IPCFS: Chapter 54 Part 1

Tomorrow Movie and Television Company, the artist’s gym.

A muscular young man was trotting on a treadmill. Sweat slid down the lines of his arms, and he was full of manliness.

The agent An Qi walked in quickly and called out, “Bian Jin, I got the list.”

The young man on the treadmill slowed down. He was Bian Jin, the other person mentioned, and he looked sideways. “Show me.”

An Qi handed over the folder in her hand, which contained eight pages of personal information. They were all profiles of the actors who would participate in the audition today for Special Operations.

Eight actors were competing for the role of Chen Xi.

Bian Jin lowered his eyes and looked through the actors’ information one by one. His agent An Qi stood by the side and took the initiative to say, “Basically, they are all new faces. Three of them have debuted for a year or two, but none of them have made a splash.”

Bian Jin turned to the last page. It was the actor who was advertised by the outside world as his ‘rival’ when they debuted at the same time.

However, he had now been nominated for the Best Actor Award at the Baixiang Awards and China Entertainment Awards, while the other person was still a small actor struggling at the bottom.

The gap between the two of them had suddenly widened.

Bian Jin felt like there were no good prospects among these actors and hooked his lips up in a wanton manner. He stopped the treadmill and threw the papers in the trash. “They don’t deserve to compete with me for the role of Chen Xi.”

Originally, he obtained the qualification through an internal audition and successfully won the favor of producer Qin Yue, director Yao Chuan, and screenwriter Fang Zhixing.

However, there was a small disagreement when signing the formal contract.

Bian Jin’s agency team originally thought that with such a big production and good script, there would definitely be first-tier or even top actors competing for the male lead.

Bian Jin had only debuted for two years, and his position wasn’t comparable to the top actors for the ‘male protagonist’, nor was it comparable to Yuan Yifei who played the villain. In this case, he could barely accept being the third male lead in the movie.

It wasn’t until the signing that they discovered that the actor of the core male protagonist ‘Song Rang’ was Ji Yunqi. The other person was just a nameless junior who hadn’t officially debuted yet.

Bian Jin and his team suddenly couldn’t accept being surpassed.

After all, he was an actor nominated for a Best Actor while Ji Yunqi was a little newcomer with no works. Could they be compared? What would happen to his reputation once this spread in the industry? Too cheap!

Therefore, according to his own wishes, Bian Jin’s agency team put forward a request to Qin Yue and the other producers. They wanted to be on equal footing with Yuan Yifei i.e. get the same treatment as the first male lead in the movie.

The moment this proposal came out, it was coldly rejected by Qin Yue.

The man said, “The movie’s position is arranged by the importance of the role. It shouldn’t be influenced by the value of the actors.”

Bian Jin was refused here, but he didn’t give up. He was stuck at the formal contract and didn’t sign it, deliberately saying he needed to consider it again.

The two sides were at a stalemate for almost a week. Then they got the news that the producer was going to redo the audition and secret casting again.

An Qi handed him a clean towel and frowned slightly. “Bian Jin, shouldn’t we be a bit soft with Qin Yue this time? This movie opportunity is rare. Even if we can’t get the first male lead, let’s take the second male lead. This movie will be a huge success once it is released.”

“Let’s wait until their audition in the afternoon is over. It would be strange if these crooked people were chosen. Qin Yue’s requirements for acting are so strict. He won’t give up on me, a genuine version, for these defective products.”

Even if someone on the list was lucky enough to be chosen, he could get the role back using his status.

The male protagonist of this movie, Ji Yunqi, was unable to carry the box office.

Yuan Yifei’s popularity was good, but his role was out of his previous comfort zone. If his acting collapsed, then this movie would be half smashed.

Bian Jin glanced at the list in the trash can, and his lips curled with derision. “These people’s acting skills can’t compare to me, and their box office popularity can’t compare to me.”

Qin Yue was an actor with excellent acting skills as well as a producer who valued the box office.

It wasn’t that Bian Jin was too confident in himself, but the facts were in front of him. “At present, there is no one more suitable for the role of Chen Xi than me.”

It was in terms of external image as well.

Bian Jin was different from ordinary stars. He debuted with a ‘tough’ image and was most suitable for playing a tough police officer like Chen Xi.

After listening to his words, An Qi nodded with relief and agreement. “Okay. As soon as the audition in the afternoon is over, I will call the production team. If we can’t be equal to Yuan Yifei, then we must at least press Ji Yunqi below us.”

The latter was just a newcomer. Qin Yue should give them this much face, right?

Bian Jin took a sip of water. “Okay, I’ll go take a shower first.”

“Yes.”

***

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, on the 18th floor of the Jinmao Building in Shanghai, an intense casting audition was quietly unfolding.

In the reception hall outside, eight actors arrived at the same time and entered the audition room one by one according to the staff in order to register.

In less than five minutes, the first rookie actor who was called in walked out with an ashen face.

The second actor was called in while the rest of the actors rushed over to this person. “Hello, can you tell us about the situation inside?”

“Who is watching the audition? Is the content random?”

This rookie actor was a newcomer in the movie and television department of Guanghui Media. He was originally stuffed in by his company to try his luck. He didn’t care much and told them the situation in the room.

