The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

Of these people, the one who left the deepest impression on Lin Bufan was undoubtedly Wen Zhang.

In terms of acting skills, Wen Zhang can be said to be the best among them. The reason why he became famous in his later years was not only due to resources, but also, most importantly, his good acting skills.

Unfortunately, one wrong step made it impossible for him to recover.

In the words of some of his brothers in later generations, even if he later broke up with Ma and married Yao, they would still respect him as a man.

Aside from this incident, the most important thing is that he was too arrogant, to the point that he had no friends. When he fell to the bottom, everyone trampled on him, and no one spoke up for him.

Moreover, the later films were box office failures, and the TV series also had poor ratings, ultimately leading to its abandonment by investors.

It can only be said that he has ruined his public image, and even if investors want to promote him, they can't.

"Who do you think is more suitable for the fourth male lead?"

In less than two hours, all the actors who auditioned for the fourth male lead went through the audition process.

Lin Bufan turned to look at Liang Jiahui and Shen Ao.

"Director Lin, I think Zhu Yilong and Wen Zhang are quite good!"

Shen Ao, who was standing to the side, looked at Lin Bufan.

"And you?"

Lin Bufan nodded slightly and turned to look at Liang Jiahui.

"Emblem!"

Liang Jiahui looked very serious.

Out of a sense of responsibility towards the role, among all the actors who auditioned for the fourth male lead, Wen Zhang's acting skills were arguably the best.

"Alright, let's stick with the emblem for now!"

Lin Bufan nodded slightly.

He didn't care how the emblem would be performed in the future; that wasn't important. What mattered was that he had to be responsible for his film, and everything else was irrelevant to him.

Moreover, in this timeline, Emblem hasn't caused any other trouble, so there's no need to worry about it affecting your movie.

"Then let's audition for the third male lead!"

After taking a sip of water, Lin Bufan looked at Bai Bing.

"Yes, boss!"

Bai Bing nodded slightly.

Almost all the actors who auditioned for the role of Lao Wu, the third male lead, were veteran actors in the industry.

Wang Zhiwen, Jiang Wu, Huang Zhizhong, Fu Dalong, and Chen Chuang from Beijing Film Academy. Few people know the name Chen Chuang, but many people know the name Xiaotianquan.

Ni Dahong and Xu Yajun from China Film Group are the same people who played Director Qi in "The People".

Ultimately, the role of the third male lead was undoubtedly won by Wang Zhiwen.

In terms of acting skills, Wang Zhiwen can be considered one of the top male actors in mainland China. Lin Bufan's most memorable role is Gu Shenyan, played by Wang Zhiwen in "The Rebel".

Considering the actor's acting skills, Lin Bufan had already decided that the role of Lao Wu should be played by Wang Zhiwen.

Next, we come to the last and most important character, second only to the male lead, Mr. Yi, Kuang Yumin.

…………

There were a lot of people auditioning for this role.

The four most popular young male actors from mainland China, both old and new, as well as first and second-tier male actors of suitable age, all came.

In addition to Lu Yi, Hu Bin, Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei, Yin Xiaotian, Nie Yuan, and Liu Ye, there are also Hong Kong and Taiwan artists such as Gu Juji, Nicholas Tse, Zhang Weijian, Raymond Lam, Wang Lihong, Lo Chih-hsiang, Ming Dao, Wu Zun, Yan Chengxu, Ruan Jingtian, and Guo Pinchao.

Outside the audition room, a dozen or so first and second-tier male stars from the entertainment industry were grouped together, almost by mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Especially the Hong Kong and Taiwan stars, who gathered together chatting and laughing, completely disregarding the mainland stars.

At this point in time, Hong Kong and Taiwanese celebrities naturally hold a higher status in the entertainment industry than mainland celebrities.

Even second- or third-tier celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan dare to compare themselves to popular mainland actors.

Just like Guo Pinchao, who became a sensation with the drama "The Outsiders," he was only considered a second or third-tier star in Taiwan, but now he still has the confidence to compete with top mainland actors for the second male lead in "Lust, Caution."

Unlike those new actors in mainland China, who never even thought about competing for the second male lead, they were basically all aiming for the fourth male lead.

"This time it's going to be tough..."

As Lu Yi looked at the male stars from the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles across from him, his confidence continued to decline.

The unspoken rule in the industry is that no matter how big a star is, they are basically relegated to supporting roles for Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars in movies. Female stars are a little better off, as they can get leading roles, while male stars are mostly relegated to second, third, or even fourth male roles.

"That's not entirely true. Director Lam rarely uses Hong Kong and Taiwan stars in his films."

Yin Xiaotian, who was standing to the side, had a different opinion.

As is well known, neither Director Lam nor Kyoto Entertainment ever employs stars from Hong Kong or Taiwan.

There is only one Zhang Jin who entered the industry from the Yuen Clan in Hong Kong Island, but in the end, he is also from Chongqing, so he can only be considered half of the Hong Kong circle.

Moreover, Zhang Jin is from Kyoto Entertainment, so he can't really be considered part of the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

"I hope so!"

Liu Ye frowned slightly.

Compared to their tense demeanor, the Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars appeared quite relaxed and natural.

If "Lust, Caution" hadn't been Lin Bufan's film, they probably wouldn't have been so eager to audition, since film resources aren't actually that scarce for them.

"Guo Pinchao!"

Just then, Bai Bing came out of the room.

"They're here!"

Guo Pinchao responded and hurriedly got up and went into the audition room.

"Hello Director Lin, my name is Guo Pinchao!"

Looking at Lin Bufan, who was almost the same age as him, or even younger, Guo Pinchao felt a pang of jealousy, especially after seeing the rumors about Lin Bufan and An Yixuan.

The drama "The Outsiders" made Guo Pinchao and An Yixuan famous. He pursued her quite a bit back then, but An Yixuan never agreed to be with him.

When he turned around, he found that the other person was with a mainland director, and as far as he knew, this mainland director had affairs with several female stars in the industry in addition to An Yixuan.

"The audition scene!"

Lin Bufan looked up at the other person and was immediately dissatisfied with his appearance.

Undeniably, Guo Pinchao is quite handsome, but the least important aspect of the character Kuang Yumin is his good looks.

"You have five minutes!"

Even if Lin Bufan didn't think highly of the other party, he wouldn't do anything that would give others cause for gossip; it would only waste five minutes anyway.

"Yes, Director Lin!"

Guo Pinchao took a deep breath, clearing his mind of those jumbled thoughts.

The audition scene was when Kuang Yu-min was performing in the drama club, standing under the spotlight, reciting the line "To draw the knife and die quickly, to live up to my youthful ideals."

This scene primarily showcases his passion as a student leader, while also subtly implying the character's complex deconstruction of "revolution."

After all, this line was written by the traitor Wang when he was young, and it also shows Kuang Yumin's naivety and immaturity, especially in politics.

But it also better reflects his passion and simple, unpretentious patriotism.