame is a reflection of his strong ability and charm.

Therefore, it is inevitable that Liang Jiahui falls behind Liang Chaowei, Zhou Xinchi and others.

But it is also wrong to say that Liang Jiahui has no experience and does not know how to protect himself.

The 90s were not the 80s. Hong Kong already had so many examples set for it, so many trial and error samples.

Unless Liang Jiahui's interpersonal relationships are so poor that he doesn't know anyone, or he completely doesn't understand the basic rules of society.

Otherwise, if you chat with people like Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, it is impossible that they don’t know what they are doing.

Moreover, Liang Jiahui has not only been doing this for one or two years, he has been on this path without any regrets and has been running wild for decades.

Either for money.

Or he knows all the consequences but still insists on going all the way and being a real actor no matter the size of the role, the amount of screen time, or the quality of the script.

Lu Yuan didn't know which one it was.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Liu Shishi muttered quietly: "What's my style then?"

Lu Yuan glanced at her.

This girl is really a bit stupid.

The first meeting with Liang Jiahui was in his mansion.

Liang Jiahui's appearance, although he is handsome, he is not even considered handsome among the guys.

You may say he is not handsome, but he has an inexplicable charm that becomes more attractive the more you look at him.

He has small eyes, a square face, a straight nose, a prominent lip peak, and tightly closed lips. At first glance, he has a mature and handsome charm. But if he sits there with a blank expression, he would be a gangster boss as steady as a mountain.

Tony Leung’s villa is located in Mount Davis and is quite large.

There are 6 dogs, a cat and a turtle in the house. The living room can accommodate dozens of people, and there is a wintersweet tree behind the sofa.

Liang Jiahui rubbed the Samoyed's head with one hand and said with a smile: "I studied graphic design in school. After graduation, I accompanied my friend to take the TVB Artist Training Class exam. In the end, my friend failed the exam, but I was selected by accident."

"I talked to Brother Hua yesterday, and he said that he was also accidentally selected while accompanying his friend to take the exam." Lu Yuan continued.

"Yes, yes, we are the same. In addition, we are in the same year and the same class."

"Brother Jiahui, your spoken English is good." Lu Yuan praised sincerely.

"That's now. It was terrible before."

Liang Jiahui said: "The first co-production I filmed was "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace". My co-star was Liu Xiaoqing. At that time, my Mandarin was very broken. Liu Xiaoqing laughed several times because of my accent. In the end, the director had no choice but to let me use 1234567 instead."

Lu Yuan was surprised.

Liang Jiahui was also a little embarrassed: "Reciting 123 made me feel embarrassed. I felt that this was not doing justice to my identity as an actor. Later, I found an opportunity to stay in Beijing for a year."

Lu Yuan nodded and began to talk to him about the details of the role of Ding Qing.

Over there, Liu Shishi was also chatting enthusiastically with Jiang Jianian. The relationship between Liang Jiahui and his wife Jiang Jianian is considered a good story in the entertainment industry.

"Sister Jianian, how did Brother Jiahui pursue you back then?" Liu Shishi poked the turtle's head with her index finger and asked eagerly.

In her eyes, Jiang Jianian's appearance was not outstanding.

"Him." Jiang Jianian handed the tortoise food to her, with memories flashing in his eyes.

"He had just been banned by Taiwan at that time. He hadn't made any money from filming before and had no money to go out on a date, so he asked me to go to his house to play Gobang. Later, he and his classmates started selling accessories on a street stall in Causeway Bay. At the beginning, there were always people making trouble. After we finally made some money, he took me to the movies."

"I was a radio producer at the time, with a decent salary, so it was easy for me to buy a ticket. But after I paid for it, he got angry. His self-esteem couldn't take it."

"Brother Jiahui is quite chauvinistic." Liu Shishi muttered, just like that stinky man.

"No, when we're on a date, I have to secretly give money to the restaurant and tell them to give him a 50% discount when they report the bill, and I'll pay the rest."

PS: This chapter is not finished yet and is being revised.

(End of this chapter)