Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 1547: Chapter 783

"I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say and what I’m not supposed to say," Gu Huaichun said.

Zhou Yun said, "It’s fine, don’t worry about what you should or shouldn’t say. Wen Bing lets us do whatever we want, and in the end he’ll re-edit based on all the footage he’s shot, including whatever we say. Later we’ll still have to go back into the studio to dub the lines anyway."

Hearing Zhou Yun say that, Gu Huaichun finally relaxed.

"That’s a relief."

"So you can talk about whatever you want, don’t worry about what they’re filming. That’s the lesson I’ve learned after shooting these days," Zhou Yun said. "Wen Bing basically won’t give you any direction. He’ll only tell you what he’s shooting right now; as for how that turns out, that depends on what you bring to it."

Gu Huaichun was genuinely stunned.

He had never shot a project like this before.

What crew would dare waste time like that.

Almost every director and producer just wants to rush through as fast as possible, wrap the shoot quickly, so they don’t go over schedule and over budget.

"So this is how you people make films? That’s wild," Gu Huaichun sighed.

Zhou Yun said, "It’s my first time too. The stuff I shot with Wen Bing before, Life and Female Assassin, those were completely different experiences. He’s never once repeated himself. When we shot Life, he wrote out the whole script, then let me act however I wanted, and he only ever kept my last take. Shooting Female Assassin was a very standard way of working, scene by scene, one set-piece at a time."

Gu Huaichun said, "That’s how I’ve shot every single project."

Zhou Yun said, "When did you wrap your last job?"

Gu Huaichun said, "Three months ago."

"Have you lined up something new?" Zhou Yun asked.

Gu Huaichun glanced at the camera.

Sitting in front of the lens talking about his private life was a feeling Gu Huaichun still wasn’t used to.

Zhou Yun said, "It’s fine, anything that’s not appropriate won’t be in the final cut. Trust Wen Bing on that."

Gu Huaichun nodded.

"I’ve been in touch with some crews, but haven’t signed anything yet. Mainly my company and I aren’t that satisfied with the script."

"What kind of story is it? Who’s the writer?"

"Teacher Li Wanjun," Gu Huaichun said. "It’s a spy drama. You know, they’ve shot way too many of these. The stories are still pretty formulaic. They’re asking another writer to come in and rework the script."

"If you’re not happy with the script, why not just turn it down outright? Why bother bringing in another writer to fix it?"

"We did turn it down at first, but the producers kept talking to my agent, they really want me in it, they’ve been very sincere. So my agent said at least get the script rewritten first."

"Fair enough." Zhou Yun nodded and said, "That’s also the right call. If you’re not satisfied with the script, then don’t be in a rush to shoot."

Gu Huaichun said, "That’s actually the big dilemma I’ve run into these past six months. The drama that aired in the first half of the year didn’t get very good reviews, especially when it comes to my acting. Everyone’s saying I’m getting worse with every project. A lot of producers are put off by that and don’t really dare to offer me roles anymore—especially parts that actually require some acting chops. What does come in is still the same kind of thing as Eighth Heartbeat, like the show we did together. But I don’t want to keep doing that kind of work. It feels like I’m going to fall into a vicious cycle: the more people complain, the crappier the projects I do, and then even more people complain."

Zhou Yun said, "That’s what being an actor is like. Most of the time you’re in a passive, being-chosen position. That’s why so many well-known actors are out there looking for stories and projects themselves. I think you could be more proactive too. If you come across a good story, why not assemble your own team?"

Gu Huaichun said, "It’s not like I haven’t tried, but honestly, it’s really hard. First of all, it’s incredibly hard to find a story I genuinely love. And even if I find one, I have to track down who owns the rights. Buying rights is a huge problem. In an era this information-saturated, basically all the good stories have already been snapped up. Whatever I can still pick up on the cheap, once it’s in my hands I have to find investors, find a writer to adapt it into a script, and after the script’s written, find a producer, find a director—just a whole pile of hassle."

Zhou Yun said, "That’s the truth. It’s just that if you really want to make some good work, you have to give something up. Only if you do that will you actually hold the initiative in your own hands."

"Have you ever produced a film or TV project yourself?" Gu Huaichun asked.

