1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Because they had been notified in advance, when the three of them arrived at the audition room, Hu Mei was already there with her people.

Hu Mei glanced at Tang Guoqiang and asked Liu Wenwu, "Do you want to dress him up first?"

There are two types of auditions: with makeup and without makeup. In theory, the one with makeup might be more comprehensive, but Liu Wenwu was afraid of wasting time, so he waved his hand and said, "Let's try it this way first. Do you have the script?"

Liu Wenwu thought that if he felt undecided after trying it without makeup, it would not be too late to consider wearing makeup.

"I brought it." Hu Mei handed over the script.

Liu Wenwu said as he flipped through the pages, "Which section should I try?"

"Or, let's stick to the original plan?" Hu Mei said.

Originally, today's audition was held for Zhang Fengyi, so the play for the audition had already been decided. They could have let Tang Guoqiang audition for the same play.

However, Liu Wenwu felt that Tang Guoqiang was different from Zhang Fengyi. He wanted to see the domineering side of Tang Guoqiang, so the play originally intended for Zhang Fengyi was no longer suitable for Tang Guoqiang.

At this moment, he was flipping through the script, thinking about which scene was more domineering.

Zhou Yan understood Liu Wenwu's thoughts. Seeing that Liu Wenwu was worried, he walked over, picked up the script with his fingers, and turned to one of the pages. "This paragraph is good."

Liu Wenwu read a paragraph carefully and then nodded, "Okay."

Then he handed the script to Tang Guoqiang and pointed to a section. "Start from here and end here. You can prepare for a while. Half an hour is ok?"

Tang Guoqiang was not arrogant and nodded, "Okay, but can you give me a small room?"

Liu Wenwu looked at Jiang Mengfei, "Director Jiang, could you please arrange a room for me?"

Jiang Mengfei smiled and nodded, "No problem, Teacher Tang, come with me."

Then Jiang Mengfei took Tang Guoqiang to the small room next door.

After Tang Guoqiang left, Hu Mei asked curiously, "Boss Liu, why did you think of letting Tang Guoqiang audition for the role of Yongzheng? Wasn't he originally going to play the Eighth Prince? If he is confirmed to play Yongzheng, then we have to find another actor for the Eighth Prince."

Liu Wenwu smiled and said, "For us, finding Yongzheng is the main contradiction, and finding the Eighth Prince is the secondary contradiction. As long as Tang Guoqiang is suitable for Yongzheng, then our main contradiction will be solved, and one more secondary contradiction is nothing."

Hu Mei's question was not answered, and Liu Wenwu still did not say why he asked Tang Guoqiang to audition, but Hu Mei did not ask again.

She doesn't really care who auditions, what matters is the result of the audition.

If the audition results are not good, but Liu Wenwu and others insist on using it, Hu Mei will definitely object.

Although she has a good temper, she has her own principles. She can compromise on some things, but cannot compromise on others.

The male lead is the most important part of a play. If he is not chosen well, it will have a huge impact on the quality of the play.

Of course, Hu Mei also believed that Liu Wenwu and others would definitely not joke about the selection of the leading role. After all, Liu Wenwu had put so much effort into this play.

In fact, when Liu Wenwu called her and told her that he would audition Tang Guoqiang in the morning, Hu Mei was very happy, because they were stood up, and if the audition did not go ahead, all their original preparations would be in vain.

Thinking of this, Hu Mei felt a little resentful towards Zhang Fengyi.

She knew that she was not as good as Chen Kaige, and the production cost of "Yongzheng Dynasty" was not as much as "The Emperor and the Assassin", but Zhang Fengyi's refusal was too undignified, so she should at least come for an audition first.

Also, did Chen Kaige know that he was going to look for Zhang Fengyi? How come he calculated the timing so accurately?

……

Half an hour later, Tang Guoqiang returned to the audition room. He did not waste any time and returned almost on the spot.

After returning, Tang Guoqiang confidently handed the script back to Liu Wenwu, "Mr. Liu, we can start now."

Liu Wenwu looked at the script in his hand and nodded, "Well, let's get started."

After everyone was in place, Liu Wenwu nodded to Hu Mei, who said, "You can start."

Tang Guoqiang nodded.

He first took a deep breath, then put his hands behind his back, and his whole body suddenly revealed a fierce aura.

Amid the fierceness, one could also feel the suppressed anger, as if the anger was about to burst out in the next second.

"good very good."

Tang Guoqiang pursed his lips, turned down the corners of his mouth, and slightly flared his nostrils, showing even more anger in his eyes.

