Chapter 856 Ready to Fight
Chen Pinhe's "tyrannical behavior on set" scandal has become a hot topic.
Even some unknown actors who had worked with Chen Pinhe before suddenly came forward to talk about Chen Pinhe's "tyrannical" behavior on set in the past.
However, this behavior is actually nothing special. Any actor with a bit of ambition will inevitably do some "domineering" things on set. When there are conflicts, there will be disputes, and those with status are seen as "domineering" by others.
Changing the script is "domineering," and so is acting like a diva.
Some people look at these things from the perspective of their nature, while others look at their degree; the opinions vary.
But for the general public, "霸" is simply "霸".
People are always more empathetic towards the vulnerable.
Of course, the stronger party, such as Chen Pinhe, even if attacked as a "tyrant," has ways to protect itself.
These opinions and rumors will not affect him in the slightest for the time being.
After all, even if it's confirmed that he's a "tyrant on set," so what?
His current status in the entertainment industry, his professional skills, and so on—his fans have all said that…
That's all to make the show better.
In fact, if Chen Pinhe hadn't been willing to star in Zheng Ximo's "The Pianist," the film might not have even had the chance to be nominated for the Venice International Film Festival.
Who can say that Chen Pinhe's "tyrannical" behavior on set didn't make the movie better?
These things are hard to explain.
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“We can only damage Chen Pinhe’s public image,” Chen Ziyan told Lu Qingzhen. “These things can’t really do anything to Chen Pinhe in reality. Of course, if they can damage Chen Pinhe’s public image, that’s enough. He has always cherished this public image. As an artist, he doesn’t care about the interpersonal relationships in the industry. He focuses on performing and cherishes his profession.”
Lu Qingzhen said, "If that's the image, even if there are some rumors about him being a tyrant on set, it doesn't really affect the core. In fact, people might think that geniuses are all a bit bad-tempered."
Chen Ziyan said, "What I mainly want to portray is not his so-called bad temper, but his selfishness."
"Selfish and self-serving?" Lu Qingzhen frowned. "Does that mean he'll lose everyone's favor?"
“No, but this will diminish his acting prowess.” Chen Ziyan shook her head. “We can’t attack his professional abilities. Although many revenge novels portray the main villain as a good-for-nothing fool, unfortunately, Chen Pinhe isn’t like that. He’s not a film emperor who rose to fame through sheer force. He does have acting skills, he’s got real talent. At this point, if we only attack him for his bad temper or other things, it’s too ineffective. This matter can’t fundamentally damage him, so we have to find a way to at least tear a piece of flesh from it. What does he care about? The reputation of a good actor.”
"And what are the feathers of a good actor?" Chen Ziyan continued, "Selfishness is of course human nature, and under normal circumstances, it will not affect anything. But the selfishness that happened to Chen Pinhe was that on set, he made the entire production biased towards highlighting his performance, sacrificing the value of a film. After the film came out, the word-of-mouth was bad, so he bought online trolls, sacrificing the film director he had just worked with, while on the contrary, praising his own acting skills."
Lu Qingzhen looked surprised.
“I understand,” she said. “Chen Pinhe’s acting skills were originally recognized as good, but once the shadow of sacrificing someone else’s reputation appears behind this incident, his so-called good acting skills will be discounted in terms of public perception.”
“That’s right.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “Audiences are ruthless. Most audiences don’t care what your background is. They won’t think highly of you just because you graduated from a professional school, and they may not even know that you graduated from a professional school. Similarly, it’s the same if you come from an extra’s role. Audiences only know and like you through your roles. Many times, we have to helplessly accept the fact that even if we present a lot of factual evidence, we can’t ruin Chen Pinhe’s reputation. There will still be many people who like him.”
Yes, that—
"Therefore, relying solely on the audience is not enough. This time, I want to make people in this industry wary of a film emperor like Chen Pinhe, who has superb acting skills."
-
"You seem to often work with young, inexperienced directors," the blonde, blue-eyed reporter asked with a smile. "You've also said before that you're willing to work with new directors. Aren't you ever worried about making a mistake in your judgment?"
