Entertainment: Who still wants to fall in love when there are cheats?

Chapter 132 Fan Bingbing

After Li Boda and Ning Hao reached an agreement that Li Boda's investment in the film "Crazy Stone" would be a studio investment rather than a personal one, Li Boda's plans to invest in films and open a studio were temporarily put on hold.

After that, Li Boda returned to the cast of "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" to continue filming.

He was still dressed in white, a cold person, and a cold sword.

When Li Boda played Ximen Chuixue, he mostly had the same expression, or rather, he had a cold face almost from beginning to end, with hardly any other expressions on his face.

This wasn't because Li Boda's acting was bad and he could only use one expression throughout the filming; it was simply because that was how the character of Ximen Chuixue was designed.

In the original novel, Ximen Chuixue was just like that. Ninety percent of his life revolved around swords, and the remaining ten percent consisted of his friends such as Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou, as well as his wife Sun Xiuqing.

Not to mention, Ximen Chuixue later left his pregnant wife for the sake of swordsmanship.

If Ximen Chuixue were alive today, he would be considered a scoundrel who abandoned his wife and children.

However, film and television works often overlook some real-life events, making the characters more perfect and grandiose.

When Li Boda returned to the film crew, Zhang Zhilin and Zhang Zhiyao came to congratulate him on the success of his film role.

Although he was just a minor supporting actor, Li Boda did leave the crew because of that movie, which was a box office success. Zhang Zhilin and the others should congratulate Li Boda.

Just as Li Boda was focusing on filming on set, an invitation appeared before him.

The person who invited Li Boda was none other than Fan Bingbing, one of the currently very popular actresses.

"Hello, Teacher Fan." Li Boda greeted Fan Bingbing with a smile.

Looking at Fan Bingbing in front of him, Li Boda couldn't help but admire her beauty.

Fan Bingbing is very beautiful. Of course, the entertainment industry is full of beautiful women and handsome men, but Fan Bingbing's beauty is unique in the entertainment industry.

Fan Bingbing's beauty is extremely intimidating, or rather, in the eyes of women, Fan Bingbing's beauty is even more lethal, because Fan Bingbing's beauty gives people the feeling of being somewhat seductive, like a third party, mistress, vixen, etc., which are almost embodied in Fan Bingbing.

Especially Fan Bingbing's fiery red lips makeup, which is breathtakingly beautiful.

Clearly, Fan Bingbing's appearance is more suited to heavy makeup like bright red lips. She is a typical beauty who wears heavy makeup. Although she is still very pretty even with light makeup, heavy makeup leaves a deeper impression.

Fan Bingbing is very talkative. When chatting with people, she always seems to be able to find topics that the other person likes, and then in just a few words, the relationship seems to be much closer.

As they chatted, Fan Bingbing had already gotten Li Boda to change his address.

"Don't call me Teacher Fan anymore, it sounds too formal. Just call me Bingbing, that's what my friends call me," Fan Bingbing said with a smile.

"Okay, Bingbing, you can just call me by my name."

So, after a brief exchange, the two began calling each other by name.

"Boda, actually, the main reason I came to see you this time is to ask you to star in a movie," Fan Bingbing said to Li Boda with a smile.

"Movie?"

“Yes, I’m planning to invest in an art film, one that I’m aiming for awards. I think you’re quite suitable for the male lead role, so I’d like you to play the male lead in my film,” Fan Bingbing said to Li Boda with a smile.

"I'm truly honored. But I've been filming TV dramas all along. Although I played a role in 'Crazy Stone,' it was just a minor one. Bingbing, you're making an art film for awards, so why did you think of asking me?" Li Boda asked curiously, since he didn't have any works to prove his acting skills.

"I've heard about the movie 'The Dog.' The fact that you're in it and playing the male lead already proves your acting skills are exceptional. Not to mention, I've heard that director Qi Jian and the others are very satisfied with your performance, saying that you completely overturned your previous image. Although 'The Dog' hasn't been released yet, your acting skills have already been recognized by people in the industry to some extent," Fan Bingbing explained.

Li Boda suddenly realized that the root of the problem lay in the movie "The Dog".

But thinking about it, it makes sense. The art film circle is actually quite small, and these directors are more or less connected to each other. For example, they mostly use the same few actors.

