2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 96 Madness
Acting is like sex; whether you perform well or not doesn't depend on how much force you use.
Moreover, often the more force you exert, the faster it withers.

To put it bluntly, for some people it's become an instinct; they can have sex whenever they want.

However, some people must be allowed to develop naturally and guided step by step.

Teacher Chu just can't figure it out right now; no matter how she acts, it just doesn't feel right.

Even Lu Mingze said, "Chu Shikuai, why don't we just settle for being a pretty face?"

Chu An wanted to curse!

That old man is no good. He's not the one being mocked by the whole internet, so of course you're not worried!
After much deliberation, I decided to continue doing things my own way and focus on honing my acting skills.

Su Manqing's words were also ignored by Teacher Chu.

Do you really think Teacher Chu knows nothing? Teacher Chu is very familiar with the entertainment industry. There's no other way but to practice hard.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, preparations for "Heartfire" have entered their final stages.

In a few days, Su Manqing will be flying to the UK with Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, and other key members of the production team.

After a two-week period of location scouting discussions and experiencing life in the area, they will officially begin filming, about a month ahead of schedule.

Sofia was now fully engaged in her work, brimming with confidence. "Don't worry, Su, I'll definitely finish filming early so it won't affect your collaboration with Chu."

Su Manqing didn't care too much about this. She just hoped that Sophia wouldn't overstay her visa and that she could return to China as planned.

In Su Manqing's opinion, none of the directors are reliable; how could anyone be on time and follow the shooting schedule?

Nicolas Cage, however, knew his cousin quite well and comforted Su Manqing, saying, "Don't worry, Sophia would rather waste her time in nightclubs than spend a second on set!"

Su Manqing, “.”

Cage has been in a good mood lately, for a simple reason: he listened to Chu An's advice and gave up filming "Windtalkers," and now some results are already showing.

Director Wu Yulin recently completed filming and is currently in post-production. However...
Cage learned from his friends at Paramount that *Windtalkers* might really have flopped. As soon as filming wrapped, both Wu Yu-lin and Paramount had a premonition.

This made Cage secretly relieved, knowing that the consequences of a Hollywood A-list production like this being a failure would be quite severe.

The impact on actors is also enormous.

If things go wrong, Cage, who is currently a box office draw and a box office guarantee, could very well become box office poison and be ignored by everyone.

Seeing that Su Manqing still looked troubled, as if something was on her mind, Cage asked with concern, "What's wrong, Su? We're doing very well, aren't we?"

Su Manqing smiled lazily, "Of course I'm not worried about 'Heart Fire,' we are the best creative team!"

"However, screenwriter Chu has encountered some trouble."

During a casual chat, Su Manqing briefly told Cage about the performance difficulties Chu An was currently facing.

Upon hearing this, Cage's expression became exaggerated: "My God! Just how much work does that guy have to do?"

"He's a screenwriter, an agent, and I heard he even got into your country's directing academy?"

"Does he really want to make a breakthrough in his acting skills?"

"Tell that greedy fellow for me that a person's energy is limited."

Su Manqing was amused. "There's an old Chinese saying: 'A man's greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.'"

"It means that human desires can never be satisfied, just like a small snake trying to swallow an elephant."

Cage seemed to understand, but not quite, "It sounds very philosophical."

Su Manqing: "Don't worry, he still has me."

"I plan to fly back to China as soon as filming here is finished, and give our screenwriter Chu some special acting training. It will definitely be effective."

Su Manqing's expression was also exaggerated; she had now completely adapted to the American way of thinking and interacting.

Cage shrugged, his expression odd. "If you're going to give him special training, I can offer some assistance."

Su Manqing was taken aback, not expecting that Cage would also be willing to help.

But Sophia spoke up from the side, "Have you forgotten?"

“My dear cousin Cage is a master of method acting!”

Cage's experiential approach can be described as insane.

Over the years since his debut, he has done countless absurd things in order to play his roles well.

For example, when filming "Birdman," Cage had two teeth extracted without anesthesia to portray a Vietnam War veteran who suffered a mental breakdown.

He also lost 20 pounds by bandaging himself to portray the character's gaunt and颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being emaciated and decadent) state.

To prepare for his role in "Vampire Kiss," this madman swallowed a cockroach alive in front of the camera.

