Chapter 853 The Olive Branch of Longyan
After returning to China from his trip to Italy, the first thing Yan Liang did upon his return was to visit the set of the TV series "The Boat" to see Lu Yanhe.
As a result, Yan Liang was stunned when they met.
It's not that Lu Yanhe's appearance has changed drastically.
He was already thin, and he hasn't become emaciated. The makeup and styling for his role aren't so drastic as to completely transform him; he's playing an ordinary person.
However, Lu Yanhe's change was reflected in his temperament and demeanor.
Yan Liang was picked up by Zou Dong and taken to the film set in the village.
After he got out of the car, he saw a familiar figure sitting under the eaves, holding a script and reading it silently by himself.
That is of course Lu Yanhe.
But upon closer inspection, he was quite different from the usual Lu Yanhe.
His eyes, demeanor, and facial micro-expressions all underwent different changes.
There's a certain kind of awkwardness about him.
Yan Liang often saw this feeling on buses and subways. It was that feeling of emptiness after a long day at work, after completely letting go of everything, as if the world around you was irrelevant, which created a kind of dullness.
Moreover, what surprised Yan Liang was the earthy quality on Lu Yanhe's face. It wasn't the color, but a feeling. He seemed to have formed some kind of geographical connection with this land—
Even his fingers were rough, with the color of someone who does manual labor.
At this moment, Yan Liang didn't know whether this was the result of makeup or a change in Lu Yanhe after he entered the role.
Lu Yanhe had been like this before.
Yan Liang went over and called out.
Lu Yanhe looked up, saw Yan Liang, and instantly smiled.
The smile was still familiar.
Yan Liang breathed a sigh of relief.
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"We've almost finished filming; it should wrap up in about a week," Lu Yanhe said to Yan Liang. "What about you?"
"I'm currently discussing the contract for the spin-off film of 'The Gold Rush' with Ruyi," Yan Liang said. "After finishing filming 'Friends,' I should join the cast of the 'The Gold Rush' movie."
"The script is already finished?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise.
“We made a version before, but it wasn’t filmed then because Mr. Wan Yun didn’t want to act in it. Now the screenwriter is changing the story’s background to Italy,” Yan Liang said. “Filming will start around March or April next year. Mr. Wan Yun’s character will be modified to look like Li Zhibai, making him much younger. He will act in it with me.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
“That’s great,” Lu Yanhe said. “Actually, I’ve always felt it’s a shame that this story wasn’t made into a series, the first two were so popular.”
“Teacher Wan Yun didn’t want to continue acting, and I was very busy myself, so many subsequent plans were delayed,” Yan Liang said. “Originally, it was going to be made into a series.”
Wan Yun didn't want to continue acting because the filming of the previous two dramas was very difficult. Although he was one of the two male leads in the drama, he received far less attention and benefits than Yan Liang.
Especially since Yan Liang's other works were also very popular, his leading role in the drama became more and more obvious.
Wan Yun wasn't the type to willingly play supporting roles to younger actors, and he left the project after filming the second season.
Lu Yanhe still remembers how thin and bony Yan Liang looked after filming the first season of "Turning Back." Yan Liang truly dedicated himself to this drama, and its success was indeed built upon his efforts. Yan Liang isn't exactly known for his "audience appeal," so it's easy to imagine the immense effort he put in to make this drama the focal point and the core protagonist of the IP.
When the first part of "The Gold Rush" became a hit, one of the most talked-about topics was the change in Yan Liang's image.
Although Yan Liang wasn't very famous at the time, he was quite well-known. Most people were familiar with his image, so the before-and-after photos showing his dramatic change in appearance attracted a lot of attention to "The Gold Rush".
Such a dramatic change in physique, once it becomes a topic of discussion, is bound to attract attention.
Many people think this is nothing... What is it? For example, the photo of Christian Bale looking emaciated, which is often used to prove his "sacrifice for the role," has almost become his most famous screen image—many people haven't seen the movie, but they've definitely seen that photo; another example is Yuan Shanshan, who was once so disliked that she was told to "get out of the entertainment industry," but she made a comeback with her "abs" and even saved her public image.
