China Entertainment 1997

As early as 1994, CCTV's "Water Margin" project had been approved. It took nearly two years to make preliminary preparations and was officially launched in 1996.

Now, the filming of "Water Margin" has entered the middle and late stages, but something went wrong with the important supporting role Ximen Qing.

The filming of related scenes that had already started almost came to a standstill, and they were forced to film scenes with other characters first.

But Ximen Qing's presence in this plot is too high, and he can't survive for more than a few days by filming other people's scenes.

The top priority is to quickly find a new Ximen Qing to take over.

However, something unexpected happened, and director Zhang Zhaolin was very picky, so he couldn't find a suitable actor for a while.

Because of this, Zhang Jizhong, the production director of "Water Margin", turned several strands of his beard gray.

Just as Zhang Jizhong was thinking about calling some old friends for help, someone knocked on the door of his office.

Opening the door, Kang Honglei, the deputy director of the "Water Margin" crew, pointed at Cao Xuan behind him with a smile.

"Director, let me recommend an actor to you."

………

After learning from Sun Jiangkou that the role of Ximen Qing was vacant, Cao Xuan planned to try to see if he could win this role.

Naturally, everyone will be happy if it works, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't work. He is ready to leave the group anyway.

Since you won’t lose anything, why not give it a try.

Moreover, unlike other film crews, the crew of "Water Margin" has a very special feature, that is, it does not value the actors' resumes, and many of the characters are non-professional actors.

For example, Zhang Hengping, who plays Ruan Xiaowu in Ruan Brothers, is a bodybuilding champion and has never acted. Ruan Xiaoer and Liu Weihua have acted in some movies, but he was also a Sanda athlete in his early years and became a monk halfway.

Jia Shitou, who plays the double-whip Hu Yanzhuo, is nicknamed the Eastern Hercules and performs acrobatics.

There are also three characters who are deeply involved with Ximen Qing,

Pan Jinlian and Wang Siyi were a model when they were in Taiwan. Although they have acted, they don’t have much experience.

Ding Haifeng, who plays Wu Song, is a newcomer who has just debuted.

Song Wenhua, who plays Wu Dalang, is a pure amateur. Before joining the crew of "Water Margin", he opened a small shop at home.

It is precisely because of these living examples.

Only Cao Xuan, who is an extra in the group, would try to attack the role of Ximen Qing. If it were another cast member, Cao Xuan would not even think about it, lest he would humiliate himself.

If Cao Xuan wants to play Ximen Qing, he must get the nod from director Zhang Zhaolin or production director Zhang Jizhong.

He was a low-level extra and couldn't get along with these two giants of the crew, so he had to find someone to help him.

In the "Water Margin" crew, the only "high-ranking crew member" Cao Xuan was familiar with was the assistant director Kang Honglei who was responsible for going to the capital to recruit extras.

Yes, he is the famous TV director who later produced popular TV series such as "Soldiers Attack" and "My Regiment".

However, at this time, Lao Kang had not yet made his mark. He had been working with Zhang Zhaolin and Zhang Jizhong as assistant directors. A few years later, he directed "The Burning Years of Passion" and became a famous director.

Cao Xuan found Kang Honglei and expressed his thoughts. Kang Honglei was very easy to talk to, so he agreed after thinking about it for a while.

After all, he didn't need to intercede. He was just helping Cao Xuan make connections, which was just a piece of cake for him.

If Cao Xuan succeeds in taking the position, he will have the merit of recommendation. If Cao Xuan fails, he will actively share the worries of the crew and show his attitude.

There is no one who can succeed in the entertainment industry who is not a human being...

Director Zhang Zhaolin was filming and had no time, so Kang Honglei took Cao Xuan to Zhang Jizhong's office.

As soon as the people arrived, Kang Honglei chatted briefly, and immediately left after showing off his merits, leaving Zhang Jizhong and Cao Xuan for a one-on-one interview.

………

"You want to play Ximen Qing?"

Kang Honglei left, Zhang Jizhong frowned, kept looking at Cao Xuan standing in the middle of the office with sharp eyes, and asked in a deep voice.

