The phone rang "beep", "beep" and "beep" three times before it was answered.
"Hello, this is Lu Mengying. I'm Chen Minhao. Is it convenient for you to speak now?"
A cheerful female voice came from the microphone, "Hello, hello, I am Lu Mengying. Teacher Zhang has just told me about the role of Siyuan in "Detective". Thank you for giving me this opportunity. When will I go to audition?" ah?"
"Of course, the sooner the better. But the crew has started filming in Curry Country, and the director is currently in Curry Country, so I need you to come to Curry Country for an audition."
"Ah, are you going to curry country?"
Chen Minhao was worried that he would miss out on a potential actor who could play Siyuan due to location issues. He quickly added: "You have to come to Curry Country, and the subsequent filming will basically be in Curry Country.
However, no matter whether it is successful or not, the cost incurred by the audition will be borne by the crew, so you should book the air tickets yourself first, keep the invoice, and ask the venue management for reimbursement afterwards. "
Lu Mengying paused for more than ten seconds and then asked: "As for the air tickets, can you book them for me first?"
Chen Minhao explained helplessly: "Don't worry, you buy it yourself first and keep the invoice. The crew will definitely reimburse the money. If they don't reimburse, you come to me."
Lu Mengying chuckled and said, "I'm not worried about reimbursement, I'm worried that I may not have enough money to advance the air ticket."
Chen Minhao laughed and said, "Okay."
After Chen Minhao hung up the phone, he lay on the bed, looked at the ceiling, and thought to himself: After using leverage to buy a 30 million house, he really became a little drifting and no longer regarded money as money. When I was in college in my previous life, I didn’t have more than 4 digits of money. But now tens of thousands of dollars feel like nothing.
Due to the absence of the actor Siyuan, the entire crew of "Detective" entered a state of suspension, so Chen Minhao had time to go to the airport to pick up Lu Mengying in person.
There were many Chinese tourists at the airport in Curry Country, so Chen Minhao covered his face tightly - he wore a pair of sunglasses and a mask.
Hearing that the flight from Kyoto had arrived, Chen Minhao cheered up. He suddenly saw a girl wearing a dress and dragging a suitcase looking around. However, the distance between the two was relatively far, so although Chen Minhao had seen Lu Mengying's photos, he was still not sure whether the girl in front of him was Lu Mengying.
Unexpectedly, the girl walked directly towards him and took the initiative to say hello:
She smiled naturally and said, "Hello, junior fellow student. I've known your name for a long time. Just after I got off the plane, I saw a person wearing sunglasses and a mask and I guessed it was you. I didn't expect you to come to pick me up in person."
Chen Minhao smiled and said: "I just have time to pick you up, why don't I? It's okay here in Curry Country. I dare to go out just by wearing a mask and sunglasses. If I were in China, if I went out casually, My agent will beat me to death. So coming to pick you up also gives me a reason to come out for some air."
In fact, Chen Minhao had another consideration that he didn't mention: after all, Lu Mengying was an actress introduced by Zhang Guoping, the head of the department. Even if the audition was unsuccessful, she still had to be treated considerately.
This is not to give Lu Mengying face, but to give Zhang Guoping face.
While the two were chatting, Chen Minhao took a closer look at Lu Mengying.
She combed her bangs back, exposing her smooth forehead completely. She has no makeup on her entire face. From a purely bare-face point of view, even in a school like Beijing Film Academy, where beauties gather, her looks are still relatively good.
Her clothing is also relatively simple. She wears a light blue long dress with a vertical ankle position. She wears a pair of yellow Converse sneakers on her feet without any accessories.
Chen Minhao took her luggage and said, "This is not a place for greetings. Let's get in the car and talk."
As soon as she got in the car, Lu Mengying brushed her hair around her ears and said, "I will send a WeChat message to my mother now to tell her that I have arrived. This is the first time I have gone out so far alone, and my mother is a little nervous worried."
After saying that, she took out her mobile phone from the canvas bag she was carrying.
Chen Minhao accidentally glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that the screen of her phone was broken.
Lu Mengying seemed to be aware of Chen Minhao's gaze, and she waved the mobile phone in her hand gracefully, and said with a smile: "The screen of my mobile phone was broken last month, but I never had the money to replace it, so this audition opportunity is for me. I will definitely work hard to win it, after all, I want to make money to buy a mobile phone."
