Entertainment News: Follow Wang Baoqiang's Rise to Film Emperor

Without a doubt, the production team of "Journey to the West II" was one of the largest production teams in China at that time...

As a key national film and television project, it received attention from many high-ranking figures in the cultural sector. Therefore, when the production team was filming this drama, the local authorities naturally gave them the green light no matter where they went to shoot.

The first season, after its regular broadcast in 86, caused a ratings frenzy and gained countless fans. So at that time, the Journey to the West production team was under the spotlight every day and received all kinds of preferential treatment.

Film and television professionals, such as actors, are all proud to participate in Journey to the West, and they are very satisfied even if they only get a minor role in the show.

This is why this epic historical fantasy drama boasts such a cast of outstanding actors and beautiful women...

of course!

All of this has little to do with Lin Zhi and Wang Baoqiang, who are just "minor martial arts performers" at this time.

Even if they were lucky enough to become stunt performers today, their wages would only be slightly higher than those of extras, but their status would not be much different from that of ordinary extras.

At most, the chances and frequency of appearing on screen are slightly higher when performing action scenes.

That's all!

and so……

After being brought to the Journey to the West film crew, Lin Zhi and the other two new stuntmen, who had just been brought in from the entrance of the Beijing Film Studio that morning to make up the numbers, did not attract much attention from the crew. They didn't even know who to register with at first.

Looking around, everyone was busy with their work, and the people in the film crew didn't even give them a second glance...

Seeing that the three of them were not valued at all, Wang Baoqiang's joy immediately vanished.

The arrogant middle-aged man with a short beard who had summoned Lin Zhi and the other two in the pickup truck disappeared after dropping them off at the film set. It was unclear what specific job he was doing on set.

"Hey, you three, you're the temporary stuntmen Xiao Zhao found, right?"

Just as Lin Zhi and his two companions were standing in the film crew, somewhat bewildered and unsure of what to do, Ms. Yang Jie, the director of the Journey to the West crew, strode over to them and asked them questions.

"Yes, that's right..."

"Hello, Director!"

Lin Zhi, Wang Baoqiang, and the tall, thin man, seeing that the director of Journey to the West, Director Yang, had come to ask them questions in person, immediately answered respectfully one after another.

"Hmm, Xiao Li, take the three of them to get their makeup done. They'll play the little monks for now; the action scenes won't be filmed until this afternoon..."

Director Yang Jie nodded slightly and immediately waved to call over a makeup artist assistant from the crew. The assistant led Lin Zhi and the other two to a makeup cart and began applying their makeup.

After their makeup was quickly done and their heads were shaved, a costume assistant tossed them three sets of monk robes to change into. Once they were all dressed, a production assistant leisurely came over with a thin booklet to have them register their names and indicate whether they were extras or stuntmen...

For the rest of the morning, Lin Zhi and his two companions played the roles of little monks on the Journey to the West set.

It seems to be a clip from "Wuji Kingdom"...

Just as director Yang Jie said, there were no fight scenes all morning. The three of them only needed to walk around the temple or pretend to sweep the floor with a large bamboo broom.

It involves absolutely no technology whatsoever!

After having lunch at the film set, the entire crew immediately moved to Sujiatuo Town in northwest Beijing.

Surprisingly, the weather cleared up, and the sun, which hadn't been seen for a long time, finally peeked out from the sky.

Upon arriving at the film set, Lin Zhi and his two companions were asked to play several minor monsters under the command of the "Jade Rat Spirit".

Wang Baoqiang's long-awaited action scenes finally came to fruition, but during filming, she was simply suspended by wires and made a few casual movements. The fight didn't look intense at all, which was far from what Wang Baoqiang had imagined and anticipated.

After filming wrapped, as Wang Baoqiang got off the wire, she leaned close to Lin Zhi's ear and complained, "It was so boring! The fighting wasn't satisfying at all... I wish I could act in action scenes like Jet Li's 'Fist of Legend' someday..."

