Newcomers

Generally speaking, it is the director’s job to set up a crew. In fact, the crew of “Hometown” was indeed set up by Li Ran. However, as a producer, Lu Yan also had a lot of say. In addition to not interfering with the director’s filming ideas, he tried his best to participate and pay attention to other aspects when he had time. So except for the really inconspicuous extras, all the important and main roles were decided by the two of them together.

A few days ago, when Lu Yan was participating in a program, he received a call from Li Ran, telling him that the actor who was originally scheduled to play an important role had an accident. Fortunately, the actor was not seriously injured, but he needed to recuperate for a while and might not be able to join the crew on time.

The crew had already started filming for a while. Although this role didn’t have many scenes, it was quite crucial. If the actor had to wait until his injury healed before joining the crew, it might disrupt the filming progress. While he was in a dilemma, the other party was very sensible and took the initiative to ask to withdraw. The crew readily agreed and didn’t ask him to pay compensation. Lu Yan was busy during those days, so the re-casting was handed over to Li Ran. When Li Ran informed him that he had already chosen a newcomer, Lu Yan didn’t care. Lu Yan knew that Li Ran had a sharp eye, and the person he chose must be good, even if it was a newcomer, it didn’t matter, Li Ran was still very good at training actors.

When Lu Yan returned to the crew and saw the new actor, he felt familiar at first sight, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen him before. The role required young, beautiful and good-looking people. The actor who was originally signed was a mixed-race person with outstanding facial features, which made people like him at first sight. Lu Yan and Li Ran decided on him almost at the first sight. After knowing that he could not participate in the performance due to an accident, Lu Yan still regretted it for a long time. What was rare was that the replacement was no less handsome than the original one, especially when he smiled, he looked a little naive and shy, which could easily arouse women’s maternal feelings. Just look at the fact that almost all the staff around him were female.

He didn’t know where Li Ran found such an outstanding young man, maybe he was a newcomer who just debuted. Lu Yan had been very busy in recent years, so it was normal that he had no time to pay attention to the newcomers in the entertainment industry. Anyway, in this circle, newcomers come today and become old people in the blink of an eye. Everyone is busy cleaning up the snow in front of their own door and trying to keep their position and climb up, so how can they care about the frost on other people’s roofs.

Lu Yan glanced at the new actor twice, and Song Hui came over and said with a mysterious smile, “Brother Lu, do you think he looks familiar?”

“Huh? Have I met him?” Lu Yan asked.

“I knew you didn’t remember, Brother Lu.” Song Hui chuckled, “Do you remember that two years ago you went to a music college to donate money, and when you were leaving, a student who received the donation blocked our car.”

“Oh, it’s him.” Lu Yan suddenly remembered something.

“I was really scared when he suddenly rushed out. I still feel a little scared when I think about it now. Young people are really brave.” Song Hui said with a sigh.

Lu Yan smiled at him and said, “You don’t seem to be much older than me, so why do you need to use such an old tone? Is it because of this that you have been holding a grudge against me for so long? You really hold a grudge.”

“Not really.” Song Hui scratched his hair. “Brother Lu, you don’t usually pay attention to newcomers, so you don’t know that this guy is very popular now. He participated in a talent show at the beginning of the year and won the championship. Now he is very popular. There are a lot of girls who want to visit him every day. But I didn’t recognize him at first. He recognized me first, and there are not many people who look so good, so I remembered him.”

Lu Yan smiled softly, “I didn’t realize you’re still obsessed with looks.”

Song Hui shrugged, “I can’t help it. Who made the people around me so virtuous? My aesthetic taste has been cultivated.”

They happened to have a scene today where they were acting opposite each other. Before the filming began, the newcomer came to greet Lu Yan and respectfully called him, “Brother Lu.”

Lu Yan smiled slightly and called out his name, “Xiao Xuyan.”

Xiao Xuyan’s eyes lit up and he said excitedly, “Brother Lu, you still remember me!”

Lu Yan was stunned. He didn’t expect the other party to react so strongly. But it didn’t seem appropriate to say now that he only remembered it because others reminded him. So he just smiled and said nothing.

Xiao Xuyan’s beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle. “Brother Lu, I remember everything you said to me. If you don’t want to accept gifts from others, you must work hard to become stronger. All dignity is based on the ability to survive. I also want to be a person who can give like Brother Lu.”

Lu Yan patted his shoulder gently and said with a smile, “That’s good, keep it up!”

Xiao Xuyan wanted to say something, but Li Ran called them over to talk about a play, so he had to stop.

After the filming started, Lu Yan found that although Xiao Xuyan was a newcomer and his acting skills were a little immature, he was quite spiritual and basically got it right at once. In addition, his pleasing appearance made up for his shortcomings in acting. Moreover, the role itself required more appearance than acting skills. Lu Yan once again felt that Li Ran’s vision in selecting actors was really impeccable, and the effect achieved by Xiao Xuyan was even better than the mixed-race kid they had signed before.

However, although the acting skills were not demanding, they could not be completely absent either. So every time Li Ran discussed the play with Xiao Xuyan, he would be particularly detailed, even a look, a movement, and the angle of looking at the camera were all specified, and he just had to follow them. In this way, although there was not much room for newcomers to display their talents, the quality of the filming could be guaranteed to the greatest extent. On the other hand, this could also be regarded as a lesson for newcomers, letting them know what they should do.

