Huayu: Starting from an Unemployed Male Model

Chapter 93 Actor Recruitment Meets with a Cold Reception, Friends Come to the Rescue

The "Wei-Lu discord" has come to a temporary end, and Wei Jun has begun to work on his studio's production, "Someday or One Day." The behind-the-scenes work, including location scouting, props, costumes, styling, and art direction, has been completed, and the casting process has now officially begun.

Wei Jun had someone spread the word that his studio was collaborating with Tencent Video to develop a TV series, and also took the opportunity to officially recruit actors.

Upon receiving the news, entertainment companies of all sizes in China began to inquire about the type of TV series to be collaborated on. However, upon learning that it was a campus drama or a web series, most companies lost interest.

Only a few small entertainment companies, solo artists, and recent art school graduates showed interest and submitted their resumes to the production team.

Fans were excited to learn that Wei Jun was preparing a new drama, a campus drama at that.

Wei Jun should be 22 years old by now. He should act in more campus dramas while he's still young; older women love watching them.

Ahhh, it's a school drama! I'm currently in high school, and all I need is a campus heartthrob to be my ideal man.

Looking forward to Wei Jun's new drama; I haven't had enough of "Fighter of the Destiny" yet.

The resumes Wei Jun's studio received on the first day were not from any celebrities he recognized; they were all unknown, obscure stars or ordinary people.

After watching the interview videos they sent, Wei Jun realized one thing: besides fate, not being famous also had to do with ability. Their performances were too exaggerated and cringeworthy. Some of them resorted to vulgar and low-class tricks just to grab attention.

Anyway, whenever he sees such vulgar videos, he immediately has his studio blacklist those kinds of people and never hire them again.

After watching interview videos all day, Wei Hou decided not to watch them in person anymore. He had thought there might be some overlooked talents, but it turned out he was overthinking it. He decided to leave these mundane tasks to the production team and only watch them during the actual offline interviews.

The next few days were the same as the first day. Only a few amateurs were selected as supporting actors. The female lead, the second male lead, and the third male lead were still undecided. Gradually, the crew's actor recruitment ran into difficulties.

The lukewarm reception of the "Someday or One Day" production team is normal for film and television companies and entertainment companies in the Chinese entertainment industry. They think Wei Jun is overestimating himself. He is someone who debuted from a dating reality show and has only played the second male lead role. What makes him think he can organize his own production and collaborate with Tencent to film a TV series, even if it is just a web series?

Aside from Tencent, which for reasons unknown was willing to help Wei Jun, other film and television companies in the Chinese entertainment industry did not have high hopes for his success.

Thinking that writing a few hit songs and getting in touch with Tencent means you can produce and star in a TV series? If it were that simple, then film and television companies would be everywhere in the entertainment industry, and you wouldn't have a chance to make a living. The film and television industry is not like that; it's very complex.

The casting call for the drama "Someday or One Day" has been met with a lukewarm reception, sparking some discussion within the industry. Many are saying that Wei Jun, a mere young man, is not capable of handling a drama, and some are even mocking him for being foolish and rich, which explains why no actors with even a little bit of fame have come to audition.

Some well-informed fans left comments on Weibo to support Wei Jun, hoping he wouldn't give up, and recommended several actors to him.

When the haters learned that the production team was not doing well, they were overjoyed and posted everywhere, saying that Wei Jun's production team was not progressing and was going to go bankrupt, and that they were going to lose the investors' money.

When Wei Jun learned of his current predicament, his good friends called to offer their condolences or volunteer their services.

Lu Han said he would take him out for drinks to clear his head. Deng Chao then shared his experience in setting up a film crew with him, explaining how to do it.

Xu Lu immediately dropped everything and flew to Shanghai to comfort Wei Jun, offering herself any role she could take. Wei Jun sent her back, as she was still filming and taking leave to come over would have a negative impact on her.

Li Qin makes more than a dozen phone calls a day. In addition to recommending herself, she also helps invite actors and has successfully invited some veteran actors to play supporting roles.

There's also Xu Lingyue, Jing Tian, ​​Cheng Xiao... even Na Zha, who complained a few times but whose actions betrayed her, invited Wei Jun out for a late-night snack, hinting that she could join the crew to help out.

Wei Jun was grateful for his friends' concern, which gave him a lot of confidence.

He decided to take the initiative and extend invitations to some suitable artists, including male actors Wu Lei, Bai Jingting, Deng Lun, Hu Yitian, Peng Yuchang, Liu Haoran, and female actors Chen Duling, Tan Songyun, Zhao Jinmai, and Li Landi.

Wei Jun knew the chances of them coming were very, very low, but what if? What if some "madman" came and filmed?

Several days after the invitation was sent out, there was indeed no reply. Wei Jun planned to choose a non-celebrity for the second male lead and his good friend Xu Lu for the female lead. It wasn't that she was unsuitable; she had played many student roles. It was just that her schedule didn't work out. She was currently filming a drama with Han Dongjun, and it would probably take another month to get her.

Wei Jun didn't really want to wait. Waiting another month would delay the start of filming and the release by another month, which would be a waste of time.

Just as he was struggling with this, Wei Jun saw an actor's profile. It was Zhang Wanyi, who was known as the "Late Emperor" in his previous life and had played the role of Chen Yannian in "The Age of Awakening".

