Chapter 135 Solving the Problem of an Empty Hell
Chapter 135
"This is a problem..."
Lin Yuan sighed softly.
In front of the monitor, he reviewed his previous performance over and over again. Ren Maoxing gave him his chair and watched the segment with Lin Yuan, frowning.
Objectively speaking, Lin Yuan definitely has acting skills, there is no need to deny that. His performance in "Bloody Past" is definitely better than many actors in the industry, even those who are much older than him.
But this was still not enough to satisfy the director.
In the director's mind, he did not achieve 100% of Wei Liang.
"Don't you feel like you're too immersed in your own world?" Ren Maoxing pointed to the screen. "What do you think of this part?"
Lin Yuan pursed his lips and remained silent.
The set was quiet at the moment, and no one spoke, but many people glanced at Lin Yuan out of the corner of their eyes.
Lin Yuan's NG wasn't because he acted badly—it was really bad, and the crew would have kept nagging him about it.
On the contrary, many people felt that Lin Yuan had already acted very well, but director Ren Maoxing had too high expectations.
However, Lin Yuan's current situation is even worse than his terrible acting skills.
If he acts badly, the director can carefully train him and make him watchable. The key is that Lin Yuan's acting is not bad.
This means that he has basically formed his own performance style and habits, which makes it very difficult to correct them.
"My own world?" Lin Yuan pondered for a moment, then frowned and looked over.
His eyebrows were already furrowed in a knot, hoping to get some hints from the director, but Ren Maoxing shook his head at him: "Think for yourself."
Lin Yuan: "..."
He had no idea that he would face a big problem so soon after filming began for "Bloody Past".
Lin Yuan repeatedly pondered the words "his own world," his mind replaying his performance. In fact, he was gradually forming an idea, but... he wasn't sure if he could correct his long-standing habits.
Director Ren Maoxing didn't intend to make things difficult for Lin Yuan, and gave him time to think it over.
The director even frankly told Lin Yuan that his portrayal of Wei Liang was not bad, but in the director's mind, Lin Yuan could have played the role better.
"Don't you want the audience to see a better Wei Liang?" These words were like the whisper of a devil, making Lin Yuan embarrassed to lower his standards.
Since there is a better Wei Liang available, he certainly wouldn't choose the inferior one.
This reflects Lin Yuan's sense of responsibility as an actor.
...
"Can this really work?" Ren Maoxing's expression remained relatively relaxed, but screenwriter Yan Lei couldn't help but ask.
In the screenwriter's eyes, Lin Yuan's performance was not a big problem, but Ren Maoxing has always had high requirements for actors, and there are many rumors of him forcing some actors to the point that they could not continue acting.
Yan Lei was really worried that Lin Yuan would not be able to withstand the pressure and would run away from the "Bloody Past" crew.
After all, Lin Yuan is currently a rising star, and if he really can't hold on any longer, he has a way out. There's no need for him to suffer in the "Bloody Past" crew forever.
Ren Maoxing remained quite calm: "Don't worry."
“If he can fully understand this role, he will definitely evolve into an even more outstanding actor.” Ren Maoxing slightly raised his chin towards Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan in his field of vision was extremely thin, as if a gust of wind could blow him over, but the other party’s thinking appearance was extremely serious, not casual or perfunctory, and his eyes were full of determination.
Lin Yuan will never give up; he has already made great sacrifices for the role of Wei Liang.
Lin Yuan's gaze kept shifting between the script and the scenes he had already performed, his mind repeatedly simulating the scene for the next performance. He was completely immersed in his own world.
One's own world — the outside world...
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up slightly.
His performances have always been very immersive.
He basically grasps the inner world of the character and then presents it outwardly in his performance style. Lin Yuan believes that the spirit and energy of the character are very important, so Lin Yuan is very good at showing the crazy side of the character.
Whether he plays a madman, a mentally ill person, or a psychopath, these characters all have inner problems.