Not everyone can do that.
In fact, very few people can go to this extent for a role.
It's easier said than done.
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Yan Liang had no other work commitments and wasn't in a hurry to leave, so he stayed with the crew of "The Boat" for two days.
He did nothing else but watch everyone filming and acting on set.
“It’s enjoyable,” Yan Liang said. “Watching you guys act is truly a pleasure, very comfortable.”
Lu Yanhe said, "The teachers basically don't call 'cut,' they just let us act on our own. This kind of filming mode allows the actors to really shine."
Yan Liang nodded.
“But from what I’ve seen in the filming, you actually have very few lines,” Yan Liang said.
“Yes, very little.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “If we had followed the script exactly, we might have only filmed a short segment of each scene. But the teacher wanted us to improvise a bit outside the script, so that’s how it turned out.”
Yan Liang said, "That's great. Actually, when I'm filming now, very few directors will ask me questions about my performance. I don't know if it's because the requirements for acting in the films I'm filming now are just so-so, not too high."
Lu Yanhe said, "To be honest, you've already acted very well. If you want to improve further, you can only go to directors like Wang Zhong and Liu Bige and let them train you. They are the two directors I've ever met who can change an actor's established acting style and transform them completely."
Yan Liang: "Such opportunities are rare and hard to come by. It's meaningless to work together just for the sake of working together if there isn't a suitable role. Besides, when I take on roles now, I'm mainly market-oriented."
“You can still achieve your acting goals by focusing on the market. Look at Liu Bige, he’s a director like that. Every one of his films seems to be an art film, but in fact, every one of them does very well at the box office,” Lu Yanhe said. “There are some directors who also try to balance art and the market in their films. Take ‘Speed’ for example. Although it’s a commercial film aimed at the market, you can see that it has very high requirements for every actor. It’s not just a simple popcorn movie.”
Yan Liang nodded: "I feel that. I'm not saying that commercial films don't need good acting. What I mean is that the roles I'm working on now rarely require me to start over. When I was filming 'The Gold Rush' and 'Dragon Inn,' those were the most challenging times for me in terms of acting."
Lu Yanhe: "So, do you want to focus on breaking through in your acting skills now, or...?"
"No, I need the success of each and every project," Yan Liang said with certainty. "I'm just envious, but I know I can't follow that path. Most of what I have today is due to the success of my work, which has brought me attention and fans. I'm not the kind of actor whose personal charm outweighs the charm of the roles I play."
Lu Yanhe: "You always underestimate yourself."
“You know what I mean.” Yan Liang shrugged. “What I said about acting was just a reflection, not an indication that I want to change the status quo or focus on improving my acting skills. That’s not something I can do just because I want to. I can’t be one of those naturally gifted actors, so I can only work hard to make films and become the best commercially viable option, thereby working with the best directors and production teams. Through them, I can improve myself. That’s how I see it. Actually, I really enjoyed filming ‘Speed.’ I didn’t mean to say it was bad, don’t misunderstand.”
“I don’t misunderstand,” Lu Yanhe smiled. “I love this script very much myself, and if you don’t act in it, I definitely will.”
Yan Liang looked at him in surprise.
"Then why don't you act it yourself?"
Lu Yanhe: "Because I think you are more suitable than me. Your image, your action scenes, and the kind of hormones you exude when you shave your head and go shirtless are things I might need to practice for a long time to achieve, and even if I do, it would only be in terms of image. In terms of aura, it still wouldn't be a good match."
-
After leaving the crew of "The Boat", Yan Liang returned to Yuming.
Next, he will be filming the new season of "Friends". After so many years of filming, he is already very familiar with the story and characters, and no longer needs to do detailed analysis and preparation for each scene as before.
For experienced actors, improvisation on set often yields better results than extensive pre-production preparation.
The better the actor, the more they strive for that natural feeling on set.
