Recapture The Entertainment Industry - CHAPTER 5

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After Wu Yuan was selected to play the male lead in this drama, he would, from time to time, appear at auditions to follow up on the production team’s progress. The hardest part of a historical drama was the research, followed by the selection of actors.

Though Wu Yuan’s qualifications were deep enough, his popularity had been stalled at the same critical point for a long time. Thus, he had extensively prepared for this drama. He had carefully studied every character in the story and even the selection of the supporting actors was of extraordinary importance to him.

When he entered the audition hall, his first reaction was: Why was it so quiet today?

There were clearly just as many people in the hall as usual, but it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Wu Yuan heard the crisp sound of his heels touching the floor and stopped abruptly. He looked around awkwardly and was relieved to find that no one had noticed his arrival since the hall was too dark.

All the lights in the hall were focused on the open space in front of the judging table. Wu Yuan roused himself from his daze and like everyone else his attention was immediately drawn to the young man standing in the middle of the light.

Luo Ding liked looking directly at his adversary when acting. This was a habit he had kept from the first time he ever acted. It gave him the illusion of blending in with the character he was portraying and made it easier to enter his role. But this habit was not so wonderful for his adversaries. As Luo Ding’s acting skills became more exquisite and his craftsmanship more powerful, people who faced him in front of the camera could easily be swept away by his eyes and overwhelmed by his momentum.

During this audition, he had no acting partners thus he cast his eyes on Zheng Kezhen’s face, and imagined that Zheng Kezhen was the lobbyist who had been sent to persuade him to become an official.

Zheng Kezhen only felt that he had been sucked in by those bottomless pupils, he was lost and his knees weak. At first, Luo Ding just looked at him expressionlessly and then as if hearing something ridiculous, the muscle at the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, arching in a non-smile: “Get out of here-” he said in a seemingly determined manner. After speaking, he flung his arm in a subtle arc, as though wearing an invisible wide-sleeve robe, and his light footsteps were like an immortal about to take flight. Zheng Kezhen unconsciously stretched out his hand in Luo Ding’s direction, but before he could even move, Luo Ding suddenly paused.

Luo Ding stopped and lowered his head slowly. It was unknown what he was hearing but he seemed to be seriously contemplating it in his heart

Zheng Ke zhen stood up slowly, his heart unconsciously repeating the lines for the lobbyist in this scene and his lips were moving in sync with the thoughts in his heart.

Just as Zheng Ke zhen completed the lobbyists words, Luo Ding trembled suddenly and sneered.

He turned his head, an unfazed smile still on his face. The surreal feeling was heightened as his smile became frivolous yet inscrutable. At this time Luo Ding no longer looked Zheng Kezhen in the eyes.

Luo Ding’s eyes quickly swept over Zheng Kezhen’s face, his eyes dimmed slightly, as though hiding something that could not be spoken out loud, and he uttered, “Did Li Sh…”

As though quickly realizing his own mistake, a faint aversion flashed in his eyes. He quickly rectified his error and continued: “Did His Majesty really say so?”

After hearing the lobbyist’s response, the look in his eyes softened and he uttered: “Till the end, he’s so concerned about the people …” his voice held a slight smile, but his eyes were bewildered, “Great.”

In this short scene, the lines wear clear and did not differ from what Hu Xiao had said earlier, yet anyone familiar with the plot could easily feel the contradictions and grievances in his heart.

Once again, Luo Ding went into a daze, after three seconds, he retracted his eyes from the distance and with a frown restored his usual frigid appearance.

“I’ll go with you.”

Luo Ding looked away, his immortal bearing disappearing suddenly without a trace, he stepped back and bowed towards the judges’ table: “I apologize for jumping into the act right away, Director Zheng, Director Deng, my name is Luo Ding and I am auditioning for the role of Fu Zhu. “

As soon as he dropped his act, the silence at the scene was suddenly broken as the staff began to discuss among themselves. Zheng Kezhen opened his mouth to speak but for a long time he didn’t say a word, as he started to say, “Fu …”

“GREAT!”

While he was unaware someone had spoken before him and thus his words came out too late. On closer examination it turned out to be Wu Yuan. His sudden yell and applause, from behind, had caused Zheng Kezhen to jump. Yet, though he was interrupted, Zheng Kezhen could not lose his temper with Wu Yuan so he frowned instead and with a throbbing heart turned his gaze back to Luo Ding.

Currently Luo Ding looked like a completely different person. Although his countenance had not changed, both the look in his eyes and his facial expression had transformed, even his temperament had lost that inexplicable layer of unattainable immortality. Fresh and hearty. Compared to Fu Zhu, who screamed “Don’t come near me” from every pore, Luo Ding was obviously more approachable and real.