As long as he can grasp the character's inner thoughts, his performance will generally be flawless.
What makes Wei Liang different?
Lin Yuan flipped through the script, and slowly, his gaze focused on the word "miner".
Wei Liang is a miner.
"Bloody Past" is a story that revolves around Wei Liang's experiences.
Lin Yuan suddenly stood up.
For him, the film set was still a bit noisy at this moment.
Actually, everyone in the crew was quiet and no one disturbed him. They all knew that Lin Yuan was thinking about the plot and would not interrupt his thoughts at this time.
But Lin Yuan still felt there were too many people. With so many people in his line of sight, he felt that his thoughts were being interrupted.
He walked to an open space, walked from front to back, and then from back to front, repeating the same route over and over again.
Lin Yuan had been thinking about this for a long time.
After three consecutive NGs, he just sat there blankly, like a wooden stake.
As soon as he made a move, everyone in the crew followed his movements.
Lin Yuan remained in this state for the entire afternoon, until later he realized that his legs were a little sore.
That's how the day's filming came to an end.
"Have you found any inspiration?" the director asked.
Lin Yuan, who had been a little anxious, could now answer him calmly: "Soon."
...
"That's how he answered Director Ren? Director Ren wasn't angry?" On the other end of the phone, Xu Lijia smiled brightly.
"Not just today, but yesterday too."
This was the second day of Lin Yuan's reflection. Last night, Xu Lijia heard from an acquaintance in the "Bloody Past" crew that Lin Yuan had made a mistake.
"Director Ren isn't exactly a patient person. Is his patience about to run out?"
“Our colleagues were also quite surprised. Director Ren couldn’t tell whether he was happy or not, but Lin Yuan’s response was particularly bland.”
"They keep saying it'll be soon, but who knows if they're actually fast or slow?"
"Tsk." Xu Lijia couldn't stop smiling. "I knew Director Ren would regret it. What do you mean by 'almost'? It's just that you haven't found the right feeling yet, so you can only make up excuses for the director like this?"
"Don't the other crew members have any thoughts?"
"Having ideas is useless; the key is the director. I think the director is about to lose his temper," the other person replied.
"Please keep an eye on things for me."
Xu Lijia glanced at the calendar. His main event in the second half of this year was the Golden Wing Awards selection, but that would only take a few days.
He has availability and can be replaced at any time if needed to temporarily join the film crew.
Xu Lijia has plenty of confidence in his acting; he has more experience than anyone else, and he is willing to dedicate all his passion to acting.
This is what Xu Lijia is proud of.
From the very beginning, he believed that the role of Wei Liang was destined to be his, and no one could have played it better than him.
Lin Yuan's performance on the set of "Bloody Past" has already demonstrated this point.
Ren Maoxing made the right choice in casting Lin Yuan, but that doesn't mean Lin Yuan can handle the role well.
Hearing that Lin Yuan had encountered a problem, Xu Lijia felt extremely relieved.
This was the result he expected.
A few years ago, something similar happened on a film set. The director abandoned him and chose another actor instead, but the other actor's performance was completely subpar. The film set had no choice but to contact him again, but by then Xu Lijia had already joined another film crew, and it was too late for the other actor to regret it.
Xu Lijia doesn't consider casting his face in director Ren Maoxing's films. If the director is willing to continue inviting him, he will definitely go.
Xu Lijia didn't believe that Lin Yuan could suddenly find his footing. If he could find the right direction so quickly, he could have acted well from the beginning and wouldn't be in such a difficult situation now.
Acting is a technical profession; those who can act will act, and those who can't... no matter how much you try to correct them, they won't get it right.
Xu Lijia waited quietly for news from his acquaintance.
On the third day, the other party continued to tell Xu Lijia that Lin Yuan was still telling the director, "It'll be done soon."
Xu Lijia couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"The director looked quite grim, and the atmosphere on set wasn't good today either."
