Lin Yipeng contacted them very quickly; Xiao He went directly to the audition in the morning and returned to the film crew in the afternoon to shoot his last scene.
Since this film crew was already in the shooting phase, Xiao He went directly to the Film and Television Base and arrived at the crew's shooting location for the audition.
This area was entirely decorated in the style of that era, with its unique blend of Chinese and Western characteristics, making it a popular filming location for many crews shooting Republican-era dramas and spy thrillers. According to what Xiao He understood, this venue had recently been booked by the affluent “hidden star shines” film crew.
And this “hidden star shines” was the film crew Xiao He was currently auditioning for.
The story takes place in that war-torn era, where a puppet regime acted as a tiger's accomplice, ruling and manipulating the people in occupied territories with the support of the enemy. Yet, in such a humiliating and painful past, there was still a group of people who moved forward in the darkness, striving for their ideals and beliefs, even sacrificing their lives.
They were like shining stars, emitting an undying radiance even in darkness, great heroes that future generations should remember.
The villain Xiao He was currently auditioning for was named Meng Zetian, naturally one of those who acted as a tiger's accomplice. As the captain of the special agent team, he was specifically responsible for capturing intelligence agents like the protagonists. His scenes primarily revolved around mutual probing, suspicion, and scheming between him and the righteous characters.
Overall, he was a relatively important character.
When Xiao He arrived at the audition site, he found that an unusually large number of people had come to audition today.
The film crew didn't find a separate place for them but directly set the audition location within the stage theater here. The interior decoration and layout were almost one-to-one reproductions of the style of that era, looking antique and truly giving a sense of time travel.
At this moment, many people stood in the corridor, ranging in age from about twenty to thirty. Most were dressed relatively formally, showing that they took this audition very seriously. Xiao He even saw someone directly wearing a military uniform to enhance their character image.
However, looking around, Xiao He didn't see anyone familiar for the time being; basically, all were unfamiliar faces. It seemed that most of the people auditioning this time were minor celebrities below the third or fourth tier.
This, instead, made Xiao He relax a bit.
In terms of fame, he certainly couldn't compare to those big names, but he was confident against those present, and at least he could still "act himself."
It shouldn't be a big problem... right?
Suddenly, there was a commotion from the other side of the corridor. Xiao He saw a young man wearing sunglasses, accompanied by two others, arrive.
When they sat down in the empty chairs, the somewhat noisy corridor quieted for a moment.
"Damn it, why is he here too?"
Someone complained in a low voice.
Xiao He narrowed his eyes, secretly observing the other party.
Hiss... This is bad. He wasn't among the people I've been researching lately.
Xiao He could only quickly prick up his ears, trying to learn this guy's name from the people nearby—
"Why is Chen Yulin here? Doesn't he have enough resources? Why is he coming here to steal roles from us?"
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't fail the audition and offend these few people instead."
"It's over. With him here, do we still have a chance?"
"It's fine. According to unofficial news, the director will only choose the one with the best acting skills this time. I think we can still try harder and salvage it."
—So his name is Chen Yulin...
Xiao He understood and quickly pulled out his phone to search for information.
Chen Yulin was also an artist from Haohan Entertainment. His fame was slightly less than Ran Yunrui's. He didn't have a famous lead work yet, but he had gained familiarity in several popular film and television dramas and had one or two recognizable roles. He was currently in a rising period, poised to become popular.
However, many people thought he would go on to star as a male lead in a drama, but unexpectedly, he turned around and came here, even auditioning for a male fourth role.
On the surface, it seemed like a step backward.
But of course, this “hidden star shines” film crew was indeed one of the biggest projects this year, firmly occupying S+ resources. Even if it was just a male fourth, it would definitely gain considerable exposure and popularity.
Viewed this way, Chen Yulin competing for this role was indeed much better than directly taking on a male lead in other dramas.
Moreover, this guy's luck was also very good. When this role was previously auditioned, he was still filming for another crew, so he didn't have the schedule to participate. Unexpectedly, the casting for this role was so ill-fated that it was dragged out until his previous drama wrapped up. Therefore, Chen Yulin naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity again.
Xiao He researched him online and gained a general understanding °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of Chen Yulin.
This Chen Yulin was indeed a formidable opponent.
Xiao He's face was solemn, his gaze fixed on the script in his hand, and he took a deep breath.
It didn't matter. He had been continuously learning and improving during this time. In a head-to-head acting battle, he wasn't afraid of this guy!
After Chen Yulin, several other actors whose names were recognizable arrived successively, but compared to Chen Yulin, their status was much lower. Everyone waited while whispering, and they didn't notice Xiao He in the corner.
After a while, the audition officially began.
Xiao He had bad luck and drew a later number.
However, several other popular competitors were very lucky and were ranked in the front positions.
Xiao He: ...
He almost suspected there was an inside story.
Could it just be a formality, and the role was already decided internally?
However, Xiao He quickly dismissed this guess.
If it had been decided internally in advance, Lin Yipeng, being so well-informed, would definitely have told him.
After spending this time together, Xiao He still trusted Lin Yipeng quite a bit.
So, what followed was a long wait.
"Number 21."
Finally, Xiao He heard his number.
He stood up, took off his mask, hat, and sunglasses, and followed the staff member into the venue.
After Xiao He went in, an actor nearby whispered, "Holy crap."
"What's wrong?"
Someone asked in a low voice.
"That was Mu Ze just now!"
The actor whispered.
"Huh? Mu Ze? Really? I didn't even notice!"
"He was wearing a mask and hat the whole time, so I didn't recognize him either! I didn't expect him to come too."
Xiao He still underestimated the influence of his sudden popularity on Bilibili. Although he currently only had one character work, he was unexpectedly popular on Bilibili. Not only were there various "perverted saw-killing" emojis, but he also held a place in various compilations by certain content creators. There was even a dedicated super topic for "Mu Ze" on Weibo, and even after such a long time, the super topic remained updated, with more fan creations and derivative works than many people imagined.
So, in fact, Xiao He's current popularity was quite high.
But of course, many people still thought his name was "Mu Ze."
