I'm not a drama freak, I can really see through the script

Chapter 236, Wuhua and Chu Liuxiang

Of course, despite the complaints, filming still has to continue.

The cameo role in "Home with Kids" was not complicated; it was just a small segment where he played Xia Xue's boyfriend.

Of course, the boyfriend thing was a misunderstanding; Liu Xing mistakenly thought Xia Xue was in a relationship too early.

After all, this is a family with children, so how could there really be elements like puppy love involved?

Of course, Xia Xue's infatuated expression when she saw Li Xuan didn't seem like she was acting.

"This young man is so handsome, our young actor is really smitten." At this moment, director Lin Cong's eyes lit up.

Xia Xue's infatuated scenes don't seem like acting.

This looks like she's really swooning over a guy.

Maturity in appearance, temperament, manners, and etiquette.

In this cameo role, the director didn't even give Li Xuan a script. He was told to act however he wanted, as long as he could highlight the masculine charm.

What little boys and girls like is nothing more than playing basketball, showing off, and all sorts of cool elements. It's very easy to get them to do.

With his current physical condition, he can handle all sorts of difficult moves.

Physical talent is where the system shines the most.

She is adept at both flexibility and strength and agility.

It was the costume the director gave him that made Li Xuan a little uncomfortable: black and white pants, overalls, and jeans.

This is a natural basketball suit.

As a guest star, all I need to do is showcase my masculine charm.

As for the creative team, they had a lot to think about.

This kind of handsome guy.

How should a young girl refuse?

"Big brother, can I have your QQ number?"

"I don't use QQ, sorry."

At this moment, Li Xuan looked at Yang Zi beside him, deeply moved, and then declined.

joke.

She's just a little girl now.

At this moment, Liu Xing and Xia Yu only had two little fans beside them, who were also urging them to learn how to have basketball skills as good as mine.

I practiced persistently for two and a half years.

The technology was then available.

At this point, Li Xuan specifically emphasized that it would take two and a half years.

Two and a half years of persistent practice.

You can do it too.

probably.

However, this time after filming Home with Kids...

Li Xuan also felt a sense of ease and joy.

It was a different feeling than when filming "To Live".

That's great. It's nice to occasionally film a movie like this to relax.

After filming Home with Kids, Li Xuan is also going to report to XJ for the next project, "Chu Liuxiang".

It is comparable to "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

Jin Yong versus Gu Long.

Two representative figures of the old school of martial arts... back then they were called the new school of martial arts, but now it's the millennium, and they have become the old school, the tradition.

A rational analysis shows that Gu Long's status is still far behind Jin Yong's. Whether in terms of the depth and breadth of the adapted works or their popularity, Jin Yong has always been the winner.

He even outlived Gu Long.

"Actually, many people think that we have a good relationship, but in reality, we don't have much interaction. If we have to talk about photos together, there are only one or two."

At this very moment, Jin Yong was at home.

He fondly touched the works he had written in his youth.

From "The Knight Errant" to "The Deer and the Cauldron".

These works have been with me for so long.

There were rivals back then.

Well, the thing that makes me better than my competitors is probably that I live longer.

Gu Long couldn't even outlive himself.

The rivals and friends of yesteryear are now just dust. In fact, Jin Yong has taken many things very lightly.

Basically, I'm indifferent to what I see anymore.

And facing former rivals and former friends, the feeling now is mostly...

I've already let it go.

He was already the king of martial arts.

No further honors could be bestowed upon him.

I don't know how much longer I can watch my own work being adapted.

"Back in the day, Gu Long and I were known as the two peerless heroes. Did you find my rambling a bit annoying?"

“At this age, it’s normal to be a bit nagging; you’ll get used to it.” Ni Kuang smiled as well; he was already used to these things.

We're all seasoned veterans.

At this point, Jin Yong spoke leisurely.

"Am I right."

"It's still a bit of a pity. We've been fighting for so long, and he's never beaten me even once."

"So you're still not happy? Doesn't this just prove that your overall strength is much greater than his?"

"Maybe, but actually I really like some of the characters in his works, such as Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue."