"But none of us realized that Lin Yuan was so shameless. With the director's expression, he just acted like nothing was wrong and kept saying 'soon,' without giving a specific time, whether it's today or tomorrow, or what if it's next year?"
Xu Lijia could roughly imagine that scene.
If this continues, Lin Yuan will probably become the enemy of the production crew. If it were any other young actor, and they were a little more sensitive, their agent would probably come and put pressure on the production crew.
However, this approach might work on TV drama production teams, but it's unlikely to work on a big director like Ren Maoxing.
Xu Lijia pondered silently whether he should release some information to the marketing accounts, such as saying that Lin Yuan was not used to the filming of "Bloody Past" and revealed his true colors, which made the director very dissatisfied.
But this kind of development... is probably not feasible for Ren Maoxing's side.
If the situation worsens, Lin Yuan will probably leave quietly. At that time, Ren Maoxing will quietly choose a replacement to join the group, and the impact on "Bloody Past" will be limited.
But if marketing accounts find out and things get out of hand, his conflict with Lin Yuan will be brought up again and again—this is what Ren Maoxing hates most.
To avoid this trouble, the director will most likely choose someone else.
Xu Lijia had a general understanding of Ren Maoxing's personality.
He decided to hold back from sending it.
On the fourth day, his acquaintance did not call him.
The same applies to the fifth day.
The production team of "Bloody Past" hasn't given any hints either.
Xu Lijia couldn't hold back any longer and called one of his acquaintances.
"The filming is back to normal now, there are no problems."
"Didn't you say the director was very dissatisfied with Lin Yuan?" Xu Lijia frowned.
"You should consider other scripts first," an acquaintance suggested. "The atmosphere on set is quite harmonious right now. I think Director Ren Maoxing is also very happy. There's no sign that the two of them are falling out."
"You mean, Lin Yuan met the director's requirements?"
"That should be the case. They both seemed quite happy. In fact, the director never got angry with Lin Yuan. The director even said that Lin Yuan found his form so quickly, which surprised him."
Xu Lijia: "?"
Why are you now trying to persuade him instead?
Who was it that said Lin Yuan wasn't in good shape and that director Ren Maoxing was dissatisfied?
Why does it seem like the entire crew of "Bloody Past" is getting along so well now? Is he the villain who's causing trouble?
Xu Lijia was furious.
...
In the past few days, Lin Yuan has seriously reflected on his performance style.
He realized that, whether he was acting in "Thousand Mountains" or "Killing", he had focused more on exploring the inner world of the characters. Because Gu Yilou and Su Kai were characters with relatively ambiguous identities, their tension and explosiveness came from within, rather than from the influence of the environment.
Their perversions are more akin to being innate.
Therefore, Lin Yuan's interpretation of the two characters is quite similar, more insane and more explosive, and the audience will feel the horror of the characters and be shocked.
Lin Yuan performed these two roles in accordance with his own style, and these two roles also happened to fit his style. Lin Yuan burst out at the right time and appropriately showed the madness of the characters.
From the director's and the audience's perspective, Lin Yuan's acting skills are excellent.
But this approach is insufficient to interpret Wei Liang.
Wei Liang is neither Gu Yilou nor Su Kai. He has a side that belongs to miners, which is what Lin Yuan experienced and observed when he came to the mine. In this character's personality, there is the bitterness and frustration of miners.
Considering Lin Yuan's dramatic weight loss, "Bloody Past" was filmed from the middle outwards. In this part of the film, Lin Yuan considered Wei Liang's betrayal, near death, and the collapse and despair of enduring pain that ordinary people could hardly bear. So he still followed the route he was good at, mobilized his emotions, and gave a long performance.
Although Wei Liang's breakdown differs from Su Kai's and Gu Yilou's madness, they still share a great deal of similarity.
That's not enough.
