Under such circumstances, Tao Cen seemed to be getting more and more unhappy as the filming went on. Recently, she was silent much more often than before, which made Song Yi particularly confused as to why.
"But the filming of "Criminal Suspect" was not going smoothly. Huo Zhiming was also satisfied with your performance. You had more scenes in the play than Jiang Se. I also heard Huo Zhiming say before that your performance was very stable."
He was a little at a loss, and pushed the frame of his glasses on his face. After he finished speaking, Tao Cen couldn't help but sneered:
"Solid performance?"
Her tone rose as she spoke, "Do you think this is a compliment?"
The atmosphere suddenly became a little stiff. Song Yi licked his lips and dared not speak.
In fact, if it was not Huo Zhiming who said this, but some other director, Song Yi might not have had such a reaction to this.
But it happened to be because the person who spoke was Huo Zhiming. Everyone in the crew had experienced this old man's temper. In his eyes, any trivial matter would be infinitely magnified, and he would find ten thousand faults. Jiang Se was always scolded by him when filming.
In comparison, although his attitude towards Tao Cen could not be described as polite, it was undoubtedly much better than that towards Jiang Se.
The fact that he could say such words proved that he was satisfied with Tao Cen's performance.
"The reason why Huo Zhiming thinks I'm stable is because he no longer focuses on me, but on Jiang Se."
He is particularly strict with Jiang Se because he has high expectations for him. He wishes Jiang Se could perform better and meet his 100% expectations.
"What's more, his current demands on Jiang Se may seem unpleasant to you, but he is actually teaching her how to behave!" As the saying goes, the deeper the love, the more severe the criticism. He doesn't have high demands on Tao Cen, so naturally he doesn't need to be too harsh on her all the time.
When Tao Cen said this, his expression became even uglier.
By the time she started filming Criminal Suspect, she had already sensed something was wrong.
When she first got the role of Shen Xunran, she was given the script for the female lead. However, both the script and the company's requirements stated that Jiang Se was there to play a supporting role.
However, after confirming that Jiang Se would join the crew, Huo Zhiming watched the movie she starred in, and the first thing he did that was not beneficial to Tao Cen was to make a major change to the script, adding a lot of Jiang Se's roles to perfect her character.
The originally stereotyped "suspect" suddenly became much more vivid, almost on par with the image of the heroine.
Then on the set, Jiang Se's performance not only exceeded Tao Cen's expectations, but also won the favor of Huo Zhiming, who became more and more strict with her.
"What do you mean?"
After hearing this, Song Yi couldn't help but ask.
"In your opinion, the character I played, Shen Xunran, has many scenes, many lines, and appears in many scenes." Tao Cen took a deep breath, and Song Yi nodded, "That's true."
"But Shen Xunran's image is too conventional."
Shen Xunran in "Criminal Suspect" is righteous, has rich experience in solving cases, has keen perception, and is determined to fight crime, protect the people, and catch criminals. But other than that, Tao Cen thought carefully and could not come up with any more extra adjectives.
At this point, she vaguely felt that she might have fallen into a trap. Shen Xunran's image was too stereotyped and had no distinctive features.
Huo Zhiming's positioning of her is also very clear, that is, as long as she behaves properly and does not make any mistakes, his focus is on Jiang Se, making Jiang Se's image more vivid.
In other words, in the script, in the minds of Luo Yin and Century Galaxy, as well as the current media and fans, Tao Cen is the female lead in "Criminal Suspect", and Jiang Se joined the crew to play the supporting female role.
But in Huo Zhiming's heart, this positioning may have been reversed long ago, allowing the stereotyped Shen Xunran played by Tao Cen to highlight Su Yi's uniqueness, who is as cunning as a fox, smart and cautious, yet extremely beautiful.
This situation is very dangerous. The better Tao Cen's acting skills are, the more they can highlight the specialness of Jiang Se's character.
In simple terms, the better Tao Cen's performance, the more attractive the interaction between her and Jiang Se, and the more successful her image of Shen Xunran as righteous and persistent, the more the role of 'Su Yi' played by Jiang Se will be highlighted.
Even if this extreme confrontation ultimately resulted in the best "Criminal Suspect", the audience applauded loudly after the film was released, but perhaps what impressed everyone more was still the role played by Jiang Se.