Coupled with his fierce bearded image and the aura accumulated from many years of management positions, he is quite majestic.

If it were a day ago, Cao Xuan, a small ensemble actor, would have faced Lao Zhang, the giant of the "Water Margin" crew, and although he was not afraid, he would have felt a bit in awe.

But now that he has a golden finger, his huge information prophetic advantage has not only enriched Cao Xuan's knowledge and vision, but also rebuilt his self-confidence.

Facing Zhang Jizhong's temptation, Cao Xuan was not affected at all and calmly nodded and looked back.

He even secretly gossiped in his heart that Zhang Beard would give birth to a daughter in his late 70s. She is really a treasure that never grows old...

"Good courage."

Looking at Cao Xuan, who was neither humble nor arrogant, Zhang Jizhong made a mental note that his first impression of him was very good, and then he began to look at Cao Xuan carefully.

He must be at least 180cm tall, which is considered tall in this day and age, with a well-proportioned body shape, neither thin nor fat.

He is very handsome, and he looks a bit like Zun Long, the most handsome man in Asia. However, unlike Zun Long's melancholy and nobility, Cao Xuan is more tough and steady, with clear eyes and a sense of affinity.

With such an appearance and figure, Zhang Jizhong knew why Cao Xuan dared to recommend himself and why Kang Honglei was willing to help.

At the same time, Lao Zhang was also a little confused as to why a handsome guy like Cao Xuan would become an extra, but he soon figured it out.

This is nothing new in the current film and television industry.

In the late 1990s, idol dramas had not yet emerged in mainland China, and handsome boys were not completely mainstream in the mainland film and television industry.

Like the most popular A-list celebrities at the moment, Ge You, Jiang Wen, Li Xuejian, Li Baotian and others are not handsome guys in the traditional sense, but they are still the leading presence in the mainland film and television industry.

Of course, this does not mean that there are no handsome guys in mainland China who have a chance to succeed. In fact, compared to average-looking actors, handsome guys have a greater chance of succeeding.

Although Ge You and others are very popular, Chen Daoming, Chen Baoguo, Wang Zhiwen, Zhang Guoli and others are also not bad, and their number ratio is far better than theirs.

However, the most critical reason is that the current production of film and television works is not high, and there are more wolves and less meat.

In later generations, good looks can be exchanged for money. You can't get into the entertainment industry with a handsome face. You can also become an Internet celebrity. If it doesn't work out, you can stay with a rich woman, or even work as a cowherd. In short, there are many ways out.

But in this era of relatively limited information, there are too few channels to monetize good looks, and those who are ambitious are heading into the entertainment industry.

Once there are too many of them, handsome guys will lose their value.

There are roles for famous actors, and even when new actors are selected, they first go to Beijing Film Academy, China Theater Academy, and Shanghai Theater Academy, as well as major institutional theater troupes and military art troupes.

For a wild man like Cao Xuan, without the help of noble people, the chance of getting a chance on his own is too low.

Lao Zhang is also considered the number one figure in the film and television industry. He has seen dozens if not hundreds of handsome guys being buried. Even among handsome guys like Cao Xuan, he is considered to be the best. It is not unprecedented.

…

The advantage of excellent appearance made Zhang Jizhong more interested in Cao Xuan.

But this alone is not enough to get the role of Ximen Qing.

At the very least, Cao Xuan's acting skills must pass the test.

Zhang Jizhong is not optimistic about Cao Xuan, who is a group performer, but Cao Xuan is still somewhat confident in himself.

Compared with other industries, group actors do not earn much, and can even be said to be meager.

But Cao Xuan has no plans to change careers for two years because he has a dream of being an actor and has been working tirelessly for it.

In fact, in the past two years of his career as a group performer, apart from squatting in front of the Beijing Film Studio, Cao Xuan, an art student who has practiced vocal music for three years in high school, also worked part-time as a singer in major karaoke bars and bars.

Although his singing skills are not outstanding, he can't help but look good, and he can barely make a living by painting his face.

It's just that the internal competition for the job of singing in a bar and karaoke bar is fierce, and the environment is too chaotic, with a mixture of good and bad, and everyone is there, so Cao Xuan doesn't do it very often.

