A widower's entertainment

Chapter 428 [Screenwriter and Actor] (Please Subscribe)
"Infernal Affairs 2" was a great success in Hong Kong and Taiwan, both at the box office and with critical acclaim. This made Lin Youcheng, a new father, very happy. Of course, he knew very well that the success of this movie was different from other movies, because it was also a success for his company's investment.

Of course, Lin Youcheng's company also invested in the TV series "Crossing the Guandong". For this reason, Lin Youcheng specially took some time to go to Northeast China to visit the set of "Crossing the Guandong". He visited the set not only as a screenwriter, but also as an investor.

Liaoning Province, filming location for the TV series "Crossing the Guandong".

The filming was proceeding smoothly, with all departments ready and a group of people surrounding a single sign in the very center.

"Uncle Han lost four horses, and Old Sun lost three oxen."

Jiang Wenli, holding the several contracts stamped with the first seal on the table, smiled and said, "Zhang, the head of the team, will lose three rooms."

"I'm sorry, I'll keep these contracts for now. I'll be collecting debts from each household tomorrow."

"You can decide what to do yourselves. I'll wait for your reply tonight."

As Jiang Wenli spoke, she picked up her coat and walked towards the door. As she walked, people around her made way for her to sit down. When she reached the next table, she stopped, turned around with a smile, and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you all."

"I was born a princess. When I was just over a hundred years old, the old prince was already playing cards with me in his arms. When I was three, the old prince let me touch the cards. The two dice were more obedient than his own son. I could handle a deck of cards after just three hands—"

As Jiang Wenli walked back, she said with a smile, "I've been learning how to draw cards for three years. If I want the One of Bamboo, it won't give me the Two of Circles. If I want the East Wind, it won't give me the Red Dragon. When a card falls to the ground, I don't even need to look to know what it is. Just by looking at your eyes, I know what you want to win. Do you think I'm playing with you?"

Jiang Wenli chuckled and gave a light hum, looking at the person opposite her, and said with a smile, "I'm sorry, Uncle Han."

After saying that, Jiang Wenli drank the bowl of wine, turned around and left.

"Okay! Click! This take is complete!"

Zheng Xiaolong, beaming behind the monitor, watched Jiang Wenli's performance in this scene. He thought it was truly excellent, a seamless and flawless performance with perfect rhythm and delivery.

Standing behind Zheng Xiaolong, Lin Youcheng naturally also saw Jiang Wenli's performance.

It must be said that casting Jiang Wenli as Na Wen was excellent. This scene is a highlight for the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhu family. To solve her family's urgent financial crisis, Na Wen asked Zhu Kaishan for money and went to Han Laohai's house to play cards. Na Wen lost ten silver dollars, and then pretended to be desperate, taking off all her hairpins and earrings. This was a big bet. As a result, she lost it all again. The others were secretly happy, thinking that a fat sheep had fallen from the sky, and they would take advantage of it. So they coaxed and tricked Na Wen to win back her losses, not knowing that they had been correctly predicted by Na Wen, the real card master.

Zheng Xiaolong naturally knew that Lin Youcheng had come to the film crew, but he also knew that Lin Youcheng did not want to disturb the filming schedule. So he waited until the filming of this scene was finished and the crew moved to another location for setup before chatting with Lin Youcheng.

"You saw that scene just now, right? It was really well acted!"

Zheng Xiaolong couldn't help but praise Jiang Wenli's performance to Lin Youcheng again, saying, "She is really good at acting. It was really the right choice to cast her as Na Wen. She looks a bit mature, and she is very suitable to play the eldest daughter-in-law, Princess Na Wen."

Lin Youcheng nodded in agreement upon hearing Zheng Xiaolong's words.

"Several of the actors you chose are very good. Their performances are all excellent. I was worried that they were newcomers and inexperienced, but I didn't expect them to act so well."

Before coming here, Lin Youcheng had heard Zheng Xiaolong tell him about the filming progress. Everything was going well, and the actors' performances were all fine. Of course, if any actor had a problem, it was not impossible for them to be replaced.

