"Hello, President Fang."
Zhou Yan was the first to extend her hand. At the same time, Tang Wan and Liu Peipei also offered polite greetings.
"Hello, please, come in."
The three women walked in, and Fang Jie gave Li Wenzhong a brief introduction. Then, the audition began.
"Let them go first," Jin Yelai said. "Once we finish the audition, we can move on to other matters."
Lin Jiang and the others had no objections. It didn’t matter who went first.
However, Lin Jiang had already lost interest in Liu Wenwen.
"I’ll go first."
As a teacher, Tang Wan didn’t hesitate to step forward first.
Li Wenzhong held up the script and said,
"You’ve all read the script. Let’s try the scene where Ma Dongmei furiously curses out Xia Luo at the wedding."
Having stayed up all night reading the script, Tang Wan was already very familiar with the material.
She knew this scene was one of the movie’s most iconic.
Tang Wan composed herself and quickly got into character.
"Xia Luo, didn’t you tell me you were visiting your mother’s grave...?"
"It’s Qiu Ya’s wedding, and look at you, dressed like a feather duster..."
"Qiu Ya..."
Line after line, Tang Wan’s performance was a faithful recreation of the original.
Lin Jiang watched intently. He felt it was excellent. Aside from her clothes not quite fitting the part, every other aspect captured the flavor of the original.
Afterward, Lin Jiang had Tang Wan try out for the role of Qiu Ya, specifically the scene where she learns Xia Luo has AIDS.
Her emotional transitions and progression—from false alarm to utter panic, and finally to anger—were also very well done.
But in comparison, Lin Jiang still felt she was better suited for the role of Ma Dongmei.
Next up was Liu Peipei. She performed the same two scenes, but her performance fell short of Tang Wan’s. She failed to nail down Ma Dongmei’s personality traits, though she could potentially be a fit for the role of Qiu Ya.
After the two of them finished, it was Liu Wenwen’s turn. Jin Yelai looked at Tang Wan and her group and said,
"You can all head back first. We need to discuss the role of Ma Dongmei, and it’s not appropriate for outsiders to be here."
"Discuss?"
Lin Jiang looked at Jin Yelai. "Didn’t we give you the script in advance?"
"There’s actually not much to discuss about the script. With Liu Wenwen’s abilities, handling a character like this is a piece of cake. It’s no challenge at all."
Jin Yelai said with a smile,
"I read the script yesterday. I feel that Ma Dongmei has too little screen time, and her character design isn’t great either. I suggest a few revisions."
Li Wenzhong said nothing. As a director, he detested actors who wanted to change the script on set.
And this particular script didn’t need any changes. You absolutely couldn’t alter the script just to give someone more scenes; that would throw everything into chaos.
Lin Jiang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jin Yelai.
"How would you change it?"
"Ma Dongmei’s family background is too ordinary. I suggest changing her into a rich girl who, for the sake of love, resolutely gets together with Xia Luo. This will better highlight her character and add more appeal to the whole film."
"You know so much, why don’t you direct it?"
Shut down by Lin Jiang, Jin Yelai was silenced. He didn’t dare say another word.
As the investor for this film, Lin Jiang’s word carried more weight than even Director Li Wenzhong’s. Jin Yelai, merely an agent, didn’t dare press the issue.
Tang Wan and the other two actresses stood to the side, so scared they barely dared to breathe.
’The investor’s temper seems pretty bad.’
"Let’s see the audition. We’ll see how it goes."
"With Wenwen’s skill level, that shouldn’t be necessary, right? Her acting ability is obvious to everyone. All the directors who’ve worked with her have praised her talent," Jin Yelai said politely.
"What skill level? What awards has she won? Tell me, I’m curious."
Once again, Jin Yelai was shot down, unable to respond. He was starting to lose face.
"I’m ready. I can start the audition now."
Liu Wenwen held the script, took a moment to prepare, and began reciting the lines.
There were no issues with her delivery, and she managed to get through the scene.