He prefers acting to singing.

Cao Xuan saved some money from performing and singing, and Cao Xuan basically used it to participate in acting training. He had attended several famous short-term acting training courses in Beijing.

Cao Xuan even sneaked away to attend classes at China National Theater and Nortel. It's a pity that the school's management is very strict, so I was blacklisted after a few times.

Cao Xuan has been highly recognized by some training teachers due to his serious and hard study, coupled with his good acting talent.

So even though Cao Xuan comes from a wild background, his acting skills are not weak, far superior to ordinary group actors, and even as good as some fresh graduates.

Without twos and threes, how dare you go to Liangshan!

By the same token, Cao Xuan would not have the courage to worry about Ximen Qing if he didn't have real skills.

In order to prove himself, when Cao Xuan introduced himself, he used fluent, standard and clear Mandarin to demonstrate his line skills, which made Zhang Jizhong's eyes shine.

Different from the popularization of Mandarin in later generations, many ordinary college students speak very standard Mandarin.

At present, when the Internet and television media are not developed, except for college students and elderly actors who have received line training, most of the actors have accents and their lines are not up to standard.

Therefore, many domestic film and television works have to find specialized dubbing actors for later dubbing.

Many popular celebrities in later generations, including Huang Bo, Zhang Guoli, Zhang Hanyu, Cao Gonggong Li Jianyi, Di Renjie and Liang Guanhua, etc., all started out as voice actors in their early years.

The reason for dubbing domestic dramas was mixed with a lot of helplessness, and it was considered a last resort.

But later, with the popularization of Mandarin, a large number of actors with professional training became active in the film and television industry, and dubbing became still popular and even became standard. The reason is more interesting...

But in any case, Cao Xuan speaks standard and clear Mandarin, which is a bonus for Zhang Jizhong.

After all, for an actor who is willing to work hard to polish his lines, there is no guarantee that his acting skills will be very good, but the lower limit will definitely not be too bad.

Zhang Jizhong lowered his head and pondered for a while, feeling that since there was no suitable candidate for the time being, he might as well let Cao Xuan give it a try, and if he didn't perform well, he would be dismissed.

Thinking of this, he asked someone to take Cao Xuan to try on makeup, and then took advantage of the lunch break to notify director Zhang Zhaolin to come for an interview.

The major giants in the "Water Margin" crew have their own division of labor.

Chief producer Ren Dahui is in charge of the overall situation, Zhang Jizhong, the production director, is responsible for logistics management, and Zhang Zhaolin is in charge of filming and production.

Whether Cao Xuan can play Ximen Qing is ultimately decided by Zhang Zhaolin.

Zhang Zhaolin came quickly.

If the actor Ximen Qing cannot be cast, he will not dare to shoot the Yanggu scene at full strength. The actors, scenery, staff, and even the entire crew will be delayed.

This matter has become Zhang Zhaolin's heartache. It is no exaggeration to say that in the past two days, Director Zhang has always been a high-ranking Ximen official in his sleep and dreams.

When Zhang Zhaolin arrived, Cao Xuan was putting on makeup and had not come over yet. Zhang Jizhong took this opportunity to tell Zhang Zhaolin about Cao Xuan's information.

Hearing that Cao Xuan was a group performer, Zhang Zhaolin didn't make any comment.

Just as Cao Xuan estimated, a director who casts a canteen owner as Wu Dalang would not care whether the actor Ximen Qing is an extra.

However, Zhang Zhaolin has no opinion on the actor's resume, which does not mean that he is easy to talk to.

In fact, this person was very picky about the casting of "Water Margin".

For example, for the role of Wu Song, Zhang Zhaolin selected dozens of people in the audition alone. After several rounds of selections, he finally decided on Ding Haifeng after more than half a year of deliberation.

Ding Haifeng was a newcomer, and he was worried about gains and losses. He delayed it for so long that he almost turned the young man into a psychopath.

Therefore, although the role of Ximen Qing is very urgent, if Cao Xuan cannot come up with something to impress Zhang Zhaolin, it will still be a waste of effort...

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