Lu Yanhe sat on the hotel sofa, smiled slightly, and said, "I'm worried, but you must have had similar experiences. In your professional standards, there are some people who are not your first choice for cooperation, but after you get in touch with them, a voice in your heart tells you that standards are not omnipotent."
The female reporter laughed. "So you're willing to take the risk for this inner voice."
“This might be my luck. I met Liu Bige early in my acting career. At that time, ‘Late Spring’ was his first film, and everyone questioned my choice. Of course, I had only been an actor for a short time and had only gained a little fame,” Lu Yanhe said. “Back then, I was young and impetuous and felt that nothing was more important than my own feelings. I didn’t care what others said and firmly chose Liu Bige. As a result, the film won the Jury Prize at Venice, which gave me great confidence. Everyone shapes different values based on their own life experiences.”
Lu Yanhe shrugged.
“I achieved success in this area very early on, so I believe that some people may have chosen to follow their hearts a few times before, but the results were not good, so they stopped believing in their hearts.” Lu Yanhe laughed. “If it weren’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have dared to take on Huang Tianlin’s ‘Tropical Rainy Season’ later. As a result, this film won me an Oscar. I think anyone who stands in my shoes would firmly believe in the voice of their heart for the rest of their life, rather than a worldly or industry standard.”
The female reporter nodded thoughtfully.
"You've certainly achieved a lot of success working with these young, new directors. Could you share with us how you collaborate with them?"
"Before deciding to collaborate, there may be all sorts of doubts, investigations, or even distrust of them. But once you decide to collaborate, you should fully trust them, especially in the production of the film. As actors, we gain fame, status, and influence over the long term, and we also develop our own aesthetic sense, including ideas on how films should be made. However, if you are only an actor in this film, you must be clear about your role and not try to interfere with their creative process. Otherwise, you might as well be the director yourself."
...
After the interview, Wang Biao brought Lu Yanhe a water bottle and whispered, "Brother Lu, I feel like your interview today was a bit pointed."
"What did you mean?" Lu Yanhe chuckled.
Wang Biao also laughed.
"After this report is published, many people will use your part about how you collaborate with young directors to satirize Chen Pinhe."
“Let them mock us, I didn’t specifically name anyone,” Lu Yanhe said. “Besides, am I wrong?”
He shrugged. "These are my honest, heartfelt thoughts. That's exactly what I think."
Wang Biao nodded.
“Chen Pinhe is probably having a really tough time right now because of the public opinion.” Wang Biao laughed with a hint of schadenfreude. “Sister Ziyan’s methods are really impressive. All sorts of doubts and condemnations keep coming up, including the time when Chen Pinhe asked the screenwriter to add more scenes for him in a movie crew. At that time, Chen Pinhe was even criticized by that screenwriter in front of the media.”
“That was a long time ago.” Lu Yanhe was still not careless. “Haven’t you noticed? Chen Pinhe’s popularity in Europe and America has actually increased.”
“I… Zhang Yuezhen is indeed very talented,” Wang Biao said. “I heard that Zhang Yuezhen has many friends here. She often mentions Chen Pinhe on various occasions. Including the fact that The Pianist magazine has been putting a lot of effort into publicity and public relations here this year, Chen Pinhe suddenly has a representative work.”
“Yes.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “Don’t be fooled by the attacks Chen Pinhe is facing in the media. It won’t really affect his career much. Didn’t someone say today that the romantic comedy Chen Pinhe is going to film next is a new script written by the screenwriter who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay?”
Wang Biao said, "But that's a commercial film."
“In Hollywood, commercial film isn’t a bad thing.” Lu Yanhe frowned. “I need to make a film to beat this one.”
Wang Biao: "Should we directly confront them head-on?"
"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded, "Take away the screen time and publicity."
Wang Biao asked with some doubt, "Do you also make romance films?"
“That’s the only way,” Lu Yanhe said. “If the subject matter is different, there’s not much overlap in the competition. What we need to do is gradually encroach on the space of their film.”
Wang Biao: "So... Brother Lu, what are you planning to do?"
"Directed and acted by himself?" Lu Yanhe raised his eyebrows and smiled.
