Abstract Art Award Winner

In the courtyard of the National Theatre of China, which is full of artistic atmosphere and historical significance, Zhou Le greeted acquaintances along the way and then went straight to the director's office.

He made a point of finding out today that the other party was here.

After entering the office and exchanging pleasantries for more than half an hour, Zhou Le naturally brought up Tian Xiwei: "Dean, recently our company has a young actress named Tian Xiwei. You may have heard of her. She is a very talented young lady and takes acting very seriously."

She is currently in the rising phase of her career, but she has her own ideas and wants to take some time to reflect and hone her acting skills in a down-to-earth manner.

I was thinking, does our theater have any suitable roles for young people, even small ones, so she can come and learn, perform for free, and help with any publicity needs? We can also do our best to help repair the theater's equipment.

Actually, besides studying, what I was thinking about was whether I could use her to bring some new audiences to the theater industry—some fresh blood—who had never been exposed to theater before.

The dean thought for a moment: "Tian Xiwei... um, I vaguely remember her, that girl who's been quite popular lately, right? The idea is good."

"Drama is indeed the most demanding form of training. We do have a few scripts in development right now, including an ensemble piece with a realistic theme. There's a college student character in it; the role isn't large, but there's plenty of room for her to develop her acting skills. I'll send you the script later. If she's interested, she can give it a try."

Zhou Le quickly thanked him, "Thank you so much!"

As we were talking, a staff member suddenly rushed over: "It's terrible! Director! The understudy for Huang Shiren in tonight's performance of 'The White-Haired Girl' has acute gastroenteritis and can't perform! The lead actor is out of town and can't make it back! The others haven't rehearsed much for this either, what should we do!"

The two rushed to the scene, where a flurry of activity ensued.

"The White-Haired Girl" is a classic repertoire piece, and tickets had already sold out. Cancelling them at the last minute would result in significant losses and impacts.

The dean was also anxious: "Quick! Call and ask who can fill in! Even if they don't know the lines well, as long as they can stand on the stage, that'll be fine!"

Zhou Le listened from the side, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Although he was not formally trained and had not studied systematically, he had watched a lot of plays when he was improving himself. He remembered most of the lines and was quite familiar with the plot and characters of "The White-Haired Girl". Although the villain Huang Shiren had a lot of screen time, he saved the day like putting out a fire at crucial moments.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward: "Dean, do you think... I can do it? I vaguely remember Huang Shiren's lines. Give me the script, and I'll memorize it right away! I promise I won't ruin the show!"

The dean and staff looked at him in surprise.

The other person looked Zhou Le up and down, their eyes lighting up: "Zhou Le? You...you can really do it? This is a stage play! A live performance! No retakes!"

"I'll do my best! It's better than nothing!" Zhou Le's eyes were firm.

"Opening a window" actually refers to the temporary interruption or cancellation of a theatrical performance due to special reasons.

Time was of the essence, and there was no other way.

The director thought for a moment, considering Zhou Le's previous reputation in acting, and finally slapped his thigh: "Okay! You're the one! Quick! Take him to get his makeup and clothes changed! Give him the script! The other actors, come over here and rehearse with Zhou Le! Focus on the key points!"

As a result, a bizarre scene unfolded backstage at the National Theatre of China: Zhou Le, a famous actor and internet celebrity, dressed in the long robe and mandarin jacket of Huang Shiren, was being pressed down by a makeup artist to apply greasepaint while frantically memorizing lines from the script.

He was muttering to himself, while several veteran actors surrounded him, urgently helping him with his lines and explaining his blocking.

At 7:30 p.m. sharp, the curtain rose on time.

Zhou Le took a deep breath and stepped onto the stage, one of the few times in his life he would ever be on stage.

The lights shone on him, and the audience below was a sea of ​​black.

At that moment, stripped of all the glamour of variety shows and films, he was simply an actor.

Although some lines required cue cards and some movements were a bit awkward, Zhou Le, with his solid foundation in dialogue, excellent comprehension, and on-the-spot reaction ability, managed to bring the villain Huang Shiren to life.

Despite being despicable, it also brought out a touch of pitifulness and pathos, completing a rescue performance that exceeded everyone's expectations!
The performance ended with thunderous applause.

Backstage, the veteran actors patted Zhou Le on the shoulder and praised him, saying, "Great job! You truly deserve to be called the best actor of the younger generation. You saved this scene perfectly."

The dean also looked on with a look of appreciation for talent.

After we finished talking here, I pulled Zhou Le to a secluded place.

"Zhou Le, you're born to be an actor. I don't care what you do normally, but today I'm giving you one more request: you must come back and act more often in the future."

