1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 434 The Chosen Daughter

At nine o'clock in the morning in mid-March, in front of Yan Ying's imitation Qing building, there are a lot of actresses, one by one, who are more beautiful than each other.

Today's audition almost wiped out all the young and middle-aged actresses who have emerged in the past ten years in China.

Among the actresses who came, in addition to Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Li, and Chen Chong who Lin Weimin knew, there were also popular actresses such as Pan Hong, Gong Xue, Fang Shu, and Zhang Yu.

Less than a week after the news of the actress audition was sent out, Lin Weimin did not expect that Chen Chong would rush back to China.

It seems that Chen Chong is full of confidence. She is well-known in China, she has studied in the United States, and she also spent a period of time in Hollywood. Although she did not make a name for herself, she is still a qualification.

In addition, she is still performing on Broadway now, no matter from which point of view, she seems to be very competitive.

When Liu Xiaoqing saw Chen Chong, he immediately felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart.

She and Chen Chong are both well-known to the audience through the movie "Little Flower". The difference is that Liu Xiaoqing made one movie after another after "Little Flower", which not only received rave reviews, but also had a very good box office.

But Chen Chong took the completely opposite path with her. At the most critical moment, he retreated bravely and chose to study in the United States. It is said that the past few years have not been ideal.

In normal times, Liu Xiaoqing might gloat.

But today is the audition for "The Last Emperor", Liu Xiaoqing will not underestimate Chen Chong just because she has been away from the domestic film industry for several years.

In terms of proficiency in English alone, Chen Chong has an advantage over himself.

The most important thing is that Chen Chong is several years younger than her. Historically, Wan Rong was a cardamom girl when she married Pu Yi.

On the other hand, Liu Xiaoqing herself is over [-] years old. Although she has a lot of confidence in her acting skills, the director and producer may not think so.

A shadow cast over Liu Xiaoqing's heart, which made her feel pressured.

Compared with the ambitiousness of Chen and Liu, Pan Hong seemed much calmer.

In the past few years, she has won awards and received soft hands, and she can be called the No.1 actress in Chinese movies.

After divorcing her husband Mijiashan last year, she opened up a lot of things.

Among the many actresses who came to audition, the three of them received the most attention.

Apart from these three, the most conspicuous one is Gong Li, the heroine of "Red Sorghum".

Now the news that "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award is spreading across the country, and it seems to have become the pride of Chinese movies. Even Gong Li, the heroine of the movie, has become one of the focuses of public attention.

Gong Li stood timidly among the crowd. Her beauty was unremarkable among the many beautiful actresses, because "Red Sorghum" hadn't been released yet, and many people didn't even know her at all, and they even asked people around her about her. .

Hearing that she was the heroine of "Red Sorghum", his eyes couldn't help but look a little weird.

Gong Li secretly guessed in her heart that the look in her eyes probably meant "this girl got shit luck".

These days, she has seen this kind of eyes so much that she has become numb.

When Zhang Yimou first heard that she was recommended to audition for the lead actress Wan Rong in The Last Emperor, Gong Li was a little apprehensive.

In the past half a year or so, the news that the famous Italian director Bertolucci is planning to shoot "The Last Emperor" has already spread in China, and it is said that tens of millions of dollars have been invested.

Gong Li felt dizzy when he heard this number, how much money does it cost!
For such a large-scale movie, Gong Li dared not even think about asking herself to interview the heroine.

Just like she didn't dare to think that "Red Sorghum" could win the Golden Bear Award a few years ago.

It's like a dream!
Until entering the audition room, Gong Li felt like she was stepping on cotton.

Looking at the environment in the room in a daze, this is much more formal than when Zhang Yimou and the others auditioned themselves.

The camera was always on, and there were foreigners taking pictures with the camera.

Gong Li's eyes swept around, and finally found a face with black eyes among the foreign faces.

teacher LIN!

Director Yimou said that he was able to come to the crew of "The Last Emperor" for an interview thanks to Teacher Lin's recommendation.

Seeing Lin Weimin, Gong Li finally gained some confidence.

The bearded foreigner opposite should be director Bertolucci, right?He talked a lot, but couldn't understand a word!
Gong Li was worrying, Lin Weimin said, "Gong Li, don't be nervous, Director Bertolucci asked you to introduce yourself."

Gong Li pursed her lips, how could she not be nervous, but everything is coming.

She cleared her throat, "Hello, teachers, my name is Gong Li, and I am currently a student in the performance class of the Central Academy of Drama, grade 85. I have participated in the movie "Red Sorghum" before..."

Gong Li has a lackluster résumé with few bright spots, save for "Red Sorghum."

And the most important thing is that her English is not good, and she stumbles even when she introduces herself. A hint of disappointment flashed in Bertolucci's eyes.

The audition continued. Gong Li was going to have a scene with the leading actor of the movie. The foreigner who had finished taking photos handed her two pages of paper. Fortunately, there were script fragments in both Chinese and English.

The leading actor, Zun Long, just flew to Yanjing the night before yesterday, and today he was dragged into the audition by Bertolucci.

