Actor: Thank you.

"A big cotton jacket with two cotton pants."

"It's sheepskin inside and wrapped in cloth outside."

"Even if it's minus 40 or 50 degrees."

"No matter how cold it is, I won't be afraid when I wear it!"

"Hey, hey, hey... Yo!"

Watching Zhang Yuan walking out of the prop room, Zeng Jia, the agent, automatically thought of the "earthy RAP" sung by Zhao Benshan in the sketch "Red Sorghum Model Team".

Because his current look is a big cotton jacket and big cotton pants.

He was wearing a complete set of dark cotton clothes.

He also wore a fur hat on his head.

Judging from the material, it should not be good hair.

At most it can be wolf skin or fox skin, not sea dragon skin.

Sea dragons are a type of rare sea otter and are very expensive.

Brother Qian's father, Mr. Wang, loves to wear this kind of leather hat the most.

After all, according to the setting, Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang are bandits.

It’s impossible for a bandit to wear gold and silver like a rich landlord.

As for this cotton coat, Zhang Yuan thought it was too neat and delicate, and not worn out enough.

The clothes worn by poor people in ancient times were all patched.

Besides, in what era did the assassination of Ma take place?
The direct and indirect death toll caused by that uprising reached nearly 100 million!
This resulted in the loss of a quarter of the population of Kyushu at that time.

The population loss in the entire Jiangnan region was as high as over 60%!

In such a hellish environment, how could the people still have intact cloth and clothes?

After this incident, foreigners must think that you Chinese are all sick!

This level of tragedy is difficult for white people to understand.

Not to mention the death of 100 million, they would have mutinied if even 100,000 had died.

The reason why France was so weak in World War II was because it fought so badly in World War I.

Therefore, the great powers changed their mindset from full-scale invasion to the model of supporting agents, which they were best at.

And the ones who were supported were naturally the Qing Dynasty.

After all, the Qing Dynasty was cruel to the Chinese but very submissive to foreigners.

As long as the Qing government is around, the white masters can just sit back and make money. Why bother fighting a nation like you that can kill hundreds of millions of people in one battle?

This situation is actually no different from the film and television industry.

In today's imperial circle, there is still a group of people who act as guides for foreigners.

"How is it?" Zhang Yuan patted his clothes, tidied them up, and tried his best to make himself look neat.

The Taiping Rebellion mainly took place in the south, so it is very reasonable for the bandits to wear cotton clothes instead of fur coats like in "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy".

Zeng Jia pursed her lips.

To be honest, it was the first time she saw someone looking so handsome in big cotton pants.

Most people who dress like this would not only look old-fashioned and tacky, but would also look as fat as a bear.

The only thing about him is his height to waist ratio, and he still looks tall, but a little bit stout.

Zeng Jia thought that if Chen Kun, the boss of Rong Xinda, who her master Li Xiaowan asked her to take charge of part of the business, put on this outfit, his points would probably drop significantly.

Because Chen Kun's advantage is his clear and handsome facial features, but his shortcomings are also obvious.

He has dark skin and is not tall.

You have to look like a fellow villager if you wear this.

He returned to Chen Kexin's door and knocked.

"Hey, here we come."

Director Chen responded from inside and ran to open the door.

At the same time, he said hello and hung up the phone.

Zhang Yuan's ears moved slightly, and then he chuckled.

"It's changed... Hi!" Director Chen welcomed him into the room.

Zhang Yuan did not show any emotion, but stood in front of the other person very naturally.

Chen Kexin took a few steps back and looked at it from a distance.

it is good!
It’s good indeed.

She has good looks and good temperament.

And after putting on this outfit, Zhang Yuan suddenly looked stupid.

Chen Kexin initially thought it was because of the clothes.

But after careful observation, it was found that Zhang Yuan's expression and eyes had changed.

He was actively sticking to the characters.

"interesting."

"Come on, let's take some pictures and then recite some lines."

This was all very simple for Zhang Yuan.

Finish quickly.

Zeng Jia now understood what Zhang Yuan meant by broadening her horizons.

She had thought that for a top-notch crew with an investment of hundreds of millions, the audition would require a large group of people to review it.

Because she had been to the casting for Rong Xinda's "Dream of Red Mansions", which caused a lot of fanfare.

She had thought that "The Assassination of Ma" would be even more exaggerated.

I thought we might have to book a large auditorium for the event.

But what we see now is Zhang Yuan and the director having a one-on-one meeting.

It doesn't feel like an audition, it's more like a casual chat between friends, but there's still a lot to do.

“So this is how you do big things.”

Zeng Jia's status and experience were not enough to make her understand a truth.

That is: hold big meetings for small matters and small meetings for big matters.

Li Shaohong made the casting of A Dream of Red Mansions as loud as "drums and gongs, and firecrackers."

