This isn't a big deal in the entertainment industry. Every production team and program has had instances of casting changes. What if a star who has been agreed to come suddenly can't make it? Just find someone else.
However, Wen Xiang's fans kept making a fuss, insisting that the production team give Wen Xiang an explanation. The "Chang Ge Dang Ku" production team believed that they had already given Wen Xiang enough face and did not mention that he had breached the contract.
From then on, the production team didn't care what Wen Xiang thought.
The statement posted by the production team included a record of Wen Xiang being late during filming. The role of Qin Xin was not long, and Wen Xiang did not always have scenes to film. However, the production team of "The Long Song of Tears" required that actors must arrive on time regardless of whether they had scenes to film that morning.
"This is too harsh on the actors. It's okay to be a little late when there's no filming, right? It's clearly the production team's demands that are too domineering."
Before Wen Xiang's fans could finish complaining, "The Long Song of Tears" posted the attendance records of other actors.
"Zhang Guoren, Xu Kui, and Wu Shuzhen are all top actors who have won the Huayi Award and the Changkong Award, and none of them were late."
"Wang Jian and Qiu Shang, both winners of the Huayi Award for Best Actor, arrived on time. Just how shameless is your Wen Xiang to be late every day?"
"...It can only be said that the 'Chang Ge Dang Ku' crew's slap in the face came a little late, but it was satisfying!"
"+1+1, I've always felt that if Wen Xiang's performance was really as outstanding as the fans described, the production team wouldn't have needed to replace him, right?"
The production team's official Weibo account seems to be venting its frustration over the past week, where every morning after asking "Are you there?" it was met with a barrage of frantic demands for answers. The posts and images were so numerous that even marketing accounts couldn't keep up with the copy-pasting.
The reason Wen Xiang was kicked out of the "Chang Ge Dang Ku" production team was not just because he was late. The production team's statement said that "Wen Xiang's understanding of the role of Qin Xin differed from the script." However, a comment from an unknown official Weibo account or a member of the production team said that Wen Xiang did not fully understand the script and had been filming according to his own understanding. Director Chu Yunquan had corrected him many times, but he still went his own way.
Besides this, another point is that Wen Xiang used a stunt double very frequently when filming.
The character Qin Xin mainly has dialogue scenes and no action scenes, so a stunt double shouldn't be needed. However, he brought his own stunt double to the set, and several scenes took several days to film, resulting in constant retakes. Even Chu Yunquan's good temper was worn down by him.
The statement from the production team of "The Long Ballad of Tears" was practically a list of crimes, with detailed items, and key points were marked with symbols, probably in case netizens couldn't see them clearly.
"I don't feel that Wen Xiang was wronged anymore; I feel wronged for the layout guy on the set."
"It seems like this guy has reached his limit and can't take it anymore, hahaha. Looking at it this way, the crew of 'The Long Ballad' is really pitiful. So why was Wen Xiang chosen to play the role of Qin Xin in the first place?"
"Speaking of which, there's something I don't understand about Wen Xiang's brain. Didn't he say it wasn't easy for him to get this serious drama role? If he was going to give up, wasn't it pointless to fight for it so hard in the first place?"
In short, the production team of "The Long Ballad" presented enough evidence that the fans who had been demanding an explanation from the team had to back down. However, the matter was not actually over. Shortly after the news of Wen Xiang's alleged slacking off on set was exposed, something else broke out in his fan group—
The story begins with Wen Xiang's set of Paris spring photos.
In two of Wen Xiang's photos, he is wearing sunglasses. One day, a fan zoomed in on that photo and saw the figure of a woman in the reflection of the sunglasses.
The same woman also appeared at Wen Xiang's two previous events.
The other party's identity was immediately revealed—it was through this person that Wen Xiang was able to sign with Hege Entertainment, and it was also through this person that he was able to join the cast of "Chang Ge Dang Ku". This person has deep roots in the industry and can provide Wen Xiang with enough support for his career.
Fans: "..."
For his fans, this news was like a bolt from the blue.
Fans have already lowered their standards quite a bit. In fact, fans are aware that Wen Xiang was slacking off while filming, but most fans choose to cover for him. Those who really can't stand it gradually stop being fans.
But when it comes to falling in love, that's a complete disqualification for an idol.
They couldn't believe that Wen Xiang, who shone brightly on the stage of "Idol Century" and was full of dreams, would turn out like this. He had long since abandoned the stage, and he hadn't put in much effort in his career. But what they never expected was that he would actually be in a relationship, or even... not even a relationship.
Fans were also mentally prepared. Could their idol never date? Obviously not. Even the most naive fan wouldn't expect their idol to remain single forever.
But fans hope that day will come later, and that having a sweet romance would be nice too.
Who wouldn't want the person they love to be happy?
However, Wen Xiang's relationship with his girlfriend had clearly gone beyond the realm of romance.
For a moment, Wen Xiang's fans, who were active on the official Weibo accounts of the "Chang Ge Dang Ku" drama crew, Ji Yan's Weibo, and DW Entertainment's official Weibo, all fell silent.
"I'm such an idiot. I was happy for him going to Paris to shoot a photobook, but it turns out he went there to have a paid romance."
"I still remember the moment I fell in love with Wen Xiang during 'Idol Century'. He was so cautious and loved the stage so much. He said that he could only stay in his rented room and watch others go out of the province to film on location, while he could only practice day and night."
