This actor has something

Chapter 388 Shocking
Inside the van, Zhou Huimin remained silent, clinging to He Daqi's arm and leaning against him, seemingly lost in thought.

He Daqi didn't disturb her, leaning his head back on the back seat, looking like he was resting with his eyes closed.

Actually, he was setting up a simulation training space at the moment. He opened the settings options for the Painted Skin world and then checked the option for Zhou Huimin's acting experience.

After setting everything up, He Daqi opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Huimin. Seeing her worried expression, he didn't say anything to comfort her. Anyway, her acting would be perfect after she woke up tomorrow, and she wouldn't listen to anything he said now, so it was better to say nothing.

Great, this time I'll let my wife experience how awesome it can be to have a life on easy mode.

It was already past seven o'clock when they got back to the villa. Zhou Huimin quickly finished dinner and didn't go to play with the children. Instead, she took the script and went to He Daqi, who was sitting on the sofa with his two children in his arms. She looked at him expectantly, and her meaning was very clear: she was waiting for him to explain the script to her.

"So eager to learn?" He Daqi chuckled softly, then whispered to the two children, "Huanhuan and Lele, be good. Mom and Dad have important things to do. Go play with your toys first."

"Daddy, can we just watch quietly from the side?" The little girl didn't want to leave He Daqi's side and whined sweetly.

How could that be? Vivian Chow felt quite embarrassed at this moment. Her children were old enough to understand and remember things. What if they remembered what He Daqi was explaining the script to her later? What if they grew up and found out that their parents were both celebrities, and that their father even taught their mother acting skills? Where would Vivian Chow put her face then?

So Vivian Chow adopted a strict mother's stance and interrupted her daughter's whining: "No, you can't bother your mom and dad here. Lele, are you going to disobey us?"

"Hmph!" The little girl pouted, looking a bit angry.

Sullenly, she followed her brother off the sofa and walked towards the toy room in the living room, looking back every few steps. She was hoping that He Daqi would say something to keep her there, so that she could use her father's request as an excuse to shut up her mother.

Unfortunately, this time He Daqi pretended not to understand his little darling's meaning and watched with a smile as the two children walked towards the toy house.

Once he saw the two little ones start playing with their toys, He Daqi turned his attention away, picked up the script as if to act serious, and casually flipped through a few pages before beginning to explain.

He had formally taken several months of acting classes at the Beijing Film Academy, and with the help of the system, he could explain things without revealing any flaws. Teaching someone like Zhou Huimin, who had never systematically studied acting, was a piece of cake.

Zhou Huimin is studying very diligently now. When women make comparisons, their minds become very firm. She listens attentively to He Daqi's explanation and asks questions from time to time.

However, He Daqi started by explaining the basics of performance. Zhou Huimin vaguely felt something was off. She felt that what He Daqi was teaching didn't seem as impressive as Zhou Xun's performance today, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. After all, she had genuinely learned something from He Daqi's lectures, so she kept her doubts to herself.

The couple sat on the sofa until 9:30. After the two children went upstairs, they went back to the bedroom and continued explaining things while lying in bed.

As it approached eleven o'clock, He Daqi's voice grew softer and softer. Slowly, Zhou Huimin closed her eyes as He Daqi whispered, and her breathing became even.

He Daqi, who was watching her closely, smiled and tidied her hair. Looking at Zhou Huimin's peaceful face in her sleep, he gently kissed her forehead, then closed his eyes and entered the simulation training space.

……

……

At eight o'clock in the morning, the clear chirping of birds rang out in the backyard of the villa.

Zhou Huimin suddenly opened her eyes. She had a very long dream in which she truly became Pei Rong and experienced Pei Rong's life in its entirety.

At this moment, her eyes were somewhat dazed, and her brain was working frantically. The seemingly nonsensical acting methods that He Daqi had talked about last night were now bursting into her mind like an explosion of inspiration.

Turning her head to meet He Daqi's gentle gaze, Zhou Huimin said with surprise, "Daqi, I had a dream, and suddenly I felt like I understood a lot about acting. I think I suddenly understood all the techniques you taught me yesterday."

"You must be dreaming about it during the day. It seems you're even learning acting in your dreams. You're really working hard," He Daqi said softly with a smile.

"I'm a genius, sister!"

With her worries gone, Zhou Huimin began to beam with pride. Her beautiful face, which could be both happy and angry, amused He Daqi so much that he couldn't help but pinch it.

"Get up! Have you forgotten that we have to film every day? Look at the time."