As an excellent director, Li Ran was responsible for the film and newcomers. But sometimes being too serious could also attract gossip, especially when Xiao Xuyan was so outstanding. Li Ran was a little slow in this regard. He didn’t react until more and more people smiled ambiguously when he was talking about the play with Xiao Xuyan, and some words even fell directly into his ears. When Li Ran thought about how others looked at him and Xiao Xuyan discussing the play, he felt embarrassed. No wonder Xiao Xuyan looked embarrassed every time he called him. As a director, he was criticized like this. Who knew what he, a new actor, would be criticized like.

Li Ran complained to Lu Yan in a depressed tone, “What is this all about? Isn’t it normal for a director to talk to an actor about a play? Just because an actor is good-looking, something must happen? How can these people have such dirty thoughts?”

Lu Yan smiled, it was rare to see the domineering Director Li being so frustrated, so he added, “No wonder they think so. It’s normal for a director to explain the play to an actor, but you don’t have that much patience with others. It seems like you’ve never lost your temper with him.”

Director Li was known to have a bad temper. When he was discussing a play with actors, he often criticized them, especially the new actors who were not very experienced. But he had never lost his temper with Xiao Xuyan. No wonder others thought he was interested in Xiao Xuyan.

Li Ran was stunned for a moment, and said innocently, “Every time I told him the key points, he always did it very well, and his attitude was also very correct. Why should I scold him? Besides, he is not the only person I haven’t scolded. I also never scolded you when you first filmed my drama.”

This was true, but Lu Yan was just joking with him. After laughing, of course he still had to comfort him, “You know, this is the domestic environment. Scandals like this break out all the time, and everyone’s a little nervous. Besides, a person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear from his own shadow. What’s the point of being afraid of others just talking?”

“Ah,” Li Ran sighed, “Hollywood’s environment is still better. Everything is industrialized, and there are various unions to protect the rights of actors and directors. There are not so many troubles. When will China be able to purify the environment in the circle? Now people talk about all kinds of dirty things when they talk about the entertainment industry.”

“As long as we filmmakers keep working hard from generation to generation, we will be able to develop to that level one day.” Lu Yan said without particular certainty.

“Unless the domestic environment can also be industrialized, if investors, directors and others always have the final say, otherwise, I think it will be difficult! Even if directors and investors don’t think so, there is no guarantee that some actors will have that intention. In addition, there are so many bored people gossiping, and they can make things that don’t happen sound true. Accumulated damage will destroy a person, and gossip can melt gold.” Li Ran said helplessly.

Lu Yan patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Okay, my great Director Li, stop worrying about the country and the people, and think more positively, okay? Anyway, these words have no effect on you.”

Li Ran shook his head and said, “I really didn’t say anything, but Xiao Xu is a little pitiful. I guess he has been talked about even worse in private. Otherwise, you can give him more guidance on the remaining scenes. Anyway, you know what kind of effect I want.”

“Aren’t you afraid that others will say something about me and him? That’s a bit unfair.” Lu Yan said deliberately.

Li Ran glanced at him, “Who made you, the film emperor Lu, popular? This is not the first time you have mentored newcomers. Besides, everyone knows that you have a lover. In addition, this is a test from the organization. You are only mentoring, but you are not allowed to have any crooked thoughts and do things that would let down Boss Su.”

Lu Yan waved his hands, “Am I that kind of person?”

“Only because I know you are not that kind of person can I entrust this task to you” Li Ran said with a smile.

So, before the next shoot, Li Ran explained the scene to them as usual, and then said loudly, “Lu Yan, if it were you, how would you act in this scene? Tell Xiao Xu about it.”

Lu Yan smiled in his heart as Li Ran’s words really sounded a bit like trying to cover up something, but it was hard for him to come up with such a trick to avoid suspicion.

It was indeed like what Li Ran said. Although Lu Yan’s fame was gradually growing, he never put on airs and was very kind to others, so he had a very good relationship with people. Whether it was a newcomer or an actor with some experience, as long as they asked him for advice seriously, he would patiently help them, and his guidance had always been simple but effective, and would not give people the feeling of being arrogant. In this crew alone, Xiao Xuyan was not the only one who received instruction from Lu Yan. Moreover, since it was Li Ran who asked Lu Yan to give him some instruction, no one would say anything.

As Li Ran and Xiao Xuyan spent less time alone together, the gossip gradually faded away. This was a happy ending for everyone.

However, what Li Ran did not expect was that although Lu Yan would not have any other thoughts about Xiao Xuyan, there was no guarantee that Xiao Xuyan would not have any other thoughts about Lu Yan.

At first, it was normal guidance from the senior to the junior. Later, Xiao Xuyan began to find excuses to get close to Lu Yan. He did not deliberately hide his admiration. Lu Yan was not a slow person in this regard. He would not wait for the other party to make it clear before he understood. But since the other party did not make it clear, Lu Yan could not refuse directly, so he intentionally or unintentionally distanced himself, hoping that the other party would give up.

This kind of thing was not a big deal to Lu Yan. He didn’t take it to heart at all, and there was no need to mention it to others.

The filming schedule was very tight, and the daily budget was staggering. Lu Yan, as the male lead, had a very tight schedule, and he had no time to think about other things. Moreover, when the filming was pushed forward to October, the list of nominees for this year’s Taiwan Golden Bell Awards had been announced. After winning the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, Lu Yan was nominated for the Golden Bell Award for Best Actor. Various interviews and programs came one after another, occupying his time outside of filming.