Half a year ago, the group Chasing Light was formed and four young boys officially debuted.
In the current entertainment industry where boy bands gather in droves, the group Chasing Light has not made much of a splash. After the first three months of the group's honeymoon period, the group Chasing Light is now in name only. Except for occasionally getting together for fan meetings, most of the time, the four members are developing on their own.
The company also has a focus on resource investment, with the focus on training Li Chengxuan.
He has played supporting male roles with a likable image and a certain weight in several big productions. Several dramas have received good reviews after they were broadcast, and Li Chengxuan has therefore been called a new rising star with good acting skills by many people.
I heard that he will be playing the leading male role soon.
It can be said to be a high starting point.
Xu Qiao walked towards the elevator and when he passed by Li Chengxuan, Li Chengxuan grabbed his arm.
Stopping, Xu Qiao looked at him with a puzzled look. Her eyes were like the ripples on a summer lake, so pure that Li Chengxuan couldn't utter the words he had prepared.
Letting go of his hand, Li Chengxuan smiled warmly: "It's been a while since we last met. What are you doing in the company today?"
Before Xu Qiao could answer, his eyes had already fallen on the audition script in Xu Qiao's hand.
"Sister Yang has arranged an audition for you."
He leaned over and whispered in Xu Qiao's ear, "Good luck in the audition."
Xu Qiao turned his head to look at him, bending his eyebrows obediently, looking harmless and innocent.
The next morning, when Xu Qiao arrived at the SSE headquarters, Yang Hui was already waiting.
Taking Xu Qiao to the underground garage, Yang Hui unlocked the car, sat in the driver's seat, unbuckled her seat belt, and asked, "How are the preparations going?"
"It's okay." Xu Qiao sat in the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt.
Yang Hui said "hmm", stepped on the accelerator, and the car slowly drove out.
As soon as he left the garage, Xu Qiao saw Li Chengxuan standing at the company's door. He seemed to be waiting for someone, looking around. When he saw Yang Hui's car, Li Chengxuan was stunned for a moment, then waved happily.
Yang Hui parked the car in front of him, rolled down the window and asked, "Chengxuan, why are you standing here?"
"Sister, what a coincidence. Oh, Xu Qiao is here too." Li Chengxuan greeted the two of them warmly, "My car broke down, and I was just planning to ask Xiao Wang to pick me up. Oh, by the way, sister, have you had breakfast? I just bought some food from the dim sum shop on West Street. Don't you love their glutinous rice cakes the most? Here."
He raised the packaging bag in his hand.
Yang Hui tapped the steering wheel with her index finger and raised her chin towards him: "Then I'll take advantage of it."
The two of them were in a good mood and chatted happily, leaving Xu Qiao aside.
After a while, Yang Hui asked, "Where are you going? I'll take you there."
Li Chengxuan scratched his head: "I'm not in a hurry, I'm afraid of delaying you. By the way, sister, where are you and Xu Qiao going?"
Yang Hui then turned her gaze to Xu Qiao and said, "Go for the audition."
Li Chengxuan showed a curious look.
Yang Hui unlocked the car and motioned for Li Chengxuan to get in as well: "If you're not in a hurry, let's go take a look together."
Li Chengxuan sat in the back seat. Xu Qiao glanced at the rearview mirror, her eyes moved over his half-smiling face, and her long eyelashes drooped.
His appearance here is no coincidence at all.
After driving to the film and television city, Yang Hui parked the car and took the two to the Hundred Ghosts crew.
Director Hu Zhenghua was very busy, so today's audition was in charge of assistant director Zhang Zhen. The stagehand brought the people to Zhang Zhen, who exchanged a few words with Yang Hui and then turned his attention to Xu Qiao who was standing next to Yang Hui.
Zhang Zhen had read the information early in the morning. He had heard of Xu Qiao's reputation as a vase and did not expect him to pass the audition at all. This audition opportunity was just a face-giving to Yang Hui.
The real person looks much more attractive than in the photo. Zhang Zhen, who is used to seeing handsome men and beautiful women in the entertainment industry, couldn't help but give Xu Qiao a high score for his appearance.