"Oh dear! It's eight o'clock! You woke up so early, why didn't you wake me up?"

"It's okay, no rush. We'll definitely be filming Zhou Xun's scenes at the beginning of the day, so we can go later."

Looking at Zhou Huimin, who was scolding him, he comforted her while muttering to himself: If I had woken you up earlier, I was afraid you wouldn't have fully grasped the performance experience that the system had transmitted to you.

The couple quickly washed up, changed their clothes, and went out. They skipped breakfast, planning to have someone buy them something when they arrived at the film set.

At this moment, Zhang Yimou had already set up the camera positions with his men in the film studio. He checked the time and it was already past eight o'clock. Noticing that He Daqi and Zhou Huimin had not yet arrived, he decided not to wait any longer and turned to ask Lu Yang to organize people to come and film.

He arrived early in the morning, radiating energy. He was already here leading the support staff in setting up the set before most of the actors had even arrived. Zhou Xun, like him, also arrived early and was already in makeup.

Upon hearing that filming would begin immediately, she turned her head and looked around, but couldn't see Ho Tai-kai and Vivian Chow, which made her laugh.

These two are really unscrupulous. I had heard some rumors about He Daqi before and knew he was quite lazy, but I didn't expect him to be so lazy when working with Zhang Yimou.

Around 9 a.m., after reshooting Zhou Xun's entrance scene several times, He Daqi and Zhou Huimin leisurely arrived at the film set by car.

At this moment, everyone in the crew kept glancing between Zhang Yimou, He Daqi, and Zhou Huimin, wanting to see how Zhang would react to being late on the second day of filming.

Unfortunately, they were disappointed. Zhang Yimou was expressionless, showing no reaction at all. He just focused on watching the reverse playback in front of the camera, as if he was ignoring He Daqi and Zhou Huimin.

"How's it going? Have you finished filming Zhou Xun's entrance scene?" He Daqi asked cheerfully as he walked over and patted Lu Yang's arm when he saw that filming had stopped.

"The scene where you appear is finished. Now we're filming the scene where the fox spirit flirts with the bandit leader. If all goes well, it'll be your turn soon. I was just thinking of giving you a call to remind you."

"Oh, I've come at just the right time." He Daqi chuckled upon hearing this. Seeing Zhang Yimou's stern face, he greeted him with a smile, then turned and walked towards the dressing room without waiting for Zhang Yimou's response.

When he came out of the dressing room after changing into his armor, he happened to catch Zhang Yimou nodding as he finished shooting two more sets of scenes and felt they were good enough.

So, at 10 a.m. on the second day of filming, they finally started shooting He Daqi's scenes.

"Scene 1, Shot 4 of Painted Skin, begin!"

The camera zooms out, revealing Zhou Xun looking out of the tent with a curious yet bewildered gaze, like an innocent child wondering why there are shouts of battle outside. His acting with his eyes is superb; Zhang Yimou, watching from behind the camera, exclaims with satisfaction. He secretly makes a decision: in the future, he'll always hire actors with good acting skills whenever possible—it's easier, more reliable, and can bring many surprises. Only when he absolutely can't persuade the investors will he turn to those young actresses and heartthrobs.

However, his mood soon fluctuated wildly, like a rollercoaster.

Because He Daqi appeared in the picture.

He Daqi in the footage was like a completely different person, unrestrained and confident, truly like an invincible general. Both his demeanor and body language gave Zhang Yimou a jolt.

Holy crap! This is even more outrageous than Zhou Xun's story!

Watching the exchange of glances between He Daqi and Zhou Xun on camera, Zhang Yimou suddenly wondered if it was because he had worked with too many ordinary actors that he was now somewhat surprised by actors with slightly better acting skills.

It took him a while to realize that it wasn't his problem, but rather that the two people in the video were genuinely talented.

Damn it! How did they end up putting two such talented weirdos together?!

It was only at this moment that Zhang Yimou began to consider a question: whether Zhou Huimin could take over the roles of He Daqi and Zhou Xun, since they both seemed to be supermodels in terms of their acting skills on screen.

He Daqi, who was in the shot, also got excited. Logically, it should have been time to call "cut," but he didn't hear any movement from Zhang Yimou or Lu Yang. So he went all out and started acting with Zhou Xun.

Now Zhou Xun is a bit overwhelmed.

Zhang Yimou, behind the camera, curled his lip. Seeing is believing; He Daqi really does have some skills.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yimou immediately grabbed a megaphone and shouted, "Click! Daqi, ease up a bit."