In the classic TV series "Journey to the West," Tang Sanzang was played by three different actors. Few people might notice that the actor who played Tang Sanzang in the first three episodes was a different actor. This actor, Wang Yue, appeared earliest and had the least presence among the three Tang Sanzang actors. Actually, there was considerable debate among the leadership regarding Wang Yue's casting; some felt his sorrowful expression didn't fit the character of Tang Sanzang. Director Yang Jie insisted, overcoming objections to give Wang Yue the role. Initially, Wang Yue was very grateful, but after filming only three episodes, he began to have reservations about the role. Just then, other actors offered him roles in movies, so Wang Yue requested to film simultaneously with director Yang Jie—the infamous practice of filming multiple movies at once.

Yang Jie was very disappointed in him and directly rejected his request, telling Wang Yue that if he wanted to leave, he didn't need to come back. So Wang Yue left, and Yang Jie began to recast the role, immediately taking a liking to Xu Shaohua, who had a gentle face and handsome features. Actually, Xu Shaohua initially auditioned for the role of the White Dragon Horse, but by chance, he became Tang Sanzang, and was eventually cast.

Xu Shaohua's performance was highly praised, especially his portrayal of the classic scenes between Tang Sanzang and the Queen of the Women's Kingdom. However, not long after filming began, Xu Shaohua caused quite a few problems. First, he asked Yang Jie if he could go to school to get a diploma. Before leaving, Xu Shaohua assured Yang Jie that he wouldn't interfere with the work, but after he actually went to school, he changed his attitude, repeatedly standing up the crew, causing serious delays to the production, to the point where it was almost impossible to see him. Even when Yang Jie went to Xu Shaohua's school, she couldn't meet him. Naturally, another actor was later cast as Tang Sanzang.

In fact, the main cast of the four main characters kept changing. Pigsy and Sandy were replaced midway through the series, and even many supporting characters were replaced quietly.

However, in Lin Youcheng's current drama "Crossing the Guandong", no actor dares to say they want to film multiple projects at once, let alone cause any trouble. Not only is this drama a joint production of CCTV and several local TV stations, but it also has an international screenwriter, Lin Youcheng, overseeing the production. It's worth noting that veteran actors like Lü Xiaohe and Siqin Gaowa are also very dedicated to filming. Not to mention the other young actors in the crew who are not even famous yet, it's even less likely that they would cause any trouble.

This is why the filming of "Crossing the Guandong" went very smoothly.

Now that Lin Youcheng has come to visit the set of "Crossing the Guandong", the news is naturally impossible to keep secret. Moreover, Lin Youcheng has no intention of keeping it a secret. He just wants to avoid delaying the filming schedule. During the breaks, he will naturally chat with the actors in the crew.

"Lin Youcheng is here!"

Undoubtedly, this news really excited the entire crew, especially the actors. Although they had met and spoken with Lin Youcheng before, those opportunities were ultimately short-lived. After Lin Youcheng had a daughter, they naturally didn't see him on set. Now that the screenwriter Lin Youcheng had finally come to the crew, the actors naturally wanted to have a chat with him.

This is Lin Youcheng, after all!

Lu Xiaohe and Lin Youcheng had worked together on "The Message" before. Although they didn't usually keep in touch, they were still acquaintances. Especially with Lin Youcheng's current status and position, he was a big shot in the literary and film circles. When she saw Lin Youcheng, she was not reserved at all and congratulated him with a smile: "Youcheng, congratulations, you have another daughter."

"Thank you."

"You've been taking care of the kids at home all day, haven't you?" Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded. He chatted with Lü Xiaohe for a few more minutes, mostly about things off-screen, in a very casual manner.

Siqin Gaowa naturally chatted with Lin Youcheng for a bit, congratulating him and thanking him for recommending her for the role of Wen's mother in the TV series "Crossing the Guandong".

Upon hearing Siqin Gaowa's words, Lin Youcheng immediately said, "We should thank you for being willing to star in 'Crossing the Guandong'."

Siqin Gaowa waved her hand and said with a smile, "It's this play, this role is good, and it's a rare opportunity to work with you."

Lin Youcheng had heard Siqin Gaowa say this before, and he naturally thanked her. After all, Siqin Gaowa had mostly acted in movies before, so it was really rare for her to take on the role in "Crossing the Guandong".

This is similar to Gong Li, who, after making movies, hasn't done any television dramas since. Although Siqin Gaowa will also act in television dramas in the future, that's in the future. Right now, she's primarily an actress on the big screen. It's very rare for her, not only Siqin Gaowa, but also Lü Xiaohe, to be able to act in television dramas.