There's also "Leaving Las Vegas," which helped him win the Oscar for Best Actor. To portray a desperate, alcoholic writer, Cage was in a drunken state both on and off set for a long time, almost drinking himself to death.

This is a ruthless person who would risk his life for a performance, and he always brings the character to the extreme.

Su Manqing looked at Cage suspiciously, "Do you really have a way to help Chu improve his acting skills?"

When talking about his area of ​​expertise, Cage became very excited, saying, "You know what? Actually, everyone is the best actor."

"Each of them can present the most vivid and natural performance, which is to be themselves!"

"So what you need to do is not improve Chu An's acting skills at all."

Su Manqing, "What do you mean?"

Cage: "What I mean is, Chu is definitely a good actor, he just can't play the role you're going to be working on."

"But I'm sure I can play myself well."

"Okay, I've never been a very good communicator."

Cage pondered seriously, "Then let's put it another way. He can play himself well, so we just need to find a way to make Chu's daily life more like the character."

Su Manqing, “.”

She seemed to understand.

"You mean, to make Chu An become Yu Tu, the role he's about to play?"

Snapped!
Cage snapped his fingers. "That's exactly what I mean!"

"At least until the film is finished, you need to help him maintain his momentum."

Su Manqing finally understood.

Nicolas Cage's method acting is actually a kind of perspective-taking ability.

In other words, since Chu An can't play Yu Tu well, then let Yu Tu become Chu An.

"I think I have an idea!" Su Manqing suddenly smiled mischievously, behaving like a bad woman.

The first thing Su Manqing did after getting up the next morning was to call Chu An overseas to say goodnight.

Chu An had just been tormented by Zou Qingsong all day and was exhausted, so he chatted listlessly with Goddess Su.

That's right, Su Manqing was perfectly fine; she was just chatting idly.

Chu An patiently chatted with her for five minutes, "Do you have something to say or not? If not, then kneel down and leave! I'm tired!"

As they were talking, Chu An hung up the phone and went straight to sleep.

The next evening, Su Manqing called again.

This continued for a week.

Teacher Chu finally couldn't take it anymore, "Su Manqing, do you really want to be an old cow eating young grass?!"

"Let me tell you, you can't treat children like that!"

"We're a whole cycle apart!"

"Besides, why do I feel like the tone of your voice has changed?"

Su Manqing was nothing like her former seductive and languid self; instead, she seemed to be trying to appear younger than she was.

The goddess Su across from him wasn't angry. She sighed, seemingly defeated by Chu An, or perhaps talking to herself, "Sigh, does he have to be so clueless? Don't female celebrities have any pride?" Chu An, "."

That tone... it sounds so familiar.

I just can't remember.

Chu An woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, exclaiming, "Holy crap!"

With his eyes wide open, he quickly called Su Manqing.

Su Manqing was checking in when she answered the phone, "Hello? What brings you to call me, dear Teacher Chu?"

Chu An, "Qiao Jingjing! You're imitating Qiao Jingjing!?"

Su Manqing's way of speaking lately is very similar to Qiao Jingjing in "You Are My Glory".

"Phew!!!" Su Manqing was still in Qiao Jingjing mode, letting out a long sigh of relief. "Hey! You finally got it! I thought Teacher Chu's reaction time was as long as a satellite orbit."

Chu An, "."

Su Manqing: "From now on, oh no! To be precise, from a week ago until filming wraps up, I will speak to you in this tone. Teacher Chu, you should be prepared."

Before Chu An could speak, Su Manqing said, "Of course, with my excellent acting skills, I don't need to put myself into the role beforehand, but it's different for Teacher Chu."

She complained sarcastically, "Does he really think he's a genius? His professional skills are lacking, and he doesn't even know how to humbly learn!"

"Okay, I'm not talking to you anymore, I need to go through security, bye."

Chu An, holding his phone which was ringing with a busy tone, was completely petrified.

He strongly suspected that Su Manqing was showing off.

She boasts that she can effortlessly transform herself into another person.

However, since then, Chu An has not refrained from calling Goddess Su every day to report on each other's recent situations, and even to have aimless long phone conversations.

Su Manqing is turning Chu An into Yu Tu in her own way.

Chu An, too, went mad.

To be honest, Chu An is a strong-willed person by nature, both in his past life and in this life.