Ni Kuang had a slight understanding of Jin Yong's idea.

This kind of loneliness is the feeling of standing at the pinnacle of one's own field, yet having no rivals.

Especially after the initial film and television adaptations of the work.

Gu Long's disadvantages became even more obvious.

And Jin Yong became even more lonely.

"The biggest disadvantage of Gu Long's works is that there is a certain threshold to reading them, and this threshold is definitely not low. However, thanks to this threshold, he actually has a core readership that is more loyal than Jin Yong's readers."

"What's the use of die-hard fans? In terms of viewership and reach, Jin Yong is still the better choice."

At this moment, two directors are setting up a scene in the XJ district.

One was named Liu Pengsheng, and the other was named Ju Jueliang.

One is a director from Taiwan who defected to CCTV, and the other is a top director from Hong Kong's TVB class who was in charge of TVB's period dramas. He directed the 83 version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and has a wealth of experience in martial arts dramas.

Moreover, they all have experience from popular martial arts dramas.

Of course, despite his extensive acting experience and impressive achievements, he was less adept at political maneuvering than others, and unfortunately, he was inexplicably eliminated from the TVB faction battle.

Ju Jueliang didn't even know why he was eliminated.

But it doesn’t matter.

This trip to the mainland was a collaboration with CCTV to film this series, "Chu Liuxiang".

Interestingly, the TV series "The Return of the Condor Heroes," which aired around the same time, also had investment from CCTV.

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but they brought up Jin Yong and Gu Long in one episode.

Not well known.

Gu Long is slightly below Jin Yong by half a level.

The Return of the Condor Heroes remains one of the most popular IPs in recent years.

If we take them all out and photograph them together.

It's not without a hint of the "Tian Ji's horse racing" strategy.

It felt like I was being dragged out as a stepping stone.

But it all depends on people.

We should see how it turns out after the shoot.

"What do you think of our casting of Chu Liuxiang?" Ju Jue Liang asked the Taiwanese director next to him.

Liu Pengsheng, who also has extensive experience in filming, said this at this moment.

"Well, I'd say he's alright, at least better than Zhu Xiaotian."

"But Zhu Xiaotian is popular."

Yes, from the perspective of idol popularity.

Back then, the F4 from Meteor Garden were absolutely overwhelmingly popular.

His popularity has even swept across Asia.

Unrivaled popularity.

It represents the pinnacle of the "idol" genre in television dramas.

Zhu Xiaotian was invited without any consideration for acting skills; all he cared about was popularity.

For commercially oriented works, it's natural to hire someone with strong box office appeal.

“Don’t try to fool me. It was you who advocated replacing Zhu Xiaotian.” At this moment, Liu Pengsheng looked at Ju Jueliang and smiled slightly: “You never wanted to invite an idol in the first place.”

"Oh dear, you saw right through me."

It's not hard to guess what they're thinking. (Chu Liuxiang's producer)

It's more about taking a popularity-oriented approach.

This is undeniable. For commercially oriented works, what else matters if not popularity? Ratings are the producer's KPI.

you could put it that way.

Please refer to Zhu Xiaotian's words.

Putting aside other factors, the initial viewership ratings are guaranteed, which can, to some extent, make up for the gap in popularity between the Chu Liuxiang series and the Condor Heroes series.

So even though they knew Zhu Xiaotian's image wasn't good right now, the writers still leaned towards that side. It wasn't until the producer actually saw what Zhu Xiaotian looked like that that they relented.

For Ju Jueliang, he needs more ambition, so he wants to use actors rather than idols, and forget about stars.

It's incredibly difficult to get a star who's both popular and has great acting skills.

But the person they got in return also seems to have some issues.

A student.

Having won awards but never played a leading role or proven their viewership appeal, "Legend of Chu Liuxiang" should be among the first batch of unlucky ones.

The biggest problem is uncertainty.

There's too much uncertainty surrounding Li Xuan.

We don't yet understand what the ingredients are.

It can only be said that his biggest advantage at present is that his image is better than that of Zhu Xiaotian now.

