Entertainment: The Path to Best Actor for Talented Actors

"Sichuan 8633, Chengdu is called."

"Sichuan 8633 Chengdu is calling you"

"Chengdu, Sichuan, is calling you (8633)"

Inside the airport control tower studio set up by the film crew, the crew of "The Captain" was filming the scene of calling 8633.

Li Xian came to play the role of an air traffic controller. He listened to the recording several times and almost perfectly imitated the tone and when to pause.

The two groups were quite close together, and Zhang Ze often came over to visit when he had nothing else to do.

The schedule for the Chinese pilot was very tight; this incident happened in May, the project was approved in July, and filming began on New Year's Day.

Filming is scheduled to wrap up in March, with the film set to be released in September.

So there were always two filming crews.

Group A filmed the captain and flight attendants, while Group B filmed the cameo actors.

"What brings you here today?" Assistant Director Lao Han asked Zhang Ze.

"Brother Han went to film his wife's scenes, we're taking a short break."

Huang Zhizhong and Li Xian greeted him when they saw him.

Li Xian shook his head and said, "I was frantically calling 8633 right here! I just turned around and saw you standing behind me, I almost broke down!"

My first thought was, "Shouldn't you be on a plane right now? How did you get here?"

"Haha, I'm a little obsessed!"

Huang Zhizhong came over, patted Zhang Ze on the shoulder, and asked, "I heard you're flying to Lhasa this afternoon?"

"Yes, I'm leaving this afternoon! I just wanted to come see you, my older brother, before I left!"

He smiled and hugged Huang Zhizhong.

"Brother is fine, please don't add 'old' to it! I'm still young!" Huang Zhizhong was somewhat resistant to the word "old".

"Haha, this old man still won't admit he's getting old!"

Zhang Ze pointed at him and said to Li Xian with a smile.

Huang Zhizhong was born in 1969 and is 50 years old this year.

His main works are military dramas, and he has collaborated with Zhang Ze on many projects.

The two were very close. On set, Huang Zhizhong called him "Little Thing," while Zhang Ze called him "Old Thing."

After waiting for two hours, the crew wrapped up and found a restaurant outside.

Li Xian and Kan Qingzi came along, and the four of them, along with Zhang Tianai and the others, made up a large table.

When several celebrities get together, they naturally discuss matters within the entertainment industry. The first topic that comes to mind is Fan Bingbing's tax evasion case last year, which involved 800 million yuan.

These actors have been having a tough time lately, as they've all been busy paying back taxes!

In the past, there were many ways to avoid taxes in the entertainment industry. If you avoid taxes, I will avoid taxes too. It's as if I'm a fool if I don't.

That's still considered good; there are many who go too far and even evade taxes!

These days, actors in the industry often ask each other, "How much did you pay for the repairs?" when they meet in private.

It's a complicated matter, and it's not necessarily the celebrities' fault; many of the problems stem from their management companies.

The entertainment industry is a mix of truth and falsehood, and no one can escape it. In short, no one can avoid paying taxes.

"Hey! Have you guys heard about the salary cap for actors?"

Yuan Quan said, "I heard from a rumor that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is going to issue a salary cap for actors. In the future, not only will the pay for variety shows be reduced, but the pay for TV dramas and movies will also be reduced."

"The salary cap will affect everyone, but in the long run, it will be beneficial to the market," Zhang Ze said, expressing his opinion.

"It really needs to be restricted. Those young boys in their early twenties, looking so delicate and frail, dare to ask for 70 or 80 million yuan in film fees right off the bat!"

"We've been talking about limiting actors' pay for years, but it hasn't worked. It might not work this year either!" The young actors expressed their doubts.

In fact, this salary cap is a significant blow to them.

They are still young and at the peak of their careers, a time when they should be making a lot of money. This salary cap will reduce their earnings considerably.

Even so, it's still tens of millions of dollars earned, so it's not unacceptable, but it just feels a little heartbreaking.

Zhang Ze has taken it in stride; if there's a salary cap, he'll just earn less! Anyway, he's already made over a billion yuan.

Jack Ma boasted that he was "not interested in money and had never touched it," a statement that resonated with many.

Since becoming famous, he has almost never experienced the joy of spending money to buy things.

Ninety-nine percent of the things are paid for by the assistant, and everything is done by the subordinates.

Even when he took his son to get a haircut, his assistant paid for the membership card.

He thought to himself, "When was the last time I spent money?"

"Oh, right, it was when scanning the QR code for a shared bike!"

