The audition venue was on the stage, and Xiao He walked onto the stage as instructed by the staff, immediately seeing the four people sitting in the first row of the audience.
These four people were Director Wen Hongyuan, screenwriter Tan Yuan, producer Ma Qianyou, and the male lead of their drama, Zhang Mo.
Director Wen Hongyuan and screenwriter Tan Yuan are a famous husband-and-wife team in the industry; one is responsible for writing scripts, and the other for directing, a perfect example of mutual reinforcement. Their works are very well-known in the industry, and even an early palace intrigue drama became a classic for a generation.
This time, the script for “hidden star shines” was created by Tan Yuan over two years.
As for producer Ma Qianyou, he was quite a joke; most of the gossip Lin Yipeng mentioned earlier was related to him.
First, pressured by investors, he forced a pretty boy actor for the fourth male role into the crew, which caused strong dissatisfaction from Director Wen Hongyuan. {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Then, the investor's original wife came looking for him, and Ma Qianyou realized this pretty boy was a gay man who slept his way to the top. He quickly took advantage of the investor being preoccupied and, holding his nose, kicked the person out of the crew.
Later, he found a master to calculate the crew's luck, but unexpectedly encountered an actor who was bad for his luck. Ma Qianyou quickly drove the person away and, by the way, invited the master to his home to check the feng shui and guide him on how to get rich. In the end, both new actors were gone, and he was swindled out of over a hundred thousand yuan.
After learning about these past events, Xiao He even felt that this Ma Qianyou was the biggest calamity for their crew.
“Hello everyone, my name is Xiao He.”
Facing these four people, Xiao He bowed and introduced himself with a composed expression.
Meeting Xiao He's eyes, Tan Yuan's eyes lit up first, and she poked Wen Hongyuan next to her with her elbow: “It’s Mu Ze!”
Wen Hongyuan was also a bit surprised: “Is that the young man you mentioned before?”
“Yes, exactly. I didn't expect such a coincidence.” Tan Yuan nodded, then thoughtfully added, “So his name is Xiao He.”
Wen Hongyuan grumbled exasperatedly: “So you watched for a long time and didn't even remember the actor’s name.”
Tan Yuan gave him a reproachful look: “I didn't think that much at the time.”
Even though Tan Yuan herself is a highly famous screenwriter in the industry, having written many original and excellent scripts, she is actually very fond of watching dramas.
For example, the character Mu Ze was the most impressive character to her among all the dramas she had been following recently.
However, at that time, they had already found an actor, so Tan Yuan had never thought of having Mu Ze play the antagonist in their drama.
Now seeing him in person... it must be said, their temperaments are indeed very similar.
But Tan Yuan was a bit worried that Mu Ze—no, that's not right, it should be Xiao He—she was a bit worried that Xiao He might overact when portraying Meng Zetian.
Because Mu Ze and Meng Zetian are still different; Mu Ze is a kind of neurotic, crazy, and pathological character, while Meng Zetian is a kind of clear-headed yet depraved ruthlessness and maliciousness.
One is an “artist” immersed in their own art, oblivious to good and evil, only doing what they believe is right; the other is a “traitor” who clearly knows good and evil but still chooses to assist evil.
The different connotations completely distinguish two different types of people.
Tan Yuan was very much looking forward to it, yet also felt a sense of regret.
This Xiao He... he was still a bit too young, and his acting skills might not be sufficient.
Wen Hongyuan glanced at Tan Yuan, whose thoughts were all written on her face, and shook his head helplessly in his mind. Then he pulled out a script excerpt and handed it to the Little Assistant next to him: “Have him act this.”
The Little Assistant took the script and quickly handed it to Xiao He.
Perhaps because he had seen a bit of Xiao He's performance as Mu Ze, Wen Hongyuan deliberately avoided the strong and aggressive plot segments of Meng Zetian, choosing instead the scene where Meng Zetian, before his death, “repented” by self-whitewashing in front of the second male lead. It was considered one of the most difficult scenes to perform in the entire script.
In this scene, Meng Zetian and the second male lead, Bai Mingchuan, confront each other, with Meng Zetian already at a disadvantage and about to be executed by Bai Mingchuan for treason.
To survive and to paralyze Bai Mingchuan, Meng Zetian began to play the victim in front of Bai Mingchuan, even kneeling to apologize, detailing his helplessness and pain, and even grandiosely making various excuses for himself, almost misleading Bai Mingchuan. Fortunately, the male lead Director Li arrived in time and shot Meng Zetian, otherwise Bai Mingchuan might have been ambushed and killed.
This scene not only required portraying Meng Zetian's fear of death and his desperate urgency to survive, but also his hypocrisy and cunning, showing his “acting” state, and revealing that hint of mockery and murderous intent from a scheme about to succeed, all within his timid and pleading eyes.
This was undoubtedly a huge test for an actor.
Xiao He looked at this scene and gave a wry smile in his heart.
Oh no, this really is a test of acting skills.
“Are you ready?”
About five minutes later, Wen Hongyuan asked from the stage.
“I'm ready.”
Xiao He could only bite the bullet and answer, then closed his eyes.
“Alright, let's begin.”
As Wen Hongyuan's words fell, when the young man on stage opened his eyes again, he had already transformed into Meng Zetian, feigning fear but with deep-seated resentment still hidden in his eyes.
Just meeting those eyes, Wen Hongyuan sat up straight, his eyes filled with interest.
This kid... he's got something!
...
On the other side, Chen Yulin, who had already finished his audition, got into the company's nanny van, filled with confidence.
He looked at his manager beside him, his smile not yet fading, and casually asked, “Were those all the people who came this time?”
Those people had been secretly observing Chen Yulin earlier, but Chen Yulin had also been secretly observing the audition participants this time.
However, after confirming that they were all minor celebrities, he completely relaxed his guard.
In terms of acting skills, he believed he was not bad; in terms of popularity, he was also the most popular among the audition participants today. He was confident that as long as the director wasn't blind, he would definitely choose him.
The manager also nodded: “This audition was quite rushed; only a few could make time and come, and none of them have an advantage like us.”
Chen Yulin sneered inwardly and yawned lazily: “Then let's go back and pack up, ready to join the crew.”
Manager: “Okay!”
But just as they began to plan their upcoming schedule and filming process, the manager received a call from producer Ma Qianyou.
“Hello, Producer Ma.”
The manager's heart leaped with joy, thinking that this matter had been settled so quickly, but instead received bad news.
“Huh? It's already decided? Not chosen?”
The manager's uncontrolled voice also caused Chen Yulin's smiling expression to suddenly drop.
“May I ask who it is?”
“Ah? Xiao He? Who's that?”
“Mm-hmm, okay, thank you, Producer Ma.”
After hanging up the phone, Chen Yulin quickly pressed: “Who is this Xiao He?”
The manager shook his head with a grim face: “Not sure, seems like an unknown newcomer.”
“Damn it—”
Chen Yulin cursed lowly.
The Little Assistant, who had been silent beside them, timidly raised her hand: “I, I think I know him.”
Both their gazes immediately focused on the Little Assistant.
“He, he seems to be the actor who played Mu Ze.” The Little Assistant withdrew her hand, carefully watching their expressions, “You know, that serial killer who was very popular on Bilibili a while ago.”
“Huh? What kind of nobody—”
Chen Yulin laughed in anger, “Alright, alright, I've remembered him, Xiao He!”