However, Lin Yuan also faces a problem—he can give up what he is good at, but obviously, portraying Wei Liang does not require him to give up everything, but rather to combine Wei Liang's collapse and despair with the story background of "Bloody Past".
In other words, Lin Yuan wanted to make himself a part of Ren Maoxing's style.
"It's so difficult," Lin Yuan sighed again.
He didn't feel that Ren Maoxing was putting pressure on him, nor did he think that the other crew members were looking at him strangely. At this stage, Lin Yuan couldn't pay attention to anything; all he could think about was playing the role well.
Nothing else matters for now.
Lin Yuan hadn't even eaten properly these past few days, and he looked even more haggard. Feng Zeng came to the set to see him and remarked that he looked even closer to the character now.
The agent was quite worried at first, but after seeing Lin Yuan's condition, it was clear that he was full of fighting spirit and did not look defeated at all.
Lin Yuan's agent is very reassured by this.
On the day he was certain he could continue acting, Lin Yuan remained calm and appeared no different from usual. He simply stood calmly in front of the director and told him he was ready.
"Are you sure?" Ren Maoxing asked curiously.
"OK." Lin Yuan gave an OK sign.
"Let's begin then." Ren Maoxing was also an impatient person. "Let me see how you are doing."
Lin Yuan kept saying "almost there, almost there," and although the director didn't verbally urge him, he couldn't help but pay more attention to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan's state can be accurately described as "absorbed" and "forgotten," but the director wasn't entirely sure how far he had gone. In any case, he could only choose to trust Lin Yuan.
...
"start!!"
One afternoon, the sky was overcast and the surroundings were silent, with only the traces of the collapsed mine. For the people living around, no one wanted to explore the place where the tragedy had occurred.
This place is like a dead zone.
But then someone appeared.
The first thing to come into view was a pair of hands, thin and dry, like sticks of firewood. Every part of the fingers that touched the ground was stained red, but not a bright red. It was more like a layer of skin that had been repeatedly torn open and dried until no more blood could flow out, resulting in accumulated bloodstains.
Those hands gripped the ground so tightly that they looked like they could break at any moment, yet their grip strength was astonishing, seemingly capable of crushing even stones.
Next came the sound of heavy breathing, and a pair of eyes peeking out.
The face was unrecognizable; it was pitch black, stained bluish-black by coal ash, with an unnatural bluish-black tinge showing on both sides of the cheeks.
This is a face that has endured long hours of labor.
Most of the time, his face is expressionless. Only when he is with his family or when he is looking forward to the future can he smile and show a truly happy expression.
But at this moment, his face was still mostly numb.
Light shone through, and he could see the sky outside. But having been in the darkness underground for so long, he was completely numb and stiff.
Slowly, his grip loosened slightly, and he stopped holding on so tightly.
Lin Yuan's version is different from the previous one.
The last time he portrayed Wei Liang, the idea of revenge came too early.
The story does revolve around revenge, but in Ren Maoxing's opinion, Lin Yuan's emotions came too quickly.
This is very unlike Wei Liang.
Wei Liang is a person from the bottom of society. He is not a scheming person like Gu Yilou or Su Kai. Under the mine, he gradually reshaped his values.
For him, just figuring this out and understanding it would take a lot of effort.
Ren Maoxing held his breath and continued watching Lin Yuan's next performance.
Wei Liang has been released. What will be his next state?
Facing the long-lost sky, Wei Liangxian was stunned.
Before this, he was only thinking about living, but he never expected that he would actually survive.
And now, the survival he longed for is right in front of him.
Wei Liang froze for a moment, staring blankly. At this moment, Wei Liang himself had no presence. In this society, among the miners, he was almost invisible.
In martial arts novels, the protagonist survives numerous hardships and will inevitably shake the entire martial arts world in the end.
Even if Wei Liang survives the hardships and dangers, it won't make much of a difference to the world.
He looked at the sky for a while, observed his surroundings for a moment, and finally, he saw himself in that moment.
