I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

When the news spread, a beautiful woman who had auditioned was heartbroken. This woman was none other than Tang Wei, the original lead actress in "Lust, Caution".

Tang Wei went to great lengths to land the role of Wang Jiazhi, even finding Li An, who was staying at a hotel in Shanghai, to help her.

After putting on the cheongsam, relying on her two years of modeling experience, she found an opportunity to enter Li An's room, and then strutted around like a cat in front of Li An, striking seductive poses.

Her goal was to seduce Li An and win the role of Wang Jiazhi.

But she didn't expect Li An to be so unmanly. She had already undressed halfway when Li An suddenly flew into a rage and berated Tang Wei.

Tang Wei was filled with shame and slunk away from the hotel.

This was captured by reporters who were staking out the hotel, and it even became a trending topic that day.

After seeing the news the next day, Tang Wei understood why Li An had scolded her.

It wasn't that Li An wasn't interested, nor that he was incapable; rather, as an internationally renowned director, he was acutely aware that his every move was being watched by reporters.

If Li Anzhen does something, there will be a lot of scandals, and his new movie "Lust, Caution" audition plan will be canceled.

After understanding this, Tang Wei realized that he had come at the wrong time.

The back door didn't work out, and he lost the audition to someone named Zhao.

After all, Tang Wei's acting skills are really not as good as Zhao's, and Zhao is very famous in the country.

It's normal that Li An didn't choose Tang Wei.

Cheng Sheng also saw the news at the time, and a strange smile appeared on his face.

Cheng Sheng's decision to change the female lead in "Lust, Caution" was intentional; he was setting a trap for Zhao.

Although Tang Wei was accidentally injured, it was actually a good thing for him.

He remembered another memory: when "Lust, Caution" was released, Tang Wei played Wang Jiazhi, wearing a graceful cheongsam.

With a flicker of her eyes, she perfectly portrayed the innocence of a female student and the struggles of a spy.

With this film, Tang Wei won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer, instantly becoming an international focus.

She became famous overnight, but at the same time, she was also caught in a media storm.

Some praised her courage to go all out for art, while others sharply criticized her "performance limits."

Some media outlets even described her complicated situation at the time as "rising to fame overnight and fading into obscurity overnight."

Not long after, Tang Wei was blacklisted for his role in "Lust, Caution".

The movies she starred in could not be released, the commercials she filmed were taken down, and even her name could not be mentioned in mainstream media.

When the news broke, the entire entertainment industry was in an uproar.

In response, one person spoke out in defense of Tang Wei, saying on the show: "Lust, Caution wasn't just acted by her, so why is Tang Wei being blacklisted? Why are you blacklisting Li An and Tony Leung Chiu-wai too!"

Yup!

Why are director Lee On and lead actor Leung Chiu-wai unharmed, and even praised for their artistic contributions?

Tang Wei, who played the female lead, was criticized as "shameless".

In the end, it was Tang Wei, the new actress, who bore the brunt of all the criticism and consequences.

To make matters worse, her nearly three-year relationship with Tian Yu ended because of filming "Lust, Caution".

From then on, Tang Wei's career and love life both plummeted.

If it were someone with a weak heart, they probably would have collapsed long ago.

At that point, he would either have to hide in a remote mountainous area to eke out a living, or he would be sent to a mental hospital. Fortunately, Tang Wei was strong enough that he was not defeated by public opinion, nor did he complain or defend himself.

She quietly went to England for further studies under Li An's arrangement, starting her second life.

Fate does not favor anyone, but it does favor those who keep striving towards the light.

A few years later, the ban was lifted, and Tang Wei officially began his comeback.

She co-starred with Zhang Xue in the film "Crossing Hennessy", and won the "Best Actress" award at the Chinese Film Media Awards for her role as "Ailian".

What truly brought Tang Wei back to the international film scene was the 2011 South Korean film "Late Autumn".

She plays Anna, a female prisoner who is granted temporary parole for good behavior, and has a doomed romance with a gigolo played by Hyun Bin.

This film earned Tang Wei the "Best Actress" award at various South Korean film festivals 10 times, making her the first foreign actress to win the "Best Actress Award" at the Baeksang Arts Awards in South Korea. She also gained immense popularity and became a national goddess in South Korea.

Since then, Tang Wei's acting career has seen a full recovery.

In 2013, her starring role in "Finding Mr. Right" broke the box office record for Chinese-language romantic films and earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

In 2014, Tang Wei played Xiao Hong, a female writer known as the "Literary Goddess" in the film "The Golden Era" directed by Xu Anhua.

Ultimately, with this role, Tang Wei swept multiple Best Actress nominations at the Asian Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards, proving her talent once again.

In 2022, Tang Wei played the mysterious and complex widow Song Ruilai in the film "The Decision to Break Up".

This film earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Cannes Film Festival.

She won three Best Actress awards in South Korea: the Blue Dragon Film Awards, the Chunsa Film Awards, and the Busan Film Awards.

It truly achieved a "grand slam" of major film awards in South Korea.

Tang Wei's life can be described as inspiring; she was not defeated by difficulties, but rather they helped her achieve her goals.

However, in Cheng Sheng's opinion, if Tang Wei hadn't acted in "Lust, Caution," her achievements, based on her resilience and acting skills, would definitely surpass those of 99% of female stars in the entertainment industry.

Instead of wasting several years after being banned.

Cheng Sheng suddenly remembered that Tang Wei seemed to be a newcomer in the entertainment industry and had not yet signed with a company. If he signed her now, he could easily get a top female artist in the future.

With such benefits, Cheng Sheng immediately asked Xing Aina to sign Tang Wei.

Xing Aina was also a woman of action; after receiving her orders, she quickly found Tang Wei.

When Tang Wei learned that Cheng Sheng wanted to sign her, she was immediately stunned, and then she was so excited that she signed the contract without even looking at it.

Tang Wei's actions were mainly due to the fact that Cheng Sheng Company is a highly sought-after company in the industry; which artist in the industry wouldn't want to sign with Cheng Sheng Film and Television Company right now?

However, Shengli Film and Television Company mainly signs promising newcomers and rarely signs well-known artists.

This also deterred many well-known artists who wanted to use connections to get in.

In addition, Shengli Film and Television Company's contracts are relatively fair and will not harm newcomers.

This is also why Tang Wei signed the contract without reading its contents.

Of course, there's another point: Victory Film Company's works are incredibly effective at promoting people.

An idol drama can make a new actor famous all over the country; the best example is, of course, Jing Tian.

Without any other works, he became a sensation throughout Asia with "My Love from the Star".

With the addition of "Three Kingdoms," which won an award at Cannes, it's expected to be a Hollywood hit if it's released later. (End of Chapter)