Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 31: Defining the Characters, Dr. Zhen

There were quite a few actors auditioning, including two scientists, one a Chinese living abroad and the other in China. A study on the Earth's crust brought the two, who had drifted apart, together again, this time underground.

Especially the Chinese scientists living abroad, who are featured throughout the entire film.

The required actors are all around thirty years old, and those from the snowy areas will also need to learn some Tibetan.

This film involves all of humanity and includes virtually all major languages.

There were many people at the audition, and everyone had received a script. Many actors felt their scalp tingle as soon as they opened the script.

Because the above is entirely in English.

This is no easy feat for the entertainment industry, whose members generally have limited education. They can manage spoken language, but when it comes to reading scripts written in English, some can't even understand them and give up on the spot.

Some celebrities breathed a sigh of relief after watching it, and smiles appeared on their faces.

One script eliminated 70% of the actors, including a bunch of actresses, leaving only a few.

"You've walked a lot?"

The assistant came in and told Chen Shouzhe that the interview consisted of only him and a few other screenwriters from the company who had worked with him on the script. They were just there to make up the numbers, and he was the one who made the final decision.

With many people gone, the tasks ahead will become much easier.

There are probably fewer than seven or eight male actors left, all of whom have studied abroad and are fairly proficient in English.

"What do you think?" Chen Shou asked, turning to the screenwriters beside him.

"Whether it's acting skills or delivery of lines, no one else can compare."

"He is perfectly suited for the role, but unfortunately he is not good-looking enough to play the third character."

“Then let’s keep auditioning. We can’t exactly go to Hollywood to find Chinese actors, can we?” Chen Shou said, unwilling to give up.

He didn't want to see the same fate as other co-productions, where they only managed to get a small role and then released a bunch of press releases. They had already given up enough; if they kept going, they would only be left with some minor roles.

The geologist's role is important; he must promote equality and ultimately open the spaceship's door to let everyone in.

Originally, the character was a Black man, but Chen Shou insisted on making him Chinese.

"Brother Xiaoming."

The next person to enter was Huang Xiaoming. Upon seeing him, Chen Shou nodded to himself. He had to admit that Huang was quite handsome, but his acting skills were inconsistent.

Zhou Xun introduced him a few days ago, and Chen Shou asked him to try out the role of a geologist. It seems to be going well so far, but I don't know how good his English is. I hope it's not a complete disaster.

Perhaps having planned ahead, Huang Xiaoming gave Chen Shouzhe a small surprise.

Despite his disheveled appearance, he was full of enthusiasm and passion.

"Brother Xiaoming, go back and wait for a bit," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Okay, Director Chen." Huang Xiaoming nodded and left.

The male actors were basically secured, but the competition for female actors was even fiercer, as it was already more intense than for male actors. However, an English script saved a lot of trouble. When Chen Shouzhe saw the first person to come in, he felt that she was not suitable.

"Good director."

Liu Yifei, she is too young.

"Hello, senior. You don't seem to be a Chinese citizen, do you?" Chen Shou asked. Liu Yifei replied somewhat nervously, "Yes, does it matter?"

"It's not really related. You're auditioning for the scientist's wife?"

"Yes."

"let's start."

She was undeniably beautiful, but Chen Shou still eliminated her.

Even when told directly that it wasn't suitable, this senior student didn't show any emotion; perhaps she already knew she was unlikely to get the role.

Some of the female artists who came in later didn't even understand English, but they still forced their way in for the audition, and Chen Shou very 'politely' rejected them.

"What are these things?" Chen Shou looked at the audition for Yang Zi's wife in the Heavenly Family, and it was even more appalling.

The next person to come in caught Chen Shou's eye. He immediately said in fluent English, "Hello, director, I'm here to audition for the role of Zhang Hua."

Li Baibing, one of the "Double Bing" (referring to two actresses), seems to have put in a lot of effort to improve her English because of her previous collaboration with Huayi Brothers.

"Sister Bai Bing, why don't you team up with Brother Yu?" Chen Shou instructed someone to open the door and invite a male actor out.

When Li Baibing saw the man who came out, she knew that a male role had been confirmed. She didn't expect it to be him, Lü Xiucai, who was known to everyone in the country. He was not only an outstanding actor, but also a true academic genius.

After the two tried it, Chen Shou looked at them for a moment and said, "You two have worked hard. We'll leave it to you."

A smile appeared on Li Baibing's face. She had finally won the role. She didn't care about the size of the role; it was enough for her to continue making inroads into the industry.

However, the geologist's choice put Chen Shouzhe in a difficult position. Huang Xiaoming? Or should he choose one of the Hong Kong actors? There were quite a few auditioning from Hong Kong, and many of them spoke English. But Chen Shouzhe couldn't possibly give the role to them.

Chen Shou was in a dilemma. He had to cast the actors quickly, as time was tight. The identity of a geologist was equivalent to the face of the country and needed to be showcased internationally. In fact, Columbia also hoped to use male actors from Hong Kong, such as Wu Yanzu and Nicholas Tse.

After two days of auditions, Chen Shouzhe finalized the casting of Huang Xiaoming, Yu Entang, Li Baibing, and Tian Tian. The audition results were announced along with those from Columbia.

"The disaster film '2012,' with a budget of $2 million, is produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by Roland Emmerich, and written by Chen Shouzhe. Casting is now complete. The cast includes: John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Peet, Huang Xiaoming, Yu Entang, and Li Baibing..."

The entertainment industry was in an uproar, with countless people calling to congratulate those on the list. A film with a $2 million investment was about to be released worldwide. Huang Xiaoming already had good relationships with people, and now he was even more popular.

Countless male actors felt envious and jealous, regretting that they hadn't learned a foreign language well, highlighting the importance of knowing a foreign language.

Some actors have learned a lot of foreign languages, but they didn't use them when necessary.

Chen Shouzhe has already taken his team to Hollywood for a period of training, which will involve both real-life locations and a lot of green screens.

Chen Shouzhe also had some filming tasks to handle and was discussing shot division with Roland, a top disaster film director. Both of them knew that time was tight and their filming needed to be sped up.

So they split into two groups. Chen Shou was in charge of some location shooting, such as the scene of the Louvre Museum curator's explosion in France, as well as the scenes in China. He also had to travel back and forth to shoot.

Roland was responsible for the studio shooting and post-production techniques.

After Chen Shouzhe revised the script, the first scene took place in a mine in Northwest China, but the filming location was actually in the United States; they didn't go back at all.

A former classmate discovered underground activity and informed a classmate working in the United States. That classmate then handed the data over to American politicians, thus initiating Project Ark.

The construction site is located on the world's highest plateau. At that time, the entire world will be submerged by seawater, and almost no place will be spared. The only option is to implement the Fire Seed Project.

(End of this chapter)