In the end, how many of those monkey-like performers were selected?

The real candidate was decided by Li Shaohong while he was hiding in the room and chatting privately with the investors.

The higher the level, the more difficult the decision, and the fewer people can participate.

Because when there are too many people, it will be chaotic.

If things are in chaos, nothing will be accomplished.

After finishing all the things that needed to be done, Chen Kexin smiled and pulled him to sit down and chat.

"Just now I noticed that your expression changed. It's because you had some ideas about the role after reading the script."

"Yes, the state I was in after changing clothes just now was Jiang Wuyang's early state."

"I call this state the ignorant state, or the adolescent state."

"Oh?" Director Chen became interested: "How do you say that?"

"Nietzsche proposed a concept called 'three changes of spirit' in Thus Spoke Zarathustra."

“The human spirit is divided into three stages: camel, lion and infant.”

As soon as Zhang Yuan opened his mouth, Zeng Jia was blinded.

Nietzsche...I was doing an audition and we ended up talking about philosophy?
Is it so high-end?
She thought that most actors might not even know who Nietzsche was.

After all, there are too many "desperate illiterates" in this industry.

Not only was she stunned, but Chen Kexin was also stunned.

Zhang Yuan was very satisfied when he saw this.

In fact, good actors, top actors, must understand philosophy.

Teacher Jiao Huang, who is known as the real Emperor Kangxi, once said this.

Acting is a "non-self" state, because the character is definitely not you.

But as an actor, you have to become this "non-self" when performing.

So he said that the highest level of performance should be "non-non-self".

This statement is actually very philosophical.

It contains both Western philosophical concepts and Eastern Taoist and Buddhist spirit.

Based on the concept that it is already very good for an excellent actor to act like the role, the old artist added another layer.

From the perspective of understanding alone, the level of the old artists is enough to crush the younger generations.

"This third spiritual transformation just corresponds to the state of Pang Qingyun, Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang when they first appeared in the film."

Nietzsche, the Nietzsche who said that God is dead.

He believes that the camel, representing responsibility and carrying, is passive acceptance, that is, "I should do this."

The lion represents active choice, that is, "I want to do this."

Babies represent endless possibilities without any limits.

"Pang Qingyun is a lion, he wants to be in a high position."

"Zhao Erhu is a camel. He follows the rules and obeys his elder brother's orders, strictly abiding by his pledge of allegiance."

"Jiang Wuyang was an ignorant baby who had no values ​​of his own when he first appeared on the scene."

Hiss... Chen Kexin listened and nodded. He participated in the script design, but the main screenwriter was Qin Tiannan, a famous screenwriter in Hong Kong, who also participated in the script design of "Disciples".

Chen Kexin deliberately portrayed the three characters with different personalities so that there would be conflicts and contradictions.

But he had never thought of explaining it using philosophical concepts like Zhang Yuan did.

But it is appropriate.

"And I think the three characters in the script, the eldest, the second and the third, their changes of thought also happen to be one, two and three times."

"After Pang Qingyun was tricked by the Kui Camp, he became surly and only wanted to climb up the social ladder."

"Zhao Erhu initially accepted his eldest brother's ideas and statements, but later discovered his lies and stopped following his advice."

"Jiang Wuyang listened to his second brother in the early stage, trusted his eldest brother in the middle stage, and finally, after discovering that his eldest brother had deceived him, he turned to assassinate him. He changed exactly three times."

“So I think that although Jiang Wuyang’s role is not as big as those two, it is actually not easy to play.”

"It's difficult to have three changes in values ​​and the accompanying changes in status in a movie of just over a hundred minutes."

Zhang Yuan talked freely.

I say this to explain the difficulty of this role.

If the role is difficult, then... you have to pay more!

Just put it in place first, I'll talk about it later.

"Okay." Chen Kexin was very satisfied.

Zhang Yuan's understanding of the character really touched his heart.

The person who can figure out the character progression so quickly must be an extraordinary person.

It seems that his performance among the disciples was not extraordinary, but just normal.

Why do I feel like he understands it better than me, the director?
Seeing that the other party was satisfied, Zhang Yuan said no more.

The play "The Warlords" proves three things.

Li Lianjie is a real movie emperor.

Liu Dehua is a real movie emperor.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is really not that good...

There is no harm without comparison.

In terms of relationships, abilities, and understanding, I surpass the other person.

I have to let you know that I am worth the price.

We had dinner together in the evening and had a great conversation.

The next day, I met with the screenwriter team and had a chat.

Zeng Jia went to discuss the issue of film remuneration with Chen Kexin's deputy as planned.

Zhang Yuan is no longer the same as before. He will accept any offer made by the other party.

If the amount is too large, there will definitely be bargaining.