"okay!"

"Okay, take a ten-minute break, then go back to the original position and do it again."

Upon hearing Zhang Yimou's suggestion to take a break, the crew members drank water, smoked cigarettes, and gathered in small groups to chat.

Zhou Xun, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, came over and punched He Daqi, then said irritably, "Daqi, was it comfortable hugging your sister? Is that why you deliberately suppressed my acting earlier?"

"Don't talk nonsense! My wife is much prettier than you, she has everything you could want." He Daqi rolled his eyes dismissively.

After getting to know her for a while, I realized that Zhou Xun looked petite and delicate, like a girl next door, but actually had a rather carefree temper. So, after we got to know each other better, we often crossed the line when joking around.

Hearing this, Zhou Xun turned to look at Zhou Huimin indignantly. Zhou Huimin was also wicked; when she heard He Daqi say that, she deliberately raised her head and gave Zhou Xun a smile. Frustrated, Zhou Xun took a deep drag on his cigarette.

Well, this couple has helped Zhou Xun solidify her husky voice once again.

Filming resumed ten minutes later.

Sitting behind the camera, Zhang Yimou grinned as he looked at the two people in the lens. He felt that the script for Painted Skin was too bland and couldn't bring out the strength of these two people at all. How great would it be if they made an art film with a strong explosive force?
As the performance on camera ended, Zhang Yimou began watching the playback. After watching it several times without finding any faults, he pursed his lips, somewhat unsatisfied, and waved to Lu Yang, saying, "That's enough, get ready for the next shot."

The filming went smoothly.

In the afternoon, during the first scene, it was time for Vivian Chow to appear.

Zhang Yimou was secretly worried but kept a straight face, wanting to see how many scenes Zhou Huimin could handle. He didn't have high hopes for Zhou Huimin's acting skills, after all, she wasn't known for her acting.

If all else fails, discuss it with He Daqi. If they really can't handle it, they can work on switching between close-up and long shots. Zhang Yimou doesn't think he can direct Zhou Huimin to be as good as He Daqi and Zhou Xun. You can't guide someone to that level.

Once again, something astonishing happened. Vivian Chow, as if divinely inspired, handled the scene perfectly. The love in her eyes when she embraced Ho Tai-kai was so sweet that it could be felt even through the screen.

Could it be because she is He Daqi's wife in real life that she can portray the character so convincingly without much acting? Zhang Yimou was somewhat puzzled.

We'll find out the exact quality as we film the rest of the movie, so Zhang Yimou quickly arranged for the crew to start filming the next scene, putting He Daqi, Zhou Huimin, and Zhou Xun together in one frame.

This shot made Zhang Yimou question his life, because Zhou Huimin's performance was not much worse than He Daqi and Zhou Xun.

Is she a genius? Or are the directors in Hong Kong generally not very good, and we didn't realize that Vivian Chow's acting was so good before?
Zhang Yimou was a bit lost.

Surely it's not because I've worked with so many ordinary actors that I can't distinguish between good and bad acting?
He Daqi had no idea that Lao Zhang was keeping quiet while harboring so much inner turmoil. If he had known, he would have proudly boasted that his friend's acting skills as a mentor to actresses were quite profound; one night, an actress would wake up and have already learned how to act.

He chuckled as he watched the crew members questioning their existence, knowing they were all filled with doubts.

Even after filming ended in the afternoon, everyone on the crew, including Zhou Xun, still looked at the couple with puzzled expressions.

The most plausible guess in their minds right now is that He Daqi is giving his wife special treatment, otherwise Zhou Huimin wouldn't be behaving so well.

You guessed correctly, but unfortunately you couldn't guess how He Daqi would give special treatment.

While Zhang Yimou was still in a daze and hadn't quite come to his senses, He Daqi quickly pulled Zhou Huimin out of the film set.

We have to leave right away, otherwise, given Lao Zhang's enthusiasm for filming night scenes yesterday, once he comes to his senses, we might end up filming late into the night again.

After leaving the film crew, Vivian Chow looked radiant in her van, smiling broadly. If she weren't concerned about her image, she would have kissed Ho Tai-kai several times.

"My sister is a good actress too!"

"Yeah!"

"Daqi~ Do you think I could win an Best Actress award if I made an art film right now?"

"I'm sure I can get it!" He Daqi suppressed a laugh and nodded frantically with an air of seriousness.

(End of this chapter)