I couldn't say this in front of others, but I know you're capable and we usually collaborate. You also provide scripts to the theater for free. With that kind of relationship, it's understandable that you wouldn't come back.

But since the academy recruits new talent every year, it wouldn't look good if I never came back. However, I can assure you that as long as you return to the stage, I'll reserve the best roles for you.

Zhou Le naturally nodded in agreement.

After all, it's not good not to come back. Although the dean can suppress it, it's still my own business to do it.

"Okay, Dean, please contact me if you need anything later. I can come back whenever I have time. And like I said, I can cooperate with any plays that need promotion."

The dean actually really liked this young man.

She didn't understand the abstract concepts online, but she knew that Zhou Le had a huge following. Even public security and fire departments would seek out popular online celebrities for publicity and collaborations. Wouldn't it be even more prestigious for them to work with Zhou Le?

Therefore, Zhou Le's willingness to cooperate is entirely beneficial.

The National Theatre of China's unexpected intervention also opened a new door in Zhou Le's career.

However, although the performance was a great success, it was only a temporary replacement, and tickets for the subsequent shows were not completely sold out.

The theater's publicity staff were having some trouble, but when Zhou Le found out, he immediately showed his awareness and energy as a top influencer without saying a word.

He first posted a short video on his Douyin account.

In the video, he still had some stage makeup on, was dressed casually, and the background was the corridor of a drama theater. His tone was relaxed but sincere: "Hello everyone, just reporting my whereabouts."

I recently found a new job at the National Theatre of China, where I temporarily filled in for a role and experienced the charm of the theatrical stage – it was so much fun!
There are several more rare opportunities to see the play, so everyone is welcome to come and support our theatrical arts!

He deliberately kept everyone in suspense and didn't directly say who he was playing.

The fans immediately went wild:
Skipping dinner: "Brother Le went to perform in a play?!"

Lucky Coconut Tree: "Which show is it? When is it?"

TSANG: "Everyone, keep your underwear dry. Watch this video. I know it's hard, but it's an order!"

It's not folk songs, it's folk songs: "It's really hard to watch your beloved boy being made dirty jokes."

Seeing the fans' enthusiasm, Zhou Le seized the opportunity and started a backstage live stream during a regular rehearsal.

During the live stream, he showed everyone the dressing room and the stage backstage, and even brought over a few veteran artists he acted with to greet the fans, creating a wonderful atmosphere.

Fans flooded the screen with questions about the character.

Zhou Le looked at the comments and smiled mischievously before finally revealing the answer: "Who am I playing? I'm playing... Huang Shiren."

The live chat was instantly flooded with "hahahaha" and "???".
Starch: "Huang Shiren?! That tyrannical landlord?"

Feng said to Sao Die: "Brother Le, if you say that, I have to go watch it. I'd love to see you bully men and women!"

The person who left said, "Maybe Brother Le is a good boy? What if he's still a virgin?"

Big Orange, who loves eating fish: "Stop making your brother Le laugh."

kaguomei: "I'm speechless. I just finished watching the video and they're already broadcasting again. I just changed my underwear." White Winter: "Huh? I'm late. I only got an armpit. I'll have to make do."

But jokes aside, thanks to Zhou Le's strong appeal, tickets for the remaining shows sold out almost instantly.

Many fans even said they would travel across cities to see Zhou Le portray how he bullies men and women.

The theater staff were all smiles, repeatedly thanking Zhou Le for being a walking ticket vending machine.

After successfully completing his stage play performance, Zhou Le barely rested before immediately throwing himself into the recording of the second season of "Hahahahaha".

This time, we filmed two episodes in a row, with a change in location and an upgraded mission. The intensity was extremely high. We filmed for four consecutive days, working from dawn till dusk almost every day, using our wits and courage to exhaust both our physical and mental strength.

Although the process was very interesting, and Zhou Le created a lot of entertainment with Wang Baoqiang, Xu Zhisheng and the newly joined guest stars, he was still quite exhausted by the end.

"Brother Chao, this variety show is too tiring. I have never filmed such a tiring variety show before."

Deng Chao laughed heartily: "Then you're no good. You're not even as good as us old folks."

Zhou Le looked resentful.

"Aren't you tired?"

Deng Chao stared at Zhou Le for a long time.

"Okay, I'm actually more tired."

During a break in filming, it was learned that the next stage of filming would not be until about two months later, mainly due to scheduling conflicts among the guests and the post-production cycle of the program.

This gave Zhou Le a rare respite and a window of opportunity to handle other tasks.

His gaze immediately fell on the upcoming movie, "Fame and Fortune".