“I’m so happy that he can go to a bigger stage, and I told my friends that my idol worked hard to get to Paris from a run-down rental apartment.”
For fans, the most despairing moment is undoubtedly when their dreams are shattered.
Of course, some fans still stubbornly refused to admit it, saying that it was just a coincidence that Wen Xiang went out to film with the other party. However, a group of fans silently apologized on Ji Yan's Weibo, changed their profile pictures, and expressed their sentiments of "I will never follow stars again."
...
Ji Yan was an observer of the entire process.
He is an idol too, but just imagining it makes him feel that this is too cruel to the fans. He doesn't know what Wen Xiang thinks; perhaps the other party doesn't care.
In fact, the filming process of Ji Yan in "The Long Song of Lament" was not so smooth. When filming the scene where Qin Xin beats the drum to express his grievances, Ji Yan thought he had portrayed Qin Xin's resolute and unwavering state, but Chu Yunquan felt it was not enough. He believed that Ji Yan's performance should be more shocking.
However, he did not provide a shocking standard, so Ji Yan could only slowly figure it out and try again and again. Fortunately, Wen Xiang's previous performance was indeed quite excessive, and Chu Yunquan gave him enough time.
It's no exaggeration to say that Ji Yan's hands were shaking from playing the drums that day.
When he finally couldn't control his trembling hands, Chu Yunquan said it was okay, and he continued to beat the drum while his hands were still shaking.
—Because this allows us to reveal the true inner world of the character Qin Xin.
The character Qin Xin is somewhat similar to He Tang.
He could have chosen not to step forward. Among Jia Zhong's disciples, his literary talent was not outstanding, nor was his family background remarkable. He was just an ordinary scholar, and even Jia Zhong himself might not have valued him much.
But Qin Xin chose to stand up.
There was fear on one hand, but courage on the other.
The drumming scene took a long time to film, but it calmed Ji Yan down. In the later scenes, he acted smoothly without any more takes. At one point, he even felt like he was possessed by Qin Xin.
Especially the scene where Qin Xin is beaten with sticks.
Qin Xin was reading out Ji Xie's crimes while beating the drum, but according to the laws of the era depicted in the drama, the person beating the drum had to bear the punishment first. Ji Xie gave his subordinates a slight wink, and the cane punishment, which should have been raised high and then gently lowered, ended Qin Xin's life directly.
In this scene, no matter how painful it was when the stick hit him, Qin Xin always kept his head up.
He held Ji Xie's crimes tightly in his hand, even when blood was spit on the paper, Qin Xin did not let go.
Qin Xin had already foreseen his fate, but no matter how badly he was beaten, he kept recounting Ji Xie's crimes, pleading for Jia Zhong's innocence, and pleading for his fellow disciples' innocence, but not for his own.
By the time Qin Xin stopped breathing, the attackers tried to pry open his fingers to take away the incriminating evidence he was holding, but they couldn't get his hands off.
Qin Xin's death became the fuse that ignited Ji Xie's downfall. Qin Xin was a scholar, and his death meant that Ji Xie had offended all the scholars in the world. Moreover, Ji Xie had given Qin Xin such an undignified way to die.
The emperor also took this opportunity to further control the situation. To those in power, Qin Xin was just an ordinary pawn, a tool to achieve his goals.
...
Ji Yan was under a lot of pressure acting in this scene. Although he didn't have any direct scenes with Zhang Guoren and Wang Jian, the plot was intertwined. One second it might be Ji Xie fighting with his political enemies in the court, and the next second the camera would switch to Qin Xin's side.
Imagine this: when the show airs, viewers feel incredibly tense and excited during Zhang Guoren and Wang Jian's scenes, but then the scene with Ji Yan turns to him and he becomes completely subdued. The image is undeniably awkward. And then the media hypes it up with headlines like "Ji Yan is the only flaw in the production team," "He ruined the show," and "His awkward performance ruined a great show." Ji Yan himself could come up with several headlines for the reporters.
This kind of thing—absolutely not!
So even though he was aware of the gap between himself and the veteran actors in terms of acting skills, Ji Yan kept gritting his teeth and persevering. He was more experienced in acting in "The Long Song of Tears" than in "I, Nameless" and "Young Love Poems". He wasn't afraid then, so now that he was more experienced, there was even less reason for him to be afraid.
Filming "The Long Ballad" allowed Ji Yan to accumulate experience in filming period dramas. Filming period dramas, especially historical dramas, is definitely not as simple as just posing in an ancient style. The character's form, meaning, voice, expression, the etiquette contained in the actions... all aspects must be weighed in mind.
Although Ji Yan's filming time was short, he didn't mind putting in the effort. Several veteran actors in the crew were happy to mentor him and give him pointers in their spare time.
There's not much content needed for filming "The Long Song of Lamentation," but Ji Yan thinks that who knows, maybe he'll need it someday.
After Qin Xin's scenes were finished, Ji Yan stayed on set for an extra day and got the WeChat contacts of more than ten actors. Most of these actors were experienced in filming, not only in TV dramas, but also in movies, plays, and theater... They had experience in various fields.
He originally felt that this filming trip might not be very fruitful, but now he realizes that he has gained quite a lot.
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