Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

never expected,

The place Han Sanping wanted to take him next door turned out to be the set of the TV series "The Story of a Noble Family".

Zhuang Huai'an was somewhat surprised. He had been filming in Huairou for a week and hadn't heard of The Story of a Noble Family next door.

"You know this movie?"

"I've read the original novel."

Han Sanping explained in a low voice: "The director of this film is Li Dawei, from the cinematography department of Beijing Film Academy. He is not important. I came here this time because his mother is with the crew. His mother entered Beijing Film Academy in 60 and has a lot of seniority. Even Tang Guoqiang has to call her senior sister."

Zhuang Huai'an nodded to indicate that he understood. They were one of their own, and it seemed they were from the first generation of the sect.

As soon as I entered the film set, before I even saw the so-called senior sister, I heard a roar.

"Where's Bai Xiuzhu? Her scene is next, has she memorized her lines?"

"Director, I'm here." A sweet, childlike voice rang out, sounding somewhat aggrieved: "I just arrived today, and I just got the script..."

"You still haven't memorized it?" A gruff voice boomed angrily. "All show and no substance! What did Lao You see in you? Just a pretty face?"

The curses echoed throughout the film crew.

Han Sanping and Zhuang Huai'an exchanged a glance and then quietly stepped forward at the same time.

A little girl was sobbing with her head down, while the main actors watched coldly. Only another little girl looked conflicted, as if she was wondering whether to step forward to help her out.

Seeing this scene, Zhuang Huai'an felt inexplicably disgusted.

The platform her mother provided, the investors her father brought in—she treats the platform her parents gave her as her own ability, and instead of speaking up about her conflicts with the producer, she takes her anger out on a minor girl.

Tsk, this kind of behavior is typical of a second-generation director.

Han Sanping's face darkened. The film was short of investment, and Li Dawei's mother was trying to find investors through his connections to make up for it. He agreed and even brought the Beijing Film Academy's "Holy Son" to visit the set today, only to see this scene.

"Li Dawei, you've really made something of yourself!"

"Who the hell is yelling at me? Don't you know there's no noise on set?" Li Dawei's temper flared even more. He poked his head out from behind the monitor to continue cursing, but when he saw Han Sanping staring at him with a dark face, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"Whose father are you?" Old Han crossed his arms, exuding the aura of the notorious bandit leader Zuo Shandiao.

Li Dawei remained silent, not daring to utter a word. If anyone dared to shout in his territory, he would make sure that person knew what the director's wrath was like, but he really didn't dare to do it this time. Perhaps his father would be more daring.

Zhuang Huai'an took a half step back, shielding Han Sanping in front of him.

The set fell silent. The lead actors, Chen Kun and Dong Bailian, looked down at their toes, as if they wanted to disappear into the ground.

There may be people in the entertainment industry who can stand up to Han Sanping, but they are definitely not small-time actors like them.

When gods fight, mortals must give way.

Li Dawei took a deep breath, forced a smile, and quickly stepped forward. "Chairman Han, I didn't know it was you. I was just discussing the scene with the actors and I lost my temper."

Seeing his attitude, Han Sanping didn't press the matter further and instead said, "If you're going to talk about the scene, then talk about it properly. It's normal for a new girl to lack experience. Instead of thinking about how to help her, you think you can make a good film by scolding her? You grew up on film sets, have you ever seen a great director treat actors like this?"

Out of respect for Li Dawei's parents, and also because this was their home turf, Han Sanping didn't say anything harsh.

"Yes, yes, you're right," Li Dawei said with a smile. "I was just in a hurry. I'll be more careful in the future."

"Well, I'm here this time to..." Han Sanping hesitated, then glanced around the quiet film set before saying, "It's not convenient to talk here, find somewhere else."

With so many people on set, Han Sanping still gave Li Dawei face, not wanting others to know that his mother had pulled strings for him.