After speaking only three words, within just a few seconds, Tang Guoqiang had already made quite layered emotional changes.

Liu Wenwu was originally sitting with his arms crossed and his body slightly leaning back, but when he saw Tang Guoqiang's performance, he couldn't help but let go of his arms and lean forward.

He was originally reluctant to use Tang Guoqiang because he felt that Tang Guoqiang was too gentle and could not portray the fierce imperial spirit of Yongzheng.

But now it seems that his previous judgment was wrong, and Tang Guoqiang actually performed like an emperor.

Hu Mei's pupils also shrank slightly. She didn't expect Tang Guoqiang's performance at the beginning to be so good.

Of course, this is just the beginning, and there is still more to come.

After finishing the first line, Tang Guoqiang did not rush to say the rest of the lines. Instead, he turned his head with his hands behind his back and leaned his body backwards.

This action was quick, but one could clearly see that this was both the suppression of anger and the brewing of certain emotions, and what would follow would probably be an emotional outburst.

Then he turned around, looked in the direction of Zhou Yan and the others, and spoke again, "I didn't expect that the former Ming clique would reappear in my great Qing Dynasty!"

"But don't forget, I am not Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. I have been a prince for forty-five years, going through fire and water, handling affairs for the six ministries—"

When the lines reached this point, Tang Guoqiang's aura became stronger and stronger, his tone became higher and higher, his speech speed became faster and faster, and his body movements became more and more dramatic.

"He's a tough guy who made his way through the countryside from other provinces!"

Tang Guoqiang pointed at Zhou Yan and the other two, his eyes narrowed slightly, with an air of looking down on the world, "I have read all the books you have read, and I have also read all the books you have not read!"

When the word "read" came out, Tang Guoqiang waved his hand and his emotions reached a new level.

In just such a short while, Tang Guoqiang's emotions were handled in several layers, and his lines were very smooth.

This line may not seem very difficult, but it is not easy to memorize it in half an hour and be able to perform it emotionally and fluently.

Many people, even if given a script, probably wouldn't be able to perform so smoothly.

Besides, there is more to come. "When I was in the Yellow River, I was washed away by the flood for a whole day and night, and I was not afraid. Why should I be afraid that you will drown me?"

At this point, Liu Wenwu had finished all the performance he was supposed to perform.

After he finished his last line, Liu Wenwu led the applause, and Zhou Yan and Hu Mei also applauded with a smile.

When Liu Wenwu was applauding, he glanced at Zhou Yan and sighed secretly.

Previously, he had misunderstood that Zhou Yan recommended Tang Guoqiang because of his personal relationship with Tang Guoqiang. Now it seems that he was simply judging others by his own standards.

At the same time, he was also convinced that Zhou Yan was indeed a genius director. His vision for actors was truly unmatched by ordinary people.

How did Zhou Yan see that Tang Guoqiang was suitable for the role of Yongzheng? Tang Guoqiang had never played this kind of role before.

Tang Guoqiang's performance today really amazed him.

There isn't much description of the scene in the script, most of it is dialogue, so the actors have to design their own body language, expressions, movements, etc.

Usually, this is not just the actor's job, the director and other staff members are also involved.

After half an hour, Tang Guoqiang not only designed all of this by himself, but also memorized the lines. It was extremely difficult.

The point is, these designs are just right and perfect.

Just now, Liu Wenwu even had a feeling that for this scene, he could just pull the camera over, cast Tang Guoqiang in the role, and start filming right away. There was no need for the director to discuss the scene with the actors.

Tang Guoqiang, who had just finished his performance, felt a little nervous.

Even though he is considered a veteran actor, he still gets excited and nervous in such occasions. He is looking forward to getting the recognition from the producer and director and getting the role of Yongzheng.

As long as one is a human being and has expectations, he or she will be nervous and worried about gains and losses. Tang Guoqiang is no exception.

The reason why he was able to design this scene so quickly was because he had prepared well in advance and had already thought through Yongzheng's scenes thoroughly.

Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared, and this prepared person is him.

Now that he saw Liu Wenwu and the others applauding, he felt a little more at ease. He could tell that Liu Wenwu and the others quite recognized his performance.

Liu Wenwu clapped his hands for a while and said with a smile, "Teacher Tang, congratulations, the role of Yongzheng is yours."

"what?"

Although it was obvious that Liu Wenwu approved of his performance, Tang Guoqiang did not expect Liu Wenwu to be so decisive and directly announced the results without any comment, which caught him off guard.