Praise and effusive words will be heaped on Jiang Se, and she will be the one to gain both fame and fortune, and she may become Jiang Se's biggest stepping stone.
This scene, which was originally intended to put Jiang Se under her feet, will eventually become a stepping stone for Jiang Se to rise to the top.
How could Tao Cen allow this situation
"Now, I even doubt whether Jiang Se originally chose the role of Shen Xunran in "Criminal Suspect"." She murmured to herself, "Even if Jiang Se is ignorant, Chaoqun would not let her choose such a stereotyped character."
What's more, after working with Jiang Se on the film for nearly two months, Tao Cen also had a deeper understanding of Jiang Se.
Although Jiang Se is not very old, her personality and mindset do not seem like a girl in her twenties. Instead, she seems like someone who is as knowledgeable as Tao Cen.
After two months of filming for "Criminal Suspect", Tao Cen noticed something was wrong. Jiang Se must have known better. Would she really choose the role of "Shen Xunran"? Tao Cen didn't believe it!
She suspected that she might have fallen into Xia Chaoqun's trap. She began to wonder if the company had set up a trap to allow Jiang Se to step on her to get to the top.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that in the original script of "Criminal Suspect" that she got, Xia Chaoqun circled out the role of "Shen Xunran", and then Luo Yin took advantage of the charity dinner to assign Jiang Se to play the "suspect" in it
Unfortunately, she was overwhelmed by a series of events at that time. The news that Jiang Se replaced Laura to play the heroine Lanny in Cesare's "Divine Redemption" leaked, which shocked her greatly. She felt that her position was threatened, so she desperately wanted to grab the script that Jiang Se had taken a fancy to, and couldn't wait to agree to the company to take on the role of Shen Xunran in "Criminal Suspect".
Later, he took the initiative to release the news that he wanted to cooperate with Jiang Se to the media, cutting off his retreat step by step, leaving him with no room for regret.
Song Yi was horrified when he heard her tell the whole story.
Come to think of it, during the filming process, the character of "Su Yi" played by Jiang Se was indeed more distinct than that of Shen Xunran played by Tao Cen.
Song Yi analyzed the roles played by the two and found that Shen Xunran appeared early. This character runs through the entire movie from the beginning to the end, but the description and impression of her is only that of an experienced female police officer with a strong sense of justice.
On the contrary, Su Yi first appeared in Shen Xunran's list of suspects. Her childhood experiences linked her to Wu Chun and the case of receiving the "death notice". Then, there was the hotel death case. Her shadow was everywhere, but the police could not get any actual evidence of her crime.
This character has a beginning and an end, but is also like a mystery, tempting people to analyze it bit by bit. In a sense, her personal charm is far superior to Shen Xunran's.
Just as Tao Cen said, her presence from beginning to end seemed to be just a clue to lead out Su Yi.
The audience puts themselves into Shen Xunran's perspective and explores Su Yi's life.
"Sometimes the amount of a character's role does not represent her importance." Tao Cen has a lot of roles, lines, and shots in "Criminal Suspect", but in Tao Cen's opinion, she can no longer be considered the protagonist. Huo Zhiming quietly changed the order of priority.
Recalling that in several public occasions before the filming, the media had asked Tao Cen about how Jiang Se felt about playing a supporting role to Tao Cen in "Criminal Suspect", Tao Cen felt even more depressed.
After the movie was released, the audience had their own standards for who was the main character and who was the supporting character. Her eagerness for quick success made her set a trap for herself and she fell into it.
This is the reason why Tao Cen couldn't be happy after he figured it out.
She was trying hard to perform, but due to the limitations of the character, no matter how good her performance was, it was just to set off Jiang Se. Tao Cen was unwilling to give up.
If "Criminal Suspect" was a big production like "Lost City", and the movie stars starring in it had much greater influence at home and abroad than her, she would be content to be a supporting role.
But now she originally had a good hand, but played it like this. How could Tao Cen swallow that
All the hard work she has put in over the years, her struggles in the entertainment industry, her efforts in filming, and the hardships she has endured to get to where she is today, were not for her to be a supporting role for others.
"What should we do then?"
