Chapter 167 Sister
Xu Kun met Ning Jing in person on the third day after the script reading began.
Although she had rushed back from the United States in a dusty state, Ning Jing's first impression was that of being capable and generous. Not only did she not look tired at all, but she also exuded the aura of a strong and energetic woman.
After meeting, she first gave Feng Xiaoning a warm hug, then took off her sunglasses and asked with a smile: "Director Feng, where is the man you arranged for me this time?"
"You're becoming more and more American."
Feng Xiaoning shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and then pointed at Xu Kun and introduced him, "This is Xu Kun, the actor who plays Zhu Yuanzhang."
"Americans don't recognize me as their foreign daughter-in-law."
Ning Jing said this and looked at Xu Kun with interest.
Xu Kun also smiled and greeted: "Hello, Teacher Ning Jing."
"What's the use of calling me teacher or not? Just call me Sister Jing!"
Ning Jing said, holding out his hand to Xu Kun, "We are going to play a couple, how can we get into the role if you are always so polite?"
Xu Kun reached out his hand and shook hers, intending to show some understanding, but Ning Jing grabbed his hand in return and shook it vigorously a few times.
Seeing that this girl was also a carefree and outgoing person, Xu Kun immediately changed his attitude and said with a smile: "If you say so, I have to call you 'sister'."
This is how Zhu Yuanzhang calls Ma Xiuying in the play.
Ning Jing laughed when he heard this.
After the greetings, Ning Jing heard that the crew was reading the script, and immediately told Feng Xiaoning that he would retreat for three days before joining in the script reading.
She also hopes that the filming can be done as close to the script schedule as possible in the early stages, so as to better portray the emotional changes between Ma Xiuying and Zhu Yuanzhang, from strangers to familiarity.
Facts have proved that Ning Jing does have the capital to be flamboyant.
When she walked out of the dormitory three days later, she couldn't say that she had completely entered the role, but her previous flamboyant and fashionable image was very different. She looked like a beautiful girl without any makeup.
Even when facing Xu Kun, she no longer had the initial enthusiasm. Instead, she was gentle but also a little bit scrutinizing. Her big, expressive eyes seemed to be saying: Is this my future lover?
Her ability to get into the role so quickly also made Feng Xiaoning completely relieved.
Of course, this is also because Xu Kun’s performance was equally good, and he even got into the role earlier and faster than Ning Jing.
Although Zhu Sujin was awarded the nickname Pig Whip because of his outrageous actions in "The New Three Kingdoms", at least in "Zhu Yuanzhang", he captured some of Zhu Yuanzhang's characteristics.
In Zhu Sujin's design, the two energies run through the entire drama. One is the heroic spirit of a man born in the grassroots and who is unscrupulous. The other is the resentful and indignant spirit of a man whose entire family was killed in troubled times and who was looked down upon as a monk or a beggar.
These two energies could be half-concealed when he was young, and could be restrained to some extent by his wife and children in middle age. But after he lost his wife and children in old age, they were completely out of control, making all the officials and gentry in the world tremble with fear!
These two energies are particularly evident in Zhu Yuanzhang's poem "Angry Questions from a Monk":
He killed millions of soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sword on his waist was still stained with blood; the mountain monk did not recognize the heroic leader, and only asked for his name.
And Xu Kun has both of these qualities!
The experiences he had as a teenager and the more than twenty years in prison must have filled him with resentment and indignation.
And if it happened in ancient times, wouldn't his act of fighting off a group of scammers at the train station by himself be worthy of the title of hero?
Although it is definitely not at the level of Zhu Yuanzhang, it is enough to support him to bring the character to life.
His experience of playing the blind swordsman Xiao Ting also paved the way for him to play the elderly Zhu Yuanzhang - in this drama, Zhu Yuanzhang also cried his eyes blind in his later years, but instead of becoming weak after going blind, he became more powerful and murderous. On September 2004, 9, the eighth day of the script reading, the crew of "Zhu Yuanzhang" officially moved to Hengdian.
The night before his departure, when Xu Kun went home to pack his luggage, two swallows came to see him off, and there was also a big-mouthed elk in the middle.
Jiang Yiyan didn't understand what was going on and still wanted to put on a show in front of Li Xiaolu.
Huo Siyan knew everything, but she was unwilling to expose her alliance with Li Xiaolu, so she was acting.
But why would we, the big-mouthed elk, care about this?
With a green tea bitch in each hand, they were dragged directly into the bedroom and had a great time with her without any coverings.
It was this experience that made Jiang Yiyan determined to find "help" - Huo Siyan had kept it a secret from her and dragged the Golden Horse Film Queen into trouble. How could she survive if she didn't work harder?
So after the military training at the university ended, she quickly became friends with the freshmen and became the praised Sister Swallow.
Jiang Yiyan quickly identified several potential stocks, such as He Yanan, who later played "Kang Changzai" in "The Legend of Zhen Huan"; He Yun, who won the "Wenhua Award" of the Ministry of Culture at the age of 16 for the musical "A Bing"; and Liu Xian, the tallest girl in the class with long legs.
All three of them have a dancing background. The shortest one is 1 meters tall, a perfect beauty.
As for the girl from the frontier area in the Central Academy of Drama next door, Jiang Yiyan also took some time to investigate her, and found that this girl didn't know whether she used "photo fraud" or got tanned from the recent military training, and her appearance had greatly declined.
So Jiang Yiyan rejected him again.
From then on, her focus was placed on the three female students from Beijing Film Academy. However, this matter could not be rushed. She had to find out what the three of them thought first, and then proceed step by step.
As a result, Huo Siyan suddenly invited her to audition for the crew of "The Seven Fairies".
This was the first drama Huayi introduced to Huo Siyan after she joined Huayi. She played the leading female role, Zi'er, one of the Seven Fairies, and Jiang Yiyan was introduced to the second female role, Qing'er.
It's not that Huo Siyan is magnanimous and willing to actively support Jiang Yiyan. The main reason why she was able to gain a foothold so quickly was because of the relationship between Xu Kun and Ge You. Jia Yueting's strong support at the banquet also added a lot of weight to Xu Kun.
So Xu Kun told her to take care of Jiang Yiyan when she had the chance. Although she was reluctant, she had no choice but to do as he asked.
Thanks to the fame gained by Huang Xiang, the second female lead in "Swords of Legends", and Huo Siyan's strong recommendation, Jiang Yiyan easily won the role of Qing'er.
Then after joining the group, she was dazzled.
Including her and Huo Siyan, the seven fairies are all young actresses born in the 80s, each of them is vying with each other for beauty and charm - the crew even invited Tang Jiali, a leader in the photography world, to play the fairy Chang'e in the play.
Such 'transparent' casting is really eye-opening.
These girls are much more outstanding than the school girls that he has his eyes on - as everyone knows, female college students usually have to wait until their sophomore or junior year to gradually learn how to dress.
So Jiang Yiyan quickly came up with a new idea. Instead of trying hard to persuade the girl in school, it would be better to find a ready-made actress who was eager to make progress but had no connections.
After all, how many young girls who can get into Beijing Film Academy are not arrogant and proud?
You want to be the best student in your freshman year? How easy is that?
If you want to be the best student in your sophomore year, it will probably be too late.
It is better for a girl who has entered the circle and has been beaten by the society to be his "helper" - the crew of "The Seven Fairies" is quite suitable. Firstly, there are many candidates, and secondly, both himself and Huo Siyan can be used as examples of personal experience.
But he couldn't be too hasty, at least he couldn't arouse Huo Siyan's vigilance. Otherwise, it would be easier for her, the female lead, to pimp than for him, the second female lead.
(End of this chapter)
