China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 662 I Hate the Involutism

An actor's appearance can really change the audience's perception of the character.

The saying that three views follow five senses is not just empty talk.

There are too many people in this world who are obsessed with looks.

For example, Erlang Shen often appears as a villain in film and television works.

People give him a nickname: he is the first nephew to beat his uncle, and the first uncle to beat his nephew.

If the actor who played Erlang Shen was an ugly person, there would be many viewers who would scold him for being too much. How could he make things difficult for Chenxiang? It's not like he hasn't been a nephew before, and he knows how miserable it was for a nephew to be suppressed by his uncle all those years.

But if Erlang Shen was played by Jiao Enjun, the situation would be different.

Some viewers who are obsessed with looks would say that if someone looks like Jiao Enjun, no matter how outrageous things he has done, everyone would be willing to believe that he has his own reasons.

This is the downside of actors being too handsome.

Another similar example is Qi Tongwei.

The reason why Qi Tongwei is so popular is only partly due to his well-developed character setting.

Xu Yajun is a handsome middle-aged man with good acting skills, which cannot be ignored.

It is precisely because he is handsome and a good actor that people ignore the times when he bullies others and only see the times when he is bullied by others.

For example, there is a plot where his relatives in his hometown raped a girl, and he called them and asked them to prepare hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle the matter.

If an ugly actor had played the role, he would have been called a beast.

Li Yu did not want to whitewash the character of Huang Chao. He wanted to show the side where Huang Chao was treated unfairly, and also wanted to show his brutal side where he killed people like crazy.

He doesn't want people to see the injustice that Qi Tongwei suffered as they did with Qi Tongwei, without seeing that Qi Tongwei was bullying others by taking advantage of his power.

Qi Tongwei always talks about how he was suppressed in the past, and then finds legitimate excuses for his unscrupulous means.

It feels like the world is too dark, so everything I do feels like I am forced to do it.

In fact, what he did after he turned evil was even worse than what Liang Lu did.

His relatives took advantage of his protection and suppressed countless contemporary 'Qi Tongwei'.

At the same time, Zhang Yi was also calling Li Yu, and then the call was prompted.

Zhang Yi felt uneasy.

Li Yu’s movies are the top resources in the Chinese-language film industry and are extremely popular.

Which actor doesn’t want to appear in Li Yu’s movie?
People like him who have shown their faces before want to show them a second time, a third time... and a countless time.

He wondered if some unscrupulous person had snatched the role before him. It was possible, and very likely.

After waiting anxiously for another ten minutes, Zhang Yi finally got through to Li Yu.

"It seems like I'm not the only one who got wind of this. Director Li's phone should be smoking, right?" Zhang Yi didn't bring up the role right away, but instead started with some pleasantries.

Li Yu asked: "Zhang Yi, I remember that your acting career was very bumpy. Can you tell me how bumpy it was? I want to hear it."

Zhang Yi: “?”

He was a little confused. He didn't understand why Li Yu suddenly asked this.

But when Li Yu asked him about it, he still told the truth: "It was a rough life. It was really bitter and tearful. You don't know how miserable I was. With my looks, if I applied to the film academy to study acting, they would definitely not accept me.

I knew my own limitations, so I applied to the Beijing Broadcasting Academy. However, I failed the entrance exam twice.

Finally, I studied in Harbin Drama Theater as a self-funded student...” When talking about the tragic experience of that year, Zhang Yi couldn't stop talking.

After hearing about his two experiences of failing the exam, Li Yu interrupted him and said that it was enough and there was no need to hear more.

"Okay, stop talking." Li Yu interrupted forcefully.

Zhang Yi was even more confused. He had just started to get into the mood, and eight thousand words were already pouring out of his mouth. Li Yu told him to stop.

It was Li Yu who asked him to speak, and it was also Li Yu who stopped him from speaking.

If Li Yu wasn't the director, he really wanted to beat Li Yu up.

Unfortunately, there is no if. He was still hoping that Li Yu would take him flying. Even if he had ten times the courage, he would not dare to beat Li Yu. What's more, in a one-on-one fight, he might not be able to beat Li Yu.

"Director Li, your phone must be very busy. Are there a lot of people asking you for roles?" Zhang Yi asked again.

"It's good that you know. Before you, Huang Xiaoming called me and wanted to play the young male lead." Li Yu did not hide anything, but did not tell the whole truth.

Only by not letting the other party know the situation on your side can you better seize the initiative in negotiations.

When Zhang Yi heard that Huang Xiaoming had gotten ahead of him, he knew that something bad was going to happen. His premonition was accurate, as expected, someone with no moral integrity had gotten ahead of him.

Huang Xiaoming is definitely his strong competitor. He previously worked with Huang Xiaoming in "Operation Nujiang River", and Huang Xiaoming once shouted out the slogan that he did not want any pay.

The advantages of not asking for pay are too obvious.

In this regard, he cannot be compared with Huang Xiaoming. Huang Xiaoming is one of the most successful actors in the circle in terms of investment. Occasionally not asking for pay will not have any impact on Huang Xiaoming.

He is different. If he doesn't rely on film pay, what will he eat? This is his main source of income.

However, as he became more famous, he had more endorsements and commercial performances, and he had more channels to make money.

But no matter what, film pay is still one of his major sources of income.

So he hates Huang Xiaoming, a person who is an introvert and does not want to be paid.

"Director Li, do you agree?" Zhang Yi asked tentatively.

"I'm still considering it. The conditions offered by Huang Xiaoming are quite tempting. He said the remuneration can be negotiated. This is difficult to refuse. I am a bit stingy when it comes to remuneration. I would rather spend more money on production." Li Yu replied.

If Huang Xiaoming heard what Li Yu said, he would definitely complain that Li Yu was too cunning.

Although she had clearly rejected him, Zhang Yi said she was considering it.

And from the tone of Li Yu's voice, it seemed that his heart was leaning towards Huang Xiaoming.

Zhang Yi was anxious. In order to compete with Huang Xiaoming, he risked his life: "Director Li, my salary is negotiable."

Since it has been rolled up, he has to roll it up as well. If he doesn't roll it up, he will have no advantage.

It's just a reduction in pay, not zero pay. He can accept a reduction of half of his pay.

Don't underestimate him halfway. Zhang Yi has starred in popular movies such as "Operation Nujiang" and "Operation Red Sea", and his value has already soared.

If you ask him to make a movie now, according to the market price, you will have to pay at least 10 or 20 million.

If it's a big director, Zhang Yi is willing to lower the salary a bit, so it can be a little cheaper, but not much cheaper.

This is also the reason why Li Yu used Huang Xiaoming to lower his price.

Zhang Yi is really expensive now. He is no longer the little-known actor he used to be, and his price is getting higher and higher.

(End of this chapter)