Song Yi asked anxiously. Tao Cen's eyes were calm, with a desperate determination:
"There are some things that I cannot change my own words," she said, paused for a moment, turned to look at Song Yi, with a pair of smiling eyes filled with ambition to not let anyone shake her position:
“You have to learn how to influence others.”
If she performs well in "Criminal Suspect" and has no intention of lowering her own standards to drag down Jiang Se's performance, then she can choose to suppress Jiang Se's momentum, make her performance lose its current level, and make Huo Zhiming lose his expectations of her. After the film is released, the audience's balance will naturally tilt towards the highlights, and then it will still be clear who is the main and who is the secondary.
“But it’s not easy to do this.”
Song Yi was a little worried. Tao Cen's method was theoretically feasible, but Jiang Se could get to where she is now, almost on par with Tao Cen. In addition to Xia Chaoqun's abilities and means, she herself should not be underestimated.
Song Yi also observed her on the filming set. She was as serious and hardworking as Tao Cen. When acting opposite Tao Cen, she was strong-willed and was not suppressed by Tao Cen's aura just because she had been in the industry shorter than Tao Cen.
Such a person will not be easily influenced. Moreover, Tao Cen himself said that Huo Zhiming took great care of Jiang Se. When performing on the set, he always set high standards and strict requirements for her. It is not an easy task to strike down Jiang Se's arrogance.
"Of course it's not easy." If Jiang Se was so easy to deal with, Tao Cen wouldn't be as embarrassed as he is now.
She recalled an incident that happened many years ago. At that time, she was not famous and was just a newcomer. The crew needed to select a newcomer to play a supporting role. The director picked and chose Tao Cen, who was still very young at that time.
After hearing the news, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night. A small role was a big deal for Tao Cen that year.
After putting on her makeup and memorizing her lines, she was ready to go on stage, but the female lead in the crew mistook her for an errand girl.
Many staff members actually knew that she was the new girl the director had recruited to play a supporting role in the crew, but facing the impatient female lead at the time, no one was willing to say a word for her.
The actress sat on the chair, holding the armrests, clapping impatiently, crossing her legs, and asked her to buy a cup of coffee.
She couldn't go, nor could she not go.
She bought the cup of coffee with her own money and traveled a long way to get it, but in the end she did not get the role that she had been looking forward to so much.
She took the role so seriously that she lost sleep for a whole night, while to others, it was just a trivial opportunity.
Tao Cen still remembers the scene when the crew asked her to take off her costume. She had sworn that kind of humiliation would never happen again.
After she became famous, the actress who had mistaken her back then had long been eliminated by the times. She was no longer a newcomer who had to lose sleep over a supporting role. She was used to being looked up to by others. However, the filming of "Criminal Suspect" this time made Tao Cen feel the humiliation once again, far worse than before.
The crew rushed to the next work site set up in Linjiang City, where the remaining outdoor scenes of the crew will be shot.
Perhaps it was because of the several unpleasant experiences at the hotel in Wangzhou, coupled with the fact that the two female stars in the crew were frequently harassed and stalked by fans and reporters, that made Huo Zhiming generous for a rare time. Although the hotel where the crew stayed this time was not the best five-star hotel in Linjiang City, it was much more upscale than the place they stayed in Wangzhou.
After two days of intensive filming, Jiang Se had a scene at two o'clock in the afternoon, which had to be shot indoors.
The scene had been set up, and Jiang Se arrived at the set early to familiarize himself with the environment. He even ate with the crew. This scene was Jiang Se's one-man show, similar to the first scene of "Criminal Suspect". There were no lines, but the situation evoked associations, and it was a crucial scene in the whole play.
Jiang Se put on her makeup, changed her clothes, and waited for the filming to start. Mo Anqi fed her some water and gently touched Jiang Se:
"Taocen is here."
Mo Anqi has looked at the crew's schedule for this afternoon. It was all Jiang Se's shooting time, and Tao Cen had no part in it.
Jiang Se turned her head and glanced at Tao Cen. She noticed Jiang Se's gaze, smiled at him, and then sat in the chair closest to Huo Zhiming.
"I always felt that she had bad intentions."
Mo Anqi curled her lips and saw Tao Cen's expression. (To be continued)