I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 458 NASA's Chinese-American Astronaut!

boom! boom! boom!
Chen Jin stood alone in the carriage, surrounded by flying zombie remains; he was in a bloodthirsty frenzy.

One zombie after another was sent flying by his fearless attacks, but even more zombies kept rushing towards Chen Jin's face.

Unending and continuous, the zombies in the rear carriages charged faster and faster.

It seems that Chen Jin has already ignited their fighting spirit.

In the end, Chen Jin was surrounded by countless zombies. He was no match for them, even with his strongest fighting skills.

The final result... is self-evident.

"..."

Director David Leitch and martial arts director Chad watched Chen Jin's fight scene intently on the monitor, and both of them, almost simultaneously, had already thought of the final character development for Chen Jin.

Slow motion!
Slow down, slow down even more.

Accompanied by stirring yet slightly melancholic background music, Chen Jin slowed down her movements as she killed one zombie after another.

A desolate and lonely scene.

The most glorious way for a soldier to die.

This is also the final scene of the movie in which Chen Jin plays a character, and it is also the last action scene that Chen Jin filmed for "Hong Kong Trip".

It was also... the last scene.

With the completion of filming for this scene, the character will also lose his life in the movie.

"Whoo~~~"

Why does David look so tragic?
He rubbed his face, then picked up the walkie-talkie next to him and shouted, "OK, cut!"

While filming in Hong Kong, David didn't learn Cantonese, but he did learn ka, dim sum, and a few simple Chinese phrases.

"It's done!"

"Chen Long has wrapped filming!"

Chad spoke in somewhat broken Chinese to Chen Jin, who was lying down.

He was so exhausted that he collapsed there.

Unlike previous shoots in Wuxi where segments were filmed and then cut, David felt that to capture the heroism of Chen Long's character, the final fight scene would be filmed in one continuous take, which would create a more impactful experience.

Indeed, that's exactly right. Add a touch of slow motion, and it becomes an incredibly moving and awe-inspiring finale.

Chen Jin agreed to this guy's suggestion, so this scene was very difficult to film.

Fortunately, the extras all worked very hard, and Chen Jin gritted her teeth and finished the job.

It passed on the first try.

If we film it again, it's really tiring to perform all the movements in one go.

After all, it's a challenging 2-3 minute shot; in slow motion in a movie, it might be 5 minutes.

This may seem like the end of Chen Long's character's story, but in fact, the filming was quite difficult and demanded a lot from the actors.

When Chen Jin saw this scene from "Train to Busan," Ma Dong-seok's shots were blurred, filmed from close up to far away. Although Chen Jin also had a blurred scene at the end, it was a transition from a clear fight to his death.

This approach is actually more gentle yet impactful.

Ma Dong-seok's broad back and the zombie-like change in his eyes were also preserved by Chen Jin, becoming the final still shot.

He was surrounded by countless zombies and used his body to block the exit until... his eyes turned white.

"OK, perfect!"

David looked at the footage he had just taken again, his smile growing even wider.

The more I look at it, the more I appreciate it.

These are definitely some of the most outstanding shots and the ending of the entire movie.

The way the second male lead died elevated the character's arc to a whole new level.

"Chan, don't you want to see your perfect performance just now?"

David spoke to Chen Jin, who was walking out of the set looking somewhat tired. Chen Jin waved her hand and said, "I need to rest now. I'll come back to check on you later!"

"Okay, thanks for your hard work!"

David shrugged, and Chen Jin stared at the zombie-like makeup as she walked step by step to the resting area.

Wang Yuanyuan handed him a glass of water, which Chen Jin finished in one go, and then began to enjoy his assistant's massage.

"Brother Jin, we can only rest for one day at most!"

While holding Chen Jin down, Wang Yuanyuan talked about the upcoming work schedule.

After filming wrapped on "A Trip to Hong Kong," Chen Jin's busy schedule truly began.

The agency team needs to immediately start various endorsements and auditions.

"The day after tomorrow we're going to Los Angeles to shoot a Rolex commercial, and in the afternoon we have an audition for 'Dallas Buyers Club'!"