Lin Zhi thought to himself: If you want to act in intense action scenes, you'll have to wait more than ten years until you work with Donnie Yen in the movie "Feng Yu Xiu," which is "a battle of wits and life and death."

In Lin Zhi's memory, the earliest action scene he saw in his previous life was this one featuring Wang Baoqiang.

That was around 12 years ago...

It's clear that once you become an actor, you're no longer in control of your own destiny. Even a talented actor like Wang Baoqiang, even after becoming famous, still has to wait a long time and rely on luck if he wants to act in the martial arts scenes he longs for. It's not like you can just find a suitable role whenever you want to act.

This is the helplessness and passivity of being an actor!

This is why Lin Zhi is now thinking about studying hard so that when he has enough strength, he can organize his own event and direct and star in it all himself.

I just want to have complete control over my own destiny.

I don't want to become a puppet in the hands of capital.

I have no choice in what I do...

Winter days always end early, and before you know it, it's already six o'clock in the afternoon.

By then, night had fallen and it was getting dark. Seeing that there was no light at all, Director Yang Jie ordered the day to end.

Because it was a key national investment project, there wasn't much concern about funding. Therefore, the Journey to the West production team didn't rush to finish filming in the dark, even though that would have resulted in a quicker production, but the quality would have been questionable.

The terrible dramas and historical idol dramas of later generations were industrially rushed products produced by production companies in order to save on production costs and meet deadlines day and night.

So in the end, they made a mess of the film and television industry and the entire long-running drama industry!

But in this era, there is no such evil trend!

People working in the film and television industry generally have the craftsmanship spirit of artists; to put it simply... they all care about their reputation!

therefore……

We will not sacrifice the quality of the film in order to meet the deadline.

Therefore, during this period, many popular and classic film and television works were produced in China.

"Hey stuntmen, come over and collect your wages..."

After the crew finished work as usual, they distributed the day's wages to the extras and stuntmen they had temporarily hired.

After receiving their wages, Lin Zhi and the other two were taken back the same way they had been in the morning by the same pickup truck.

On the way back, the tall, thin stuntman who had spent the day with Lin Zhi and the others, wielding nunchucks, muttered to Lin Zhi and Wang Baoqiang, "This Journey to the West crew is so stingy. Other crews pay 150 a day for stuntmen, but they only pay 60. Damn it, I'm not coming back. No wonder they wouldn't say what kind of movie it was this morning on the bus..."

Hearing the tall, thin man's complaints, Lin Zhi and Wang Baoqiang looked at each other in silence.

This was their first time acting as stuntmen, and they really didn't know the exact going rate for stuntmen.

Previously, I worked as an extra for 20 to 25 yuan a day, and I thought the wages for stuntmen were similar, but I didn't expect the wages to be so much higher.

Seeing that Lin Zhi and Wang Baoqiang didn't join in the complaints, the tall, thin man roughly guessed that the two were rookie stuntmen on their first day, so he explained to them, "In mainland China, stuntmen in period dramas usually earn at least 100 a day, and normally 150 to 200..."

"If it's a stuntman from Hong Kong Island doing a cameo role, the fee is around HK$800 to HK$1,500 a day! And they have to stay in a high-end hotel..."

"Sigh, with this Journey to the West production team being so stingy, I wonder... if someone in the higher-ups is embezzling and taking kickbacks! Damn it..."

Hearing that martial arts performers make so much money, after returning to their lodgings at the construction site...

Wang Baoqiang excitedly said to Lin Zhi, "Let's switch careers and become stuntmen from now on, we can make a lot more money."

Lin Zhi shrugged and poured cold water on the idea, saying, "We don't have anyone to guide us. It's not that easy to switch to martial arts. Those martial arts practitioners all have their own factions."

Upon hearing this, Wang Baoqiang agreed and immediately felt somewhat discouraged.

To their surprise, the next day, the two were incredibly lucky and landed another stunt scene...

That was the cast and crew of "My Fair Princess II"...