Zhang Wanyi was born in 1994. His appearance and personality are quite suitable for the role of the second male lead, Mo Junjie. His age is similar to that of the original actor in the previous life. In terms of personality, he is down-to-earth, low-key, and emotionally stable. He is a warm-hearted man with zero negative reviews.

In his previous life, Li Qin once said during a live stream that "he is a warm man who loves to tell corny jokes." The character of the second male lead, Mo Junjie, needs exactly this quality, making him the perfect choice for the second male lead.

Wei Jun immediately had the director team send him an interview invitation. Both sides worked quickly and arranged an interview. The interview result was a pleasant surprise. Zhang Wanyi's acting at this stage was very talented. He had not yet evolved into "Emperor Wan" and did not have the formulaic acting skills found in later popular dramas.

Both parties quickly signed a contract for a package deal of 26 episodes, priced at 100 million yuan before tax. One-third of the payment was due upon signing the contract. This price was quite good for a relatively new actor, especially considering he was playing the second male lead.

Wei Jun remembered that after Zhang Wanyi received his payment, he bowed deeply to Wei Jun, his boss, to thank him for extending a helping hand when he was in dire straits.

Zhang Wanyi was embroiled in a contract termination lawsuit with his company, penniless and under immense pressure. He went to various interviews to raise money. By chance, he learned that Wei Jun's "Someday or One Day" production team was recruiting actors, so he submitted his resume.

While waiting anxiously and nervously, Zhang Wanyi received an interview invitation. The next day, he immediately flew from Beijing to Shanghai for the interview and passed the audition in top form.

Upon hearing his tragic story, Wei Jun decided that he would definitely invite him to audition for a suitable role in the future.

The second male lead, Mo Junjie, is settled, leaving only the first female lead, Chen Yunru (Huang Yuxuan), and the third male lead, Xie Zongru (Xie Zhiqi).

He already has a female lead in mind, but what troubles Wei Jun is the role of Xie Zongru, the third male lead. The role has few scenes but is very difficult, requiring him to "change his expression in a second" and transform from a gentle senior to a morbid killer in a single second.

Among the post-90s and post-95s generation in the entertainment industry, Wei Jun found that no actor could play the role. He could only raise the age of the actor, just like the original version. The original actor was born in 1989, so he targeted this age group to find an actor.

Anyway, most of Xie Zongru's storyline is set in his adulthood, so being older would be suitable. After a quick search, Wei Jun came up with a list of candidates: Dou Xiao, Dai Xu, Wang Chuanjun, Jin Shijia, and Wei Daxun.

After thinking for a moment, he crossed out Wang Chuanjun and Wei Daxun and sent invitations to Dai Xu and Jin Shijia. Jin Shijia refused directly, and Dai Xu did not reply for the time being.

Wei Jun personally called Dou Xiao, sincerely hoping he could come. Dou Xiao is the same age as the original actor, and as a "Zhang Yimou boy" (a term referring to actors discovered by director Zhang Yimou), his acting skills are unlikely to be lacking.

He had already decided to treat it as a cameo role, a friendly appearance, without charging a penny, but he would give a red envelope privately, with the amount in the red envelope being as large as possible. However, when Wei Jun called Dou Xiao, the two chatted for a while, but he didn't mention this matter at all before hanging up.

He couldn't bring himself to say it. He knew that if he did, Dou Xiao would be happy to agree, but he didn't want to use their relationship to bind Dou Xiao. He knew that when the cast list was posted, Dou Xiao would definitely face a lot of criticism.

About a day later, Dou Xiao called.

"You're always so secretive, you never tell anyone what's going on," Dou Xiao's hearty laughter came through the phone.

"You know?" Wei Jun wasn't surprised at all; his recruitment of actors was practically common knowledge in the Chinese entertainment industry.

"How could I not know? Everyone's laughing at you now," Dou Xiao knew that since Wei Jun had called him, he must need his help sometime. As a friend, he would help if he could. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I'll send the script to your email, take a look," Wei Jun said bluntly. Since you've come to me, I'm not going to let you go. "It's not a big role, see if you're interested in a cameo."

"Okay, let me take a look." Dou Xiao found a laptop and began to examine it.

About 10 minutes later, Dou Xiao spoke again: "The character Xie Zongru is quite intriguing, transforming from a gentle senior into a psychopathic killer. It's a challenging role to portray. Are you sure I can play this character? And it's a campus drama. I'm already 28 this year."

"What's wrong with playing that role? Zhang Ruoyun is a year older than you and just finished playing a high school student. There are plenty of actors your age in the Chinese entertainment industry who have played high school students," Wei Jun listed examples of male artists of similar age who played high school students. "Plus, you're in such good shape right now, so it's no problem at all."

"Okay, since you think there's no problem, I'll take it." Dou Xiao agreed without much consideration.

"Thanks." Wei Jun kept this kindness in his heart.

"Let me know when you've confirmed the filming date, and I'll adjust my schedule accordingly."

"it is good."

The two didn't talk much and hung up immediately.

For guest appearances, no payment is required, but a small favor will be owed. If payment is made, it depends on the star's status and the market price of the drama. Wei Jun delegated these miscellaneous tasks to Yang Hua and his team.

Friends should avoid bringing up money directly if possible. Giving too much will make you feel like you're losing out, while giving too little will make the other person uncomfortable. Therefore, a middleman is needed.