However, it is clear that both actors are well aware that TV dramas are very popular among the people, especially with the widespread use of television sets. TV dramas have become a form of entertainment for every household. In the future, many film actors will still appear in TV dramas, partly because the film market is declining and partly because the TV drama market is booming.

Of course, the most important reason why Lü Xiaohe and Siqin Gaowa, both award-winning actors and actresses, finally agreed to star in the TV series "Crossing the Guandong" was because of the excellent script written by Lin Youcheng.

While Lin Youcheng was chatting with Lü Xiaohe and Siqin Gaowa, other young actors also came over to see Lin Youcheng.

It can be said that they all met with screenwriter Lin Youcheng.

Clearly, they also knew that most of the actors were chosen by Lin Youcheng to have the opportunity to star in this drama.

The young actors all greeted Lin Youcheng very politely.

"Director Zheng has praised your performance to me more than once."

Lin Youcheng looked at the young He Bing and said with a smile, "You acted very well. This role is quite difficult to grasp."

He Bing was naturally very happy to hear Lin Youcheng's words, but he remained humble and expressed that he was very honored to play the role of Zhu Chuanwen.

In He Bing's view, this is indeed the case. It can be said that Zhu Chuanwen is the most important role he has played since graduating from school. Although he knows that this role is a supporting role, "Crossing the Guandong" is an ensemble drama that tells the story of Zhu Kaishan and his children crossing the Guandong. He naturally understands that the role of Zhu Chuanwen is a real windfall for him. It is too rare, so he naturally puts his heart into playing this role well.

Besides exchanging ideas with He Bing, Lin Youcheng also naturally chatted with other young actors.

Although Zhou Xun and Tao Hong might discuss Lin Youcheng's works in private, saying that if they could play the lead role in Lin Youcheng's movie scripts, they might even win awards abroad, they are all very obedient and honest in front of Lin Youcheng himself.

Even Yu Feihong, who had dealt with Lin Youcheng before, didn't make any jokes.

There was no way around it; Lin Youcheng's status and position were truly extraordinary.

Lin Youcheng looked at Jiang Wenli and said with a smile, "Director Zheng also told me that your performance was very good!"

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Jiang Wenli was naturally very happy, after all, this could be considered as receiving affirmation from the screenwriter Lin Youcheng. She smiled and said, "I really like the character Na Wen."

This was also Jiang Wenli's honest opinion. Although she had heard that she had considered the roles of Xian'er and Na Wen during her audition, Jiang Wenli felt that although Na Wen's role was not as big as Xian'er's, Na Wen's charm was no less than Xian'er's. Moreover, for her, being able to play such an important role was already a great privilege.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "I also watched the scene you filmed at the card table today; you acted very well."

Jiang Wenli only found out later that screenwriter Lin Youcheng was also on set. Now, hearing Lin Youcheng's praise and affirmation, she said, "I have been looking forward to this scene for a long time. I had been preparing for this scene before, and I even studied how to play cards for a long time and watched how the veterans played."

This statement alone is enough to show that Jiang Wenli is a truly good actress. She spends a long time learning even for a single scene, and she carefully studies the play, even when it comes to playing cards.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "I also saw your scene in 'Farewell My Concubine' before, and you acted very well."

Actually, Jiang Wenli was able to star in "Farewell My Concubine" because of her relationship with Gu Changwei, but even so, Jiang Wenli's performance was absolutely stunning.

Jiang Wenli could clearly see that Lin Youcheng genuinely appreciated her performance, which undoubtedly gave this relatively unknown newcomer actress a great deal of recognition. She said, "I will continue to act well."

Lin Youcheng nodded, then turned his gaze to Tao Hong, Zhou Xun, Chen Jianbin, and the others, and said with a smile, "I believe you will all perform well."

These words were like a recognition from a veteran, which was quite rare. How could they not perform well?

It can be said that these young actors are all wholeheartedly determined to roll up their sleeves and work hard, giving their all to live up to screenwriter Lin Youcheng's trust and deliver some outstanding performances in this drama.

There was no other way; in 1994, the affirmation and trust of screenwriter Lin Youcheng was more encouraging to the actors than anything else.

(End of this chapter)