Reborn in the Chinese Entertainment Industry: You're a Director, But You're a Casanova?

This is the real concern of veteran artists.

It wasn't that she didn't want to accept the offer, but rather that she simply didn't believe Liu Yuehua could break through the thick layer of comedic filter surrounding them.

Faced with Song Dandan's reasoned and well-founded questioning, Niu Qun and Feng Gong both fell silent. They empathized with her because they were facing the same predicament.

Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, Liu Yuehua, who had been silent all along, spoke up.

"Sister Dandan, you've explained it so clearly." Liu Yuehua looked directly into Song Dandan's eyes, his tone serious.

"The audience will definitely laugh. They will definitely think it's a farce, but that's precisely the core soul of this film."

Song Dandan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I have no intention of trying to whitewash your comedy label."

"I want to unleash your pain, your frustration at being misunderstood by the audience, and the absurdity of laughing when you're actually wailing on the big screen without reservation."

As Liu Yuehua spoke, he took out the prepared script and pulled out the page with Song Dandan on it.

This is a solo performance by the female supporting character in the dressing room.

Liu Yuehua stood up and handed the page of the script to Song Dandan with both hands.

"Sister Dandan, please take a look at this script first."

"If after reading this you think it's a piece of trash that's just trying to attract attention, and that I, Liu Yuehua, am making fun of you like a clown, I apologize to you and will never mention it again."

Song Dandan lowered her head with a mixture of belief and doubt.

The scene in the script was simple: a dimly lit dressing room backstage at a theater, where the female supporting actress (who plays Lu Shiping in "Thunderstorm") was removing her makeup in the mirror.

All I could hear was the roaring laughter of the audience at the front of the stage at the male lead's mistake.

Song Dandan's gaze swept over the lines of dialogue.

The supporting actress looked at her aged reflection in the mirror, vigorously wiping her makeup off with a cotton pad soaked in makeup remover while giving a neurotic, cold laugh.

"Laugh, everyone laugh."

"You laugh as soon as I appear on stage, and you think it's a joke when I frown."

"You think I'm being witty?"

She slammed the cotton pad against the mirror, her tears mixing with her black mascara, making her face look like a wretched ghost.

"I memorized my lines for three months. I thoroughly studied every single word Lu Shiping said and swallowed it down."

"Standing on the stage, my heart ached as if it were being stabbed with a knife."

"But what about you? What are you waiting for?"

"Are you all waiting for me to grin like an idiot and shout out that my name is Baiyun?"

She collapsed, covering her face in despair, her voice choked with sobs.

"I've played Baiyun and Heitu my whole life, I've cried all my tears, but you treat it like a joke."

Niu Qun and Feng Gong didn't dare to breathe, staring at Song Dandan.

Song Dandan looked at the paper.

She watched it slowly the first time, but the second time her hands began to tremble uncontrollably. These lines were like a needle, piercing into a hidden corner of her heart without warning, and then stirring it violently.

What's written here is practically the biggest nightmare of her life that she just cried about.

A tear fell onto the script. Just moments before, Song Dandan had been barely maintaining the dignity of a veteran actress at the dinner table, but at this moment, her defenses completely crumbled.

Song Dandan covered her mouth and began to cry in suppressed sobs, her shoulders shaking as tears streamed down her face like a burst dam.

The pain of being misunderstood, belittled, and ruthlessly held hostage by the market for so many years finally erupted when she encountered a script that truly understood her; she couldn't hold back anymore.

Niu Qun was heartbroken and was about to hand over a tissue when Liu Yuehua kicked him from under the table, stopping him with a look.

As a scumbag, he was well-versed in female psychology.

When the prey has completely let down her guard and is undergoing emotional restructuring, you must not interrupt her; you must let her let these emotions ferment on her own.

After crying for a while, Song Dandan finally sniffled and wiped her nose with a tissue.

She raised her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Liu Yuehua, her gaze now devoid of the doubt she had shown before, replaced entirely by fanaticism.

"Director Liu."

"Sister Dandan, what do you mean?"

When will filming begin?

A fire burned in Song Dandan's eyes.

"I don't want a single penny of payment. As long as you let me shout this line out on the big screen for the whole country to see, I, Song Dandan, will give you my hundred or so pounds of flesh."

Liu Yuehua smiled, picked up the teacup in front of him, and toasted Song Dandan with tea instead of wine.

"Sister Dandan, welcome to the crew."

……

After securing the female supporting role, the production team faced the most crucial and also the most disruptive casting task: the second male lead.

In this script adapted from "Birdman," the character is not only Zhou Ping, the young master on the stage of Thunderstorm, but also a real-life theatrical tyrant who relies on his acting skills to crush everything, is self-centered, and can seize power on set at any time.

In today's parlance, this person should be an NPD type personality.

In the original work, this character was played by Edward Norton; he was arrogant and domineering.

If this character were to suppress Feng Gong, the dramatic conflict of the entire film would completely collapse.

If the person you find has too weak a presence, they won't be able to portray the arrogance that makes the director and the rules look like they're trampling on the ground.

Looking at the Chinese film and television industry in 03, there was only one male actor who met this condition and possessed this kind of unruly aura: Jiang Wen.

Although Tian Zhuangzhuang helped to make the connection, it was still quite difficult to persuade Jiang Wen to come out of retirement at this juncture.

At this time, Jiang Wen was in a special period of industry dormancy.

He was previously banned by the censorship agency for violating regulations by bringing "Devils on the Doorstep" to an exhibition.

As a creator with a strong desire for expression, the ban left him with nowhere to vent his desire for expression and control.

So all of them were transferred to the film crews he participated in as an actor, which led to the well-known rumors of him being a domineering actor on set.

When Lu Chuan was filming "Looking for a Gun", Jiang Wen practically sidelined Lu Chuan on set.

From machine movement to dialogue scheduling, everything was controlled by Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen has no respect for young directors like Liu Yuehua who made their fortune through commercial marketing and manipulating capital. In his view, film is an art of expression and refinement, not a tool for profiteering.

In the afternoon, at Jiang Wen's studio.

When Liu Yuehua entered, Jiang Wen was sitting at the monitoring console watching tapes.

There were no polite greetings, not even tea was served.

"Old Tian said you want to see me." Jiang Wen didn't even turn his head, his eyes fixed on the monitor, his tone carrying the usual sense of pressure.

"I've heard about all the things you've been up to lately. Your methods are pretty good, but they won't work on me."

"I don't take on commercial jobs that are purely for making money or for hype."

That's because you haven't pounced enough yet!

Who would have thought that years later, you would even be endorsing a game?