It was just past eight o'clock when Ji Li arrived at the filming set.
It was still early and the crew were all doing preliminary preparations. The core shooting area was sealed off and outsiders were not allowed to enter or leave at will.
The company did not assign any assistants to Ji Li, but only gave him a pass to the actor crew.
At this moment, Ji Li was standing at the outermost edge of the set, his hands tightly grasping the straps of his backpack, with a rare look of confusion on his face - where was he going to report?
These trivial matters outside of filming were previously left to his assistant.
A man in a black jacket saw him and approached him, asking, "Hey, who are you? This is a film set, you can't just come in."
Ji Li saw the work ID on his chest and immediately reacted, saying politely, "Hello, big brother. I am the actor who plays Song Zhao in The Kingdom of Kingdoms. My name is Ji Li."
As he said that, he handed over his actor pass.
"Ji Li?" The man glanced at his ID, then looked at his appearance carefully. "So you are the newcomer to Dream Media who was temporarily inserted here?"
Was he stuffed in temporarily?
Ji Li pondered the word secretly and asked hesitantly, "Excuse me, who are you?"
"I'm the casting director for this drama, Xiao Linsen." Xiao Linsen handed his ID back and pointed the way, "Go straight for fifty meters, and when you see the blue wall, turn right and you'll find the actors' dressing room. Ask someone there."
"Okay, thank you director." Ji Li nodded, not thinking about the meaning of the other party's words.
Xiao Linsen stared at Ji Li's receding back, shook his head and murmured, "She's good-looking, but she looks like a vase that can't act."
Come on, let’s quickly follow Teacher Qin Li’s instructions and find backup actors.
With Ji Li's looks, how could he be willing to dress up as an ugly person? I’m afraid you don’t even want to get your makeup dirty!
He dared to bet that even without having to wait until the scene with Teacher Qin Li, the other party would not be able to pass the first group scene of beggars in the afternoon.
…
Ji Li found the small room where the supporting actors did their makeup, and before he could knock on the door, he saw the stylist coming over carrying a bunch of things.
As soon as the two of them met, the latter asked in surprise, "...Are you the actor who plays Song Zhao?"
"Yes, hello teacher, my name is Ji Li."
The stylist raised an eyebrow and motioned him to come in. "Just call me Zhang Ming. Come in. I'll be responsible for your overall styling today."
Ji Li nodded and followed Zhang Ming silently.
"I heard that someone was replaced temporarily, but I didn't expect it was a beautiful boy like you who looks like a banished immortal." Stylists in the circle basically regard "rainbow fart" as a necessary skill and can use all kinds of adjectives to describe it.
Ji Li was not surprised and could only curl his lips slightly.
"Sit down, put on the hood first, then put on makeup, and finally change clothes." Zhang Ming took out the equipped hood and patted the simple styling table. "The first scene is scheduled for 10:30 according to the notice. We have to hurry."
The scenes may not be shot on time, but the styling must be done on time. This is the default principle on the set.
Ji Li sat down calmly according to his instructions and took out the thin pages of the script from his small backpack.
Seeing his calm demeanor, Zhang Ming asked with interest, "Is this your first time filming a movie? I've met many newcomers before, some were nervous, some were excited, but I've never met anyone like you."
"...It's my first time filming a movie." Ji Li spoke from the original owner's perspective.
He lowered his eyes and opened his script. On the thin paper of less than three pages, various words were filled in with colored pens.
"So serious?" Zhang Ming was really shocked this time.
How could a beggar character with few parts be treated so attentively by such a young man?
"Of course I have to be serious." Ji Li looked at Zhang Ming behind him through the mirror and curled his lips, "Even if it's a small role, you can't mess it up in my hands."
Zhang Ming was a little enlightened by his pure smile. He was stunned for half a second before continuing the action at hand and encouraged, "Then you do your best."
Ji Li smiled and returned his sight.
This is his first step in starting over, and he must put in a lot of effort.