Chen Minhao smiled and nodded. He suddenly felt that the girl in front of him was quite different from most of the girls in Beiying.
There is no distinction between whether a girl wears makeup or not, but Chen Minhao thinks he can still see the difference between a girl wearing no makeup and wearing light makeup. Lu Mengying must not be wearing makeup.
And when it comes to things like having no money, she always speaks out calmly and generously. In this era when rich people are "stingy" and poor people are "generous", she is much better than some people who pretend to be fat. Many girls in Beiying live frugally and use Huabei and Jianbei just to buy a big-name bag.
In addition, Lu Mengying is quite sensitive. She can detect her own gaze even if she glances at her casually. The profession of an actor requires sensitivity. It requires a person to be able to capture a lot of information in life, and sometimes this information needs to be used in one's own performance.
But despite this, Chen Minhao was skeptical that the girl in front of him could play the role of Siyuan well.
Teacher Zhang Guoping recommended her when he called her. Chen Minhao did not further ask what works the senior had performed in. After all, asking for help requires all kinds of coercion, and all kinds of questioning are very unpleasant behaviors.
However, after Chen Minhao finished his phone call with Lu Mengying, he went to Baidu to find information about this senior, but found zero content. In other words, this senior had basically never filmed any decent works. Despite this, Chen Minhao still has some confidence in her.
After all, director Zhang Guoping mentioned something at the time: He felt that Lu Mengying's character and Siyuan's character were somewhat similar.
While Chen Minhao was thinking in his mind, Lu Mengying and Chen Qiang had already started chatting.
Listening to the conversation between the two, Chen Minhao shook his head slightly imperceptibly: Lu Mengying is cheerful and generous, and has a strong affinity, but Siyuan's heart is dark and hidden. He didn't see any similarity in personality for a while.
Lu Mengying and Chen Qiang felt as if they had met too late. When Chen Qiang almost drove the car to the hotel, the two of them were already chatting.
Chen Qiang turned the steering wheel and asked curiously: "Sister Mengying, have you ever acted in any works before?"
“It’s mainly dramas, I’ve never been exposed to movies at all.”
Chen Qiang subconsciously asked: "What about the TV series? What TV series have you acted in?"
Lu Mengying smiled shyly and said: "I accepted a script for a TV series a few days ago, but after just two days of filming, the crew was rejected. Then Teacher Zhang said there was a shortage of an actress, so he asked me to come here to audition. "
Chen Qiang was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to answer this question.
Lu Mengying seemed to notice the awkwardness in the atmosphere and said: "But I have played a similar role in a drama. So after reading the script several times, I felt quite confident.
Chen Minhao felt a little weak. Recently, Tian Lin and Hu Defa have successively recruited more than a dozen actresses to come to Curry Country to audition, but in the end they were all turned back by director Hu Defa. Can Lu Mengying pass the test with her level
Chen Qiang forcibly changed the subject and asked: "What day did you buy your ticket? In fact, you can buy more days in the future. In Curry Country
The implication of Chen Qiang is that he does not think Lu Mengying can pass the audition. He has been Chen Minhao's assistant for more than a year. He also has a simple understanding of the entertainment industry, in his opinion. Recently, many well-known female celebrities with works have come to audition for the crew, but they have all failed, so he is not optimistic about this pure newcomer at all.
Lu Mengying didn't seem to be offended at all. Instead, she asked Chen Qiang excitedly: "Where have you been in Curry Country these days?"
Chen Minhao was about to give up treatment when his cell phone suddenly rang, it was Kang Hui.
"Hey, Chen Minhao, do you have any clues about Siyuan's character in your production?"
Chen Minhao glanced at Lu Mengying, who was discussing with Chen Qiang the high-quality and affordable souvenirs from Curry Country. He didn't know how to pick up the topic for a while.
Fortunately, before Chen Minhao could speak, Kang Hui continued:
"Hey, this is the disadvantage of making a movie directed by a famous director. Director Hu has very high requirements for the quality of the work, and he is definitely not willing to just find an actor to muddle through the work." Kang Hui sighed and continued: "But which one is better? Actors will be worried about filming. There is no reason to audition today and join the filming tomorrow.
So you have to be mentally prepared, Tian Lin can't stand it anymore. Although Tian Lin has been "persuading" Hu Defa in various ways, the entire pressure from film investors is actually on Tian Lin. After all, the purpose of investors is to make money, not to let the director pursue art.
