Chapter 434 The Chosen Girl
At nine o'clock in the morning in mid-March, in front of Yanying Fangqing Tower, there were a group of actresses, each one more beautiful than the other.
Today's audition has brought together almost all the young and middle-aged actresses who have emerged in the country in the past decade.
Among the actresses who came, in addition to Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Li and Chen Chong, whom Lin Weimin knew, there were also popular actresses such as Pan Hong, Gong Xue, Fang Shu and Zhang Yu.
Less than a week after the audition notice for the actresses was sent out, Lin Weimin did not expect that Chen Chong would rush back to China.
It seems that Chen Chong is very confident. She is very well-known in China, has studied in the United States, and has stayed in Hollywood for a while. Although she has not made a name for herself, it is still a qualification.
In addition, she is currently performing on Broadway, and seems to be very competitive from any perspective.
When Liu Xiaoqing saw Chen Chong, she immediately felt a strong sense of crisis.
Both she and Chen Chong became well-known to the audience through the movie "Little Flower". The difference is that Liu Xiaoqing shot one movie after another after "Little Flower", which not only received rave reviews but also had excellent box office performance.
Chen Chong took a completely opposite path from her. She decided to quit at the most critical moment and chose to study in the United States. I heard that she has not been doing well in recent years.
Under normal circumstances, Liu Xiaoqing might have gloated over other people's misfortune.
But today is the audition for "The Last Emperor", and Liu Xiaoqing will not underestimate Chen Chong just because she has been away from the domestic film industry for a few years.
Just in terms of her strong English, Chen Chong has a big advantage over me.
The most important thing is that Chen Chong is several years younger than her. In history, Wanrong was still a young girl when she married Puyi.
On the other hand, Liu Xiaoqing herself is over 30 years old. Although she is confident in her acting skills, directors and producers may not see it that way.
A shadow cast over Liu Xiaoqing's heart, making her feel stressed.
Compared with the ambitious Chen and Liu, Pan Hong seems much calmer.
In recent years, she has won numerous awards and is considered the number one Chinese film actress.
After divorcing her husband Mi Jiashan last year, she became more open-minded about many things.
Among the many actresses who came to audition, these three received the most attention.
Apart from these three people, the most eye-catching one is Gong Li, the heroine of "Red Sorghum".
Now the news that "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award is spreading rapidly across the country, and it has become the pride of Chinese films. Even the heroine of the film, Gong Li, has become one of the focuses of public attention.
Gong Li stood timidly among the crowd. Her beauty was not noticeable among so many beautiful actresses. Because "Red Sorghum" had not been released yet, many people didn't even know her and asked people around about her.
When he heard that she was the heroine of Red Sorghum, his eyes couldn't help but become a little strange.
Gong Li privately guessed that the look probably meant "this girl is so lucky."
She has seen this kind of look so many times these days that she has become numb to it.
When Gong Li first heard Zhang Yimou say that she was recommended to the crew of "The Last Emperor" to audition for the female lead Wanrong, she was a little nervous.
Over the past six months, the news that the famous Italian director Bertolucci was preparing to shoot "The Last Emperor" has been widely circulated in China, and it is said that tens of millions of dollars have been invested.
Gong Li felt dizzy when she heard this number. How much money is that?
Gong Li couldn't even think of being asked to interview for the female lead for such a big-budget movie.
Just like she didn't dare to think that "Red Sorghum" could win the Golden Bear Award a few years ago.
It’s like a dream!
Until she walked into the audition room, Gong Li felt like she was walking on cotton.
He looked at the environment inside the room in a daze. This was much more formal than when Zhang Yimou and others auditioned themselves.
The camera was on all the time, and there was a foreigner nearby taking pictures with a camera.
Gong Li scanned the area and finally found a face with black eyes among the foreign faces.
Teacher Lin!
Director Yimou said that he was able to interview for the crew of "The Last Emperor" thanks to Teacher Lin's recommendation.
After seeing Lin Weimin, Gong Li finally gained some confidence.
The bearded foreigner opposite me must be director Bertolucci, right? He mumbled a lot, but I couldn't understand a word he said!
Gong Li was worried, and Lin Weimin said, "Gong Li, don't be nervous, Director Bertolucci asked you to introduce yourself."
Gong Li pursed her lips. How could she not be nervous? But she was already here.
She cleared her throat and said, "Hello, teachers. My name is Gong Li. I am currently a student in the 1985 acting class of the Central Academy of Drama. I have previously starred in the movie Red Sorghum..."
Gong Li's resume is unremarkable, with almost no highlights, except for "Red Sorghum".
And the most important thing is that her English is not good and she even stumbles when introducing herself. A hint of disappointment flashed in Bertolucci's eyes.
The audition continued. Gong Li was going to have a scene with the male lead of the movie. A foreigner who had just finished taking photos handed her two pages of paper. Fortunately, they contained script excerpts in Chinese and English.
The male lead, Zun Long, had just flown to Yanjing the night before yesterday and was pulled in by Bertolucci for an audition today.