This movie "The Kingdom of the World" is adapted from the novel of the same name. It tells the story of Song Yi, a famous general in the Luo Dynasty, and Cao Shijing, the King of the Kingdom. [*]
The script that Ji Li could get was limited in content. In order to understand the entire story background, he spent an afternoon and an overnight stay to complete the original novel.
The character he played, Song Zhao, is Song Yi's younger brother who is living outside.
The two brothers encountered war when they were young and were forced to separate. The elder brother Song Yi was adopted by the royal family and became a general, while the younger brother Song Zhao became a beggar.
Song Zhao only appears in three lines in the novel, but the five scenes in the script have been expanded.
Ji Li is not a professional actor, but his usual way of acting is to turn himself into the character itself.
This kind of "immersive" way of getting into a role has never been the mainstream advocated by the film and television industry, because once an actor encounters a complex role and empathizes too deeply, it is very likely to affect his or her own psychological state.
During his free time, Ji Li took a minor in academic performance theory. Even so, he still cannot change the 'immersive' performance mode.
So after getting the role of a beggar, Ji Li starved himself for two days, not eating and even drinking as little water as possible, just to make himself feel real hunger.
Not only that, his sleep time in the past two days totaled less than six hours.
The movie is set during a time of war, and civilians could die in the chaos if they were not careful. For a refugee beggar like Song Zhao, not daring to sleep deeply and not getting enough sleep are the norm.
Once the physiological state is similar, the details of the character will come out naturally.
Zhang Ming went to the front to put on makeup and noticed the dark circles under Ji Li's eyes. "I'm not saying anything bad, but you young people shouldn't stay up late blindly just because you have good energy."
"You have dark circles under your eyes. Luckily, what I want today is the beggar's 'dirty makeup'."
Ji Li was satisfied when he heard his honest feedback, "Make it uglier for me. The rougher and dirtier the skin, the better."
Zhang Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this request. "Other people hope that the characters in the drama are as handsome as possible, but you do the opposite? I was worried that you couldn't adapt to the beggar look, so I asked you to make you look a little better."
"Role comes first." Ji Li didn't care at all and asked, "How can a beggar be clean?"
Zhang Ming is a person who loves appearance. He originally liked Ji Li because of his looks, and now because of how serious the latter is about the role, his impression of him has definitely soared.
"You look so delicate, it's really embarrassing for me." He looked at the other person's white and smooth skin and said exaggeratedly, "But I promise that I can turn you, a little fairy boy, into an ugly beggar."
Ji Li chuckled and agreed.
…
It was already past ten o'clock when Ji Li changed into his costume. After Zhang Ming finished his styling, he rushed to put makeup on other extras.
The crew hadn't come to call Ji Li to start the filming, and seeing that the shooting time estimated in the notice was getting closer, he simply went out with the script in his hand, intending to wait directly at the shooting site.
The pain of hunger came from his stomach. Ji Li curled up on the ground and endured it silently. He didn't think of using the warm water in the thermos to relieve the dryness, for fear of affecting the condition of his dry lips.
The shooting is about to start, and he can't let all his efforts go to waste here.
Not until the temporary discomfort subsided did Ji Li get up with difficulty.
His feet became numb from squatting for so long, and coupled with the exhaustion and dizziness caused by hunger, he fell forward uncontrollably.
Ji Li had no time to adjust himself and could only subconsciously protect his head with his hands.
——Snap.
The expected pain of falling to the ground did not occur, instead I bumped into someone.
"Are you okay?" A deep voice hit my eardrums, "Be careful when you walk."
"Sorry." Ji Li was startled and quickly stepped back half a step to stand firm. He looked up and bumped into that superior figure——
The man was estimated to be about 188cm tall, and looked very handsome with makeup on. He wore an ancient headgear, and his inky black hair was tied up with a gorgeous golden-bronze hair crown, looking capable and free and easy.
