Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 458 Liu Yifei is everywhere

Lantern Entertainment and director Denis Villeneuve disagreed on the casting of the female lead for "Arrival".

Denis Villeneuve surprisingly agreed to Lantern Entertainment's proposal immediately.

Because Li Qiutang proposed increasing the budget for actors, he asked Cate Blanchett to play the female lead, linguist Louis Banks, while the male lead would still be selected by Denis Villeneuve's production team.

Cate Blanchett is undoubtedly one of the best actresses today, and she's not old at all, not even 50, so playing a role like Louise is no problem for her.

The problem now is that Cate Blanchett may not accept the script for Arrival, and she is not currently in the United States. According to her agency, Cate is currently on vacation in her hometown of Australia, and she will be rehearsing a play in Australia this year, so she may not have time to perform in Arrival.

However, the Arrival production team still asked her agent to hand over the relevant information about the film to Kate, who was in Australia, hoping that she would star in it.

Li Qiutang is currently reviewing documents in his office, inwardly cursing, "Damn, English documents are really hard to read." He always mentally translates English documents into Chinese, and sometimes, for professional business English that he doesn't understand, he has to look it up online.

"Didn't you say you'd pour me coffee? Where's the coffee? Cathy's so slow."

The sound of footsteps approaching meant that Cathy had probably made the coffee and was coming.

"Your coffee, sir." A cup of coffee was placed next to Li Qiutang.

Few people in the company call her "sir," and this voice sounded so familiar. Li Qiutang looked up and saw that it was none other than Liu Yifei.

"How did you come?!"

"Surprised?"

"I was terrified." Li Qiutang put down the documents. "If you find out anything about this, I'm finished."

"Hey!" He couldn't even finish two sentences before he was being serious.

Li Qiutang smiled and asked her, "You don't have a job in China anymore? So you know to come to America to be with me?"

"Stop being so vain," but her hand was still being held by Li Qiutang. "I came to America for work, not to accompany you."

Li Qiutang retorted: "If you're not coming to keep me company, what are you doing at the company? Hurry up and leave, I'll pretend you were never here."

Liu Yifei wasn't going to leave. She picked up the English version of "The Story of Your Life" from the table and sat down to read it: "Don't worry about me. Go do what you need to do. I've booked a restaurant for dinner tonight."

Having no other choice, Li Qiutang picked up the phone and said, "I won't go to the banquet tonight. Let Michael go; it's the same if he goes."

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "I've committed a grave sin."

Li Qiutang waved her hand and said, "Don't give me that."

Li Qiutang finished her work early for the day, but Liu Yifei hadn't finished reading "The Story of Your Life": "Wait, there are still two pages left."

After waiting a few more minutes, she finally finished watching it.

"I know the story, but how do I adapt it into a film or television series?" At first glance, "The Story of Your Life" does seem impossible to adapt.

Li Qiutang then handed the script of "Arrival" to Liu Yifei: "Don't look at it here. Didn't you invite me to dinner? I'm hungry."

Liu Yifei invited Li Qiutang to a barbecue restaurant and told him that Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying were also in Los Angeles: "I was on the same flight as them, and they said they were here to audition for a movie."

Li Qiutang blurted out, "They haven't broken up yet."

Liu Yifei glared at him: "Hope someone does well."

Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying were reported by the media to have relationship crises at least three times last year. Huang Xiaoming was photographed by reporters going to bars late at night to get drunk several times. He was almost photographed bringing other women home to spend the night. Every time he said he wanted to break up, but every time he didn't.

Li Qiutang shut up and ate.

Then Liu Yifei vividly described to her husband what had happened in China during his absence.

Li Qiutang listened patiently, occasionally offering a few words of commentary.

"Jiang Yiyan acted in 'The Night Peacock'?" Li Qiutang was surprised when Liu Yifei told her about it. "But then again, she loves things like photography, poetry, and travel. She's a seasoned artsy young woman, so this kind of film suits her taste."