Zun Long was actually born in Shanghai, China. He has a mixed-race face, but he has no father or mother. After being adopted by his foster mother, he was sent to Hong Kong to learn Peking Opera at the age of ten. At the age of eighteen, he went to the United States to study alone and was admitted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Like most Chinese who studied in the United States at that time, he washed dishes, worked as a chef, and worked as a shop assistant, working during the day and studying at night.
Many people in later generations know Zun Long because of the handsome gangster boss in "Year of the Dragon" or the lonely Puyi in "The Last Emperor".
But in fact, Zun Long's rise can be traced back to 1980 when he was selected by Iwamatsu Nobuyuki to perform in the stage play "FOB". The following year, he directed and starred in the stage play "Railroads and Dance". This year, he won the 25th Obie Award for Best Performance for his two works "FOB" and "Railroads and Dance".
The talent he displayed on stage plays soon attracted great attention to Zun Long. In 1984, he starred in the science fiction film "40,000 Years of the Iceman". In 1985, he starred in "Year of the Dragon" as the arrogant and handsome gangster Joey Tay. With this film, he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture at the 43rd Golden Globe Awards. Zun Long became famous from this play.
John Lone cherishes the opportunity to star in "The Last Emperor" very much. Having worked in Broadway and Hollywood for ten years, he knows how precious this opportunity is for a Chinese actor.
Before flying back to China, he had already memorized the contents of the script. In today's audition, he was responsible for acting with the actresses, which was not difficult.
But……
As the play required full English dialogue, the English of these actresses was so poor that they could hardly even have a normal conversation, let alone use it for acting.
The only two people that John Lone felt he had a good acting experience with were Liu Xiaoqing and Joan Chen.
Chen Chong had studied in the United States for several years, so she had no problem performing in English.
As for Liu Xiaoqing, she studied English intensively for several months because of Lin Weimin's advance disclosure. She spoke her lines fluently during the audition, but her accent was heavy.
Now it's his turn to act with Gong Li, and Zun Long feels numb again.
This girl is pretty and speaks normal Chinese, but why does she have a Shandong accent when she speaks English?
Regardless of Zun Long's inner feelings, Gong Li was the last actress to audition today and left the room after her performance.
Director Bertolucci, producer Thomas and screenwriter Lin Weimin had a discussion.
In most of the day, we interviewed nearly twenty actresses. It should be said that the appearance of these actresses who were recommended to the crew of "The Last Emperor" for an interview was acceptable.
Some of them were a few years older than Wanrong in the original script, but that didn't matter. In the eyes of Westerners, Orientals generally have baby faces, and Bertolucci did not take this factor into consideration in the audition results.
The three discussed for a while and basically reached a consensus, and the choice of the heroine was locked on Liu Xiaoqing, Chen Chong and Gong Li.
During the audition, Chen Chong performed the best. Having studied in the United States, the lines were no problem for her and her performance was very accurate.
Then there is Liu Xiaoqing, who speaks fluently but has a heavy accent. She is very well-known in China. In her words, it is impossible to use the original lines, so post-dubbing is needed, but it is not a big problem.
Finally, it’s Gong Li. When it comes to Gong Li, Bertolucci’s expression is hard to describe.
When watching "Red Sorghum" a few days ago, he was amazed by Gong Li's performance. He had been looking forward to Gong Li's performance, but the girl's awkward English lines made Bertolucci completely disappointed.
"I think Chen Chong is more suitable for the role of Wanrong. She has a good command of lines and will not delay the filming progress. Moreover, she has studied in the United States and is now a drama actor on Broadway," said producer Thomas.
Bertolucci also has some preference for Chen Chong in his heart. Compared with Liu Xiaoqing and Gong Li, Chen Chong's advantages are too obvious.
"Lin, which actress do you prefer?" Bertolucci asked.
Lin Weimin pondered, thinking about what Teng Jinxian had told him before he came here.
When it came to selecting actresses for The Last Emperor, Lao Teng had no selfish motives. He had only one idea, which was to use The Last Emperor to train an actress with international influence for China.
There is no doubt that according to the current situation, Gong Li has the greatest hope with "Red Sorghum", a movie that can make her famous all over the world.
If she could have the bonus of "The Last Emperor", she might become China's first actress with world-class influence.
Of course, this is based on the premise that "The Last Emperor" can finally be successful, otherwise everything is just empty talk.
"Director Bertolucci, Mr. Thomas, my personal suggestion is Gong Li."
Bertolucci frowned and asked, "Why?"
"Gong Li has gained a certain degree of international fame because of Red Sorghum. As far as I know, Red Sorghum will participate in several film festivals this year.
If we can choose Gong Li as the heroine of the film, then by virtue of the publicity opportunity of Red Sorghum participating in the film festival, the name of the film The Last Emperor will also get some publicity.”
After Lin Weimin said this, producer Thomas' eyes lit up.
"Lin, you're absolutely right! This is indeed a bonus for our movie." Thomas said excitedly.
Lin Weimin looked at Bertolucci, who was in a dilemma, and asked, "Mr. Director, what do you think?"
Bertolucci looked hesitant. After looking around at the photos of the three people, he picked out one.
"Let's choose her!"
(End of this chapter)
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