However, if an actor's acting skills are recognized by a director of an art film, then that director will also be recognized by other art film directors, and sometimes roles will be considered for them.

This time, Fan Bingbing invested in a film, an art film, hoping to win awards. Naturally, she had to inquire within the industry about suitable actors. That's when Li Boda came into Fan Bingbing's sights.

Of course, Li Boda was not the only actor who came into Fan Bingbing's sights.

Other actors include Tong Dawei, Chen Kun, and Liu Ye.

However, what she can appreciate, others may not appreciate in her scripts.

So in the end, Fan Bingbing narrowed it down to Li Boda. If Li Boda agreed, then he would be the one. If Li Boda refused, then Fan Bingbing would look for someone else.

"Here, take a look, this is the script." Fan Bingbing took out a script from her bag and handed it to Li Boda.

Lost in the capital.

Li Boda saw the movie's title but didn't have many thoughts. He figured it was probably about people from the countryside who came to work in a big city and got lost in its dazzling lights. Even if it wasn't, it was probably something similar.

After Li Boda opened the script, he glanced at it briefly. It was about a couple who came from the countryside to work in the capital. One was a foot masseuse, and the other was a window cleaner working at heights. The story was about a series of events that happened after the foot masseuse was forced by her boss.

The entire movie revolves around the themes of sex and money.

Looking at the script, Li Boda thought it was alright. Although the male lead he was going to play was a bit of a scoundrel, after his wife was forced into something, his first thought was to ask the other party for money and compensation for damages.

However, it seems that most art films are of this type.

"How is it? This script is alright, isn't it?" Fan Bingbing looked at Li Boda with a smile, sizing up his handsome face. The more she looked, the more satisfied she became. She felt that it was quite good to have this collaboration with Li Boda.

“The script is good. But Bingbing, who is the director you found?” Li Boda nodded and then asked.

Ultimately, the success of a film, especially an art film, depends on both the script and the director. If the director is incompetent, even with a good script and decent actors, the final film will likely not win any awards.

"The director is Li Yu. Director Li Yu is very experienced and has even directed several award-winning films, including those from the Venice Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. She is a very capable director. And the subject matter of this film is exactly what she is best at, so don't worry, this film has a very good chance of winning awards," Fan Bingbing said with a smile.

"Even if the chances of winning an award are high, you're probably the one who will actually win, since the female lead is the most well-developed character in this film." Li Boda shook his head with a smile.

Fan Bingbing smiled but didn't continue.

In fact, the reason she invested in this movie and put so much effort into it was precisely so that she could win an award.

Fan Bingbing's contract with Huayi Brothers is nearing its end, but she has no intention of renewing it, nor does she have any desire to sign with another company.

After all, as an artist under someone else's company, many things about her are controlled by others, and she doesn't have much say in her own life.

Fan Bingbing is a rather ambitious woman, so she wants to work independently and not be an employee of others.

However, for an artist to step out and do things on their own is a very big deal.

Because there was no precedent in mainland China before this, if Fan Bingbing sets this precedent, she will be seen as a thorn in the side by others and will almost certainly be boycotted by the entire entertainment industry.

After all, if Fan Bingbing succeeds, other artists will see her success and follow suit, starting their own businesses. What will happen to these entertainment companies then?
Therefore, Fan Bingbing wants to take advantage of the fact that she hasn't officially broken ties with Huayi Brothers yet to improve her abilities, reputation, and status as much as possible, so that it will be easier for her to establish her own personal studio later.

Thus, Fan Bingbing's current award-contending film, "Lost in Translation," came into being. In addition to the film, Fan Bingbing is also planning to invest in two television series.

Fan Bingbing chose her own path: organizing her own film crew, writing her own script, finding her own director, investing her own money, and setting up her own production team.

Li Boda was unaware of Fan Bingbing's thoughts. He simply felt that the script Fan Bingbing had prepared was quite good. Although the male lead wasn't particularly outstanding due to the script and the character's design, he could still showcase his acting skills to some extent.

Although there's already been one film, "The Dog," it would still be nice to have another art film like this.

This way, he can be remembered by more people, get more opportunities, and thus get more roles that he likes and wants.

As a result, Li Boda and Fan Bingbing reached an agreement immediately, and Li Boda signed the contract directly.

(End of this chapter)