This time, Jiang Yiyan didn't betray her best friend, and Li Qiutang had no prejudice against her. She was so into playing the artsy girl game that she even believed it herself, which he found somewhat admirable.

"She's got good resources now. After filming 'The Four,' she must have met a lot of people in Hong Kong."

Liu Yifei didn't know much about it: "But judging from her manner of speaking and acting, she seems to be doing well." She was happy that her good friend was doing well. The two chatted about other people's business, ate and drank, and time passed quickly.

It's not advisable to wander around Hollywood at night, so the two finished their meal and left by car.

"Wait a minute." Li Qiutang parked the car in front of a convenience store and returned in less than two minutes after buying her things.

What to buy? Don't ask!

"I brought it," Liu Yifei said softly.

"You should have said so earlier. You wasted another $20 of my money. Things are really expensive abroad."

The two returned to the hotel, and Liu Yifei wanted to open another bottle of champagne to liven things up, but Li Qiutang didn't give her the chance at all.

"It would have been better if you hadn't come. Your arrival has only fueled my anger. What's the point of trying to create a good atmosphere?"

Director Li was a bit rough tonight, but the couple hadn't seen each other for so many days, and their passion was irresistible. Liu Yifei didn't care about that and instead immersed herself in her husband's slightly wild caresses.

Yes, it's very different from usual, and she likes it very much.

Li Qiutang only learned the next morning that Liu Yifei had come to the United States to audition for "Independence Day 2".

It was only then that Liu Yifei learned about the role she was auditioning for.

The second movie will introduce a character similar to Li Bingbing in "Transformers 4", who will appear for five or six minutes.

He's not really a soy sauce character; he's more of a supporting character with limited screen time.

It can be said that this was added specifically to make tickets sell better in China.

Liu Yifei was somewhat reluctant after learning what kind of role it was.

What roles did she play in Hollywood before?
Grace in Pacific Rim is still the female lead from beginning to end, even if she's just a supporting character; she's a staunch ally of the male protagonist.

But since she was already there, it was still necessary to meet with the director. However, the meeting between the director and Liu Yifei was scheduled for three days later, by which time she would have already adjusted to the time difference.

Meanwhile, Yang Ying and Huang Xiaoming, whose sleep schedules were upside down and who were still feeling groggy, arrived at Roland Emmerich's studio.

As an accompanying person, Huang Xiaoming was not allowed to enter the audition studio and could only sit outside the room drinking free coffee.

Knowing that Li Qiutang was also in Los Angeles, he sent her a text message inviting her and Liu Yifei to dinner that evening.

Li Qiutang had just woken up. She had been through a lot last night and her body was still a little sore.

Liu Yifei ate something casually and is now taking a nap.

"Xiaoming invited us to dinner tonight."

"Hmm." Liu Yifei didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

"I'll be back early tonight." Li Qiutang finished dressing, gave Liu Yifei another kiss on the lips, and went to work.

In Roland Emmerich's audition studio, the casting director inadvertently revealed to Yang Ying: "Many Chinese actresses have come to audition these past few days, and Crystal Liu will also be here in a few days."

Do you know Crystal Liu?

"I don't know him." Yang Ying was momentarily stunned. Was there such a person in China?

"Oh! She's the most famous actress in China, don't you know her? I really liked her performance in 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' and 'Lucy,' which was released last year, was absolutely fantastic!"

Yang Ying then realized that the casting director was referring to Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei is also vying for this role!
Yang Ying said, "Yes, she is the most famous actress in China." She wasn't foolish enough to speak ill of her co-star in front of the casting director.

The audition ended quickly. As she walked out of the audition room, Huang Xiaoming told her that he had made plans to have dinner with Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei that evening.

Yang Ying verbally agreed, but in her heart she thought, "Liu Yifei, Liu Yifei, why is she everywhere!"

(End of this chapter)