When his eyes swept over Li Chengxuan beside him, the other party bowed slightly politely. Zhang Zhen nodded, wondering why Yang Hui brought two people here.
"The crew is busy today, so let's not talk about anything else and just start the audition." Zhang Zhen looked at Xu Qiao, "Have you read the script? Although it's an audition, for the sake of effect, you should change your look first."
Xu Qiao nodded, changed clothes at the stylist's place, and was stunned when she came out. She saw Xu Siyi coming over at some point.
He sat next to Zhang Zhen, dressed in ancient costume, with a fluttering white robe, and long hair half-tied up with a green hairband. His brow bones were slightly prominent, making his eyes look deep, and his chin line was as elegant and clear as jade.
From the costumes and makeup, we can tell that the crew of One Hundred Ghosts is not short of money. Xu Siyi's clothes are gorgeous, with cranes embroidered on the sleeves and delicate cloud patterns on the neckline. The material is very textured, and you can tell at a glance that the cost is not low.
Xu Siyi came over to take a look after finishing filming. When he heard that the person who would be auditioning was Xu Qiao, he sat down.
Li Chengxuan tried to talk to him, but he acted like a senior and only said "hmm" here and there. When Li Chengxuan saw the impatience on his face, he simply shut up.
Seeing Xu Qiao coming out, Xu Siyi changed to a relaxed sitting posture with his eyes slightly narrowed.
Although both are ancient costume styles, Xu Qiao's current look gives people a completely different feeling from Jin'er.
Jin'er is dressed in red, like a flamboyant, seductive and blooming flower that is about to rot.
The young Taoist priest was wearing a Taoist robe and a square scarf on his head. His handsome face showed a bit of innocence and his temperament was as clean as a spring in the forest. He was a pure young man who had been raised in the mountains since he was a child. He had not yet mastered his skills but was eager to punish evil and promote good and do great things.
Everyone in the crew was amazed. If they had a vague idea of the image of the little Taoist priest after reading the script, when they saw Xu Qiao, the vague image suddenly became clear. This is what a little Taoist priest should look like.
Very satisfied with Xu Qiao's look, Zhang Zhen flipped through the script and said, "You will play the role of the little Taoist priest who exposes the heroine's feelings for the water ghost."
"Water Ghost" is, after all, a clichéd story of "I love you, you think you love me, but in fact you love him".
The young Taoist priest went down the mountain to gain experience and was attracted by the innocent, kind and pure heroine. The two of them had similar interests and hit it off at first sight. They naturally got to know each other and fell in love, and their love grew stronger day by day.
But the water ghost who grew up with the heroine is a shadow between them.
The young Taoist priest gradually realized that the water ghost might be more than just a childhood playmate to her, but the heroine herself did not realize this. He wanted to get rid of the water ghost for the first time for selfish reasons, under the pretext of catching ghosts and demons and getting rid of harm for the people. At this time, a huge conflict broke out between the heroine and him.
The scene that Xu Qiao is going to audition is the one where the heroine stops the young Taoist priest who is trying to get rid of the water ghost by performing magic, and the young Taoist priest questions her.
As an auditioning actor, you are not entitled to read the entire script. You can only get an outline and the part of the script related to the audition.
How the actor performs depends on whether he can ponder and improve the role he is auditioning for based on the limited information and perform a role that suits the character.
The male actors who auditioned previously were mostly a bit thin in their emotional handling when performing this part, with hysterical lines and exaggerated body language. There's nothing wrong with performing like this, but it always felt a little off.
Zhang Zhen stroked his chin, wanting to see how Xu Qiao would present this scene.
Xu Qiao lowered his head to gather his emotions, and when he raised his head again, the things in his eyes were different. He walked forward a few steps quickly, and then seemed to hear someone calling him from behind, and there was a struggle in his eyes, and he slowly stopped.
Everyone watching understood that it was the heroine who called him.
Xu Qiao lowered his eyes, his facial expression did not change much, and he looked calm.
Zhang Zhen's originally casual attitude froze for a moment, and then he looked at Xu Qiao seriously.
Knowing how to exercise restraint while acting is a rare quality.
He continued reading.