"The Wolf of Wall Street is scheduled for the 21st, Louis Vuitton..."

"..."

Wang Yuanyuan whispered in Chen Jin's ear that these announcements were like a curse, and Chen Jin would hear them every two days.

In the words of Paula, the head of her own management team, the goal is to help artists develop muscle memory so that they will remember the words when they speak them, which will help their mindset.

Otherwise, suddenly telling him that the artist wasn't prepared would greatly affect his normal filming.

If it's just like chatting, mentioning it every now and then, Chen Jin will obviously be mentally prepared, which will also deepen his impression and make him keep it in mind. He might even think about it again after filming.

For example, Chen Jin had been studying the audition for "Dallas Buyers Club" for several days.

The role he auditioned for this time was the second male lead.

In the white-dominated world of Hollywood, even if a Chinese movie star is very famous, it is actually very difficult to get the lead role; even if he has the top assistant team from the top five talent agencies in the United States, UTA, it is still very difficult.

However, there is one advantage to being a "leader" at UTA: at least these big-name directors' art films are willing to give you an audition opportunity.

For UTA's sake.

Whether or not an actor is selected depends on their performance and skill level.

However, the film "Dallas" received six Oscar nominations in its previous life, which is obviously unknown to the director and investor Focus Features.

This is one of Chen Jin's advantages.

He had checked the news and found that he had performed very well in the supporting roles he had auditioned for.

In particular, Dallas won three major awards at the Oscars the year after it was released, including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

That supporting male role could be played by a Chinese actor.

Otherwise, Paula wouldn't have received the audition invitation, because there are no restrictions on race.

The same applies to films like "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Budapest." There are no racial restrictions on the roles, so Asian actors can give it a try. For example, the male lead in "Budapest" is a doorman who fled war-torn hometowns to Budapest.

The major roles that Lola mentioned, such as Quicksilver from Marvel and characters from Pacific Rim, seem to still be under negotiation.

Therefore, characters in commercial films are actually more valuable in the eyes of investors.

Because they know these movies are sure to be big hits, they are very selective about casting, and some even publicly ask for roles to attract investment; while for art films, the chances of winning awards are not high, so it is much easier to get audition slots for roles.

These are some of the unspoken rules of Hollywood.

As for some independent films, such as "Whiplash," which Chen Jin is optimistic about, there's even less of a problem.

This director is short of money and is a newcomer. If someone invests, all he needs to do is change the background of a character, isn't that a piece of cake?!
The only exception should be the one that Chen Jin herself is quite optimistic about – The Martian!
Andy doesn't really want to sell.

Chen Jin hadn't called him yet, but Joel from her team had given him his contact information and told him about their email conversation. The main issue... was race.

He didn't quite understand why people of Asian descent were buying the copyrights to his books.

Normally, someone short of money would sell without hesitation, but Andy, the author of "Mars," was quite principled. He insisted that Chen Jin personally call him and persuade him before he would sell.

So these past few days, besides reading the script for "Dallas," Chen Jin has been thinking about a strategy to buy "The Martian."

Chen Jin has finished reading this book. It's not long, only about 20 words, and it took him two days to finish.

Moreover, the reading was completed through step-by-step, sentence-by-sentence thinking.

Finally, Chen Jin did some research.

"almost!"

Chen Jin opened his eyes and felt that his energy and spirit had recovered somewhat. Then he turned on his phone, found the WhatsApp contact information that Joel had sent him a few days ago, and added it directly.

It wasn't until evening that Chen Jin received the notification that the other party had accepted her request.

"you are?"

Andy Weir sent me a message.

To be honest, Chen Jin admired this guy quite a bit, because while researching these past two days, he inevitably came across the story of how this book became a bestseller.

It's fair to say that fans single-handedly propelled "The Martian" to the top of Amazon's charts and the number one spot.

After its release, it clearly gained a group of enthusiastic fans.

Andy himself never expected that his novel, which he updated for free on his personal website, would earn him so much money, allowing him to watch the Amazon book sales chart climb step by step every day.