To Yan Liang's surprise, Long Yan suddenly found him.
Huang Zhongjing personally contacted him and invited him to meet in Longyan.
Yan Liang doesn't have many connections with domestic film companies. He mainly works in television dramas in China, and most of the people he knows are in the drama industry.
His film resources almost entirely come from Lu Yanhe, and they mainly focus on Lu Yanhe's film resources in Hollywood, with no connection to domestic ones.
Therefore, although Yan Liang and Huang Zhongjing knew each other long ago and had each other's contact information, they had almost never contacted each other privately.
Yan Liang went to see Huang Zhongjing.
Huang Chung-Ching stated that he wanted to collaborate with him and tailor three internationally produced films for him.
If it weren't for the fact that the person who said this was Huang Zhongjing, Yan Liang would have subconsciously thought that this person was probably a fraudster who made such a big promise right off the bat.
Yan Liang considered for a moment and said, "Mr. Huang, you've suddenly shown me such favor. May I ask why?"
Huang Zhongjing smiled and said, "To be honest, because you are one of the few young actors in China who have truly achieved international success and have a strong appeal, we certainly want to establish a similar cooperative relationship with Lu Yanhe. However, he has his own film production company, and his focus can never be on cooperating with Longyan. Longyan also cannot provide what he currently wants, so we cannot reach a cooperation agreement with him like Soren did. But I believe we have a very strong foundation for cooperation, and we can refer to the cooperation agreement between Yanhe and Soren to form a cooperation agreement between us."
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Li Zhibai: "Cooperating with Longyan is not a bad thing, but you need to find a very reliable agent and legal team to help you carefully review the terms of the agreement."
Yan Liang asked, "To be honest, it's a bit strange that Longyan suddenly wants to cooperate with me on these things. Why did they suddenly come to me?"
“Because Longyan saw that so many of Yan He’s films were making money overseas, they were also tempted and came to you,” Li Zhibai said. “The box office success of ‘Flypaper’ and ‘Friends’ made you very well-known. There’s also ‘Speed,’ starring you, which is about to be released globally. In their eyes, talking to you about cooperation now is actually like buying shares in advance. They think you will become a global star in the future, so tailoring a film project around you can help them sell the film overseas.”
Yan Liang: "You know very well that I am not famous enough to help a movie sell overseas."
“They don’t know either,” Li Zhibai said. “Moreover, if they want to expand into overseas markets, they can’t avoid working with actors who have influence overseas. Right now, they have very few options; they only have a handful of people.”
"Didn't they contact you?" Yan Liang asked.
Li Zhibai said, "They contacted me before, and I said I wouldn't sign a cooperation agreement. If they wanted me to act in a movie, they should bring me the script first. In their eyes, I'm a troublemaker. The script for 'Even If I Fake My Death Is Not Acceptable 2' is still not finalized because I haven't given my consent. I guess they would rather not cooperate with me if possible."
Yan Liang: "Then you're right. I don't want to work with them on mediocre film projects."
“Now they have a need for you, and you can seek greater say in the project,” Li Zhibai said. “I want more say in the production, but Longyan won’t budge, and we’re at a stalemate. For me, if the script for ‘Even If I Can’t Fake Death 2’ isn’t good enough, there’s no need for me to make it. For them, ‘Even If I Can’t Fake Death’ is just a movie with a box office potential of only 500-600 million yuan. If making a sequel requires so much trouble, they might as well focus their energy on other projects, so it was shelved. It’s different for you now. If you make some demands now, they might agree, just like Yan He’s collaboration with Suolun. You can think about it carefully. If you have a project you want to do, you can definitely use someone else to generate revenue.”
Yan Liang was reminded by Li Zhibai's words and suddenly realized his mistake.
Li Zhibai said, "After Yan He finishes filming, you can discuss it with him properly. He knows more about this than we do. This is a big deal. You don't need to reply to Huang Zhongjing right away."
Yan Liang hummed in agreement.
(End of this chapter)
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