Xu Qiao raised her eyes and saw someone standing in front of her. He looked at her, then quickly looked away. He clenched the peach wood sword in his hand and swung it back and forth, pretending to be relaxed and indifferent: "Why are you stopping me? His existence is a threat to the entire village."
There are no real people acting opposite me, but the dialogue does not feel out of place.
When Xu Qiao heard the heroine accusing him of whether he hurt the water ghost out of selfish motives, he smiled briefly, and the corners of his mouth just raised before retracting.
Those eyes were like ink drops in clear water, which suddenly spread out and formed a dark color.
He didn't answer, but everyone watching understood that the conflict between him and the heroine had reached its peak at this moment, and irreconcilable contradictions were about to be laid out one by one.
The conflict in a play is the process of the rise and fall of various factors between the characters in the play. Advance or retreat, love or hate, like a tug-of-war, it makes a sharp sound.
The hidden pain and mockery in Xu Qiao's eyes were too strong to be ignored.
Finally, he squeezed out two words from his throat: "Selfishness?"
"Let me ask you, am I selfish or are you selfish?"
The secret thoughts were gradually revealed. The little Taoist priest, who used to be a bit childish, changed his playful smile and instead pressed the heroine step by step, questioning her and making her see clearly her wavering heart.
"You want him to reincarnate again, but you know that if a person who drowns himself wants to reincarnate again, someone else needs to drown there to serve as his scapegoat."
"You said he had never hurt anyone, but because of you, he had the idea of being reborn as a human being and wanted to lure people into the water."
"Do you know why he had this idea?" Xu Qiao paced back and forth, the knuckles of his hand holding the peach wood sword turned white from the force.
The voice is good, and the lines are also good. The pronunciation of this long paragraph of lines is clear, the voice is steady, and the emotional emphasis is in place, which is better than most of his peers. Zhang Zhen secretly commented in his heart.
"Because of you. Because you have grown up, from that babbling, toddling little baby, to what you are now—"
After examining the illusory girl standing in front of him from head to toe, all his emotions subsided, and Xu Qiao said softly:
"It looks like this now."
Xu Siyi smiled, knowing that Xu Qiao had already secured the role, so he did not stay any longer and returned to the set.
After a while, Zhang Zhen put his hands together, and the sound of applause came: "Not bad."
In this performance, Xu Qiao has a very good sense of proportion. His micro-expression control is excellent, and his emotions are neither empty nor exaggerated.
Nowadays, many actors use a set of acting techniques, where they express anger by bulging veins and roaring, and express anxiety by rubbing the corners of their clothes with their hands. In fact, they are using a performance method that can be used as a template, in other words, it is perfunctory and lazy.
This results in the actor looking like the same person no matter what role they play.
There is nothing wrong with using techniques in essence, and the audience can easily accept such emotional settings. However, if you don't think about it and only know the routine, then what you show will be difficult to be convincing and difficult for the audience to empathize with.
There is no way to let the audience put themselves in the role and feel the ups and downs of the character's fate.
Xu Qiao’s understanding of the little Taoist priest can be described as thorough, and the design of the details is well-placed and in line with the character’s positioning.
And that kind of restrained and natural performance is even more touching.
Some actors cried and laughed, expressed great joy and sorrow, but the audience remained indifferent, only feeling indescribable embarrassment and stiffness. Some actors did not shed tears, but a look or a subtle movement was enough to attract people's attention.
When it comes to the reasons, talent, time accumulation and degree of hard work are all indispensable.
Many actors do not have enough life experience to support their understanding of the seven emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, and shock of different characters. They lack talent, neglect to think, and are too lazy to hone their basic skills. How can they talk about acting skills
And Xu Qiao's greatest advantage is that the various experiences brought to him by the world of books, which lasted for hundreds or thousands of years, are things engraved in his bones and cannot be thrown away even if he wants to.
The so-called acting is to use your own body at this moment to hold the soul of another person at that moment and become that other person.
In the eyes of the crew who watched the audition, this audition was wonderful.
However, Xu Qiao did not get the role.
The actor who played the little Taoist priest was finally decided to be Li Chengxuan.