Perhaps his acting skills are more solid? But to put it bluntly, how good can acting skills be at such a young age?

The title "Man of a Thousand Faces" is quite impressive.

However, supporting characters and main characters are not on the same level.

Your aura is that of a supporting character, but that doesn't mean you can command the aura of a leading actor.

Your acting skills are those of a supporting actor; it doesn't mean you can perform as a lead actor.

I heard it was strongly recommended by the president of Beijing Film Academy, and the production team assessed it and confirmed it wasn't a problem.

But to put it another way...

CCTV didn't seem to care as much about "Legend of Chu Liuxiang" as it did about "The Return of the Condor Heroes." However, it can't be said that CCTV abandoned Chu Liuxiang, as Li Xuan is a promising new actor.

At least, that's how it's been passed down.

After Li Xuan arrived completely.

I just discovered something.

This image is much better.

Much better!
At this moment, looking at this face that is so incredibly young.

Image and confidence +1.

Acting confidence -1.

There were also screenwriters planted by CCTV.

This is actually what the two directors disliked the most. The screenwriter is a 40-year-old woman who wears glasses, named Liu Xiaoye, and is considered a senior screenwriter.

The good thing is that she is really experienced, having written screenplays for many popular TV dramas. The bad thing is that she has only directed romance dramas and has no experience with martial arts dramas. Moreover, as soon as she arrived on set, she started shouting about equality, freedom, and the negative influence of the harem. Her first move on set was to cut the scenes between the other two female leads and Chu Liuxiang.

Li Hongxiu became the CP of Zhongyuan Yidianhong.

Song Tian'er became Hu Tiehua's partner.

It's ostensibly to add pairings for supporting characters, thereby increasing the sense of depth and realism.
Ok.

Chu Liuxiang has been greatly weakened.

However, after some thought, the two directors felt that such changes made some sense.

It's not a change that's entirely without reason.

This depends on the character's charisma.

Who played Chu Liuxiang in the past?

Adam Cheng and Ti Lung, these handsome men with renowned names, were the top idols of their time, and also possessed considerable acting skills; they were true stars.

It is a truly dazzling and radiant existence.

Their charm is universally acknowledged and beyond question.

That's why it's said that Jin Yong's characters are easier to play and less difficult to portray, while Gu Long's characters are more difficult to handle.

Negativity and multifacetedness.

There is also the unique charm of Gu Long's works.

That kind of charm is a very rare quality.

It's a characteristic that not everyone can handle.

"Chu Liuxiang" and "The Return of the Condor Heroes" are stories of wandering swordsmen and sequels to the great heroes.

Gu Long and Jin Yong, impressionistic and realistic styles.

Li Xuan and Huang Xiaoming were the three musketeers from the third-year students of Beijing Film Academy and the 1996 star class.

The difference in strength is somewhat obvious.

From the perspective of martial arts IPs, Chu Liuxiang can be considered to be in a relatively inferior position.

But it doesn't matter now.

Such a young and handsome actor, his appearance is not bad.

At least it's better than Zhu Xiaotian's current situation, where he has popularity but no image.

That's the only way I can comfort myself.

At least it won't look bad when filmed.

If Zhu De were to play Chu Liuxiang, it might be difficult for the actresses to get into character.

At this time, the actresses also arrived one after another.

Li Xuan looked at the arriving actresses. Regardless of whether he understood Chu Liuxiang or not, he definitely understood ratings. Goodness, every single one of the actresses who came was a stunning beauty.

Hu Jing, Qiu Cixuan, Xiao Qiang.

The supporting actresses, Sun Feifei and Liu Jia, are also rare beauties.
Of course, Li Xuan also saw a formidable rival.

Cui Peng is the actor who plays the monk Wuhua.

At this moment, Cui Peng was also sizing up Li Xuan, a former student of the Central Academy of Drama's Class of 00, who was also looking at his junior.

Cui Peng was still somewhat curious about this junior.
As we all know, the most famous group at Beijing Film Academy is undoubtedly the class of '96, which can almost be considered the pinnacle of Beijing Film Academy.

