14 Before the Interview

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It was the fourth day of the check-in task.

Yu Zhi did not need to go out. All she had to do today was stay at the hotel and conduct a round of auditions.

The first batch of actors contacted by Pei Zhao and the others would arrive in the morning.

Zhengzheng had also sent five people to set up the venue.

Yu Zhi had already received the actors’ PDF profiles. Each file contained a personal introduction, including the actor’s name, date of birth, height, weight, completed works, commercial endorsements, and various titles.

Every one of them looked talented.

Then she spent three hours going through the names, filtering out everyone with a compatibility rating below sixty percent.

She even informed them in advance that they need not come for an audition: their résumés had already been rejected, saving them the trouble of making a wasted trip.

Pei Zhao: “???”

Lang Qingwen: “Huh?”

Zhai Duo: “Are you relying on intuition?”

Some of the actors had sent in video auditions. They had simply found a random place, taken the brief script they had been given, and performed a rough trial scene.

Others, however, had not submitted videos. Instead, they said they would make the special trip to audition in person.

After all, the filming location and the actors’ state of mind would affect the quality of a video.

Those who needed to audition remotely by video were generally people who could not make it to the venue in time and had no other choice.

The atmosphere and surroundings of an in-person audition, as well as interaction with other people, could all help improve a performance.

Even a little adrenaline was beneficial to human behavior.

Out of curiosity, Yu Zhi watched two or three of the videos. At first, she experienced a strange sensation.

Without sets or costumes, having actors in modern clothes play ancient characters amid crude surroundings created a sense of dislocation.

It was much like writing a novel: the rough outline could look completely different from the finished draft, and for the moment, one had no idea what the final chapters would become.

She had to use a portion of her imagination to beautify the audition and convince herself that the acting was actually acceptable.

It was like a singer performing unaccompanied vocals: with good arrangement and sound equipment, the result could be stunning.

Or like a painting whose rough sketch was unbearable to look at, yet whose finished form was magnificent.

Of course, there were gifted people who could become their characters with nothing more than a single glance. But they were exceedingly rare.

The production team’s insistence on in-person auditions, and the actors’ frantic rush from one production office to another, were all because this produced the best results. It was not the cheapest option. Venue and transportation costs accounted for the bulk of the expenses, and if the audition failed, the actor had paid for the entire trip out of pocket.

For someone like Yu Zhi to reject people before even meeting them seemed rather absurd.

Zhai Duo was practically about to ask, “Are you relying on intuition? Did you simply dislike their names? Or are you a fan who has biases based on celebrity gossip?”

It was perfectly normal. In this age of entertainment above all else, explosive celebrity scandals constantly appeared on the trending lists: which star had cheated, who had a child out of wedlock, which idol had violated professional standards, and so on. Young people usually paid at least some attention to such gossip.

Besides, Yu Zhi was at a perfect age for idolizing celebrities!

If she happened to like a certain star, and another actor turned out to be that star’s rival, or had some scandal attached to them, would it not be entirely reasonable for her to filter them out?

Right?

Zhai Duo thought: But what if she had the wrong information?

Yu Zhi looked at the way the three of them were staring at her. “Uh… I just don’t think these people are a good fit.”

Pei Zhao glanced at one of the names and thought for a moment. “She’s quite good. She’s a rising star with solid acting skills. The historical drama that aired in March attracted a lot of fans. If I remember correctly, her manager is very capable, and their promotional coordination afterward was excellent too.”

The list did not consist only of the actors favored by the three of them.

Perhaps Pei Zhao had contacted an actor with whom she had a good relationship. Since the actor needed to discuss the matter with her manager before coming, the manager might have leaked the news, or perhaps sent along several other actors under their management as well.

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For example, Zhai Duo might have told someone in his network that he was working on a new production, that it was an excellent project, and asked whether their company had any actors interested in auditioning. The company would then spread the news around as well.

After the initial screening, more than sixty names were sent to Yu Zhi, all of them able to arrive within the next few days.

Yu Zhi looked at a name Pei Zhao had drawn at random. “Her? The last time she joined a production, she brought six screenwriters with her. Since it was a drama produced by her own company, they were assigned to the production team, and no one was told.”

Some management agencies were actually subsidiaries of film and television production companies or streaming platforms. Productions prepared by those companies naturally favored their own performers.

Such arrangements were not necessarily good for every actor. But when a company intended to promote someone, the treatment could be excellent, and concealing certain circumstances on their behalf was nothing unusual.

Pei Zhao: “…”

Zhai Duo: “…”

Lang Qingwen: “Wow.”

Yu Zhi drew out another name and recalled some late-night gossip she had once read. “This one is notorious for throwing her weight around and losing her temper. She treats her assistants terribly, constantly hitting or cursing at them. She can go through ten assistants in three months, and she orders people around on set. Oh, have you never run into someone like that?”

Pei Zhao: “…We have.”

Lang Qingwen: “We encountered plenty of them back then. After I became a chief director and deputy director, there were fewer.”

That was normal. Too many people treated others according to their status.

Once someone became powerful, everyone around them suddenly seemed kind and respectful.

Yu Zhi randomly pulled out another name. “She… used a surrogate.”

Who did not know about the violation of human rights involved in surrogacy? It dragged women straight into the abyss of commodification.

Pei Zhao: “???”

How did she know?

Even I am in the industry, and I had no idea!

