1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 62 Audition
"Sis, are you finally going to find me a brother-in-law?"

Gong Xue had dressed up specially for her audition today, which resulted in her being teased by her younger sister, Gong Ying.

"Don't talk nonsense, I'm just going to audition."

"An audition?" Gong Ying asked in surprise, "Has another production team contacted you?"

"Ah."

What play is it?

"It's called 'The Tuner'."

The Gong family is considered a musical family, so when Gong Xue mentioned a piano tuner, Gong Ying immediately added, "A piano tuner?"

"I think so." Gong Xue nodded. She hadn't read the script and wasn't sure of the specifics.

Five minutes later, Gong Xue finished getting ready and said to her sister, "Okay, I'm going out now. Gong Ying, wish me good luck."

"Hehe, I wish my older sister all the best in winning the lead role!"

With her family's blessings in hand, Gong Xue walked into the Shanghai Film Studio and went straight to the audition room that the "The Tuner" crew had temporarily set up for that day.

Although she arrived half an hour earlier than usual, there were still quite a few people outside the audition studio who had arrived even earlier than her.

However, the auditions haven't started yet, since they haven't officially started working.

Although Gong Xue had audition experience before, it was all by invitation only. This was the first time she had participated in a competitive, open audition.

She didn't think much of it when she arrived, but when she got there and saw a bunch of people waiting to audition, she suddenly became nervous.

"Wow, so many people have come." Chen Fusheng arrived at his workplace twenty minutes earlier than usual today, and was startled by the number of people waiting outside the audition studio for auditions.

He roughly counted, and there were probably forty or fifty people.

This is a much larger number of people than when I auditioned for "Cow" at Emei Film Studio.

It can only be said that Shanghai Film Studio truly deserves its reputation as one of the top film studios in the country!

Good morning, Comrade Fusheng.

Chen Fusheng nodded to Gong Xue, who stood up and greeted him, and exchanged a brief greeting: "Good morning, have you had breakfast?"

"have eaten."

"It's good that you've eaten. If you haven't, go and have breakfast first. I see there are quite a lot of people auditioning today, so you'll probably have to wait a long time." Chen Fusheng deliberately raised his voice, actually speaking to everyone present.

After speaking, he looked at Gong Xue again and, seeing that she was a little nervous, couldn't help but encourage her: "Relax, do your best, I look forward to your performance!"

"Thank you Fu... no, thank you screenwriter Chen." Gong Xue had just heard someone call her that, so she changed her address accordingly.

Chen Fusheng frowned slightly upon hearing this, but did not insist that Gong Xue change it back. He nodded to her again, chatted with the others for a few more minutes, and then walked into the audition studio.

"Fusheng, you've finally arrived."

"What do you mean I'm finally here? There are still more than ten minutes before I have to go to work."

The producer assigned to them by the Film Bureau, Zhou Hong, interrupted Chen and Han's bickering: "Since everyone is here, I think we shouldn't wait any longer, let's start the auditions."

“Sure, sure,” Bao Qicheng agreed.

Neither of the two photographers had any objections, so the audition for "The Tuner" officially began at 7:50 a.m.

……

"Good morning, examiners. My name is Zhang Yu, I am 23 years old. I have acted in works such as 'Spring Seedling,' 'The Second Spring,' 'Ah! Cradle,' and 'Romance on Lushan Mountain.' This time, I would like to audition for the role of Su Manqing."

The list of roles for this audition was posted on the Shanghai Film Studio's bulletin board last week when the production team announced the audition schedule, so the actors who auditioned at least knew which roles were available.

However, the character's lines were not released because they would be used as one of the standards for assessing the actor's improvisation and basic skills. "Comrade Zhang Yu, here are some of Su Manqing's lines. Come over and randomly draw two. I'll give you three minutes to prepare. You can start performing in three minutes."

After the other examiners finished asking their questions, Chen Fusheng took out some of Su Manqing's lines that he had prepared in advance, unfolded them face down in front of Zhang Yu, and let her choose.

