Even after being reborn, you're still in the entertainment industry?

Chapter 179 I'll Give You a Stage Name!

On the set of "Men's True Colors," Zhang Jiao, who had been somewhat forced into the role by Sheng Yunxuan, looked troubled and said:
"Me, act? I can't do it... Boss, I've never acted before!"

She had previously wanted to break into the entertainment industry and had even worked as an extra in "Curse of the Golden Flower." But in the end, she couldn't resist the temptation and ended up becoming Sheng Yunxuan's assistant.

At this moment, Sheng Yunxuan suddenly asked her to appear in the movie, which inevitably made her feel a little at a loss.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Yunxuan completely disregarded it and said:
"What are you panicking about, a character who gets killed off after only two minutes on screen!"

The male lead in the movie, played by Sheng Yunxuan, has a fiancée who is preparing for their wedding. However, he happens to be caught in the crossfire of the villain "Tian Sheng Yang" and his men robbing an armored truck, and is killed innocently in the explosion.

These insignificant minor roles are usually played by just any actor.

Since Sheng Yunxuan, the lead actor, took the initiative to ask for the role, he must have some influence!

Sheng Yunxuan initially kept Zhang Jiao by his side with the intention of training her for the future, so that in a couple of years he could start making web dramas or something, and he wouldn't need to look for other actresses...

“By the way, since you’re going to be in the entertainment industry, you need to change your name and take a stage name… Hmm, let’s call you Zhang Tian’ai!” Sheng Yunxuan continued.

Putting aside things like feng shui and luck, the main issue is that the girl's original name was a bit too rustic.

If an ordinary person has a bad-sounding name, they'll get teased; it goes without saying that celebrities are even more affected...

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiao's expression of bewilderment and confusion deepened.

Is she still called Zhang Tian'ai? But when did I ever call myself that?

Seeing that she was standing there in a daze without replying, Sheng Yunxuan raised an eyebrow and asked again:

"You don't want to change your name?"

"No, it's a nice name..."

Zhang Jiao hesitated for a moment, then exchanged another glance with Sheng Yunxuan.

After all, she was still a young girl, and she longed to be a glamorous star. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to work as an extra in a movie crew.

Already somewhat tempted, and feeling that Sheng Yunxuan would never harm her, Zhang Jiao finally made up her mind and nodded:
"Okay, I'll do whatever you say, boss!"

Of course, she still harbored some other hidden thoughts.

Being an assistant might allow him to spend a lot of time by Sheng Yunxuan's side, but it's ultimately just a pipe dream. If he wants to truly compete, how can he possibly succeed with the status of an assistant?

"When we get back, I'll have Fang Lan draft a new agency contract for you..."

At this point, Sheng Yunxuan suddenly paused and turned to look at Zhang Jiao... well, from now on he should call her Zhang Tianai.

The young girl is not yet twenty years old. She has excellent features, but she is a bit too immature. Her baby fat makes her look a little chubby.

She was quite cute, but naturally, she couldn't compare to her radiant and charming face many years later.

Sheng Yunxuan raised an eyebrow slightly, then continued:
"You need to be careful about your weight from now on. I'll have Fang Lan keep an eye on you!"

"Weight management..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianai's smile froze instantly.

Boss, do you think I'm too fat?
She was initially a little unhappy, since the young girl was quite sensitive about her weight.

But when she subconsciously touched her chubby cheeks, her initial displeasure vanished, and she felt a tightness in her chest.

Among ordinary people, her cuteness would be described as baby fat. But compared to Liu Yifei, whom she considers a rival in love and is of similar age…

Thinking about this, Zhang Tianai began to feel anxious and irritable!
Almost instantly, she made up her mind.

I absolutely have to lose weight, otherwise how am I supposed to win over my boss?

……

When Zhang Tianai was taken to get her makeup done, her small face was extremely serious, and it was unclear what she was thinking about.

The two didn't hold back their conversation, which was overheard by Yu Wenle, who was standing nearby.

After hesitating for a moment, Yu Wenle finally approached Sheng Yunxuan and respectfully said:

"Mr. Sheng, do you think I should change my current name?"

He only approached because he heard Sheng Yunxuan give Zhang Tianai a stage name.

Yu Wenle had just finished filming his scenes in "Dragon Tiger Gate" and arrived at the "Men's True Colors" crew around the same time as Sheng Yunxuan.

He is the second male lead in this movie. Apart from the main character Sheng Yunxuan and the character "Tian Sheng Yang" played by Wu Jing, Yu Wenle has the most screen time.