Zunlong was actually born in Shanghai, China. He has a mixed-race face, but he has no father or mother. After being adopted by his adoptive mother, he was sent to Xiangjiang to study Peking Opera at the age of ten. Then he went to the United States to study abroad alone, and was admitted to the American Theater Arts college.

Like most Chinese who studied in the United States at that time, he washed dishes, worked as a chef, and a shop assistant. He worked during the day and studied at night.

Many people in later generations know Zunlong because of the handsome black boss in "Year of the Dragon", or the lonely Puyi in "The Last Emperor".

But in fact, Zunlong's early days can be traced back to the stage play "FOB" performed by Yan Songxinxiang in 1980. In the following year, he directed and acted in the stage play "Railway and Dance". The two works of "Railway and Dance" won the Best Performance Award at the 25th Obie Awards.

The talent shown in the stage play soon attracted great attention. In 84, he starred in the sci-fi film "Iceman 4 Years", and in 85 he starred in "Year of the Dragon" as the arrogant and handsome black boss Joe. Yi Tai, with this film, was shortlisted for Best Supporting Actor in a Film at the 43rd American Golden Globe Awards, and Zun Long became famous so far.

Zun Long cherished the opportunity to star in "The Last Emperor" this time. He has spent ten years in Broadway and Hollywood, and he knows how precious this opportunity is for Chinese actors.

Before flying back to China, he had already mastered the content of the script by heart. He was in charge of acting with the actresses in today's audition, and it was not difficult.

but……

Because the play requires all English dialogues, the English of these actresses is really hard to describe, even the normal conversations are barely enough, let alone used for acting.

Zun Long is the only one who thinks the pairing is pretty good, and that is Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong.

Because Chen Chong has studied in the United States for several years, he has no problem performing in English at all.

As for Liu Xiaoqing, it was because of Lin Weimin's advance disclosure that he made up for several months of English. He spoke lines fluently in the audition, but his accent was rather heavy.

Now it was his turn to act with Gong Li, Zun Long became numb again.

This girl is quite delicate, she speaks Chinese quite normally, why does she still have a Ludong accent when she speaks English?

Regardless of Zun Long's inner feelings, Gong Li was the last actress to audition today, and she left the room after the performance.

Director Bertolucci, producer Thomas and screenwriter Lin Weimin started a discussion.

During most of the day, nearly twenty actresses were interviewed back and forth. It should be said that they could be recommended to the "Last Emperor" crew for interviews. The appearance of these actresses is reasonable.

Some people are a few years older than the original Wanrong in the script, but this is not a problem. In the eyes of Westerners, Easterners generally have baby faces. Bertolucci did not take this factor into account in the audition results.

The three discussed for a while, and basically reached an agreement. The choice of heroine was locked on Liu Xiaoqing, Chen Chong and Gong Li.

During the audition, Chen Chong was the best performer. She has the experience of studying in the United States. She has no problems with her lines and her performance is very accurate.

Then there is Liu Xiaoqing, who has fluent lines and a bit of a strong accent, and is well-known in China. In her words, there is definitely no way to use the original lines, and she needs to be dubbed later, but it is not a big problem.

Finally, there is Gong Li. When mentioning Gong Li, Bertolucci's expression is indescribable.

When watching "Red Sorghum" a few days ago, Gong Li's performance surprised him. He was looking forward to Gong Li's performance, but Bertolucci was completely disappointed by the girl's awkward English lines.

"I think Chen Chong is more suitable for the role of Wanrong. Her lines are also very good and will not delay the progress of the filming. Moreover, she has a background of studying in the United States and is now working as a drama actress on Broadway in the United States." Producer Thomas said.

Bertolucci also had some inclination towards Chen Chong. Compared with Liu Xiaoqing and Gong Li, Chen Chong's advantage was too obvious.

"Lin, which actress do you prefer?" Bertolucci asked.

Lin Weimin pondered, thinking about what Teng Jinxian told him before coming here.

In the matter of choosing an actress for "The Last Emperor", Lao Teng has no selfishness. He only has one idea, that is, he hopes to use "The Last Emperor" to cultivate an actress with international influence for China.

Undoubtedly, judging from the current situation, Gong Li holds "Red Sorghum", a film that can be popular all over the world, with the greatest hope.

If there is a bonus from "The Last Emperor", maybe she can become China's first actress with world-class influence.

Of course, this premise is that "The Last Emperor" can succeed in the end, otherwise everything is empty talk.

"Director Bertolucci, Mr. Thomas, my personal suggestion is Gong Li."

Bertolucci frowned and asked, "Why?"

"Because of "Red Sorghum", Gong Li already has a certain international reputation. As far as I know, the film "Red Sorghum" will participate in several film festivals this year.

If we can choose Gong Li as the heroine of the movie, then at that time, by taking advantage of the promotion opportunity of "Red Sorghum" participating in the film festival, the name of the movie "The Last Emperor" will also get some publicity. "

After Lin Weimin finished speaking, producer Thomas' eyes lit up.

"Lin, you are so right! This is indeed a plus for our movie." Thomas said with some excitement.

Lin Weimin looked at the confused Bertolucci, "Mr. Director, what's your opinion?"

Bertolucci looked hesitant, and after looking around the photos of the three of them, he picked out a photo.

"Just her!"

(End of this chapter)