Zhang Yu had actually received some hints from Assistant Director Bao beforehand and had made some preparations, but when she saw that the two lines she drew were completely unfamiliar, she immediately felt that all her previous preparations had been in vain.

After a two-second mental blank, Zhang Yu could only grit his teeth and begin to prepare the two new lines he had just drawn.

These two lines of dialogue are:

"(Narrator: On her first date with Chen Mo in a coffee shop) They say you're blind... but your piano playing contains the romance of the entire rainy season. If you can't see, how can you capture the colors in the notes?"

(Narrator: Chen Mo is pinned against the outer wall of the police station) Lin Meifeng's husband's body is in the refrigerator. The police said the old lady fell accidentally... But you were there that night! What role did you play?

The first line of dialogue is about Su Manqing's new relationship with Chen Mo. She is curious about him, a little tentative, and a little admiring. These are all the emotions that this line of dialogue is meant to express.

The second dialogue is about Su Manqing's trust in Chen Mo collapsing, which is more difficult and requires acting out the progression of emotions from doubt to shock to collapse.

Zhang Yu's performance in the first segment was passable; at least she captured the curiosity and playfulness of a young girl. However, her interpretation of the lines in the second segment was rather poor.

Because Zhang Yu has a round face and is a sweet-looking girl, she used anger to deliver the second-generation lines, but she couldn't let go of her emotions, so it looked very awkward.

"Okay, thank you for auditioning, Comrade Zhang Yu. We will post the audition results on the bulletin board," Han Sanping said, which was tantamount to seeing him off.

After Zhang Yu left, Bao Qicheng stole a glance at the score Chen Fusheng, who was sitting next to her, had given her, and felt that things were a bit precarious.

The next person to enter was Chen Chong.

It was obvious that this person had cut in line, but since no one outside had commented, those inside naturally wouldn't say anything either.

Chen Chong also auditioned for the role of Su Manqing, and naturally, she went through the same audition process as Zhang Yu.

The two lines she drew were:

"(Narrator: Strolling through the streets with the male lead Chen Mo, in the ambiguous period of their budding romance) My father said that being a blind sound engineer is a cruel profession... always repairing other people's voices, while living in a world of darkness themselves."

"(Narrator: Breaking ties with the male lead, shaking off his outstretched hand) Using my kindness as a cover for you? How ironic... I actually fell in love with a savior I created myself!"

Next, after Chen Chong finished her performance, she received a slightly higher score than Zhang Yu.

Gao's advantage lies not in her better acting skills, but in the fact that her image and the role are a better fit than Zhang Yu's.

However, Chen Fusheng scored the lowest in this round.

……

"Hello everyone, my name is Gong Xue, I am 27 years old. I have acted in two movies. The first one is 'Sacrifice to the Red,' directed by Zhang Xingshi, in which I played a mother and daughter. The second movie is 'Good Things Take Time,' directed by Song Cong, in which I played the role of Liu Fang."

"Comrade Gong Xue, what role do you want to audition for?"

“I want to audition for the role of Su Manqing.” Gong Xue knew that Chen Chong and Zhang Yu were both competing for the role, but she also wanted to give it a try.

Because she may appear delicate on the outside, but deep down she is actually a very strong-willed person.

Gong Xue drew Zhang Yu's second line, which was at the end when she met Chen Mo again. After they left the restaurant, they sighed into the air: "He should have been Chopin reincarnated...if he hadn't gone blind!"

Gong Xue's acting skills are not particularly good, but her biggest advantage is that she is beautiful!
She is the kind of flower that, even when placed among other flowers, still blooms the most beautifully.

After Gong Xue finished her performance and left, Han Sanping couldn't help but glance at Chen Fusheng's score, and said with an expression of "I knew it," "I knew you gave her a high score."

How much did you call?

"Hehe, I'm a bit taller than you."

After they finished interviewing the last person who came for an audition that afternoon, Chen Fusheng looked at the list and realized that his worst fears had come true...

(End of this chapter)