He was so thin he was practically skin and bones, unable to walk properly and only able to crawl. His fingernails had long since fallen off, and you could feel the bones in his thighs and stomach.
At this moment, Wei Liang cried.
The script didn't say that Wei Liang cried; it only said that he couldn't accept the outcome and experienced emotional turmoil.
Then he thought of revenge.
Lin Yuan's first version of the story was driven by revenge, portraying Wei Liang's collapse and despair. But... for someone like Wei Liang, someone at the bottom of society, numbed by the heavy workload, the only emotional fluctuation he could have was a good cry.
He couldn't understand what had happened to him; he didn't understand why he was the one who had to go through all this.
If it weren't for the days he spent buried underground giving him much to think about, he wouldn't have had time to deal with his extraneous emotions.
It started with crying, followed by howling like a wild beast.
He thought he had reached the lowest point in his life, but little did he know that the low point was not over yet.
Then came the feeling of revenge.
The camera focused on Lin Yuan's eyes.
After the release of "Thousands of Mountains", some film critics commented on Gu Yilou, saying that Gu Yilou's eyes were like black holes, and no light could be found in them.
There was only brutality in Wei Liang's eyes.
Not sinister, not shrewd; to be more accurate, he was like a wild beast stripped of its socialization, wanting only to vent its anger.
The mountains were bare, the forests were bare of leaves, it was cold everywhere, and the ground was frozen solid, as hard as Wei Liang's heart.
Ren Maoxing never called for a stop during this entire scene.
After two previous takes, Lin Yuan was quite concerned about the director's opinion. However, on the third take, his performance was not as good as the previous two.
This time, Lin Yuan probably knew he was facing a huge challenge, or perhaps... this was the closest he had ever come to playing Wei Liang. When he was focused on the role, Lin Yuan ignored everything else.
He is the embodiment of Wei Liang.
When Lin Yuan was wholeheartedly embodying the character of Wei Liang, he experienced intense hunger, and the most direct feeling brought by hunger was cold.
At this moment, Wei Liang was also hungry and cold.
Once he has this feeling, he will unconsciously look for something, and his emotional fluctuations will become more and more obvious.
Lin Yuan even had a thought—he felt that he wasn't actively playing Wei Liang, but rather that Wei Liang was leading him.
It's a strange idea, but that's exactly how Lin Yuan felt at that moment.
"Card."
The moment the director yelled "cut," Lin Yuan sat down on the spot.
The scene didn't last long, but Lin Yuan felt tired and wanted to find a random place to sit down and properly process his current state.
The moment Lin Yuan sat down, Ren Maoxing slowly walked over to Lin Yuan's side.
Then, the director smiled slightly at him and extended his hand: "Welcome, Wei Liang."
Lin Yuan sat up with the director's help: "Thank you."
This time, without the director saying anything more, Lin Yuan knew that his performance was satisfactory.
He has stopped worrying and regained his initial confidence.
At first, when the problem was pointed out, Lin Yuan was a little confused, but now he understands everything.
"I've finally found my rhythm."
"Much faster than I expected," Ren Maoxing said. "You're really amazing."
What impressed Ren Maoxing the most, besides Lin Yuan's acting skills, was Lin Yuan's attitude towards the outside world.
The atmosphere on set can change very quickly. In a film crew, the director is naturally the most respected, and the director's mood determines the atmosphere of the entire crew.
During the days when Lin Yuan was seriously considering things, Ren Maoxing's attitude wasn't particularly enthusiastic. Since the lead actor wasn't in good shape, the entire crew was naturally a little anxious.
But Lin Yuan didn't care at all and continued to do things at his own pace from beginning to end.
This kind of mentality is not something that ordinary people can have.
Lin Yuan focused all his energy on himself, unaffected by any changes in the external environment.
Ren Maoxing believes that Lin Yuan's ability to find his rhythm so quickly is largely due to his focus.
