novellhall Chapter 38: Auditions of Beauties, Confirmation of the Female Lead
Chapter 38: Auditions of Beauties, Confirmation of the Female Lead
Chapter 37: Auditions of Beauties, Confirmation of the Female Lead
Three days later, at the Yunhong Hotel in Beijing.
The auditions for the female lead in "Someday or One Day" have officially begun.
The judging panel for the audition consisted of executive producer Zhang Guoli, director Liu Junjie, executive producer Zhou Haopeng, and screenwriter and lead actor Lin Zixuan.
In the reception room outside, Yan Danchen, Dong Xuan, Yin Tao, Qin Lan, and Shu Chang had all arrived, accompanied by their agents or assistants.
Gao Yuanyuan was unable to come due to a scheduling conflict with her co-production film "A Match Made in Heaven".
However, they all sat far apart from each other, ignoring each other, and each of them had a serious expression. They would occasionally look down at the script clips in their hands, memorize the lines, and get into character in advance.
According to the order of check-in, Dong Xuan was the first to enter.
This goddess is tall and slender with long, flowing hair. She is wearing a blue floral print long dress, the refreshing color of which makes her skin appear exceptionally fair and delicate.
Her delicate features were adorned with light makeup, which, combined with her refined temperament, gave her a charm that was somewhere between a young girl and a mature woman.
Although not stunningly beautiful, she was still quite breathtaking.
Moreover, her aura makes one feel that she can easily switch between a high school girl and a white-collar woman.
"Hello everyone, I am Dong Xuan."
Upon entering, Dong Xuan greeted the judges politely, but a look of confusion appeared in her eyes when she saw Lin Zixuan.
She naturally knew Lin Zixuan. She was a student in the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy in 2000, while Lin Zi was a junior in the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy in 2003. The two had spent a year together on campus.
Although they didn't interact much in school, one was a stunning beauty of school beauty level and the other was a handsome guy of school heartthrob level, so they naturally paid attention to each other.
She never imagined that this junior in college would become a judge on the film crew, sitting on equal footing with big names like Zhang Guoli.
Despite her doubts, she didn't show them on her face, but she couldn't help but glance at Lin Zixuan a few more times.
Liu Junjie picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and nodded with a smile, saying, "Dong Xuan, right? You've read the script, haven't you?"
Getting straight to the point, Dong Xuan was very professional. She nodded and first talked about her understanding of the character.
Then the audition performance began.
Liu Junjie took a scene from the script and had her play Chen Yunru, who was somewhat insecure, sensitive, and timid, going to school alone.
Dong Xuan gathered her emotions and quickly got into the zone.
She looked in the mirror in the room, adjusted her hairstyle slightly, and used her hair to cover half of her face on both sides.
Then, with her head slightly lowered and eyelids drooping, she seemed afraid to look at people, walking cautiously with her arms tightly pressed against her body. She took small steps and her feet were slightly turned inward, giving off a sense of loneliness that made her feel out of place with her surroundings.
"Not bad."
Lin Zixuan's eyes lit up.
This simple action perfectly brought to life the lonely and withdrawn Chen Yunru.
"Let's portray the life of Huang Yuxuan, a cheerful career woman."
Dong Xuan made slight adjustments in front of the mirror, and her expression immediately changed dramatically.
First, with all the hair down the back of the head, head held high and chest out, the stride of walking becomes larger, and a powerful aura arises spontaneously.
Without realizing it, she reached out her left hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, then glanced at the time on her watch. With every gesture, she exuded the charm of an intellectual and mature woman.
What struck me most was her eyes.
Despite being a powerful white-collar elite, there was a hint of sadness in her eyes, as if she was missing someone.
This is the contrasting reality of Huang Yuxuan, a mature white-collar woman, and Chen Yunru, a self-conscious high school girl.
It can be said that Dong Xuan fully grasped the character of the female lead at two different stages, which shows that she studied the script quite a bit.
The four people on the stage nodded in approval, clearly very satisfied with her performance.
However, the audition is not over yet. There is still a crucial step: acting alongside Lin Zixuan to see if the two have any chemistry.
Director Liu Junjie chose the scene from the final episode where the two reunite.
Lin Zixuan stepped out of the judges' panel and briefly discussed the plot with Dong Xuan.
During the physical contact, he glanced at the panel in his mind's eye:
Name: Lin Zixuan Age: 21 (123)
人气：3272
Cultivation level: 22/100 (Qi Refining)
Target 1, Popularity: 8732561
.
Not bad, although her popularity can't compare to that of older sister Xu Qing, she still has as many as 873 million.