It's quite a coincidence that Sheng Yunxuan and he have such a connection. Including "Initial D," this is their third collaboration.

Speaking of which, this guy also believes in that Southeast Asian charlatan "White Dragon King," and had previously heard from people in the industry that Sheng Yunxuan could tell fortunes.

Then, I also learned some rumors about Sheng Yunxuan and the Fox Fairy Token from Xie Tingfeng...

When filming "Initial D", he didn't take Sheng Yunxuan, who "got lucky" to join the crew, seriously.

But now that he's heard about Sheng Yunxuan's affairs and rumors, his attitude has changed drastically. He even hopes that Sheng Yunxuan can help him see if he needs to change his stage name...

Sheng Yunxuan didn't really want to pay attention to Yu Wenle. Although there was no solid evidence, this guy's stance on matters of principle was very suspicious!
In addition, this guy didn't take Sheng Yunxuan seriously before, but now his attitude has changed because Sheng Yunxuan has become involved with those feudal superstitious things.

Sheng Yunxuan glanced at him and said somewhat perfunctorily:
"Your name is fine, you don't need to change it..."

Hearing Sheng Yunxuan say that her name was fine and didn't need to be changed, Yu Wenle was very happy and wanted to continue the conversation.

Sheng Yunxuan didn't really want to talk to him, but the crew was ready to start filming, so he used that as an excuse to get rid of Yu Wenle.

Just as they were about to start filming, they saw director Chen Musheng giving special attention to Jaycee Chan, pulling him aside to explain the scene.

Director Chen Musheng and Jackie Chan have collaborated many times and have a close relationship, so it's impossible for him not to take care of Jackie Chan!
Speaking of which, this guy's acting skills and looks are pretty good, but unfortunately he's Jackie Chan's son, and now he's the most well-connected star in the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

A few years ago there was a fantasy movie starring Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Leung Ka-fai, Daniel Wu, Chen Guanxi, Gillian Chung, and Charlene Choi.

So many well-known figures from Hong Kong's entertainment circle came, including Fan Binbin, who played a supporting role, just to support Jackie Chan's son. With Jackie Chan's thriving influence in East Asia and his connections even in Hollywood, Jackie Chan's son could still make a name for himself even if he wasn't ambitious.

Unfortunately, this kid isn't on the right path and has committed a major taboo here. Even if his father wanted to bail him out, it wouldn't work...

Well, that's a story for another time, so let's leave it at that.

The fact that the current Dragon Prince can play the third male lead in "Men's True Colors" can even be considered as "condescending" to some extent!

In other words, the male lead in the movie is not allowed to use a stunt double to film action scenes, which is considered hard work. Otherwise, how could Sheng Yunxuan have gotten the lead role?
……

Although Sheng Yunxuan had previously played the male lead in the movie "Protégé", that role was a "supporting male lead" with Andy Lau and Louis Koo in the cast, so it wasn't his turn to carry the box office.

This film, "The True Colors of Men," is Sheng Yunxuan's first true starring role, and its box office performance will be crucial!
The good box office results prove that Sheng Yunxuan has at least the ability to carry the box office.

If the box office performance is mediocre, it means that even if he is very famous, he does not actually have the ability to convert his fame into box office revenue, and there may not be any opportunities for him to star in movies in the future.

Therefore, the final box office performance of this movie is naturally very important to Sheng Yunxuan, and he will naturally pay more attention to it.

He, who had previously kept his abilities hidden on the set of "Dragon Tiger Gate", no longer held back and began to interfere with the action direction and design of the crew!
On set, when the action director came over to talk to Sheng Yunxuan and Wu Jing, Sheng Yunxuan immediately put his arm around Wu Jing and then clearly expressed his opinion:
"...Wouldn't it look more exciting if we changed it like this?"

Wu Jinglian, who was standing next to him, and the crew's action director saw the simple action moves that Sheng Yunxuan had just demonstrated. They subconsciously exchanged a glance and hesitated.

“The effect will naturally be much better… but Mr. Sheng, can you handle it?” The action director hesitated for a moment before replying in somewhat broken Mandarin.

Currently, Sheng Yunxuan holds a relatively privileged position within the production crew.

Even if the investors look down on him because he's from mainland China, they can't easily offend the male lead recommended by them.

In addition, the rumors currently being hyped up by Hong Kong gossip magazines have added a lot of mystery to him.

Given the customs and traditions of Hong Kong Island, most people, even if they don't believe it wholeheartedly, are at least somewhat skeptical, so they are naturally more cautious when dealing with Sheng Yunxuan...

Sheng Yunxuan nodded and said in a deep voice:
"It's not a big problem. I'll go talk to the director and let's try it out like this first!"