In the director's mind, Wei Liang is a role that can help an actor reach a higher level, and Lin Yuan has clearly already grasped the basics.
"Am I right? How could the person I introduce be bad?"
Ge Peng praised Lin Yuan effusively over the phone: "You have no idea how anxious I was back then. You could say that whoever Lin Yuan joined, they could rest assured."
"sharp."
Ren Maoxing didn't choose Xu Lijia before because he felt that Lin Yuan had more potential. Xu Lijia was a good actor and understood the character very well, but Lin Yuan was more passionate.
In his performance, Wei Liang truly became a person who crawled out of hell.
But what Wei Liang revealed was not ambition, but rather collapse, despair, numbness, rigidity... a variety of emotions.
He is a character who is a mixture of society, the mine, and betrayal.
Wei Liang is not one-dimensional; he has many facets.
In a sense, everything he went through was not a choice he made voluntarily, but rather a situation where he had no way out and was forced to move forward.
"Anyway, I'll give him a good beating, don't worry." With the first hurdle cleared, Ren Maoxing's tone relaxed.
"Let him go," Ge Peng said. "Acting in your play is just causing trouble."
“But I’m already looking forward to it.” Ge Peng smiled. “When this movie is released, remember to send me a few tickets.”
"You paid for it yourself; my movies don't make any money," Ren Maoxing snorted. "But you, you made a good fortune with 'Killing,' didn't you?"
Ge Peng didn't receive any of the revenue from "Killing," but he owns shares in the production company and should have recently made a profit from it.
...
Director Ren Maoxing said he wanted to "give Lin Yuan a good hard time," but to be precise, it wasn't the director who gave him a hard time, but rather the script of "Bloody Past" itself that was very challenging.
In the script, Wei Liang, who had just climbed out of the mine, was too weak, but his fellow workers outside the mine offered him food.
After being washed by the rain, the food had all swelled up from being soaked, but Wei Liang didn't care and kept swallowing it.
He was only buried underground for a short time, but he had already become no different from a wild beast.
Throughout this shoot, the camera remained dark, and Lin Yuan was panting heavily every day, revealing the gloomy side of his character.
Ren Maoxing is also a director with high standards for filming. He would not allow Lin Yuan to be perfunctory in the slightest and would do his best to complete every shot.
The process of faking eating is completely nonexistent for him.
In the play, Lin Yuan was chased by a dog, but he was too weak to run and was completely on the verge of collapse.
“Sometimes I even wonder if the director has a grudge against me,” Lin Yuan sighed. “Fortunately, my diet is much more normal now.”
In the later episodes of "Bloody Past", Wei Liang is still thin, but he is no longer as emaciated as before.
"grateful."
He Xun expressed a few seconds of sympathy for Lin Yuan.
"It's so bitter, I'm suffering so much!" Lin Yuan cried out.
He didn't hide anything from the director; the filming location for "Bloody Past" was quite remote, a coal mine that has since been abandoned.
The county they are currently in once prospered because of coal mines, but now it has also declined because of coal mines. The film crew is staying in a hotel in the county. There are many such hotels in the county, which exude the atmosphere of the last century. You can imagine that this place was once prosperous, but now, its glory is long gone.
Lin Yuan and director Ren Maoxing lived on the same floor, and the door was still wide open when he was yelling.
The director was humming a tune as he went up the stairs when he heard Lin Yuan calling out.
The director ignored Lin Yuan's complaints and instead praised him, saying, "This voice is good. Wei Liang just finished shouting until his voice was hoarse for tomorrow's scene. This is just right for you. Remember to keep it up."
"Shout it out a couple more times."
The director's tune became even more cheerful, and he trotted into the house.
Lin Yuan: "?"
Hell is empty, the director is on earth.
What kind of demon did he encounter?
-----------------------
Author's Note: It's here!!! [Let me see][Let me see][Let me see]
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