But it was obvious that Tian Lin couldn't hold on any longer. Moreover, investors have given Director Hu a lot of freedom, but now Director Hu has to consider the investors. "
Kang's words made Chen Minhao have a lot of questions, but because Lu Mengying was in the car, Chen Minhao could only say vaguely: "Sister Kang, I'm in the car now. The signal is not very good and I can't hear clearly."
Kang Hui immediately heard the implication of Chen Minhao's words and hung up the phone.
As soon as Chen Minhao returned to the hotel, the waiter who helped Chen Minhao stop Wang Xueqing last time came up to him immediately and asked in English: "Hello, how can I help you?"
Chen Minhao asked the waiter to take Lu Mengying to check in, and told her to take a short rest. After going to the crew for an audition at 3 pm, he couldn't wait to go back to his room and dial Kang Hui's number.
As soon as the call was connected, Chen Minhao asked directly: "Director Hu plans to change the script?"
Kang Hui sighed and said, "Yes, what else could he do?"
Chen Minhao asked: "Is there a possibility that the crew will disband first, and then after finding a suitable actress, the crew will regroup and continue filming."
Kang Hui sighed softly and said: "It's impossible, because all the actors in the crew have signed at a fixed time. You are still in school, so you have relatively ample time. But take Wang Ruozhou as an example, his schedule is very full, and there will be one or two follow-up Years of time have been scheduled, and there is no way to get in. Moreover, if the filming starts again, we will face the problem of coordinating the time of the entire crew. If one person is unable to make time and is absent, a large number of scenes will have to be reshot.
Therefore, once the crew is disbanded, it will be difficult to determine the time when they will gather again, and the time when the movie will be released will be uncertain. Even if the quality of the movie is reduced, investors are not willing to see such a situation occur. After all, the money invested may Completely wasted. "
Chen Minhao sighed and said: "Why is it my first time to star in a movie that there are so many things going on? Is it because I didn't go well this time, or is it so difficult to make a movie?"
After Kang Hui was silent for a few seconds, he said: "It's always like this. So look at how relaxed Wang Ruozhou has been with his son in Curry Country these past two days. You should also learn from him and have a calm mind."
Although Kang Hui advised Chen Minhao to calm down, Chen Minhao could hear Kang Hui's anxiety. He smiled and comforted Kang Hui and said, "It's okay. I have two more plans here, maybe they will work."
Chen Minhao briefly talked about Lu Mengying's matter and his plan B: to drag Zhang Xinyi to the crew of "Detective" and then to drag Su Xiao to the crew.
Kang Hui did not support or object, he just said flatly: "Okay. Just try."
…
Because the crew of "Detective" has already started filming, the audition will not be a simple performance in front of the director, but very direct and cruel: let the auditioning actors join the set for filming, and if the filming is good, they will stay, and if the filming is not good, they will be left. go home.
Director Hu Defa asked all the actresses to audition for the scene in the hospital, which is basically one of the most important turning scenes in the entire movie. The character of the harmless little girl Siyuan will take off her innocent mask here, and the development of events begins to subvert the audience's initial thoughts.
This scene has extremely high requirements for the actors to handle delicate emotions. In other words, this is also the most difficult part of Siyuan's role. At this time, Director Hu still insists on showing such clips for actors to audition.
But Chen Minhao can understand director Hu Defa's thinking. If an actor can support Siyuan's other scenes, but if he cannot support this key scene, the final result will be in vain.
But looking at it from another perspective, if an actress can handle this hospital scene, then she can also handle the other Siyuan scenes.
But the imagination is fine, but the reality is cruel. None of the dozen or so actresses currently auditioning have passed, and none are even pending. They are simply not suitable.
When Chen Minhao brought Lu Mengying to the set, the crew had almost completed the preparations. In the past two weeks, these two scenes have been auditioned at least a dozen times. The staff had high expectations again and again, and then was disappointed again and again. They greeted Lu Mengying lukewarmly.
Now all the crew members are more or less numb, and all their expectations have been overdrawn after being disappointed again and again.
After Hu De sent it over, he looked Lu Mengying up and down and asked enthusiastically: "Do I need to return the script again?"
Lu Mengying shook her head firmly and said, "The crew has it all in their heads, let's get started."
Hu Defa nodded and sat directly behind the monitor.
(End of chapter)