But something still felt off. It was like she was holding back, never truly embodying the character.
And her line-reading skills were clearly a step down from Tang Wan’s. Even a layman like him could see it, to say nothing of Li Wenzhong and Fang Jie.
"Do you want to take a moment to prepare again? I don’t think your state of mind was right just now. Or perhaps you could try auditioning for the role of Qiu Ya," Lin Jiang said.
"Forget Qiu Ya. I don’t take on second female lead roles anymore."
Lin Jiang’s expression was blank. He had completely lost interest in Liu Wenwen. He turned to look at Li Wenzhong.
"Director Li, your thoughts?"
"That performance wasn’t ideal. Try to find the character’s feeling again," Li Wenzhong said.
"The character Ma Dongmei comes from an ordinary family, she’s not a good student, and she later takes up javelin throwing. But she never compromises with life. You need to bring out that fighting spirit she has in her bones. Especially in the scene where she crashes the wedding. Even though she has no money, her presence is second to none. Do you understand what I mean?"
"No problem. I’ll do it again."
A few seconds later, Liu Wenwen found her focus and began her second performance.
But the result wasn’t much better than the first time. She was still too stiff and failed to convey Ma Dongmei’s powerful presence.
"Let’s put this scene aside for now. Perform the scene many years later, when Ma Dongmei and Xia Luo meet again."
Li Wenzhong was giving Liu Wenwen another chance.
"The person she once had a secret crush on has become a household-name superstar, while she herself has turned into an ordinary middle-aged woman. The gap in their status and position has made her reserved. She can no longer face Xia Luo as she did before. Try to find that state of mind."
Liu Wenwen was getting impatient.
’With my acting skills, isn’t handling a character like this a piece of cake?’
’They’re making me try a third time, back and forth. Do they really think I’m some third-rate actress?’
"Fine, I’ll try this scene."
Suppressing her displeasure, Liu Wenwen flipped through the script. It took her a while to find the scene. After glancing at the lines, she began to act.
After she finished, Lin Jiang, Li Wenzhong, and Fang Jie were all silent. None of them made any comment.
Liu Wenwen tossed the script aside and said,
"President Lin, Director Li, you must have seen my work. This character isn’t complicated, and I’m completely confident I can handle a role like this. Moreover, I have someone I can recommend to you. If we were to act together, the result would definitely be even better."
"As for the role, we can’t decide right now. You can go home and wait for our notice. We need to discuss it further," Lin Jiang said.
"Discuss?" Liu Wenwen’s voice rose. She thought she must have misheard.
Lin Jiang nodded lightly, his patience completely exhausted.
Liu Wenwen’s displeasure was written all over her face. She pointed at Tang Wan and Liu Peipei and said,
"You can’t possibly think I’m worse than them?"
"I didn’t say you were worse than them, but we still need to consider who we’ll ultimately cast."
"President Lin, Director Li, this is just a small-budget, 30 million yuan film. The fact that I was willing to take this role, and even ruin my image for it, should be considered a huge favor. And now what? Not only did you make me audition with a bunch of unknowns, but you can’t even make a decision after I’m done? You’re looking down on me, Liu Wenwen, way too much."
"The budget has nothing to do with you. These are the rules. If you’re not satisfied, I won’t force you to stay."
"In that case, there’s no need for us to work together."
Liu Wenwen grabbed her bag, turned, and stormed out. Jin Yelai followed close behind. They didn’t even bother with pleasantries, just left immediately.
If there was no need to work together, there was no need to save face.
"Brother Lei, go contact Director Ma for me. I want a role in his film. I’ll make these people understand that not casting me, Liu Wenwen, is their loss!"
"These two films are being prepared at the same time. One is a youth comedy, the other is a romance. The filming schedules are mostly fixed, so there’s a real possibility of a scheduling conflict."
"That trashy script of theirs... without me, Liu Wenwen, no one can carry it! Now that I’m not doing it, I’ll consider it my loss if it even makes 10 million at the box office!"

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