The man was wearing an ordinary black short-sleeved shirt and it seemed that he had not changed his clothes yet. Even so, one can still imagine the sturdy figure underneath the clothes, and the powerful aura he exudes naturally.
In an instant, Ji Li recognized the person coming. It was Qin Li.
In the original book, the other party was a legendary figure at the top of the entertainment industry, and the protagonist Ji Yunqi's first film and television work was a collaboration with him.
After the assessment that day, Ji Li searched the Internet for the movie "The Awakener" and got to know Qin Li better.
His acting career is almost legendary in the Chinese entertainment industry. He has an extremely sharp eye for selecting scripts, and the movies he starred in have always dominated the box office champions of the same period after their release.
There is a saying circulating in the film and television industry: the only person who can surpass Qin Li is probably Qin Li himself.
This time, the movie "The Commonwealth of the World" was invested and produced by Qin Li himself.
The film's pre-production alone took nearly a year and a half. It is said that after filming started, all the actors involved in the shooting were powerful and veteran actors.
But the crew’s confidentiality measures were very good. For such a long time, not a single word of information was leaked to the outside world, which made netizens very excited.
It can be seen that the crew really wants to make a movie, rather than relying on excessive marketing to gain popularity.
This time Qin Li plays General Song Yi, the elder brother of the beggar Song Zhao. Ji Li has three rare scenes where he plays against another actor, and all of them involve him acting with the other actor.
Ji Li is a bit of a strong admirer in his heart. Even in the real entertainment industry, he likes to work with actors like Qin Li.
It’s not that he looks down on new actors, but acting requires the fusion of aura between characters, and experienced actors are more efficient in working together.
Thinking of Qin Li's superb acting skills in the movie clips, Ji Li suddenly looked forward to the next filming.
The face of the 'little beggar' in front of him was made dark and dirty, but his eyes looked particularly lively and bright.
Qin Li looked at him and always felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.
"Qin Li, why are you here?" Qi An approached and saw a stranger beside him. "Are you an extra? Why are you here?"
Before Ji Li could reply, the stagehand came running over in a hurry, "Ji Li? Why are you walking around instead of staying in the dressing room?"
When the groundskeeper saw Qin Li's figure, he subconsciously slowed down his words, "Brother Li, what are you doing..."
"Hello, I'm Ji Li."
"It's time to start filming. The director wants you to go over and scout the location. Hurry up." The crew member was keeping an eye on the important matters and urged.
When Ji Li heard this, he nodded slightly and ran towards the set clutching his backpack. Since he and Qin Li have a rivalry, there will be a chance for them to talk sooner or later, so there is no need to rush at this moment.
"Brother Li, now that I've found the person, I'll go back first." said the stage manager.
"Yeah." Qin Li glanced sideways at Ji Li who had already run far away. The familiarity of that look was still lingering in his mind.
The next second, he saw Qi An slap his forehead and said, "Why does this name sound so familiar? It turns out to be him!"
The 'beggar' who could make the stage manager call him out alone must not be just an extra.
Qin Li guessed this, "It should be the actor who plays Song Zhao."
"Yes, but I'm not talking about this." Qi An hooked his friend's shoulder and explained, "I also watched the assessment video sent by Director Wang Zhang a few days ago privately..."
As an agent, Qi An has the ability to judge people.
He felt that the trainee in the video was a potential stock, so he privately investigated the other party's information.
"Ji Li... this name is not common." Qi An glanced at his friend and reminded him jokingly, "Teacher Qin, you didn't expect it, did you? The trainee you like and the new actor you don't like are actually the same person."
Qin Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he finally understood where that subtle sense of familiarity came from.
He shook off his friend's hand and glanced at them casually, "Let's go and take a look at the filming site."
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
#The next chapter will start a play within a play, a large-scale fragrant scene~
Jili: Transformed into a little beggar who works hard at filming! (Random red envelope for comments on this chapter)
[*] The IP of the movie or novel is fictitious, and the story is set in an imaginary dynasty~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com