Huayu97: Starting with Wu Song Fighting the Tiger

"Liu Xiang isn't a newcomer either. She's been working in Beijing for several years and has seen a lot of acting scenes!" Kang Honglei boasted, forcing himself to be confident.

Liu Xiang listened from the side without blushing or skipping a beat.

If you've seen it, you should act it out, right?

Guo Baochang smiled and said, "I've seen quite a few—extras, haven't I?"

The meeting room fell silent instantly.

In the entertainment industry in the 1990s, the term "extra" was used to describe, to put it nicely, "struggling at the bottom," but to put it bluntly, it meant "an unknown passerby."

Lan Xiaoling gently tapped the table: "Two assistant directors, could we please hear what the actors have to say first?"

She looked at Liu Xiang: "Liu Xiang, tell us, what kind of person is your understanding of Wu Song?"

This question isn't particularly tricky, but it's certainly not simple either.

Liu Xiang thought for a moment and said, "I think Wu Song is... a very stubborn person."

He spoke very frankly.

"Twist?" Lan Xiaoling was a little surprised. "How do you twist it?"

"Once he's made up his mind, nothing can change it," Liu Xiang said. "He's convinced he's avenging his brother, so he's determined to kill Ximen Qing; he's convinced he deserves punishment, so he dares to confess in court, endure the beatings and exile, and never complain."

"He's not the kind of person who's calculating or subservient. He lives uprightly and with a strong will."

"These kinds of people are good-looking on screen, but in real life... they suffer a lot."

Lan Xiaoling paused for a moment, then laughed: "Your use of the word 'twisting' is quite interesting."

Guo Baochang snorted: "That sounds nice, but the performance is a different story."

Kang Honglei immediately said, "Don't just make sarcastic remarks. Let him try it once before we talk about it."

"Alright!" Zhang Shaolin tapped the table. "Sit down, everyone."

He turned his gaze to Liu Xiang: "Little Liu, when you went to the zoo with Lao Kang, did you really touch the tiger several times?"

"Of course," Liu Xiang said firmly.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"I'm afraid," Liu Xiang said honestly, "but I'm even more afraid of not having enough to eat."

In the conference room, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Kang Honglei almost choked on his own saliva—Brother, could you put it more tactfully?

Guo Baochang laughed and said, "That's quite honest."

Lan Xiaoling smiled and wrote two words in her notebook: "Real".

Zhang Shaolin didn't laugh. He stared at Liu Xiang for a few seconds, as if trying to read something from his face.

Kang Honglei, who had originally intended to say a few words in Liu Xiang's defense, kept his mouth shut at this moment.

Zhang Shaolin nodded: "I have some ideas."

Guo Baochang looked at Ding Haifeng: "Haifeng, you say something too."

Ding Haifeng smiled slightly, his voice not loud but very penetrating: "I've been reading the Water Margin comic books since I was a child, and Wu Song has always been one of my favorite characters."

"I think what's most touching about Wu Song is his sense of loneliness."

"He was forced to fight the tiger when he was driven to the brink; he killed Ximen Qing when he was driven to the brink; and he was ultimately forced to join Liangshan by the times."

"What I want to play is not just a 'tough guy,' but an ordinary person who is forced to go to extremes step by step."

These words were spoken in a much more "professional" and "literary" manner than Liu Xiang's few lines about "being afraid of not having enough to eat."

Guo Baochang nodded repeatedly as he listened: "You see, this is the advantage of formal training."

Kang Honglei retorted, "Liu Xiang has his own ideas too! He just doesn't know how to use those fancy words!"

"Whether you can speak well or not is one thing; whether you can act well is another," Guo Baochang said calmly.

Lan Xiaoling closed her notebook and looked at Zhang Shaolin: "Director Zhang, how about this—"

"Let's not do a rehearsal today, let's see how they are with the tiger first," she suggested. "After all, Wu Song has to fight a tiger, so in front of the camera, the people and the tiger have to 'get along'."

"You can tell who's more relaxed, who's more natural, and who has that 'ruthlessness' just by looking at the camera."

Zhang Shaolin rubbed his temples, feeling his head start to ache again.

He certainly knew that Guo Baochang was right.

"Water Margin" is a key project of CCTV, and Wu Song is one of the most popular characters in the entire series, so casting must be done carefully. Casting an extra with no representative works and no systematic training is indeed a risky move.

But the problem is—

Those who "feel secure" all chickened out when they heard they had to act with a real tiger.

Filming isn't child's play, and tigers aren't props. If one of those things really gets angry, it can bite so hard that not only the actor but even the zookeeper would be forced to kneel.

There was a male actor with excellent looks who performed very well in his audition, but as soon as he heard that "the tiger-fighting scene would be real," he immediately ran away on the spot, citing "family matters."

Zhang Shaolin could understand.

Life is more important than a play; that's common sense.

But someone has to act in the play.

The biggest advantage of Liu Xiang, whom Kang Honglei brought along, is that—

Dare to go.

Moreover, judging from Kang Honglei's description, he is not the kind of "naive and fearless" person, but rather someone who chooses to do something even knowing the danger.

Such people often unleash something special in front of the camera.

"Alright then," Zhang Shaolin finally spoke, "Let's listen to Xiaoling today and not do the audition."

Guo Baochang was taken aback: "Huh?"

Kang Honglei was also stunned: "No audition? We have to try out the tiger scene again?"

"Yes, let's try the tiger one more time," Zhang Shaolin said.

Liu Xiang: "..."

Ding Haifeng: "..."

Guo Baochang realized what was happening: "Director Zhang, you mean—arrange for Tiger to appear again, let them both interact, and see who has more approachability?"

"That's right." Zhang Shaolin nodded. "Wu Song fighting the tiger isn't just about 'not being afraid of tigers,' it also means that people have to believe that he and the tiger can actually 'meet' in the same scene."

"Some people's legs go weak when they see a tiger, and they look fake on camera; others may be brave enough to go up, but they're so tense that they jump three meters away the moment the tiger makes a move, and that won't work either."

"What I want is—even if he's scared inside, the camera should make it seem like he and the tiger are from the same world."

He paused, then looked at the two of them: "Both of you, go."

Kang Honglei's eyes lit up: "Director Zhang, you said it yourself!"

Guo Baochang frowned: "Director Zhang, isn't this a bit too risky? What if something goes wrong..."

"Don't worry," Zhang Shaolin said, "We found a trained tiger with a professional keeper by its side."

"Besides—" He glanced at Guo Baochang, "haven't you always said that Ding Haifeng is a good catch? This is also giving him a chance to prove himself."

Guo Baochang opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.

Ding Haifeng spoke up first: "Director Zhang, I'm fine with it."

He spoke calmly, but a barely perceptible hint of tension flashed in his eyes.

He did touch a tiger at the zoo in another city last time—it was a "test of his courage" arranged by the film crew.