Huayu started by playing Lao Ai

Chapter 25 Zhuang Weijian's Style
When Zheng Jing heard about A Step into the Qin, he was quite interested, as the character Lao Ai also appeared in this drama.

Zheng Jing understood that this meeting with the crew of A Step into the Past was probably influenced to some extent by the role card.

After all, according to the instructions on the role card, after Zheng Jing uses Lao Ai's role card, he will have the opportunity to participate in any film or television drama with the character of Lao Ai.

"You guys chat first, I'm going to put on makeup."

Zheng Jing chatted with Zhuang Weijian and others for a few words, but did not stay long and went to work.

The most important thing is to play the role of Lao Ai in Lüshi Chunqiu well.

Zheng Jing did not have to play the role of Lao Ai in A Step into the Past.

After all, Zheng Jing had obtained both of Lao Ai's talents at this time, and his skills had become more and more proficient with the help of the script world.

If he plays Lao Ai in A Step into the Past, it will only increase the audience's recognition of Zheng Jing's performance as Lao Ai.

And increase the probability of upgrading the Lao Ai character card to a gold character card.

If he doesn't act, it depends on the broadcast performance of the drama "Lüshi Chunqiu".

Acting in A Step into the Past is just an extra layer of insurance.

Seeing Zheng Jing going to put on makeup, Zhou Xiaowen also said hello and went to prepare for the shooting.

Zhuang Weijian and others did not leave, but stayed in the crew to continue observing.

The scene filmed today is the one where Lao Ai is conferred the title of Marquis of Changxin, the highest position among high-ranking officials.

This part is not easy to act. If you hold back too much, it will be flat, without any emotional ups and downs, and the audience will not be able to resonate with it.
Being too arrogant will appear greasy and fake.

Zheng Jing's performance is very realistic.

After Lao Ai was conferred the title of Marquis of Changxin, he was neither ecstatic nor arrogant, but rather felt lost.

There is both a sense of emptiness after desires are satisfied and a regret for the hardships of one's past.

Along the way, he abandoned his dignity, left behind his lover, and betrayed his brothers. He went from being a respectable scholar to a despised lover, and finally became the Marquis of Changxin.

“Marquis Changxin, Marquis Changxin, turn the wheel and turn Ji Niang.

"I am not fit to be a pale-faced scholar, and my hometown is Changxin's concubine."

Zheng Jing improvised and recited a limerick in a self-deprecating manner, expressing his complicated inner feelings.

The performance of this scene was so infectious that it seemed as if Lao Ai, the Marquis of Changxin, was truly reborn in this hall.

Zhou Xiaowen and others were very calm when they saw this kind of performance. After all, this was Zheng Jing's daily performance. They had seen it many times and were used to it.

However, Zhuang Weijian and Wu Jinyuan were very excited. They looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

Especially Zhuang Weijian, the way he stared at Zheng Jing was as if a pervert saw a peerless beauty.

At noon, Zhuang Weijian and his party temporarily left the Lüshi Chunqiu crew and had lunch at a restaurant near the film and television city.

Zhuang Weijian looked at the assistant beside him and asked, "What is Zheng Jing's background? Have you found out?"

The assistant nodded, handed Zhuang Weijian a few newspapers, and said, "Zheng Jing is a second-generation super rich man from the mainland, with a strong background. In the mainland, everyone calls him Jing Shao.

The drama "Lüshi Chunqiu" was originally starred by Zhang Tielin and Ning Jing, but because of Zheng Jing's words, both of them were replaced.

Zheng Jing also scolded Zhang Tielin for not being able to act, and Zhang Tielin did not dare to respond.

Zhuang Weijian took the newspaper, glanced at it, and after getting a general understanding of the situation, he handed the newspaper to Wu Jinyuan.

After reading it, Wu Jinyuan said, “If what the newspaper said is true, then Zheng Jing must be a drama fanatic who likes to play roles with strong dramatic tension.

Otherwise, given his background, there would be no need for him to play a villain like Lao Ai."

Zhuang Weijian nodded and said, "Zheng Jing's portrayal of Lao Ai is really lifelike. What do you think if we invite him to play Lao Ai in our crew?"

Wu Jinyuan immediately said, “I think it’s great, Hong Kong Island has a limited population, and the TV drama market is only so big.

If we invite Zheng Jing to play Lao Ai, it will not only improve the quality of A Step into the Past, but also help us open up the mainland market.

We can also use his connections.”

Wu Jinyuan meant what he said, as he was one of the first directors from Hong Kong to move north.

After filming A Step into the Past, he stayed in the mainland.

Later, he worked with Tang Ren for a period of time and participated in the filming of many works such as The Legend of Sword and Fairy, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and independently directed the popular "Beauty's Rival in Palace".

He is very optimistic about the TV drama market in mainland China.