“Teacher Qin Yue, Director Yao Chuan, and Screenwriter Fang Zhixing are all inside. There is also Teacher Yuan Yifei and another person next to him with an eye-catching face. I heard he has been set as the male protagonist of the movie.”

Someone couldn’t help exclaiming, “Oh my god, so many bigshots?”

Generally speaking, movie auditions consisted of the casting director and ordinary staff. Before they came here, they knew how serious this movie audition was.

If they succeeded in the audition, then they might be able to soar into the sky.

They just hadn’t expected so many big shots to be gathered. It would be very difficult for them to be successfully chosen.

The rookie actor sighed. “Jiayou. I’ll go first.”

He didn’t dare confess that Teacher Yue had asked him to play against the movie’s protagonist, but the other person’s acting skills were too strong. He couldn’t catch it at all. He hurriedly said two or three lines before the words ‘cut’ were called out.

He might be first in his company for those of the same period, but he hadn’t expected that he would realize the gap between himself and others after coming here.

In fact, it actually wasn’t easy to rise in the movie and television industry.

Before everyone could disperse, the second actor walked out with a red face. The speed of his failure was even faster than the first person.

For today’s audition, he had specially asked the staff to put on full makeup for him and to do his hair. Then, as soon as he entered, Qin Yue frowned and questioned it.

“The role you are auditioning for is a narcotics officer, not an idol on stage! You can’t even understand the personality and don’t have the sense of belief that an actor should have when creating a role. Why did your company tell you to come over? Get out!”

“……”

Qin Yue was well-liked and had a good reputation in the circle, but he was also known for his harshness toward actors when filming.

The actor was so ashamed that he didn’t dare to stay inside for a second longer. He hurriedly bowed and left.

What? A direct pass due to poor external image?

There were three or four actors who couldn’t sit still after hearing this. They had all put on heavy makeup that they thought was handsome and charming.

These actors immediately called their assistants, asked for makeup removers, and ran to the toilet. They tried to use this short time to portray themselves more rigidly to match the image of a police officer.

It was a pity that rushing on the spot would only make them more nervous in the audition.

For the next hour, one actor after another left the building until it was all over.

In the audition room, the atmosphere was solemn.

Fang Zhixing looked through the list of actors, shook his head, and sighed. “There is no one left. Li Ze just now was already the last one.”

Li Ze had spent two years at the bottom of the movie industry and was Bian Jin’s number one ‘rival.’ It was a pity that the career gap between the two was huge now.

“Out of these eight people, Li Ze is a bit stronger when it comes to acting skills. The others are newcomers who haven’t debuted or have just debuted. There is no way to compare their acting skills and experience.”

As a director, Yao Chuan sighed that not everyone could have acting talent.

However, Ji Yunqi beside him was counted as one.

During the audition some time ago, the other person’s comprehension and control of the role was really unexpected.

Yao Chuan specially called Ji Yunqi and Yuan Yifei over today to let them act against the auditioning actors. In the same scene, the performance of the former was more stable every time. It was obvious he was born to eat this bowl of acting.

“Li Ze can’t do it.” Qin Yue’s eyes showed a veto. “He can’t catch the scene at all.”

Yuan Yifei heard this and silently looked at Ji Yunqi next to him.

Today’s audition session was divided into two rounds. The actors who came in first did a round of acting with Ji Yunqi. If their performance was quite stable, then they would try a round with Yuan Yifei.

Yuan Yifei expressed his true thoughts. “Acting with them, I feel bored when saying my lines.”

The aura between actors was a very delicate expression. If excellent actors were together, they could always be strong and closely interact with each other to act their best.

However, if they met an actor who couldn’t catch the acting, then the effect was greatly reduced. It was a one-sided crushing scene, and the effect was ugly.

In the movie, the characters of Chen Xi and Shi Ye, played by Yuan Yifei, had two extremely explosive rivalry scenes. In terms of casting, the acting couldn’t be much worse than the latter. The effect would just be too ugly.

“Speaking of which, is Bian Jin more suitable?” Fang Zhixing opened his mouth.

Qin Yue closed the information of the actors. “In any case, I don’t plan to use him. An actor who is obsessed with his position and the team behind him aren’t in line with my philosophy of how to handle movies. If I give in this time, I don’t know what type of trouble he will do in the future.”

It was the purpose of everyone to act together, not to cover the essence of the movie with a ‘useless’ position.

Yao Chuan agreed. “I agree that an actor’s intentions should be to act well, not be bound by external interest conditions. Who started this whole thing about position anyway? Back then, there was no such nonsense in the movie industry.”

“Qin Yue, do you want to expand the range to acting skills?” Yuan Yifei thought about this and suggested. “Newcomers who haven’t debuted and newer faces who have only debuted for a year or two are difficult to guarantee in terms of acting skills.”

There were few actors who were just talented. There were more actors who accumulated their strength through years of shooting experience.

Qin Yue rubbed his forehead while a figure suddenly appeared in his mind.

In fact, he always had a suitable candidate in his heart who had a new face in the movie industry, who just debuted recently, and had good acting skills, but…

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TL: Winners have come out for the fanart event. You can check all the winners on the homepage. I have also created fanart pages and linked them on the homepage of the website.

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Proofreader: Azure