Global Film Emperor

Chapter 256 A Genius!

September 25th, sunny, Shanghai Magnolia Theatre.

Following the navigation, Lu Ze arrived at the theater's parking lot and then walked to the theater entrance to attend the rehearsal of the children's play "The Little Bird with Broken Wings".

When Song Guiyuan left Lu Ze's house yesterday, he left the script behind. From the first glance at the script, his first impression was that it was too simple. But he immediately realized that this was not a play for adults; it was supposed to be simple and pure.

After gaining a deeper understanding of the script, he also understood the creator's good intentions: to use the simplest story to encourage these "extraordinary" children. Speaking of which, the script was written by the well-known domestic children's author "Candy Dad," whose children's stories Lu Ze had read when he was young.

Perhaps to most adults, it seems very monotonous, lacking a complex storyline, and quite simplistic and childish. But Lu Ze treated it like a treasure. After Song Guiyuan left, he immersed himself in the thin story, reading it repeatedly until late at night.

There weren't many people in the theater today because there were no plays being performed. Posters for "The Little Bird with Broken Wings" had already been put up on the poster board outside.

The poster looked quite meaningful. It was pure black, with a child dressed in a bird costume sitting on the ground. The prop on the child's arm was broken, and the child looked aggrieved and pitiful. But directly above the child was a fiery red sun, with very warm colors. Lu Ze liked it, took out his phone, took a picture, and uploaded it to Weibo.

"It's my first time performing in a play, so I'm a little nervous. I hope the children like it (smiley face)."

After uploading, Lu Ze walked up the steps, took the work pass that Song Guiyuan had given him yesterday, showed it to the security guard at the entrance, filled out the registration form, and entered the theater. However, he did not know that because of this Weibo post, he was subjected to large-scale ridicule from his own fans.

"A children's play, huh? Hahaha, the movie star is so nervous performing in a children's play. I don't know what to say except laugh. Oh well, I'll just kowtow to everyone."

Lu Ze: Kids, don't I look cute? I'm a beautiful girl~ (blushing emoji)

"After performing so many tragedies, now you're telling me to perform a children's play? Tell me which theater it's in, and I'll go and persuade them to refund their tickets so as not to traumatize the children."

The Children's Association strongly condemns this! (dog face)

The majority of the comments were jokes. After all, it's obvious that Lu Ze, an award-winning actor, is nervous about acting in a children's play. It's been almost half a year since Lu Ze last posted on Weibo. You finally updated, but you're just fooling us fans. Lu Ze, are you treating us like kids?
However, quite a few people still know the significance of this drama. They may have learned about it from the children of their relatives who have seen it, or from the guests of other city tours, or from Lu Ze's fans who have paid attention to it, or even from searching on search engines.

All the fans who know the actual situation are now doing their best to stop other uninformed netizens from making fun of him, because they know what kind of audience this play is aimed at, and they see Lu Ze's nervousness not as a joke, but as very heartwarming.

"The Little Bird with Broken Wings, written by Chai Boyi (pen name: Candy Dad), a renowned children's author in China, is a play created for children with intellectual disabilities. In 2020, Chai Boyi himself adapted it into a play of the same name, which was jointly organized by the State Administration of Culture, Huaxia Conservatory of Music, Beijing Drama University, and the Department of Literature of Beijing University, and toured seventy cities to provide free performances for children with intellectual disabilities. Chai Boyi donated all the copyright fees and other income from The Little Bird with Broken Wings to the Huaxia Children's Charity Foundation. Now do you know what Lu Ze is so nervous about?"

"I'm suddenly worried that the kids won't like this play. Lu Ze is nervous, but he's an award-winning actor, so he must have a strong heart. I believe he can handle it."

"I just bought the e-book version of this fairy tale. It wasn't expensive, only 1.2 yuan. I took a look and I think it's pretty good. Kids should like it. I saw that there's also this promotion on the e-bookstore. The app doesn't take a cut of the revenue from this fairy tale; it all goes to the children's charity foundation. It's not morally coercing. I only have one account, so I can only buy one e-book. But I just ordered a physical copy for 18.5 yuan. I'll read it to my daughter as soon as it arrives."

Lu Ze's fans are mostly older, not quite seventy or eighty, but most are adults, and many have even started families. They are more rational, so they never get into fights with other people's idols and cause trouble for Lu Ze.

However, their spending on their idol is equally rational. Aside from buying a few movie tickets for Lu Ze, they don't even own a single Lu Ze poster at home. In terms of stinginess, Lu Ze's fans are the most miserly. Therefore, even when Lu Ze accepts endorsements, he never promotes them on Weibo, because he knows that even if he does, sales won't be any better.
But now, the fans are supporting him. Perhaps it shouldn't be said that they are supporting Lu Ze, but rather that they are supporting the meaning of the work itself. They hope to help these children in need, and all they are giving is the cost of a meal.

This phenomenon also achieved the leaders' intentions; why did they invite celebrities to participate in the performances? It was for this effect.

In just one hour, the digital version sold over 60,000 copies, while the physical version sold over 10,000 copies. This fairy tale, which was originally published in 2003, has been given a second life thanks to everyone's love and support. Including the purchases by fans of other tour guests, the physical version of this book has sold one million copies this year.

Lu Ze's Weibo comment section was also flooded with heartwarming messages: "Lu Ze, don't let the children down! The children should enjoy watching! (heart)"

This is how older fans encourage children. Many of them are parents themselves, and their blessings for the children are more genuine than those of younger fans. They approach these children with the love of parents, rather than simply following the trend and posting what others are posting.