After Liu Wenwu finished speaking, he suddenly felt that he was a little disrespectful to others by announcing the results so directly, so he hurriedly asked, "Director Hu, Director Zhou, do you have any objections?"

This question was mainly asked to Hu Mei. After all, Tang Guoqiang was recommended by Zhou Yan, and Zhou Yan would definitely not have any objection.

Hu Mei didn't feel ignored at all. As long as the actor was suitable, she had no objection. Obviously, Tang Guoqiang's performance completely conquered her.

"No problem, I totally agree." Hu Mei said with a smile.

Zhou Yan also smiled and said, "Well, I think it's good too, but now we have to consider the candidate for the Eighth Prince."

"This can be considered a happy trouble, haha." Liu Wenwu smiled and stood up. "Next, let's go through the process. Sign the contract as soon as possible and get the actors to get their makeup done as soon as possible. There are still many things to do later, so we can't sit still."

They are indeed busy these days, but everyone is in a good mood. After all, everything is moving in the right direction. Now they have decided on the protagonist and have such a good office location.

Liu Wenwu and Tang Guoqiang coordinated the subsequent events.

Tang Guoqiang previously played the Eighth Prince, a supporting role, and now he plays Yongzheng, the leading role. His pay will definitely change, and his treatment needs to be renegotiated.

Although Tang Guoqiang said that he didn't care about the pay, Liu Wenwu would definitely give him what he deserved.

Liu Wenwu called Tang Guoqiang to his office. He didn't talk about the salary first, but warned him, "Since you have accepted the role of the protagonist, you must set an example. When we are filming, you have to live in the crew and cannot go out without permission."

Tang Guoqiang agreed without hesitation, "No problem."

Are you kidding? Tang Guoqiang has been through the hardships of being on the set of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. What kind of tough environment has he not experienced?

Back then, it took several years to shoot "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and no matter how long "Yongzheng Dynasty" takes to shoot, it will not take more than a year. Liu Wenwu and his team also said before that they planned to complete the shooting within six months.

Seeing Tang Guoqiang agree, Liu Wenwu nodded, "That's good, there are no other problems. Just mention any conditions you have, as long as they are not too excessive, I can agree to them."

Tang Guoqiang said with a smile, "I don't have any conditions, I will be very satisfied if I can play the role of Yongzheng."

"Really? Let me warn you, if you don't mention it now, I won't acknowledge it if you mention it later."

Tang Guoqiang thought for a moment and said, "I don't have the conditions, but I have a question."

"What questions?"

"Didn't they say Zhang Fengyi was coming for an audition today? Why did they suddenly ask me to come?"

"Zhang Fengyi couldn't come because of something else. As for why I asked you to come..." Liu Wenwu laughed, "Did you tell Director Zhou that you wanted to play the role of Emperor Yongzheng?"

Tang Guoqiang was not embarrassed to be discovered through the backdoor. He smiled and said, "I just said it casually when we were chatting last time."

"You just said it casually, but Director Zhou recommended you to me twice in a row. Come to think of it, I have to thank Director Zhou, otherwise I would have missed you."

Hearing Liu Wenwu say this, Tang Guoqiang was suddenly a little moved. There was no need for Zhou Yan to do all this for him, but Zhou Yan did it anyway. It can be seen that Zhou Yan is indeed a very nostalgic person.

Liu Wenwu shared the same idea as Tang Guoqiang, thinking that Zhou Yan was a nostalgic person.

In fact, Liu Wenwu had noticed this when Jiang Mengfei took them around the studio. Many of the employees in their studio were friends Zhou Yan had made when he first debuted.

If a person can maintain a stable group of people around him, then there is a high probability that this person will succeed. This is the experience Liu Wenwu has gained from working in society for so many years.

Why did Jiang Mengfei and the others stay with Zhou Yan? On the one hand, it must be because Zhou Yan was nostalgic, and on the other hand, Zhou Yan did have the ability to manage relationships.

Managing relationships is a very special ability, and it is very rare and not many people have it.

When people get along with each other, it doesn't mean that the relationship can be maintained forever just because one party is nice and sincere to the other.

Good, but not too good. Be open-hearted, but not without bottom line. It is very important to know when to stop. The most important thing is to make progress together. If a group of people are together but cannot give each other positive energy, it is basically difficult to last long.

Another important point is to be very accurate when making friends at the beginning. Do not try to make close friends unless they share the same interests as you. (End of this chapter)