I'm not mentally ill, I'm a master of a thousand faces!

Chapter 123, Stephen Chow

At this moment, in Hong Kong, here is "New Police Story".

Chen Musheng and Cheng Shilong are also busy with this movie.

Both are highly valued.

This is the post-millennium reboot of the Police Story series, and the production, distribution, and actors all attached great importance to its launch.

Both are works that come on strong with a nostalgic appeal.

"The main character should have been Leslie Cheung."

"It was only later, after I took over the script, that I turned it into our new police story."

At this moment, Cheng Shilong and Chen Musheng, during their free time, also talked about the origin of the script.

Even the protagonist's name is "Chen Guorong" in memory of Leslie Cheung.

Long's attitude toward this film was quite resolute.

Make it a good film, don't skimp on the investment from beginning to end, start with a budget of 100 million, and make this film one of the best police stories ever made.

"What's Chen Guanxi's decision, considering this matter with our former employer, Emperor Entertainment Group?"

"What are you waiting for? The audition is the most important thing."

Cheng Shilong said resolutely at this moment.

Even when investors come, they don't give them any face.

This is also Ah Long's advantage.

Even when investors come, they prioritize the quality of the film itself, and when it comes to casting, they only consider the film itself.

The answer was not surprising.

If you don't even give face to investors, then you're a sure thing.

This is the Dragon of Success.

"But I also have high hopes for that kid; he should be able to give us a decent performance," Chen Musheng said with a smile.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Chen Guanxi should be one of the most outstanding new generation in our circle. He can act, sing, and dance, and he's handsome too. Tsk tsk, I'm so envious. I'm sure many women like him. If he likes taking pictures, maybe we can feast our eyes on him in the future."

"Who takes photos of respectable people?"

"That's not necessarily true."

Cheng Shilong then joked that his conversation with director Chen Musheng had suddenly veered off to vulgar topics.

Conversations between men can sometimes be that simple and straightforward.

"Wu Yanzu is not bad either; he also has his own advantages."

When it comes to a sinister and gloomy aura, Daniel Wu is the only one who can match him.

Of course, we couldn't help but talk about the last candidate.

Li Yun is from mainland China.

The third-rate new generation seems to be the least promising of the three candidates.

However, it was Cheng Shilong who personally selected him, wanting him to give it a try.

This was actually quite unexpected for Chen Musheng, since Li Yun was far inferior to Wu Yanzu and Chen Guanxi in terms of status and other aspects.

They look like they're just here to make up the numbers.

Even the celebrities who were just there to make up the numbers were a bit lacking.

After all, the other party is Chen Guanxi and Wu Yanzu.

If Cheng Shilong's acting in Infernal Affairs influenced his choice, then there's really no need to worry.

After all, Lau Kin-ming and the villain Ah Kwun in this movie are worlds apart.

"You're wondering why I invited Mr. Li, aren't you?" Cheng Shilong said to Chen Musheng with a slight smile.

"Actually, I didn't even think of having him in this movie; he's not quite up to the task."

"Oh, so you just had him come here specifically to be a runner-up?" Chen Musheng was a little surprised; he was really direct.

Thinking about it, that makes sense.

An investment of 100 million Hong Kong dollars.

A large-scale commercial production.

Cheng Shilong, a top-tier international superstar, is the lead actor.

Even the people invited to audition are second-rate talents from big companies; there are actually some deals involved behind the scenes.

To put it bluntly, Li Yun just doesn't have that kind of class.

To put it bluntly, even if Li Yun's performance was better than Chen Guanxi's and Wu Yanzu's, he still wouldn't have been able to get the role.

This is a qualitative difference.

"I admire this young man. I saw him in TV dramas where he was brave, daring, and willing to do things himself, so I was willing to give him this opportunity and let him appear on my invitation list. This will also help his career. It's like giving him a little boost."

But Cheng Shilong also felt that...

Li Yun's status is not suitable for their new police story.

A top-notch team.

We don't need a third-rate person from the mainland.

Cheng Shilong's views are quite distinct, ranging from personal appreciation to a lack of optimism regarding the production direction.

It's still possible to tell them apart.

I will not interfere with the team's production direction based on my personal preferences.

"Why did you personally go to audition for Jackie Chan's movie when this third-tier mainland guy came from out of town?"

"I just heard about a young, immersive actor from mainland China, so I went to check him out. Wang Jing had been praising him to the skies, saying he was unparalleled, so I was just curious about his background."

"It's truly a rare thing that you can be curious."

"That's not quite right. It's just that when Fatty Wang said it, I found it a bit interesting."

At this moment, a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair was looking at a book.

The book is called The Actor Prepares.

The person reading this book is named Stephen Chow.

At this moment, Li Yun also arrived at the audition site for New Police Story.

Participating in auditions in Hong Kong.