Right now, Lu Ze is wearing a prop costume made of a big tree, with only his face showing. This thing is quite heavy and of very good quality. He is wearing gloves and is gesticulating wildly as he delivers his lines. His body language is very exaggerated and clumsy, which makes Song Guiyuan cover his mouth and chuckle backstage.

Having grown accustomed to Lu Ze's awe-inspiring performances on set, terrifying everyone from the director to the crew, seeing Lu Ze like this now was surprisingly refreshing and exhilarating! He had never seen Lu Ze like this before; he seemed a bit goofy? That was a fitting description.

Moreover, because the performance styles of film and television dramas and stage plays are different, Lu Ze was very uncomfortable with this kind of performance style, where the lines were so full of emotion that they sounded like a primary school student reading a text, and the body movements were so exaggerated that they were exaggerated. As a result, he was often scolded by the director. This director was the head of the directing department of the Beijing Academy of Drama, with a frighteningly high seniority. Moreover, he was also a judge of the previous Golden Rooster Awards. Even for a big-name actor like Lu Ze, he would scold him without hesitation.

Although any student with a basic understanding of theatrical performance could handle this play, it was, after all, a political task. The minimum requirement for participation was a graduate student in the performing arts department. At this moment, Lu Ze looked at Lu Ze with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.

It's a common phenomenon that people from academic backgrounds look down on those from humble backgrounds. No matter how well a person from humble background does, as long as they have a rustic air about them, they have a reason to look down on them. And now, Lu Ze's performance is considered very clumsy and even ridiculous by them. Can you believe that someone who can't even act well in a children's play has won three Best Actor awards?
Don't say that it's a movie and this is a stage play; they're not the same thing. In the eyes of a nitpicking troll, they're the same.

They had forgotten the awe Lu Ze had brought them when they watched his movies. Instead, watching Lu Ze's actions gave these students the illusion that they could do the same. To put it bluntly, behind their disdain lay a deep jealousy of Lu Ze's status.

"Lu Ze! You're holding back again! You need to express your emotions fully! I'll say it again, this isn't a movie! You're not facing an adult audience, they're just kids! They won't see anything deep! Don't use your movie acting style in a stage play! Control your performance! Keep it simple! Be concise! Understand?"

"Understood, Director!"

Lu Ze poked his head out of the prop, took the towel that Song Guiyuan threw to him, wiped his sweat-dampened hair, drank some water to replenish his fluids, and picked up the handle of the big tree. Because of the diameter limitation of the prop, he couldn't take a long stride and could only take small, shuffling steps, running away into the distance, looking extremely comical.

Although he was scolded quite a bit, he still enjoyed it. It felt like he was back in his days as an extra, being bossed around by the director and working up a sweat. You know, people are just naturally inclined to be pampered. He'd been used to being praised these past few years, so being scolded now actually felt pretty good.

The main reason he wasn't used to it was that he was used to acting in movies, and he wasn't used to a different way of expressing himself. Besides, the courses in the system space had taught Lu Ze how to act like an ordinary person and how to act like a criminal, but they had never taught Lu Ze how to act like a big tree!

In other words, trees in movies and TV shows are just trees, standing there, their leaves rustling and branches swaying gently in the wind, and then what? Nothing more. But trees in stage plays might have thoughts, no longer just background props, and they might even become sentient and talk.

"Teacher Chen, have some water. Have you ever seen someone as stupid as Lu Ze? Hahaha, it's hilarious."

Song Guiyuan, true to his reputation as a mischievous friend, was overjoyed to see Lu Ze like this. He figured if he kept laughing for a couple more days, his abs would look like those of an ab ripper. But when his gaze shifted to the director, he saw his obvious disapproval.

"No, he's not stupid. If he were stupid, there would be no smart people."

Although she kept scolding Lu Ze, Teacher Chen noticed that Lu Ze was improving at an astonishing pace. From being completely clueless when he first put on the props to now being able to make almost no mistakes, how long had it been? Less than two hours.

This speed surprised him. You could say the play was simple, but even the simplest play in university still requires teachers to teach students step by step when they first start. It takes about two weeks for students to be able to perform this simple play completely.

And what about Lu Ze? No one taught him step by step, or even taught him. Teacher Chen only told Lu Ze not to act in a certain way, but did not teach Lu Ze how to act. This can be regarded as Teacher Chen's test of Lu Ze.

Lu Ze relied on guessing and observing how others acted, then imitated their performances. Yet, he managed to act so well; one has to admire his skill.

Teacher Chen understood why Lu Ze had progressed so quickly. He was a natural talent for acting, with top-notch natural talent and aptitude. Even without anyone teaching him, he could achieve something with his talent and aptitude once he entered the industry. Moreover, he had heard that Lu Ze was a hard-working person who worked himself to the bone. So, Teacher Chen was not surprised at all that he had achieved his current success and status.

Looking at Lu Ze on stage, his face flushed from the heat, the sweat reflecting off his skin under the spotlight, yet he still gritted his teeth and acted with the others, Teacher Chen couldn't find a single fault with Lu Ze.

He could only feel regret and lament that someone as talented as Lu Ze didn't have the opportunity to go to university or enter an academy for systematic learning. As a result, asking Lu Ze to change his self-developed, unorthodox approach to acting was tantamount to crippling his skills. If he didn't use this method, he would have to start all over again from scratch, and whether he could perform as well as he does now was still an unknown.

And what else could one marvel at? One could only marvel at Lu Ze's extraordinary talent and learning ability. All the words of praise stuck in Teacher Chen's throat, and in the end, only three words came out.

"A genius!"

"."

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(End of this chapter)