He appeared unconcerned about the teasing from fans and netizens, but he was actually quite upset; he just hid it very well.

To put it simply, Chu An hadn't actually watched a single complete episode of "With You." He didn't want to see himself performing like a fool on television, constantly piling up jokes to make the audience overlook his acting skills.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have called over all the actors he knew to provide him with experience.

They would never knowingly choose to acquiesce when they were already aware that continuing to act out their daily routine with Su Manqing could easily lead to problems.

And so, Chu An went mad...

Not only when he spoke to Su Manqing on the phone, he was Yu Tu.

Lu Mingze and the others also discovered that Chu An was gradually evolving towards the everyday path.

For example, in the sweltering summer, Teacher Chu would wear a black trench coat all day long, even when going out.

So much so that the paparazzi who were staking out the place thought that Teacher Chu was mentally unstable.

Their clothing was tolerable, but what everyone found most unbearable was that even their tone of voice had changed.

They've started using very few words!

"Yesterday!!" Lu Mingze complained to Lin Wanxing in a frenzy, "Yesterday I spent eleven hours with Chu Shikuai, and he only said 17 sentences to me!"

"I think he's a little scary!"

Miss Wanxing exaggeratedly moved closer to Chu An, scrutinizing him closely, and imitated a Northeastern accent, "What's wrong? Xu Shu filmed a kissing scene with someone? Did that upset you like this?"

In the past, if such a joke were uttered, Teacher Chu would either spew out a few vulgarities with extremely high levels of profanity, or tell Miss Wanxing to "get lost."

But now, Chu An looked at Lin Wanxing seriously, "Do I look like the kind of person who's petty and narrow-minded?"

Before Lin Wanxing could respond, Chu An interrupted, a wicked smile playing on his lips, "I am."

My God!! That's terrifying.

Lin Wanxing was dumbfounded. Was this really a joke?
"How did you manage to make a joke sound so menacing?"

Lin Wanchen came to Chu An to report on the progress of the Weibo site creation, but Chu An changed his usual strategic approach and said, "You can make the decision, I'm fine with anything."

After saying that, Teacher Chu stood up and left, saying, "I have other things to do, so I won't bother you any longer."

"Disturbing you?" Lin Wanchen was dumbfounded. Was this guy possessed?
"Don't make trouble!"

"Chu An, you can't let a role interfere with your important work."

Chu An responded with a deadpan smile, "I'm not that complicated. I can only do one thing well."

"That is"

Lin Wanchen asked expectantly, "What is it?"

Chu An, "I love you!"

Damn it!! Lin Wanchen fled in panic, goosebumps all over his body.

So this was actually a line from a script.

As she ran, she screamed in panic, "I don't know you until I get better!"

September arrived in the blink of an eye, and the Central Academy of Drama started its new semester. Chu An, however, did not go to school because he had gone to the National Space Administration to experience life there in advance.

At this moment, even Su Manqing, the instigator, was a little scared.

Because Cage said to her, "The most dangerous thing about experiential learning is the inability to detach oneself."

That day, Su Manqing spoke to Chu An on the phone, saying, "How about we call it off? I'm worried something might happen to you!"

Chu An then teased in a very magnetic voice, "Miss Su always took the initiative before, but it's my turn from now on."

"It can only stop when I say stop."

Su Manqing was so startled she almost threw her phone away.

what should we do?

This is no joke.

Chen Xiaoxu's life was ruined because of her role as Lin Daiyu.

Leslie Cheung ultimately chose suicide because of Cheng Dieyi's gender dysphoria and infatuation.

Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, also died because of the role.

Of course, it wouldn't be a big problem if Chu An really became Yu Tu, but Su Manqing was worried.

"He wouldn't give up his promising future in the entertainment industry to go into scientific research, would he?"

In the end, Lu Mingze was the most reliable and proposed a feasible solution.

Old Lu contacted Su Manqing specifically, saying, "I've decided to increase Chu An's salary by 50."

Su Manqing didn't understand, "His problem now isn't about the salary, is it?"

"Besides!" Goddess Su said, a little angry, "Do you think 50 yuan is enough to solve Chu An's problem?!"

Old Lu, "You've misunderstood."

"What I mean is, take this $50 and find a good psychologist in the US to bring back with you."

Su Manqing, “.”

……

.

(End of this chapter)