Since Sheng Yunxuan said that, even if problems arise, he would be the one to explain to the director, and the others would naturally not say anything more.

When Sheng Yunxuan approached director Chen Musheng, the director thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

The director clearly understands that this is an action movie, and the key to grabbing attention is the fight scenes!

Since Sheng Yunxuan wanted better results, he naturally wouldn't refuse...

The original film "Men's True Colors" starred Xie Tingfeng.

He wanted to become a "kung fu superstar," but unfortunately, his kung fu skills weren't good enough, so it felt like he was forcing himself to do it.

The protagonist is a tough and reckless fighter, and his combat prowess was quite high when he first appeared, even giving off a feeling similar to Jackie Chan's old police drama.

However, when faced with the villain "Tian Sheng Yang" played by Wu Jing, he immediately becomes a weakling.

Even the villain's final defeat was due to a shard of glass piercing the back of his head as he fell to the ground, which could be considered a plot device...

This film, "Men's True Colors," is considered a masterpiece of martial arts, but it is generally acknowledged to be inferior to Donnie Yen's later film, "Flash Point," naturally because the fight scenes are not as exhilarating and exciting to watch.

Now that the lead actor has been changed to Sheng Yunxuan, these issues naturally need to be addressed!
Sheng Yunxuan's martial arts foundation comes from imitating martial arts characters, so his style is naturally not the simple, hard-hitting kind, but rather more elegant and unrestrained.

In addition, when Sheng Yunxuan designed the action, he deliberately made it more realistic and the punches felt more visceral!

Why are the action scenes in Zhang Dahuzi's adaptations of Jin Yong's novels repeatedly criticized?
It's just too "fictional" and lacks a sense of reality!
The martial arts movements designed by Sheng Yunxuan himself are neither too fast nor too slow, with just the right number of moves, constantly switching between offense and defense, with a two-way tug-of-war of force, and are smooth, continuous and clear.

Meanwhile, Wu Jing, who was acting opposite Sheng Yunxuan, was also quite skilled in action scenes.

With their coordinated attacks, the precise targeting of each strike, the force of the punches, and the direction of the throws were all so seamless that the viewer could easily immerse themselves in the action without feeling any sense of incongruity.

It might even make the hearts of onlookers race and their blood boil!

Even director Chen Musheng, who was sitting in front of the monitor, was affected by this. He subconsciously leaned forward and eagerly grabbed the walkie-talkie to start directing the shots.

Because he has worked with Jackie Chan so many times, he inevitably picked up some of Jackie Chan's style in his action scenes.

His original idea for this action scene was that the action sequences featuring Sheng Yunxuan, the protagonist, should be more like those of Jackie Chan's "furniture market war god."

Cheng Long's action style is a path he forged himself. Others who try to imitate him will only end up like the man from Handan who tried to learn to walk in the same way but ended up being a poor imitation.

Sheng Yunxuan was unwilling to do so, so he personally participated in the design of the action scenes.

However, Chen Musheng was not unaware of Sheng Yunxuan's abilities. Even though Sheng Yunxuan's fighting style was not quite what he had imagined, he knew that Sheng Yunxuan was no ordinary person!
After a series of action scenes were filmed very smoothly, director Chen Musheng repeatedly looked at the various shots on the monitor, but he was not entirely satisfied.

It wasn't that Sheng Yunxuan and Wu Jing were bad at fighting; on the contrary, the fight scene was so exciting that the camera work couldn't keep up!

Chen Musheng was unwilling to do it half-heartedly, so he simply let Sheng Yunxuan and Wu Jing rest for a while, and then prepared to do it again.

Sheng Yunxuan naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement.

Actually, he didn't need to rest, but Wu Jing next to him was sweating and his face was flushed, so he looked like he needed to rest for a while...

Wu Jing, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but glance at Sheng Yunxuan.

Noticing that Sheng Yunxuan's face was not red and he was not out of breath, and he hadn't even sweated much, they couldn't help but click their tongues in amazement.

Goodness, putting aside his skill in action design, his stamina alone is amazing!

With her outstanding looks and charisma, and such impressive action scenes, it's no wonder she's doing better than me here in Hong Kong...

Sheng Yunxuan, who sat down next to him, also took the opportunity to check out his own cheat ability.

This is Sheng Yunxuan's eighteenth life simulation. After a quick glance at the simulation panel, he found there wasn't much to say.

Aside from the addition of 200 achievement points, there's not much else to say about the simulation experience or the rewards.

Well, let's just consider it as accumulating achievement points...

(End of this chapter)