"Bang!" Zhang Ze suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

The people present were startled. Zhang Tianai was sticking out her tongue to eat tripe, and they were so frightened that they burned their tongues.

It's fanning itself with its hand and has its mouth open; it looks very cute.

He pointed at the celebrities in front of him and said, "Tonight, none of you are allowed to compete with me! Tonight, it's on me, Young Master Zhang!"

"Brother, what's wrong with you now?" Li Qin asked, looking at him with some confusion.

He laughed and said, "Haha, it's nothing, I just suddenly remembered this line. It's really popular on Douyin, didn't you guys know?"

"Oh! I remember now, it's the character played by Bao Beier, that bald guy!" Zhang Tianai clapped her hands excitedly.

The group ate hot pot and drank some beer, which created a lively atmosphere.

Zhang Tianai's face was already a little flushed from drinking.

"I didn't say that without a reason. I was just thinking, how much money is enough for a person in their lifetime? Every one of us here is quite wealthy!"

"I'd like to ask everyone here, how long has it been since you last personally spent money?"

Upon hearing Zhang Ze's words, the group fell silent, each trying to recall when they had last spent money.

"It was about half a year ago, when I went to Xinjiang," Huang Zhizhong replied thoughtfully.

Zhang Tianai blinked, frowned, and thought for a long time but still couldn't remember.

"It was probably a year ago! My assistant would order me things like milk tea, and everything was taken care of – food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation. I just had to ask!"

The remaining actors all indicated that they would not make payments more than twice a year.

The meal lasted two hours. When it was time to leave, Zhang Ze stopped his assistant who wanted to pay the bill.

I went to the bar myself and asked, "Could you please calculate the price?"

"Sir, 1860 yuan!"

Zhang Ze scanned the QR code and made the payment.

I feel much better now.

It's more satisfying to spend the money you earn yourself!

Spending money is addictive. I felt like paying the bill once wasn't enough, so I asked, "Would you all like to have another coffee?"

"I want a cappuccino!"

"latté"

"American style"

"Milk tea~"

Suddenly, someone who didn't fit in jumped in, and it turned out to be Li Qin.

"Aren't you afraid of gaining weight from drinking milk tea?" He knew that female celebrities had to control their milk tea intake.

"It's okay, I won't gain weight from drinking, I'll only weigh 90 pounds at most!" Li Qin said with a smile.

"It's too Versailles! You only weigh over 80 pounds, while I weigh 96 pounds!" Zhang Tianai looked at Li Qin with some envy.

"Oh no, I've revealed my weight!" she belatedly covered her mouth.

He glanced at the people beside him.

"Don't doubt it, we all heard it, Ms. Zhang Tianai, who weighs over 90 pounds!"

Zhang Ze teased her with a smile.

"You actresses are really working too hard! You're as thin as paper!" Huang Zhizhong said in a deep voice, expressing his opinion.

"There's no way around it, you look 10 pounds heavier on camera! You really look ugly on camera if you don't control your weight."

Zhang Tianai covered her cheeks and squeezed them hard.

After parting ways with Huang Zhizhong and Li Xian, Zhang Ze and Li Qin took a plane to Tibet.

Tibet is a wonderful place; Zhang Ze visited twice a few years ago.

Each visit gave him a different feeling.

Zhang Ze didn't believe the claim that Tibet was a place that could cleanse the soul; he only came to understand it after experiencing it firsthand.

This cleansing of the soul doesn't mean your soul is dirty or needs repentance.

It will make you feel the magnificence of nature, broaden your mind and teach you to let go. You will feel that everything in the world is trivial except for life and death.

On their first day in Tibet, the film crew did not assign any work.

The filming location was right in front of the Potala Palace.

Looking at the pristine white Potala Palace in front of him, Zhang Ze thought that since he had nothing else to do, visiting the Potala Palace wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Ou Hao, I'm going to see the Potala Palace, do you want to come?"

"Okay! I'll go too, it's boring here anyway," Ou Hao said, standing up from his stool.

"Sister Quan, are Tian'ai and Li Qin going?"

"Sure! Let's all go together! The Potala Palace is definitely worth visiting!" Zhang Tianai replied with a smile.

"Since everyone is willing to go, let's just treat it as a team building activity!" Yuan Quan suggested.

Ordinary people need to make reservations to visit the Potala Palace, but today they didn't make reservations. Instead, they used their connections with the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, which can be considered as going through the back door.

The Bureau of Culture and Tourism warmly welcomes actors to visit the Potala Palace.

Even if tourists don't participate in official activities, simply taking videos and uploading them online is still a form of promotion for the attraction!