Zheng Kezhen and Deng Jian Lian, who had just joined him from the other side of the table, looked at each other, and they could clearly see the surprise and ecstasy in the other ‘s eyes. To be honest, when these stories were recorded in ancient times, in order to simplify the text, the ancients often over exaggerated character attributes. For instance, in this book, Fu Zhu is described as a, “refined and elegant scholar, like an immortal”, Though understandable, these four words are not easily interpreted. “Like an Immortal”. Even Zheng Kezhen himself was a little puzzled over how a human is to portray this. His original goal was simply to find an actor who could interpret Fu Zhu’s elegance and refined nature and to add some visual lighting effects in post-production. He could have never anticipated that there was someone in the world who could actual capture the ephemeral essence of an immortal!

Luo Ding!

Zheng Kezhen and Deng Jian Lian had never heard of this name. This was simply incredible. With such acting skills and appearance, how could he not have already acted in a film?

Wu Yuan slowly approached the stage from his position at the back, the closer he got, the more surprised he was.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, he had to confess that just now Luo Ding’s short performance had bowled him over.

Wu Yuan has been in the entertainment industry for more than ten years. He started as a child star and step by step he now sat near the top among today’s television stars. Though he has not starred alongside tens of thousands of actors, he has absolutely worked with some of the most senior actors from the film circle on some TV shows. However, today, Luo Ding had given him the biggest shock since his debut.

The delicate countenance, that graceful temperament, and the little subtle movements that could fully express the character’s psychology, Luo Ding was already so far ahead. Wu Yuan asked himself, at the acting level alone, could he have so precisely distinguished the emotions of the characters he was to portray? No, He would lose heavily.

As Luo Ding was acting, he had displayed more emotions that made Wu Yuan even more interested in him. With such talent, even if there were only few opportunities given him, Luo Ding would not remain unknown in this lifetime. It’s true that is difficult to succeed in the entertainment industry without help, but as long as you have sufficient strength and talent there will always be people who will value it.

After drawing closer, Wu Yuan was able to shift his attention from Luo Ding’s temperament to his facial features and Wu Yuan was even more surprised.

One thing the entertainment industry did not lack were handsome men and beautiful women, even Wu Yuan himself was considered a man who was handsome enough to be recognized on the streets at a glance, but for one to have such delicate features so as to appear deliberately carved out, there were only a few. Generally, among the women Wu Yuan could only think of a handful of top beautiful actresses who could fit the bill , but among men, apart from those who had undergone cosmetic surgery, he really couldn’t name one except Luo Ding.

“Are you a newcomer?” Wu Yuan faced Luo Ding in surprise and found himself captivated. He was otherworldly! His eyelashes were so long, as though he was wearing mascara, Pan Yiyi would die after seeing him!

Luo Ding recognized who the other party was at first glance. In his last life, He and Wu Yuan had held several face-to-face conversations at various award show ceremonies. From their interactions he understood Wu Yuan’s personality well so he took a step back and said: “Hello Wu ge, my name is Luo Ding. I was formerly a musician and with regards to acting I can really be considered a newcomer”.

As soon as he said this, the question on many minds was resolved at once. Zheng Kezhen breathed a sigh of relief, and said to himself, indeed, such acting talent could not have remained anonymous. It turns out that Luo Ding had chosen the wrong career path and entered the music industry. However, he had only held this thought for a short moment when he realized immediately that this meant that Luo Ding was truly a newcomer!?

How is it possible that a newcomer would have such overwhelming acting skills?!! Zheng Kezhen himself, as a director, did not fully comprehend how this last scene was to be interpreted. Even many senior actors who have been tempered for decades may not be able to deliver the sophisticated performance that Luo Ding just gave. Such line delivery and subtle expression changes had made him feel discomfited from the very beginning. It was with Luo Ding’s answer to Wu Yuan’s question that helped clarify his thoughts. Luo Ding, be it his leisurely temperament or his acting skills, was out of sync with his face!!

Was this guy an acting monster??

Zheng Kezhen slapped the table shaking the pens on it away. For a moment, he had forgotten everything.

Pointing a finger at Luo Ding, he said “You are the one! Fu Zhu!”

Luo Ding seemed unsurprised. He took a step back and smiled. Still looking very calm and gentle: He responded “Thanking senior Zheng for his instructions, I will certainly live up to your expectations.”

After discovering that the director for this drama was Zheng Kezhen, he knew that this audition would be a cinch. Zheng Kezhen’s stubbornness and arrogance was as famous as his talents. Which of the classic documentaries was not supervised by him from beginning to end? As long as you had the talent to complete your own work, such a director was the most worry-free to get along with, thus he had been more concerned over not being able to make an appearance at all, than acting.

Though the atmosphere was peaceful, the other actors who had entered the audition alongside Luo Ding could only lament, after a long period of memorizing lines they were brushed off without being given a chance to speak. Although such a situation was extremely common it could nevertheless depress a person to death.

Luo Ding was listening to Zheng Kezhen’s long instructions regarding the subsequent contract signing when suddenly he felt someone’s eyes on him.

He unconsciously glanced in the direction of the gaze and in the darkness, he could only see reflected in the lights a pair of glittering eyes filled with unclear emotions.

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