Zhuang Weijian thought so too.

He was also optimistic about the mainland market. Not only did he recruit mainland male actors in the crew of A Step into the Past, he asked Zhang Shan to play Li Mu, and two years later he took the initiative to negotiate with Yangshi and reached an agreement to co-produce The Twin Dragons.

Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Yangshi finally withdrew from the production of The Twin Dragons. The most important thing is that Zhuang Weijian's style of work is to like to shoot some villains who are both good and evil.

The dramas he produced, such as "Gone with the Wind", "I Love You, a Thief", "Fate", "Love in Three Lives", etc., as long as there is a villain who is both good and evil as the main axis, even if the plot is very old-fashioned, it can be filmed very well.

But without these kinds of characters, it would become ordinary.

This is Zhuang Weijian’s characteristic. He likes to shoot complicated villains, but his shots of decent characters are average.

In TVB, where characters are heavily stereotyped, Zhuang Weijian is considered a producer and director with his own style.

So after seeing Lao Ai played by Zheng Jing just now, Zhuang Weijian was most deeply touched.

He felt that he needed a viable Lao Ai as the main villain in the drama A Step into the Past, so as to improve the overall quality of the work.

So Zhuang Weijian came up with the idea of asking Zheng Jing to play Lao Ai.

Zhuang Weijian took a sip of tea and said, “If Zheng Jing was a young actor, he would definitely agree if we asked him to act.

But he has a strong background and his requirements are certainly high. It may not be easy for us to convince him to play Lao Ai."

Wu Jinyuan looked at Huang Guohui and said, "This is actually not difficult.

We have a limited budget and what we fear most is expensive actors.

Zheng Jing's family is rich, so he doesn't care about the pay. Instead, he pays attention to the script and the tension between the characters.

In our script, the character of Lao Ai is also very exciting.

If it doesn’t work, you can polish it or make some changes.”

Changing the script is common among Hong Kong drama crews.

Originally in A Step into the Past, the role of Lao Ai was played by Jiang Hua. He was the second male lead in the play and had a lot of scenes.

The character is set as the swordsman master Lian Jin. After losing the duel with Xiang Shaolong, he offered the heroine Wu Tingfang to the swordsman Lao Ai. In the end, he learned Lao Ai's swordsmanship, killed Lao Ai and took his place, becoming the new Lao Ai.

Many viewers who have watched A Step into the Past felt that Jiang Hua’s performance as Lao Ai was outstanding and that he suppressed Gu Tianle’s Xiang Shaolong.

The truth is that Xiang Shaolong's character in the TV series is very bad. He is hesitant and indecisive, and there is nothing outstanding about him.

Louis Koo has also changed from white Gu to black Gu, and his appearance has also declined a lot.

Hearing Wu Jinyuan's words, Zhuang Weijian nodded and said, "Let's go talk to Zheng Jing in person after dinner."

At 2 pm, Zheng Jing finished filming a scene and was resting on the sidelines with makeup on when she saw Zhuang Weijian and Wu Jinyuan coming over.

"Master Jing, you played Lao Ai so well." Zhuang Weijian followed the local customs and changed his address to Zheng Jing. "In our version of A Step into the Past, Lao Ai is the villain and his role is very impressive. Are you interested in playing the role?"

When Zheng Jing heard Zhuang Weijian's invitation, he was stunned for a moment, quite surprised.

I didn't expect that things would go so smoothly before I even took the initiative to fight for it.

The crew of A Step into the Past took the initiative to invite me to play the role of Lao Ai.

He did not agree immediately, but said: "I don't care about other things in acting, but the character must be exciting enough.

So I have to read the script first.”

Wu Jinyuan handed the script to Zheng Jing and said with a smile, “We have also inquired about Mr. Jing’s habits.

The Lao Ai in our drama has some similarities with the Lao Ai in Lüshi Chunqiu.

You can take a look at the script first. If you have any opinions, we can discuss it. It is not impossible to change the script."

Seeing this scene, the rest of the crew was shocked.

In 2000, the Hong Kong entertainment industry was at the top.

The TVB crew actually invited Zheng Jing to play Lao Ai and was so humble. They had never heard of or seen such a thing.

"Master Jing is really awesome. TVB has to change the script to invite him to star in the show!"

"What do you know? With Master Jing's background, who wouldn't curry favor with him? What's more, he's a good actor, and he played Lao Ai vividly."

"If you ask me, TVB has a good vision. They should have invited Master Jing to play Xiang Shaolong!"

"It's useless to invite him. I don't think Jing Shao likes to play a decent role. Xiang Shaolong doesn't like it."

……

After hearing the discussion among the crew, Qian Jianping, who was in charge of marketing, suddenly came up with an idea.

He asked the photographer to take a picture of this scene.

(End of this chapter)