"Hey, Mr. Han, please come with me." Li Dawei led the way.

For some reason, Han Sanping didn't mention Zhuang Huai'an at all. Zhuang Huai'an was happy to be left alone, since he didn't really want to get to know Li Dawei either.

Seeing that the two had left, everyone put down what they were doing and started to slack off.

The little girl had already seen Zhuang Huai'an and walked over to greet him while sobbing.

"Senior..."

"Sigh," Zhuang Huai'an sighed, seeing the little girl's red nose, and asked, "What happened just now?"

"That's right, the director decided to shoot my scene first, but today is my first day on set and I haven't received the script for this scene yet," Liu Yifei said, sounding a little aggrieved.

Zhuang Huai'an nodded thoughtfully. He had heard about this before; the production team of "The Story of a Noble Family" was extremely complicated.

Originally, Chen Kun recommended a friend of his for the role of Bai Xiuzhu, but producer You Jianming accidentally saw Liu Yifei's GG card and felt that she was more suitable for the role of Bai Xiuzhu. So, disregarding director Li Dawei's opinion, he insisted on casting her.

Li Dawei felt that he was challenging his position as director, and the lead actor Chen Kun was even more upset about it. Bai Xiuzhu had the most scenes with him, so he used the scenes to make things difficult for Liu Yifei, both openly and subtly.

Li Dawei, of course, turned a blind eye to this.

Zhuang Huai'an originally didn't want to get involved in this mess, but seeing the little girl still sobbing, he softened a bit.

"Let me see the script." Zhuang Huai'an took the script and asked, "What scene did the director say we're shooting today?"

"This is it," Liu Yifei flipped through a few pages, "it's the drunken scene where Bai Xiuzhu learns that Jin Yanxi is getting married."

After hearing this, Zhuang Huai'an felt a bit contemptuous of Li Dawei. Wasn't this blatant bullying?

How can you expect a 15-year-old girl who has never acted before to portray such a heartbroken and unrestrained character?

"This scene is indeed quite difficult," Zhuang Huai'an nodded, instructing her: "You can try to understand it from a different perspective. Don't think of yourself as someone who has just broken up with their boyfriend. Instead, imagine yourself in other relationships, like your mother not wanting you anymore, or your friend not wanting you anymore, or something like that."

The little girl listened attentively, while mentally simulating the situation Zhuang Huai'an described.

"Imagination is very important in acting. Not every character's experience can resonate with your own. More often than not, you have to try to put yourself into the character's mind."

Liu Yifei nodded and asked, "Senior, is this what's called experiential learning?"

"That makes sense," Zhuang Huai'an thought for a moment and explained, "This is basically the school of thought that will be taught in schools in the future. It emphasizes that the actor should become the character, empathize with the character's emotions from the heart, drive the external actions with inner feelings, and pursue the goal of being the character itself, rather than acting out the character."

Liu Yifei's eyes lit up as she listened. He had grasped the core idea in just a few words. "Senior is so amazing!"

The little girl stopped crying and smiled happily, saying, "I understand, thank you, senior."

Chen Kun and Dong Bailian were discussing the script not far away. Seeing that Zhuang Huai'an had turned Liu Yifei from crying to laughing in just a few words, he curled his lip and said disdainfully, "Ha, nowadays any Tom, Dick, or Harry can come out and teach people how to act."

Chen Kun's undisguised tone made Dong Bailian's expression change. She quickly tugged at him and whispered, "Are you crazy? Don't you know who he is?"

"Who is it? A relative of the director?" Chen Kun asked nonchalantly.

"He's Zhuang Huai'an, the director who won the award at Cannes!"

Chen Kun's face turned pale instantly. He subconsciously looked at Zhuang Huai'an and saw him looking at him with a half-smile. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

"You think you're so great just because you played the male lead in a TV series? If you got a role in a movie, you'd be on top of the world!"

Zhuang Huai'an's voice was louder.