Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 39 Each Holding Their Own Opinions
at the same time.

In the audition room on the third floor, Wang Qian stood up unwillingly and asked in a fit of anger, "Why? What's wrong with my performance?"

If it were a TV series from another region, she wouldn't be this upset about being rejected, but this is a production team from her hometown, and she put in her utmost effort.

"Xiao Wang, don't get excited."

Zhang Yan twirled the ballpoint pen in his hand and asked in return, "Your hometown is Tianjin, right?"

"Of course!"

Wang Qian, suppressing her anger, questioned again, "Does our Tianjin film crew discriminate against Tianjin actors?!"

"of course not."

Zhang Yan dared not take the blame for this, and he quickly explained, "The male lead is from Tianjin, but the female lead is from out of town, and the plot is also..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Qian interrupted, "Wasn't that something you deliberately created to find that person..."

"cough~"

Yan Xiaoming hurriedly interrupted Wang Qian and scolded, "According to the plot, the female lead only temporarily joined the Economic Development Zone Public Security Bureau because she wanted a spot in Tianjin—your daughter was born and raised in Tianjin along the Haihe River. What does it have to do with you whether she stays in Tianjin or not?"

Ma Huiwu chimed in, "Your looks and temperament are actually quite suitable for playing a female detective, but our drama is all about contrast. The more you fit the image of a detective, the less suitable you become."

[PS: Wang Qian's most iconic role is Ji Jie from the Serious Crimes Unit 6.]

Wang Qian was speechless after hearing this. How did all her advantages turn into disadvantages?
After all, she had helped him before, so Zhang Yan personally saw her to the door: "Xiao Wang, don't take it to heart. If there's a suitable opportunity next time..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Qian turned around and glared at him before running downstairs.

Seeing that the other party didn't appreciate it, Zhang Yan could only shrug helplessly and turn back to the audition room.

After a day of ups and downs, around 7 p.m., we finally managed to screen all the girls who came for auditions.

Five people made it to the second round of interviews.

These are Jiang Shan from the Central Academy of Drama's 87 class, with a still from the 1991 drama 'Flaw' attached:
Yu Feihong, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy's 89 class, with a still from 90:

Xu Fan, a student from the Central Academy of Drama's class of '87, pictured in an unknown year:
Chen Hong, a graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Academy's Class of '86, is pictured:
There was also a girl who wasn't formally trained in acting, but she was very good-looking and had a great presence. Judging from her manner of speaking, she probably didn't come from an ordinary family.

Among them, Chen Hong impressed Zhang Yan the most. She had the most impressive resume, was the most beautiful, and her temperament matched the female lead's character. Moreover, she was a fan of his book.

At first, Zhang Yan also suspected that she was faking it, but when he asked a few questions casually, Chen Hong answered them fluently, which was obviously not something she had learned at the last minute.

Then there's Xu Fan and that non-professional girl; both of them are good enough to be the female lead.

As for Yu Feihong and Jiang Shan, they each have their own shortcomings. Jiang Shan's problem lies in her baby fat, while Yu Feihong's problem lies in her temperament—the young and adorable fairy appears a bit too well-behaved.

But apart from these two points, they performed very well in other aspects, so after discussing with Ma Huiwu and Yan Xiaoming, Zhang Yan decided to give them another chance.

After finalizing the five candidates, Zhang Yan gave them the prepared dialogue and told them to come back to the hotel at 2 pm the next day for the second round of auditions.

After seeing the five girls off...

Everyone sat around the table with their boxed lunches in hand, and then they shared their opinions.

To Zhang Yan's surprise, Ma Huiwu's favorite was Jiang Shan, because he felt the girl's acting was very powerful; while Yan Xiaoming's favorite was Yu Feihong, because the girl seemed well-behaved and sensible, and definitely wouldn't cause trouble for the crew. Well~
This is exactly the opposite of what Zhang Yan thought.

He didn't expect these two to still listen to him during the re-examination, so he argued his case and explained why he didn't think highly of them.

Ma Huiwu was quickly convinced, after all, physical appearance is hard to compensate for with acting skills.

But Yan Xiaoming insisted on his opinion, believing that temperament could be made up for by acting skills, and besides, isn't the director responsible for training actors?
He also pointed out that Chen Hong was too beautiful, and that the female lead in the early stages of the play was often melancholy because she was not assigned to the troupe.

At this moment, Chen Daoming suddenly said, "If we're talking about someone who's melancholy, Xu Fan is clearly the most suitable."

indeed.

Xu Fan had a faint sense of melancholy, but it didn't seem bitter. Instead, it gave people the feeling that he was calmly thinking.

But Chen Hong...

Seeing that the three had conflicting accounts, Ma Huiwu took the initiative to smooth things over, saying, "Let's see how things go tomorrow afternoon. Maybe the results will be clear after the second round of testing."

…………

the other side.

Chen Hong returned to her rented room and stared blankly at the script she had just received for a long while.

Although she successfully made it to the second round of interviews, she felt no joy whatsoever. Recalling the moment when she took out a magazine and asked Zhang Yan to sign it, she even felt a little aggrieved.

Chen Hong didn't mean to look down on "Tianjin Wei". In fact, because she had been reading Zhang Yan's novels, she had a lot of confidence in Zhang Yan's writing and stories, otherwise she wouldn't have taken the initiative to audition.

She just couldn't understand why, after already playing the lead role in a movie, she had been reduced to only being able to find opportunities on the small screen.

After a while, Chen Hong finally composed herself and opened her script.

The content is not much, less than four hundred words in total, but it still reflects Zhang Yan's writing style—humorous and witty, with a few memorable quotes popping out from time to time.

For example, this sentence: You think it's easy to be kind? No, kindness is the hardest thing. Kindness without teeth is weakness, kindness with teeth showing is malice!

Based on the context, the male and female protagonists seem to be arguing about whether a seemingly simple and honest genius boy is a suspect in the crime, while also expressing their respective attitudes towards life.

The dozen or so lines of dialogue, varying in length and pace, aptly showcased the stances and personalities of the male and female protagonists.

Chen Hong already had confidence in Zhang Yan's writing skills, and now, after carefully savoring the lines, she felt even more strongly that this drama was likely to be a hit.

So she made up her mind to do her best to seize this opportunity.

The reason she has encountered setbacks repeatedly over the past six months is not only because she has not yet made up her mind to compromise, but also because she does not have enough fame or representative works.

If she can make a breakthrough with this TV series, she believes that with her beauty and talent, she will definitely be able to make a comeback on the big screen!

As for whether she could land the role, Chen Hong felt she had a strong advantage. First, the screenwriter Zhang Yan, who had connections, clearly had a very good impression of her. Second, the movie she starred in happened to be a police thriller.

Recalling the lessons learned from filming the movie, Chen Hong began to repeatedly read her lines in front of the mirror. After memorizing all the lines, she began to constantly adjust her tone and intonation, trying to better showcase the power of the lines.

However, she had no intention of staying up late and went to bed at 10 p.m.

After all, her greatest asset right now is her outstanding appearance. If she looks haggard because of staying up late, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
(End of this chapter)