Zhou Yun said, "I have, though I wasn’t the one spearheading it. On Under the Grand Dress I was credited as a producer. It did come with a lot of headache-inducing stuff, but I also learned a lot. Oh, right, they’re planning a second season of Under the Grand Dress. The writers are working on the script now. If you don’t have anything lined up and your schedule’s free by then, why don’t you come on board?"

Gu Huaichun asked, "Are you going to keep acting in it?"

"I’m not. I might just do a cameo," Zhou Yun said. "We’re planning to build the second season’s storyline on top of the first, but focus on other characters’ stories."

"And of course we’re going to bring in some new faces too."

Gu Huaichun asked, "How’s the script looking?"

Zhou Yun said, "If I’m not satisfied with the script, I won’t agree to start shooting. You can trust me on that. I’m not continuing my role in the second season purely because I feel like that character’s story has already been fully told."

Gu Huaichun said, "All right, if you think it’s right, I’d be fine playing a part in it."

Zhou Yun said, "Then it’s settled. If you want to do it, it’ll definitely be a lead role. And of course Jianfeng will still be in it too."

"Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t care about billing, as long as the role’s good and the story’s good. I’ll talk it through with my team too."

"That’s great," Zhou Yun said happily.

...

In another room, Wen Bing and Wang Zilin were sitting together in front of the monitor.

Wang Zilin asked quietly, "Can we actually put that conversation just now into the film?"

Wen Bing said, "If we’re going to include it, then the character Wen Bing will have to be set up as an actor. That’s not impossible. We’ll look at it later. I don’t want to think about that right now."

Wang Zilin said, "Listening to those two talk so much, all of it these really bare-your-soul kinds of things, I honestly get worried. Do you think those lines can be used in the film?"

"What I want is exactly that kind of most real and natural material," Wen Bing said. "From the start, I haven’t wanted to turn this into a warm, ’healing’ movie—especially the whole theme of walking out of past trauma. I don’t want to make a thing of that. I want the people watching this film to have a kind of simple philosophical feeling, like: in everyday life, everyone has moments like this, hanging out with a friend, talking about everything, whatever comes to mind."

Wang Zilin said, "I’m really curious how the writing credit for this film is going to look."

Wen Bing said, "Everyone is the writer."

Wang Zilin shot Wen Bing a surprised look.

"President Yao’s been chasing us to send him some of the footage we’ve already shot," Wang Zilin said. "He wants to see what the film is shaping up to be."

"Then send him the crab-catching scene and the one with Yu Zhiyang standing in the rain," Wen Bing said. "But tell him the finished cut might end up looking very different from what it does now."

Wang Zilin nodded.

...

Shooting with Gu Huaichun, Zhou Yun didn’t feel any psychological burden at all.

Doing scenes opposite Yu Zhiyang, sometimes she had to carry him a bit. With other people, Zhou Yun couldn’t be quite so calm and relaxed. Even when she was acting with Song Chi, she still felt a certain weight: worried the scene wouldn’t play well, worried people wouldn’t like the two of them as a pairing.

Talking with Gu Huaichun, first off, they were just too familiar with each other, nothing stiff or formal. Second, they’d worked together before, there was a rhythm, and neither of them had to take care of the other.

Zhou Yun even felt that sitting here tonight talking with Gu Huaichun felt completely different from the way she’d felt doing the earlier scenes.

This blend of truth and fiction, of illusion and reality, gave Zhou Yun a strange kind of acting experience.

No one was calling "cut," no one was walking over to tell her which part wasn’t landing, that it wasn’t the feeling they wanted and she had to redo it. She was acting purely based on her own ideas, her own sense of it.

...

"Have you noticed, Zhou Yun’s already slipped into a state where she’s forgotten she’s acting," Wen Bing said to Wang Zilin, a little excited. "She’s at her best in this slightly tired state, with this inexplicably gentle quality to her."

Wang Zilin knew exactly what Wen Bing meant.

Zhou Yun is too beautiful. Even when she’s trying to dial it down, there are still shots where she has this heart-stopping, breathtaking kind of beauty.

And that’s precisely the kind of beauty Wen Bing doesn’t want from Zhou Yun in this film.

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