It's already in the top 100 of e-books, and it's about to break into the top 50!

"Good evening, Mr. Andy. My friend Joel should have contacted you!"

"I am an actress from China. You can call me 'Chan'!"

Chen Jin didn't call him directly, but instead showed this "socially anxious person" enough respect, as strangers are still quite resistant to strangers.

Not to mention making a phone call.

"Hello, Chan!"

Andy replied quickly, which shows that he is willing to communicate with you.

In other words, he has the idea of ​​selling the copyright, which means we may need to persuade him.

Chen Jin analyzed quickly, saying, "The Martian is truly a brilliant science fiction novel. I was completely engrossed in the parts about botany. I really think the idea of ​​growing potatoes on Mars is very creative!"

"..."

Chen Jin didn't directly say she wanted to buy the copyright to "Mars," but instead talked to him about the book's content.

A creator certainly hopes that their book will be recognized, especially by readers who have clearly read it before; the author will be even happier with their opinions.

"Thank you. May I ask how you came to know about my novel?"

Are you in North America?

Andy knew that Chen Jin was of Chinese nationality, and that Joel had personally sent him the email.

"Yes, I'm in North America!"

"And I'll probably be here for the next while; my recent work has been in Hollywood!"

"I was a bit bored and just killing time when I unexpectedly came across your masterpiece!"

Chen Jin started talking to him as if he were an old friend.

"Haha, that's it!"

"I thought my novel had been reposted on a Chinese online community?"

"In the future, definitely, I believe it!"

"I don't think it's as good as you say..."

"..."

The two started talking and began to chat.

Then, Chen Jin brought up a topic: "As far as I know, there are many Chinese Americans working at NASA, including several astronauts!"

"Oh? Really? I certainly believe there are Chinese Americans at NASA, but are there astronauts too?"

"Yes, you can look it up. There are several. The most famous one should be Jiao Lizhong. He was the first Chinese person to go into space!"

"I remember now, it's Leroy Chiao?"

"Yes, that's him. His parents are both Chinese!"

"He embarked on his first space mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1994, and a few years ago he joined the International Space Station and became its first Chinese-American stationmaster, using 'Shandong' as his mission call sign!"

"This is one of our provinces in China, and it's also his hometown!"

"Anymore?"

Andy was clearly very curious; it's normal for a writer to have such a thirst for knowledge.

"Yes, Franklin Chang. You've probably heard of him. He was NASA's first Chinese-American professional astronaut, and he flew into space in the 80s..."

"..."

Chen Jin was telling Andy about some information she had found about Chinese astronauts over the past few days. Andy actually understood why Chen Jin was telling him so much.

But he still wanted to hear it.

He already understood Chen Jin's purpose in telling him so much.

But just as he had thought, Chen Jin might have bought the rights to "The Martian" to make a movie and make money, or to sell the rights to Hollywood. He never imagined that Chen Jin wanted to make it herself!

The kind where you star in or film it yourself.

But now, Andy, who is Gao Chengsheng, has already figured it out.

Otherwise, why would Chen Jin have mentioned so many Chinese astronauts to him?

He said all this just to emphasize one thing: there are Chinese astronauts in North America, and there are many of them.

He probably wanted to play Mark himself to complete the filming of this movie.

Although Mark was a North American astronaut, the book doesn't mention his race. At the beginning of the novel, he also mentions several astronauts, covering almost all races, including Black people!

From the novel's perspective, North American readers would naturally categorize Mark directly as a white person.

Can people of Chinese descent be included?

This is a question that Andy is currently pondering.

"I really love this novel and want to make it into a film, with myself playing Mark!"

"I think I can tell this story well!"

"I won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival!"

After laying so much groundwork, Chen Jin finally revealed her purpose.

"Sorry, let me think about it, is that alright?"

Andy's resolve had indeed softened somewhat.

Deep down, he didn't really care who played Mark; what mattered was whether the novel "The Martian" could be adapted into a good film.

It's like his child; he definitely hopes the movie will have a good outcome after its release!
(End of this chapter)