After another two minutes of preparation, Dong Xuan signaled that they could begin.
The two of them first separated and stood in two different directions.
Dong Xuan imitated walking out of the house and saw Li Ziwei standing outside, his heart filled with longing.
She first showed a look of surprise and delight, and couldn't help but call out "Li Ziwei" before walking quickly towards Lin Zixuan.
Lin Zixuan was equally surprised and delighted, saying "It's you" as she quickly walked towards Dong Xuan.
The two ran towards each other, embracing each other with tears in their eyes.
"It's you, Huang Yuxuan."
"How did you know it was me before I even said anything?"
"I knew it was you without you saying a word. You're finally back."
"Yes, I'm back."
The audition segment was very simple, just this short clip.
It should be said that both of them are indeed professional students from the Performance Department of Taipei Film Academy. Their basic acting skills are not a problem. They can shed tears easily and portray the emotions of a long-awaited reunion very well.
This level of acting skill is more than enough for an idol drama.
However, this segment is not primarily a test of acting skills, but rather a test of whether Lin Zixuan and Dong Xuan have any chemistry as a couple.
To be honest, one of them is tall and handsome, standing at 185cm, while the other is tall and beautiful.
Dong Xuan is already 170cm tall, and with her half-heeled shoes, she and Lin Zixuan look very well-matched and pleasing to the eye. When they hug each other, they exude a strong sense of CP (couple) vibe.
Zhang Guoli, Liu Junjie, and Zhou Haopeng, who were on the judging panel, all nodded in agreement.
After the performance, Zhou Haopeng said, "Thank you, Ms. Dong Xuan. You can go back and wait for news."
After Dong Xuan left, Lin Zixuan asked the other three, "How was it? Do I have any chemistry with her?"
Liu Junjie gave a thumbs up, "Very good, you can watch the video later."
Zhang Guoli smiled and agreed, "Dong Xuan is indeed very good, meeting all the requirements, but let's not rush to conclusions. Let's see how the other four perform; there might be even more surprises."
Qin Lan was the second to come in.
It should be said that Qin Lan is quite good. She is beautiful, has a great presence when playing an urban white-collar woman, and has good chemistry with Lin Zixuan when they act together.
However, her performance as high school girl Chen Yunru fell short, which may be related to her lack of professional acting training.
There was one more thing Lin Zixuan didn't say: the panel in his mind detected that Qin Lan's popularity was only over 732 million, which was much lower than Dong Xuan's.
Next up is Yin Tao.
Overall, Yin Tao is also very outstanding. She is beautiful, and her on-screen chemistry with Lin Zixuan is also quite good.
Yin Tao's situation is the exact opposite of Qin Lan's. She plays high school girls very well, but she falls short when playing urban white-collar women.
Similarly, her popularity is only over 764 million, slightly higher than Qin Lan, but still somewhat lower than Dong Xuan.
The fourth person to audition was Shu Chang.
Shu Chang's appearance and acting skills are both fine. Even though she is only 19 years old, she played the role of Huang Yuxuan, a white-collar worker in the city, quite convincingly. This is not a problem for idol dramas.
Unfortunately, when she acted alongside Lin Zixuan, their chemistry was terrible; they seemed more like siblings.
If this most crucial criterion is not met, it will naturally be the first to be eliminated.
However, to Lin Zixuan's dismay, Shu Chang's popularity reached over 1157 million, far exceeding that of the others.
Yan Danchen was the last to audition.
She truly deserves to be called the most beautiful Chang'e; her entrance immediately caught everyone's attention.
The subsequent performance was equally impeccable. After all, she was a professionally trained actress from the Beijing Film Academy, so she naturally handled this kind of idol drama with ease.
Moreover, when she acted alongside Lin Zixuan, their on-screen chemistry was equally strong.
Overall, her performance was comparable to Dong Xuan's.
What left Lin Zixuan speechless was that the panel detected that Yan Danchen had over 881 million popularity points, which was almost the same as Dong Xuan's.
After the auditions, based on the performances, the final choice will undoubtedly be between Dong Xuan and Yan Danchen.
However, the two are evenly matched in every aspect, making it truly difficult for the judges to choose.
In the end, Zhang Guoli made the final decision, instructing Zhou Haopeng to contact their respective agents and choose the one with the lowest offer.
Ultimately, Dong Xuan landed the lead role in "Someday or One Day," earning 3.5 yuan per episode.
The drama "Someday or One Day" has a total of 26 episodes, with the female lead appearing in 25 of them. Her total salary was 87.5 yuan.
It is said that Yan Danchen's asking price was 4 yuan per episode, but unfortunately she missed out on the role.