Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Ning Hao scratched his head: "Who is Fan Bingbing? And who is Huang Haibo?"

The two people also looked puzzled, having never heard of it before.

At this moment, Qin Lan spoke up: "Brother Hao, Fan Bingbing is Jin Suo from 'Princess Pearl,' I don't know Huang Haibo."

The three of them suddenly realized, "It's her!"

Ning Hao clicked his tongue, wanting to say that she was not as good as Xiao Yanzi, but then he thought about it again. Her salary was probably very high, and Xiao Yanzi was too popular. She was so popular that her role was somewhat stereotyped. She was quirky and clever, not the willful and capricious character that "My Sassy Girl" was supposed to be. The difference was huge.

Thinking of this, he remained silent. Just as Cheng Er had thought, Yang Che must have incorporated elements of his own experiences when writing the script.

Yang Che then said, "Have you seen Zhang Yuan's movie 'Mother'? The son Dongdong in it is Huang Haibo, who is now studying acting at the Beijing Film Academy."

The three of them seemed to realize something again. Wu Shixian tentatively said, "Brother Che, when Director Cheng was talking about Xia Yu earlier, I was thinking, isn't the male lead's appearance a bit too ordinary? Could it be that Huang Haibo has become handsome now?"

Yang Che chuckled: "Old Cheng, you explain yourself."

Cheng Er coughed lightly: "The male lead can't be handsome, otherwise the audience will hate the female lead's willfulness. Similarly, that's why the female lead has to be pretty and cute..."

These were the words Yang Che had initially said to him. Cheng Er's voice lowered as he spoke, realizing he had been overthinking things. This was a tragedy disguised as a comedy. But it was ultimately a comedy, with a happy ending, so Zhang Ziyi was indeed unsuitable.

Of course, he still thinks Zhang Ziyi is very beautiful.

Wu Shixian was deeply shocked. He learned something and was convinced. No wonder Cheng Er could become a director. He never expected to cast someone from this perspective.

So he said very seriously, "I was thinking of having you play the role, Che-ge. I've been watching these past few days, and you do have acting talent, but what Director Cheng said makes a lot of sense."

As Wu Shixian spoke, he looked at Cheng Er with a friendly and respectful gaze, which made Cheng Er blush.

"Giggle giggle."

Before Yang Che could react, Qin Lan burst out laughing, clearly thinking that Wu Shixian, this foreign devil, was too good at flattering.

"Sorry, Che-ge, you really are very handsome."

Yang Che's lips twitched. Damn, why does this sound so awkward?

"Continue, continue."

Ning Hao stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and wrote down Gao Yuanyuan and Guo Tao below Fan Bingbing and Huang Haibo.

When Yang Che saw the name Guo Tao, a scene from the movie "Crazy Stone" where Ning Hao examined Guo Tao's prostate flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but feel a chill.

"Guo Tao is getting a bit old, isn't he?"

"Brother, I just saw him perform in the play 'Rhinoceros in Love' a few days ago. He's quite young, but more importantly, his acting is very good. We can't use all newcomers, it would be too tiring to train them."

Cheng Er nodded inwardly. That was precisely why he chose Xia Yu and Zhang Ziyi; it allowed him to focus more on the visual presentation.

Yang Che nodded without saying anything, saying that we shouldn't look at the present with the perspective of later generations.

He initially considered Yan Danchen, but after looking at the girl's current photos, he realized she was similar to Qin Lan—both had large faces, and could only be described as cute, not beautiful. The difference was that Yan Danchen's face was round, while Qin Lan's was square.

Besides those two, there are so many beautiful girls in their early twenties these days. A single TV series can feature a variety of stunning beauties, such as "The Love Story of the Tang Dynasty" and "Wrong Carriage, Right Groom"... and so many more.

There are countless beauties who are diverse, natural, and distinctive. People say that is the beauty of economic prosperity, just like the era of Hong Kong's Hsia Yu and Fong Hong. There were many beauties, but people can only remember a few.

Are people like Qin Lan, Yan Danchen, Dong Xuan, and Wu Danni (please feel free to add more) not pretty enough? They are very pretty, but in this era, they just can't make it to the top tier. If they're even slightly less attractive, they easily blend into the crowd.

............

At this moment, Wu Shixian glanced at Cheng Er, got up and wrote Gong Beibi on the whiteboard. Well, he just wrote a name.

Everyone was speechless. Yang Che rubbed his forehead and said, "Old Wu, your girlfriend is really unsuitable."

Wu Shixian clasped his hands together and said with a grin, "Let her audition."

Yang Che then realized what was happening and couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You bastard, this is no big deal. Lao Wu, we hit it off right away. I'll definitely save you a suitable role in the future."

"Thank you, Brother Che. I'll see her then. She's been taking a break lately."

"What are you filming lately?"

"Zhang Guoli's 'Kangxi's Private Visits'."

"Oh, this show? Okay, come over and visit whenever you're free."

"OK."

Cheng Er then got up, walked to Wu Shixian's side, took the marker from his hand, and quickly wrote down Hu Jing and Xia Yu's names.

Cheng Er pointed to Hu Jing's name with a marker: "I won't talk about Xia Yu. This Hu Jing is Zhang Ziyi's classmate, a junior at the Central Academy of Drama. She played the female lead Mao Mao in 'Love in the Internet Age.' She's really sweet-looking, with a touch of ethereal charm. She has excellent basic skills. I think she's more suitable than Fan Bingbing."

Upon hearing this, Wu Shixian quickly looked away and slowly sat back down at his desk, leaving Ning Hao somewhat embarrassed.

Cheng Er was also helpless. He didn't want to say it, but he couldn't help but say it, and then he felt it was wrong.

Yang Che smiled and said, "That's Fan Bingbing, Gao Yuanyuan, Hu Jing, Huang Haibo, and Xia Yu. Lao Cheng, you arrange to contact them and schedule the audition for August 2nd. By the way, remember we are from Shanxi Film Studio."

Cheng Er actually breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Okay. Brother Che, should I send you the outline and character summaries?"

"Just give them the script, it's fine."

"Alright then."

Wu Shixian and Ning Hao didn't have any objections, but Qin Lan, who was relatively unknown, glanced at Yang Che after writing "August 2nd audition" and the actor's name. She felt that this was too risky. What if the script was leaked? Wouldn't that be troublesome?

But seeing the four people's calm demeanor, she could only suppress her curiosity.

It can only be said that Qin Lan is not from a professional acting background and has never seriously auditioned, so she doesn't really understand the ins and outs of the industry.

Generally, when casting for ordinary roles, the casting director holds auditions at the company or a hotel, and the actors come to audition. They are given lines on set, and the actors perform them live. If a performance is deemed suitable, the actor is kept on the waiting list, and a contract is ultimately signed.

If the intended actor is a first- or second-tier star, the outline and related materials, as well as the script for the first few episodes, will generally be sent directly to their agent. The agent has a certain ability to review scripts, and their team also has evaluators who are mainly responsible for project screening to see if the star is willing to participate. If so, further communication will be conducted.

Of course, the above refers to the state of the film and television industry after its full recovery in 2003. Now, even Xiao Yanzi wouldn't dare say she can't keep up with the demand for roles...

As for leaks or plagiarism, these usually happen when a screenwriter has written the script but hasn't found a production company yet, because no star would be so foolish as to risk their career by offending a production company.

But production companies can offend screenwriters at will... well... mainly because big screenwriters also bully smaller screenwriters. The saying "writers despise each other" is vividly reflected in the Chinese screenwriting circle. For example, the recording released by a screenwriter of "Prosperity" fully proves this point.