The only group that can be described as a group of celebrities.

None of them have such an extraordinary reputation.

Of course, the most famous member of the class of 2002 is this man in front of us; he looks quite young.
"I have admired you for a long time."

At this moment, the gentle and refined young man smiled slightly at Li Xuan. Even though he had shaved his head, the word "handsome" was perfectly embodied in him, causing the crew members and most of the actresses to swoon. Only Shi Guanyin and Su Rongrong were looking at their scripts, and they had the same attitude towards both Li Xuan and Cui Peng.

Like most actresses from the Korean Peninsula who come to China to film, Choo Ja-hyun was accompanied by a translator, who was also a pretty Korean girl. Korean girls of that era were still pleasing to the eye, unlike later plastic surgeons who all seemed to have been taught by the same master.

However, he had previously filmed "The Legend of the Great Banner Hero" in China, so he could understand some Chinese, but he couldn't speak it.

Hu Jing was truly focused on filming. She had no interest in how handsome the second male lead was or whether he was more handsome than the male lead.

Well, if it were Zhu Xiaotian, he would definitely be driven crazy by this monk Wuhua stealing the show.

"Hello."

At this moment, Li Xuan smiled slightly in response to Monk Wuhua, looking at the handsome face that could pull off a bald head—would it be better if his Chu Liuxiang could also get a bald head? Bald head against bald head, let's see who looks more dashing.

However, judging from the current reactions, Cui Peng is quite satisfied with the reactions from other people, especially the other female characters.

There's one thing I want to say: a supporting character isn't necessarily a supporting character, and the second male lead isn't necessarily the second male lead.

Popularity is something that can be surpassed, not an absolute value, especially for a character like Chu Liuxiang whose potential is extremely high.

Cui Peng felt that Li Xuan, this junior, was indeed quite good-looking and handsome. In school, he would be considered a campus heartthrob, and it would be normal for him to be adored by girls. However, the two leading ladies he was working with this time were Choo Ja-hyun and Hu Jing, both of whom had excellent temperament and appearance. If he didn't show enough 'charm' to convince the audience that the characters played by these two actresses would fall in love with him, it would easily backfire.

Of course, Cui Peng also knew that this time, surpassing Li Xuan was a basic requirement, something he needed to do; he wanted to be the 'uncrowned male lead'.

However, we can't let Chu Liuxiang, the backbone of the team, be suppressed too much. After all, if the protagonist is too bad, the script's bottom line will be dragged down too much, and no matter how hard he, the second male lead, tries, it will be in vain.

So, while discussing the script, Cui Peng also exchanged his understanding of "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang" with Li Xuan.

"Let me presume to call myself your senior. I've acted in a few dramas myself, and I'm a bit older than you. There are some things I think I should tell you. From a developmental perspective, regarding your role, you should start with the character and his/her charismatic attributes."

At this moment, Cui Peng, who was standing next to Li Xuan, also shared his understanding of the character.

His 'charm'.

Chu Liuxiang's charm is meant to persuade the audience.

His exceptional martial arts skills and dashing good looks are part of his charm.

In other words, Cui Peng was teaching Li Xuan how to be cool.

Because this is the easiest for the audience to understand.

The most easily understood kind of charm.

That is, he is handsome.

Being handsome and having cool moves is something everyone can understand; it's something that can be understood with the naked eye.

The biggest problem with Chu Liuxiang—or rather, Gu Long's works—lies here: the characters have no growth arc. From the moment they appear, their character is already fully formed. For them, the martial arts world is nothing more than a road movie-like story structure.

The impression Chu Liuxiang gives to readers is largely determined by how he appears on screen. Therefore, it's important to focus on his appearance, demeanor, and other visible charms to convince readers that he is indeed the legendary thief Chu Liuxiang.

The same goes for the monk Wuhua; he presented his charm entirely through his appearance.

Nothing else is needed; just standing there is enough to exude charm.

At this moment, Li Xuan nodded seriously, listening to what Cui Peng had to say.

"Chu Liuxiang."

His appearance, and his temperament—what kind of person is he?

(End of this chapter)