Yu Zhi thought for a moment, then searched through the profile of one of the male actors. “This man has private relationships with several wealthy female fans, and most of his luxury goods were gifts from them. I estimate he’ll be exposed sooner or later. He’s vain and obsessed with appearances. His public persona is entirely manufactured; he isn’t some rich second-generation heir. He’s only average-looking, his acting is bland, and there’s no need to take a risk for someone like him, is there?”

Zhai Duo became interested. “Where did you get all that information? Is it reliable?”

Yu Zhi nodded. “It’s reliable.”

Lang Qingwen asked, “When you approached the three of us back then, did you also investigate our scandals before making your decision?”

Pei Zhao and Zhai Duo fixed their burning gazes on Yu Zhi.

Yu Zhi tilted her head back, her eyes darting away. “I… looked into you as well.”

Pei Zhao let out a long, meaningful sound. “Ohhh…”

Zhai Duo reassured himself, “Then I suppose I’m still a decent person.”

No one was perfect. Anyone could have a dark history.

For example, after Pei Zhao lost a competition, she had anonymously cursed online at the person who had cheated their way to first place.

One of Zhai Duo’s ways of relieving stress was arguing with strangers anonymously online. Whenever he could not win an argument, he blocked the other person.

When Lang Qingwen was in school, someone had come between her and her partner, so she beat the man up and ended up at the local police station.

When she was little, Yu Zhi had even done her deskmate’s homework for her. To someone who disliked Yu Zhi, that could be considered a despicable act that hindered her deskmate’s progress.

—Though later, when they graduated, her deskmate confessed that she had mentioned the matter to her mother. Her mother had bought several extra books and sets of exercise materials, then had her daughter give them to Yu Zhi on the pretext that, “The homework my tutor assigned is too much for me to finish.” Her mother had even covered the cost.

Harmless dark histories were nothing to worry about. Most people could accept them.

But anything involving violations of the law or morality, or behavior that offended public decency—anything serious enough to affect the work of the entire group—required much more careful consideration.

In fact, with sensational scandals lacking all limits appearing one after another these days, people had become more tolerant of celebrities’ past misdeeds.

Yet there was always someone willing to sink even lower.

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Pei Zhao murmured, “Good grief, you really do know a lot. Anyway, if anyone I recommend has a problem, just tell me directly.”

People bullied the weak and feared the strong. Take the actress who mistreated her assistants: she would never dare spew abuse at the chief director or the investors. In their eyes, she might therefore appear gentle, humble, and easy to work with.

Yu Zhi said, “All right.”

Zhai Duo asked curiously, “Where do you get all this information?”

Yu Zhi made a small gesture. “I used money to gain access to certain channels.”

Lang Qingwen asked, “Paparazzi?”

How much money had that cost?

Yu Zhi pretended that was exactly the case.

The three of them believed her.

·

Quite a few celebrities had come for the female lead role, ranging from seventeen or eighteen to their thirties.

Yu Zhi was not overly restrictive about age. Many actors took excellent care of themselves, and with the advantage of strong bone structure, people in their thirties could look no different from those in their twenties.

At the same time, some people appeared relatively mature. Even before turning twenty, they might look around thirty.

The latter type tended to age well and was also well suited to playing somewhat more mature characters.

Pei Zhao said, “Keep the ones you think are good. If they can’t play the female lead, they can try for the second or third female lead. But some companies care a great deal about billing, and actors in the ascending phase of their careers may reject any role that isn’t the female lead.”

In the current entertainment industry, management agencies held far more power than the actors themselves.

Contracts generally began at seven years, while ten years was considered a normal term.

Some people signed without thinking and lost half their lives in the process.

Since many signed at a young age—sometimes before they were adults, sometimes when they were barely twenty—they were unprepared for the darkness of society, and countless people were exploited by their contracts.

Some management agencies survived almost entirely on termination fees. Their goal was simply to sign as many people as possible. Whether the actors became famous did not matter. Sometimes, even a successful actor brought in less money than the fee required to terminate their contract.

Under such circumstances, even if an actor personally wished to play a supporting role, the company might refuse and arrange for them to join another production instead.

Zhai Duo said, “Supporting roles come in all shapes and forms, so there’s more room to show what you can do. It’s a shame that many people who once had a spark lose it after becoming popular. Their status ends up restricting them.”

The protagonist was naturally placed on the side of righteousness, and every action had to conform to the audience’s expectations of moral uplift.

As a result, too many dramas chose the safest possible route, leaving their characters bland, ordinary, and familiar.

The people sent by Zhengzheng Film had already hurriedly printed nameplates reading “Director,” “Screenwriter,” and the like. They also put up a poster by the hotel entrance, assigned someone to guide and receive the applicants, and conducted the auditions directly in the same conference room as before.

They could have held them at the company as well. Once the premises had been expanded, the three-hundred-square-meter space was large enough to set aside one hundred square meters specifically for auditions.

But Pei Zhao had said that the lead actors deserved better treatment. A five-star hotel looked more impressive and made their S-plus production seem more credible.

In any case, the Screenwriter App had provided plenty of hotel hours. Yu Zhi felt that leaving them unused would be wasteful, and she would feel guilty if she did not make better use of them.

Now she regretted it. If only she could save this month of time for some crucial moment later on, how wonderful that would be!

When the time came, she would fill every room to capacity!

At that thought, she added a note to her memo, reminding herself that after a week, she could bring the people from Zhengzheng over for a team outing—perhaps a hot spring soak and a spa treatment.

Cai Yanni and the others sat farther back with their laptops, eagerly waiting for the auditions to begin.

Yu Zhi was excited too!

This was her first time taking part in anything like this.