-
The outcome of a commercial film is actually quite simple: the commercial return on viewership.
The romance film starring Chen Pinhe was written by a screenwriter who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Lu Yanhe still doesn't know the details of this project.
What I fear most is that this project will turn out to be a good movie.
Therefore, since Lu Yanhe could not intervene in that project, there was only one thing he could do: try to minimize the commercial returns of that project in order to limit Chen Pinhe's development in Hollywood.
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“Actually, there’s no need to worry about him so much,” Chen Siqi said. “We can’t completely destroy him right now unless we find a fundamental flaw in his relationship with Zhang Yuezhen. Otherwise, even if your film is number one at the box office and his film is only number two, the second-place film still has room to survive.”
Just as Lu Yanhe was gearing up to find a good project to thwart Chen Pinhe's project, Chen Siqi hit the nail on the head, pouring cold water on Lu Yanhe's plans.
Actually, Chen Siqi is right.
“Of course, it’s still necessary to block him,” Chen Siqi said. “The important thing is that you can’t let him take your number one spot. For the Chinese film industry, you are the most successful filmmaker overseas, and that cannot be changed. For Hollywood, you are the most successful Chinese filmmaker in the world, and that cannot be changed either. As long as these two things don’t change, Chen Pinhe can only stay in your shadow.”
Lu Yanhe understood what Chen Siqi meant.
We should defend ourselves where necessary, but we shouldn't get completely caught up in this whole affair.
Don't think that just because you've knocked Chen Pinhe down to second place, you can completely crush him.
Chen Siqi's reminder came at just the right time.
He almost fell into that mental trap.
-
November 13th.
Li Zhibai attended a press conference held by Aurora Cinema.
No information was revealed beforehand about what information would be released at the press conference; it was only said that Li Zhibai would be present that day.
For this reason alone, all the media outlets that received invitations sent representatives to attend.
Upon arriving at the scene, everyone realized that today might actually be quite interesting.
Wang Xiao, the head of Aurora Cinema, personally hosted today's press conference.
Aurora Video is the leading video platform in China – its membership has remained number one for eight consecutive years.
In recent years, they suddenly wanted to expand their business scope, shifting from their original investment to establishing a dedicated film company to be responsible for production.
Then, Wang Xiao appeared in front of everyone.
The video from Aurora Video describes him as a top student from Zhenhua University and the president with the most consecutive terms in the history of the Zhenhua University Youth Association.
This wouldn't have been a big deal, but then Aurora Video decided to stir things up by inviting more than twenty celebrities to congratulate Wang Xiao on his new appointment.
These were all prominent figures from various fields whom Wang Xiao had previously hosted when he was in the Youth Association.
Lu Yanhe was one of them.
After Wang Xiao took office, Aurora Films did not undertake any high-profile projects like Shi Jin had.
In contrast, Aurora Movies has kept a low profile, participating in many projects but without making any major moves.
Until recently, the sudden announcement of signing with director Zheng Ximo of "The Pianist" attracted some attention.
"We will spare no effort to support the development of Chinese art films. This time, director Zheng Ximo brings his new work, 'The Journey of Man,' and the film stars Li Zhibai."
After Wang Xiao announced the news, he immediately invited Zheng Ximo and Li Zhibai to the stage.
The audience gasped in surprise.
Li Zhibai is so popular right now that any new project he undertakes is being watched by millions of eyes.
Who is director Zheng Ximo? He's a talented director who's recently been unfairly dragged down by Chen Pinhe in the media.
Li Zhibai had a major fight with Chen Pinhe last month over "Grass on the Grass" and "Seventeen Floors: Reboot".
The fans on both sides were fighting fiercely.
Is it really true that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, which is why Li Zhibai and Zheng Ximo have cooperated?
The media present immediately became excited.
Can Zheng Ximo respond to the issue of Chen Pinhe being a "tyrant on set"?
Li Zhibai also has a bad temper. Isn't he afraid of running into another domineering actor?
Li Zhibai, what are your thoughts on Chen Pinhe's "tyrannical behavior on set"?
The media in the audience were in an uproar, all eager to ask questions.
(End of this chapter)
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