After a short journey, we arrived in Hong Kong.

At this moment, Li Yun also felt the extravagance of this audition; even the hotel used for the audition was a top-tier hotel.

"That's really extravagant. Even if you have money, you can't spend it like this." Li Yun clicked his tongue.

Unlike Chen Guanxi, who came alone, both he and Daniel Wu arrived surrounded by people.

Arrogant and domineering.

I've heard that this movie has very ambitious investment plans.

One hundred million Hong Kong dollars.

In other words, if the box office doesn't reach 200 million yuan, he won't even be able to break even.

Li Yun naturally didn't care about this issue.

There's no way of knowing whether I'm good enough for the role.

Nothing is certain yet.

Meanwhile, Li Yun sat quietly in the corner, carefully reflecting on his role.

Guan Yun.

A loser kid.

It was his parents' indulgence and lack of discipline that turned him into a villain.

What Li Yun wanted to emphasize was his self-destructive tendencies.

That madness that fears not even death.

After all, he's not a madman.

They wouldn't do something like killing a police officer to get points deducted from their license.

Madness is the portrayal Li Yun wanted to give to this character.

"I don't know if this approach is right or not, something just doesn't feel right."

Li Yun touched his chin.

But they quietly waited for the audition to begin.

At this moment, the sinister young man in front of him looked at Li Yun and chuckled, a rather unpleasant laugh.

He is a pure villain.

The purity of madness, the purity of evil.

Previously, Eunuch Cao had come to deal with him.

Now that middle-aged scholar has come to punish him.

But he persisted in his madness and evil, and his ever-present self-destructive tendencies.

"Just go with this feeling."

At this moment, Li Yun quietly closed his eyes.

"Mr. Zhou, you've arrived with great honor."

"Brother Long, you don't need to be so polite."

Cheng Shilong warmly welcomed Zhou Xingxing, never expecting to be graced with his presence.

Both of them were gems of the previous generation of Hong Kong cinema.

They are also the pride of comedy filmmakers, but in reality, the two do not have much interaction. Cheng Shilong considers himself to be a social butterfly and has many friends in the industry.

This can be considered as aligning with the image in the movie.

However, Stephen Chow's character is different from his image in the movies.

He doesn't laugh that much.

I don't have many friends either.

He's always been called the King of Comedy.

Yet he is the king of comedy who doesn't laugh.

But why has Stephen Chow, who rarely contacts people, taken the initiative to come back today?

It must have been a bit of a surprise to him.

"I've come to see an actor audition," Stephen Chow said with a slight smile.

Only then did Cheng Shilong and Chen Musheng realize that the Emperor's influence was truly immense.

They even invited Stephen Chow to help out for Edison Chen.

They even invited the King of Comedy.

Although it didn't have much practical effect.

But could it be considered a psychological blow to the opponent?

"Emperor Entertainment even invited Stephen Chow! Wow, they really went to great lengths for my audition."

At this moment, Chen Guanxi said calmly and shook his head.

At this moment, I even feel somewhat disgusted by Emperor Entertainment's actions.

What good will it do to bring people along?

It's just to show off Emperor Entertainment's status in the industry.

They brought out the old generation of giants here.

However, today's audition is indeed quite interesting, as two giants of the Hong Kong film era have gathered here.

They are truly industry giants among actors.

Seeing Stephen Chow arrive, Jiang Ling also wondered if Emperor Entertainment had invited him without prior notice.

After all, apart from Emperor Entertainment, no one else present could probably persuade Stephen Chow to come.

"Be polite to your seniors later." Jiang Ling felt this was an unexpected surprise, giving Chen Guanxi more confidence to do well in the audition.

Whether it can boost one's confidence or not is not important.

It's important to be able to influence other people's confidence.

Stephen Chow's arrival should be able to influence other people's confidence.

Only a tycoon like Jackie Chan, who is unyielding and unapproachable, could have chosen him directly, given his status as an investor in Emperor Entertainment.

"Do your best later..."

At this moment, the person in the other world is Wu Yanzu, who is also a top candidate for this audition. The role was decided at the very beginning of the planning.

Li Yun and Chen Guanxi were the ones who barged in.

The character was originally named Guan Zu.

The role was tailor-made for him.

It suits him better from beginning to end.

Wu Yanzu, on the other hand, emphasized his decadent image, and his makeup also took a somewhat gloomy direction.

When this gloomy figure appeared before Cheng Shilong and Chen Musheng, he merely nodded slightly.

not bad.

They truly deserve to be the actors chosen from the very beginning.

"Wow, so melancholy," Stephen Chow muttered. "No wonder the media always calls him the most handsome man in China."

"He's an American citizen..."

"Is that so?"

At this moment, Stephen Chow stroked his chin, but didn't say anything, and continued to enjoy Daniel Wu's performance.

(End of this chapter)