Before filming in Tibet, all the actors underwent high-altitude acclimatization training.

I started taking saffron six months in advance.

To prevent altitude sickness, the staff prepared portable oxygen cylinders for us.

Upon entering the Potala Palace, the tourists quickly recognized them.

They were all very surprised; they never imagined that a visit to the Potala Palace would lead to encountering celebrities.

Not just one, but a whole group!

"Ah, Li Qin."

"Teacher Zhang Ze is so handsome!"

"Ou Hao, Ou Hao!"

"Tian Ai is so beautiful!!"

Tourists greeted them excitedly, and many came over to ask for photos.

After taking a few photos with some fans, they noticed that more people were gathering around, so staff members began to block the crowd from getting closer.

Zhang Ze smiled and said to everyone, "We're here today for a vacation."

It's really fate that I was able to meet my friends!

Since there are too many people, it would take too long to take photos of each person individually. So let's take a group photo together, shall we?

After taking the photos, we started our enjoyable sightseeing.

"Okay! Okay!" The tourists happily agreed.

So the staff started organizing people to take a group photo.

There were nearly 200 people on site, and it took more than ten minutes to get the line in order.

Afterwards, the staff created a QQ group and sent them the electronic version of the photos.

Then the group visited the Potala Palace with peace of mind.

A guide is essential when visiting the Potala Palace to explain the history of the artifacts; otherwise, you'll only see the exterior.

The group found a tour guide, a young girl dressed in Tibetan clothing.

With her explanation, the group listened with great interest.

There are so many cultural relics in the Potala Palace, and every single one of them has a story.

While listening to the tour guide's explanation, Zhang Ze turned his head to the distance and saw several tourists sticking out their tongues and licking the snow-white exterior wall!

He smiled knowingly! These tourists are quite interesting; I wonder if the wall is sweet or not.

The tour guide said that the outer wall was made by mixing yak milk with white sugar, honey, saffron, and lime.

"How is it? Is it sweet?" He slowly walked over to the tourists and asked.

"Ah! Teacher Zhang Ze, hehe! We heard about it from others and came to give it a try!"

"It's so sweet, you'll know once you try it!" The other party was three young women in their early twenties;

Zhang Ze was persuaded by the other party, so he also came to the wall, stuck out his tongue, and licked it with the tip of his tongue.

"Hmm? It's not sweet either!"

He licked it again, savoring the taste, which was indescribable.

"Good grief, you're kidding me, aren't you?"

He pretended to be angry and was about to go up and teach the three girls a lesson, but they ran away laughing and joking.

At this moment, Zhang Tianai and the others discovered Zhang Ze.

"Ze-ge, how come you got separated from the group?" Zhang Tianai shouted.

Everyone looked over.

"This wall is really sweet, you guys can come over and lick it and try it," he replied.

He turned to the three girls and whispered, "Don't tell them!"

"Mmm, we get it! Everyone who's tried it says it tastes like milk, and we're afraid we'll be the last one!"

One of the girls seemed to have a very cheerful personality, and she nodded as she voiced Zhang Ze's inner thoughts.

"Brilliant! That's exactly what I mean!"

"Let's see how they react in a bit."

While the four were whispering amongst themselves, Zhang Tianai, holding Li Qin's hand, walked over.

Following behind were Ou Hao, Yuan Quan, and Yang Qiru.

"Is it really sweet? Did you just taste it?" Li Qin asked curiously.

"Hmm, it smells like milk. You can ask them if you don't believe me!"

He pointed to the three girls beside him.

"Then I'll try some too!" Zhang Tianai is a very straightforward person, and without thinking much, she said she would lick it as well.

"Okay, I'll take a picture for you!" Zhang Ze took her phone.

Zhang Tianai stood against the wall, stuck out her nimble tongue, and gently touched it with the tip of her tongue!

Zhang Ze seized the opportunity and captured the moment in a photograph.

I must say, female celebrities look beautiful on camera; there's no need for any particular composition or angle.

Even just this one side profile photo, with her eyes slightly closed and her nimble tongue licking the wall, is incredibly stunning.

"Hmm? Why can't I smell anything?"

"You're too fast! Lick it again!"

Zhang Ze smiled and lied to her, and she obediently licked it again.

This time he switched to video recording.

Zhang Tianai smacked her lips and asked, feeling the sensation.

"How is it? Does it taste sweet?" Li Qiang asked curiously.

"Hmm, it really does taste like milk, with a hint of sweetness, like honey!"

As expected of an actress, Zhang Tianai could lie through her teeth, and her tone and expression made it sound so real.