Although the film had a low budget, the script was ingenious, and it was a project he was very optimistic about.

In addition, the investment is not large, and there are multiple cinema chains supporting it, so it is estimated that it will still be able to make a lot of money.

With the promotional period approaching, Zhou Le personally participated in developing the promotional strategy.

"Money should be spent wisely," Zhou Le emphasized at the publicity meeting. "We are not a blockbuster, so we can't compete with overwhelming hard advertising. We will focus on word-of-mouth and topical marketing."

In the early stages, release more materials related to murder mystery games and suspenseful reasoning to attract the core audience. Organize several high-quality preview screenings and invite film critics, film and television KOLs, and core fans to spread the word.

We'll create more online discussions about plot analysis and detail exploration to encourage audience participation, and the lead actors and I will actively engage in online interactions.

He also specifically instructed: "Note that 'Making a Name' can be linked with something. We can take advantage of the popularity of my recent stage play performances to emphasize my acting skills, the script, and keywords such as Aunt Deng Jiajia."

As for another film, "All In," which was already filmed, Zhou Le also paid attention to it.

Because the subject matter involves overseas telecom fraud and online gambling, the content is quite sensitive, and the review process did take longer than for ordinary films.

They have been actively cooperating with the revisions and hope to get it approved as soon as possible.

Zhou Le is confident in the social significance of this film, but he also understands the caution of censorship and can only wait patiently.

Zhou Le holds a cautiously optimistic attitude towards the box office performance of "Fame and Fortune".

"This kind of suspenseful comedy with a strong plot and weak visual effects may not have the box office ceiling of a commercial blockbuster, but I believe in its reputation and staying power. My goal is not high, just to get over 300 million first, then strive for 500 million. If it can become a dark horse and reach 800 million or 1 billion, that would be a pleasant surprise."

Most importantly, it shows everyone that movies that tell good stories will find a market.

With the general direction of film promotion settled, the next major project is on the agenda.

That was the TV series "You Are My Glory" in which she co-starred with Dilraba Dilmurat.

This drama is adapted from a popular IP, featuring urban romance and e-sports elements. It has become a hit even before filming began and is highly anticipated.

To generate buzz, the production team meticulously planned a series of promotional activities, the most important of which was a deep collaboration with the phenomenal mobile game Honor of Kings.

On the eve of the joint press conference, Zhou Le and Dilraba Dilmurat needed to meet privately to get to know each other, build rapport, and set the tone for their future interactions.

The meeting place was to be a private room in a café.

Zhou Le arrived first and had barely sat down when the door to the private room was pushed open.

Dilraba walked in.

Even though he was used to seeing beauties in the entertainment industry, and even more so to Dilraba, Zhou Le's eyes still flashed with amazement when he saw her.

This is the kind of top-tier beauty who was completely used to receiving gifts from boys and being surrounded by them during her school days.

Dilraba wore a simple white fitted short-sleeved top with blue jeans today, showcasing her curvaceous figure. Her makeup was light, which only accentuated her flawless features.

He seemed to have a spotlight shining on him, instantly illuminating the entire room.

This is an incredibly stunning beauty that blends exotic charm with urban chic, making it extremely impactful.

"Le'er, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, right?"

Dilraba greeted him with a smile, and very familiarly tried to soothe Zhou Le.

“Yes, we’ve been waiting for about twenty o’clock.” Zhou Le stood up and gentlemanly pulled out a chair for her.

Jokes are jokes.

But after all, I'm a man, so it doesn't matter if I do more; the devil is in the details.

The more detailed you are in your daily work, the more you will explore in the future.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two quickly began talking about the show.

“I’ve read the original novel. The character Yu Tu is quite attractive; he’s handsome, smart, and a bit arrogant,” Dilraba said, blinking her big eyes.

“Qiao Jingjing is the same. Big stars are cute and persistent in private, which is quite similar to you,” Zhou Le replied with a smile.

"No way, I'm terrible at games, you'll have to help me out." Dilraba stuck out her tongue, looking slightly naive, which contrasted cutely with her striking beauty.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they finally continued discussing the drama.

They talked about their understanding of the characters and about e-sports. Zhou Le's gaming skills are beyond just being "awesome," but Dilraba is also very self-aware, admitting that she's bad at the game but addicted to it.

"I heard you're going to have a solo performance? You'd better go easy on me!" Dilraba clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture, a sly smile in her eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll be on the same team, you just need to lie down and I'll carry you," Zhou Le said earnestly.

It's just that the speaker meant something, and the listener also took it to heart.

They appeared serious on the surface, but none of them were actually thinking anything serious.

The atmosphere gradually became ambiguous. (End of Chapter)