Shang Yechu and Ji Juntao once debated this issue. Ji Juntao believed that Shang Yechu should engage more with her fanbase to solidify her existing fan base. Shang Yechu, however, argued that actors must maintain a certain level of mystery; too much promotion would erode that mystery, and over time, audiences would find it difficult to immerse themselves in the performance.
The two held their own opinions, and neither could convince the other. As a result, they argued five or six times.
This little incident ended in a resounding victory for Shang Yechu, since the face belongs to Shang Yechu, and Ji Juntao couldn't very well take a selfie while holding Shang Yechu's head down.
Qingping Entertainment provided Shang Yechu with an apartment and a nanny. Shang Yechu could only stay in the apartment for two or three days at most each month, while the nanny had a lot of free time.
Many trivial things happened during this period, too numerous to recount, and nothing particularly memorable. Only three things made Shang Yechu quite happy.
The first thing is that Li Yi is very bad at acting out those sentimental scenes, and every time he performs, it makes everyone in the audience burst into laughter. Jiang Shang Nongchao was afraid that his precious grandson would be scolded again, so he wrote a few words and made appropriate deletions to the love line between Xiao Fengque and Xie An, making their relationship more subtle and restrained—euphemistically called "the beauty of Chinese restraint" or "expressing feelings but stopping at propriety."
"Xiao Feng Que" is a series of martial arts suspense detective films, and whether the two main characters fall in love or not does not affect the main plot. Therefore, apart from a small number of fans of the three or five main couple (who are now almost gone after being hit by a series of blows) who are very dissatisfied, it did not cause much of a stir.
This change actually helped Shang Yechu a lot. Good heavens, while Li Yi's portrayal of love was utterly poor, Shang Yechu's performance wasn't particularly brilliant either. Having watched several poorly received versions, Shang Yechu felt her acting was overly sentimental and artificial. She possessed only superficial emotions, lacking any real tension or genuine feeling.
Romance scenes are Shang Yechu's biggest weakness; in fact, describing it simply as a "weakness" is not enough; "a twisted and moldy board" would be more appropriate.
Love is different from ambition; Shang Yechu was born with the desire to climb higher. Love is different from anger; anger can be deliberately provoked and maintained. Love is even more different from pain; Shang Yechu can dig out a mountain of pain, but not a single trace of love—from her past life to this one, Shang Yechu has never felt "love" for anyone.
The only reference point for "love" that Shang Yechu could find from her memories and experiences was the comedy film she acted in in her previous life.
In most comedies, the love stories are exaggerated and illogical, serving the purpose of humor and comedic relief. Broadly speaking, romantic love in comedies is a kind of dramatic, performative love story.
Shang Yechu has acted in comedies for over a decade, and her methods for portraying romance have become rigid and formulaic. Therefore, in this aspect, she finds it more difficult to break through than an ordinary artist with no experience.
Shang Yechu once tried to act out "falling in love at first sight" with Ji Juntao. After watching it, Ji Juntao was so shocked that he immediately threw the script for a youth idol romance film he had just received into the trash can!
Jiang Shang Nongchao's changes not only saved Li Yi, but also indirectly saved Shang Yechu's reputation.
The second piece of good news is that the ratings for the sequels to the "Xiao Feng Que" series have consistently remained above 2.5%, and each time it airs, its ratings have hovered between first and second place in its time slot.
Now, the "Xiao Feng Que" series has become the flagship product of CTS's "17200 Flowers Blooming Project". Many media outlets have come to flatter it, even making bold claims such as "Xiao Feng Que, a guarantee of high ratings!"
No actor would complain about high viewership ratings, and Shang Yechu was no exception. Moreover, "Xiao Fengque" targets the valuable and vast middle-aged and elderly market!
For young actors, the middle-aged and elderly audience market has always been a tough nut to crack.
No matter how unwilling we are to admit it, every drama has its own audience. For example, while "Yun Qing Ji" is undoubtedly a masterpiece of period dark comedy, if you put it in front of sixty-year-old grandparents, it probably wouldn't be as appealing as a rural romance or "Man Cun Sha Shi".
The same principle applies to modern idol dramas, historical idol dramas, and fantasy romance dramas. These types of films and television series tend to be more popular with female viewers, but are largely ignored by male audiences. Similarly, action-packed gunfight and fighting films, with the exception of a very few classic examples, are also not well-received by female viewers.
This has nothing to do with taste or social class; it's purely a matter of how the subject matter influences the audience.
This explains why young celebrities who are popular with young audiences often don't perform well at the box office. On the contrary, middle-aged actors and actresses, whose Weibo likes, comments, and discussions on various platforms are less than one percent of those of popular young celebrities, are able to carry hundreds of millions or even billions of yuan in box office revenue.
The reason is simple—movies are not a fan economy, and young people are not the only group holding movie tickets. However, the national popularity that middle-aged actors have accumulated over decades is a killer weapon for all ages.
As an actor, Shang Yechu remembers the box office rankings of films by celebrities very clearly. Whether now or years from now, in the history of Chinese and world cinema, middle-aged celebrities with extremely high national recognition occupy 90% of the top 100 spots on the box office charts!
"Xiao Fengque" is one such work that has increased national recognition.
As a literary work worthy of inclusion in Chinese literary history textbooks, "The Phoenix Plays with the Dragon" has an immeasurable following. Although martial arts fiction has declined and the world of martial arts is now a distant memory, who among our parents' and grandparents' generations doesn't know Xiao Fengque?
The third thing is that "The Mute Woman" is about to be released.
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