Chapter 123: Entering the Team
Yun Xiangxiang would have agreed to it had the call come through a few minutes earlier. However, she promised Wu Zhao to enter the team on Saturday.
The promotion for “Justice and Selflessness” was also on Saturday. Yun Xiangxiang told Lin Jialiang the truth, to which he graciously accepted. He only asked Yun Xiangxiang to record a video and send it to him, so that they could air it during the live promotion.
It was an actor’s obligation to partake in a film’s promotion at the later stage.
She didn’t have anything to show during the promotion of “Caring Love.” The national college entrance exam was already the greatest promotion for “University Dream.” Han Jing was considerate about her filming, so she didn’t ask her to do anything.
Yun Xiangxiang thanked Lin Jialing profusely for his generosity. If he compelled her to go, then she must go.
“Take a leave starting tomorrow, Xiangxiang. We have to go to shoot in an ad,” Coco said to Yun Xiangxiang after she saw the announcement.
“I remember that. I had already asked the dean and the vice-chancellor to sign the papers before lectures ended,” Yun Xiangxiang gave the approval slip to Coco.
She applied for a two month leave this time. She would only come back during the finals. The counselor didn’t have the authority to approve of such a long leave. Not even the dean could approve it by himself. She had gone to quite a few departments for the approval of the leave. She had to explain a lot and guarantee her finals result before even getting the approval.
She had already auditioned and chosen the best appearance for the chips’ advertisement previously. That ad had to be taken back to the company for confirmation from the company’s production team before they could officially start shooting. The date was tomorrow.
“You don’t seem to be interested in ads,” Coco noticed Yun Xiangxiang’s emotions shrewdly.
This was a part of Yun Xiangxiang’s job. Based on how conscientious she was, this shouldn’t be an attitude that she should have.
“The script for this ad is…hard to describe,” Yun Xiangxiang was honest with Coco since she was one of her own.
“I think it’s okay…” Coco thought about the time she accompanied Yun Xiangxiang to the audition shoot.
“Sigh…” Yun Xiangxiang sighed softly. “I don’t understand why an ad for chips needs to have romantic scenes.”
There would be a couple in the ad. The guy would have a few lines where he would suggest some activities to do on the weekend to the female protagonist. The female protagonist rejected his suggestions of going on a date, going to the mall, and going to the movies. The male protagonist finally handed her a bag of chips, to which the female protagonist expressed elation.
The punchline for the ad was decent: Nice and crispy, this is the taste that I fancy.
The male protagonist in the ad was still a student in university. He still had not debuted. Even though he was said to be a supporting actor, his frequency of appearance and number of lines were almost the same as Yun Xiangxiang.
Yun Xiangxiang had the illusion that she was the one being a supporting actress. However, she would just let it slide.
She was purely at a loss for words about the advertisement’s content. It had major contradictions with the initial script. However, the contract clearly stated that the producers could alter the script as long as the content is within the actors’ given boundaries.
They didn’t cross the boundaries stated by Yun Xiangxiang. That was why it wouldn’t be too great of her to say anything about it.
“You can make some requests if you’re not satisfied with it,” Coco didn’t want Yun Xiangxiang to just grin and bear with it.
“I am a spokesperson. As long as their product is okay, I can finish the job according to their requirements,” Yun Xiangxiang didn’t want to waste her breath on this.
“But even if the ad’s influence isn’t big, it still can affect your career,” Coco didn’t understand why Yun Xiangxiang didn’t care about it.
Yun Xiangxiang sat up straight and told Coco after she closed her book, “Humans must have a desire to excel. However, that desire cannot be too overwhelming. Take the films that I shot for example. “Caring Love” sits at a billion yuan of the box office. “University Dream” sits higher than that. I can’t request that every film after these have to have a higher box office than the last.”
“This would be unrealistic. My responsibility is to finish my part honestly. As for whether the audience likes the film that I play in, that’s not for me to think about.
If the problem lies upon me. For example, my acting skills aren’t great, or I didn’t give them enough immersion, then I will reflect on myself.
However, if it’s the problem with the plot or the problem with the outfits and props, then I can’t do anything about that. The only thing that I can do is try my best to avoid productions with a bad plot or a subpar team in the future.”
She had the chips to avoid bad films and dismal productions with He Wei backing her. However, how many actors didn’t have a choice?
Even so, not every bad film would be criticized. There were exceptions that became a fan favorite.
It was also a possibility for a flawed production to be a hit. Some people weren’t mocking it, they just felt that it wasted its potential.
So nobody could say for sure about the audience’s tastes. There is a big difference between the actors’ and the audience’s judgment of a film’s quality.
They couldn’t have a weak mind as an actor. Nor should they care too much about statistics. They had to be able to accept praise and slander.
Yun Xiangxiang took a day of rest after she finished shooting the advertisement before taking Coco, Zhou Jie, and Ai Li along to the filming venue of “The King’s Plan”: Hubei Province.
Song Qian and Wang Yong stayed back to take care of Yun Lin. Wu Zhao forbade his actors from taking anyone into the team. He even prohibited them from going for high-end meals.
He only provided boxed meals in all of his filming sessions. Every actor had to have the same thing the others had, no matter what kind of bigwig they were.
Only their living quarters were slightly better. He only gave Yun Xiangxiang two standard rooms.
“Great, you have arrived. Try playing a scene,” Wu Zhao didn’t give Yun Xiangxiang a chance to prepare. “Play the scene where Madam Xi meets her sister in the Cai Nation.”
Yun Xiangxiang knew that this was the final test. She had to say that Wu Zhao really knew how to pick the trial.
In this scene, Yun Xiangxiang had to walk to the great hall. She had to meet and greet Madam Xi. After that, Madam Xi would invite her inside to sit down and chat…
It contained all the knowledge in Yun Xiangxiang’s training. There was also a little trap waiting for her here.
Madam Xi was around seventeen or eighteen, which was the same age as Yun Xiangxiang now at this time in history.
However, there was a huge generation gap between the two of them. A seventeen or eighteen-year-old in the modern world would be a highschooler who knew nothing of the world. They were naive.
A seventeen or eighteen-year-old in ancient times would already a mother to two or three. They would be mature and experienced.
Yun Xiangxiang knew what Wu Zhao was worried about. He was worried that she only had the beauty, but not the quality.
The quality that belonged only to a woman. The quality of being beautiful but not amorous; gentle but not inelegant.
Yun Xiangxiang also mulled over this point over the past few days. She kept on asking about the difference between her and Madam Xi before inspiration struck. She then trained a good few days in portraying the quality with her expressions.
This film was crucial for Yun Xiangxiang. Her natural beauty was both her edge and disadvantage.
A lot of people would designate her as a pinup. That meant that she only needed to be beautiful for the part.
Although she had Jiahui and Xia Hong in her career, they were not strong enough.
The three best actors in this film were all recognized as having superb acting skills. Only by playing with them on the same stage could everyone realize a fact: Oh, so Yun Xiangxiang’s acting skills don’t lag behind her beauty.
The stylist was someone in the team. Yun Xiangxiang used her own make-up artist after she got permission.
After she changed into the outfit and made her hair into a bun, the stylist praised Yun Xiangxiang’s hair while elaborating on the origins of the bun. It was made according to the jade sculpture of a woman in the Warring States era that was excavated. It was highly similar to the bun on that sculpture.
The stylist even said to Yun Xiangxiang that her outfit was made by a master who still had the ancient skills whom Cao Chi searched for a long time.