At this time, if he and Chen Kexin bargained face to face, conflicts would easily arise.

Both of them sent their deputies to do this job, and even if they had a falling out, they could still happily drink tea together.

This is the reason why Chen Long and Li Lianjie never personally took part in the "battle" on the crew.

"How to say?"

In the restaurant, Zhang Yuan invited Zeng Jia to dinner alone.

"My offer is 1600 million," he replied cautiously.

"Six million US dollars..."

Zhang Yuan thought that his salary increased by 50 per play, which was reasonable.

Of course, this is just an asking price.

He didn't offer Zeng Jiading much, but deliberately let her perform to see her abilities.

Now it seems reasonable.

"The other party initially said 400 million Chinese Yuan." Zeng Jia said while glancing at Zhang Yuan.

She was afraid that the other party would slam the table.

Although I haven't fully joined the company yet, I have already put myself in the position of an employee in my mind.

Seeing that Zhang Yuan's expression didn't change at all, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Later they said 600.”

"In the end, they said they could only accept a maximum of 800 million."

When Zeng Jia said this number, she felt it was outrageous.

Before coming, Zhang Yuan said that his target price was more than 1000 million, and she thought there was nothing wrong with that.

But the premise for this "no problem" is the Hollywood crew.

She felt that Hong Kong and mainland China crews might not be able to offer this price.

I didn’t expect that they would offer 800 million in the first round of negotiations!

He is not far from his goal.

Zeng Jia thought that it was said that when Zhang Yuan filmed "Night Banquet" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" last year, his salary was only one or two million.

This is rising too fast!
She calculated that this was basically the third-tier salary.

The first echelon includes Li Lianjie, Chen Long, Zhou Runfa, and Gong Li. Without exception, all of them have starred in Hollywood movies.

The second echelon includes top domestic stars such as Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Zhang Ziyi.

With Zhang Yuan's price, he has already reached the edge of the second tier, and one more step will take him to the next level.

"Very good, let's continue talking." Zhang Yuan expressed his satisfaction.

But he added another sentence.

"Be patient, a contract of this price won't be that simple."

What’s complicated is not just the price!
Before entering the door that day, he heard Chen Kexin talking on the phone with Takeshi Kaneshiro.

I was here for an audition, but I was contacted by another candidate for the role... Why did it feel like I was being NTRed in person?

It was Chen Kexin who called Takeshi Kaneshiro, which means Director Chen still wanted the other party.

If Takeshi Kaneshiro called Chen Kexin, it means Takeshi Kaneshiro still wants this role.

No matter who calls whom, it will be disadvantageous to themselves.

So, how should he react now...

After thinking about it, Zhang Yuan made his own arrangements for Zeng Jia.

"Adjust your price."

"Okay." Zeng Jiaxin said, if you lower the price a bit, it will be easier for me to do things.

"Adjust it to 1200 million. If it's lower than that, don't agree to it."

"Oh...ah!" Zeng Jiaren was stunned.

You adjust it upwards!
Zhang Yuan’s idea is very simple.

Is there competition?
Why should I lower my worth?

Am I not as good as you people from Hong Kong, or am I not as good as that person from the island country or the treasure island?

He also understood that if the other party made up their mind to use "their own people".

Then even if I lower the price, he won't change his mind.

Instead, it makes you look cheap.

The more you humiliate yourself, the more people look down on you.

Because he roughly knew Takeshi Kaneshiro's asking price, he gave a similar increase.

As long as I am not taller than him, you can't use "the pay is too high" as a reason to refuse.

Let Chen Kexin figure it out on her own.

Let him decide how to write the letter of allegiance to the imperial circle.

The contract negotiation with the crew of "The Warlords" was fully handed over to Zeng Jia.

In addition to training her, there is another purpose for letting her do this.

Peace of mind within the company.

She came empty-handed.

This would definitely be different from what the company's old employees think, as she was helping the boss and even accomplished something big.

Give her some "credit" to avoid being gossiped about when she first arrives.

After putting things here aside, I have a few days of free time before returning to the crew.

Zhang Yuan did not go home to rest, but packed his luggage, put on his full set of training clothes and training shoes, and then took a plane to Shandong.

What is he doing in Shandong?

Previously, I was on the crew, filming a fight scene with Li Lianjie.

Although he has contributed a lot, Mr. Li remains calm and composed.

This made him deeply aware of his own shortcomings.

So he wanted to take advantage of these few days to practice hard.

It can also be regarded as advance training for the role of Jiang Wuyang, which has a lot of fighting scenes.

Even if Li Lianjie was beaten to death, he would never have thought of this.

He deliberately gave Zhang Yuan some time so that he could rest and recover.

But the other party took advantage of his rest time to make up for the missed lessons... (End of this chapter)