"Sister Cai, this....isn't this too fast? Although I'm majoring in acting, I just started university a month ago, I have no experience in professional acting, to make me the 2nd male lead for [Autumn's Concerto] seems a bit rash, no?" Jiang Cheng said with helplessness.
He had just received notification from Shanghai Tangren that they actually wanted to cast him as the 2nd male lead, Hua Tuo, in [Autumn's Concerto]!
This decision surprised even him and he lived off bold and wild ideas.
Actually asking him to star in a TV series, he had written himself! Were they actually that confident in him? Wasn't risking a brand new TV series on a script by a rookie screenwriter enough? Now they even wanted him to play a crucial role in the show, with no professional acting experience to speak of?
Weren't they afraid that the show would flop?
Full of concern, Jiang Cheng immediately reflected his bewilderment to Cai Yinong.
But Cai Yinong's tone over the phone was full of affirmation: "Jiang Cheng, don't be so shy. The cast for [Autumn's Concerto] came to the decision, everyone agrees you're the best person to play Hua Tuo. Plus you're the screenwriter of [Autumn's Concerto], you have the deepest understanding of all the characters in the script. As for acting skills, you don't need to worry at all. By definition this is an idol drama, no one is looking for an Oscar level performance."
"But...."
"But nothing, Jiang Cheng!" Cai Yinong interrupted, "This decision is by no means random, as you said, the philosophy that Shanghai Tangren needs to pursue is making everything we do to the best of our ability!"
"I consulted Hu Ge and your professors in advance. They all said that you've worked hard and conscientiously this month. At present, your performance in the acting department is among the best. All the coursework you've submitted so far has been top level! This shows that your acting skills have achieved small success, but you can't improve by only studying theory. You need to practice and put what you've learnt to work and increase your experience."
Cai Yinong continued: "Do you know what your issue is?"
Jiang Cheng, stunned, asked, "My issue?"
Cai Yinong replied in a serious tone: "Yes your issue. You lack the self-confidence you have in writing for acting! When it comes to acting your demeanor changes, that same self-assuredness you feel when writing, you need to keep a grasp on it and transfer it into your acting. Hahaha sometimes I feel like you forget how young you are, you have plenty of time to learn and enrich yourself. Learning something new is all about trial and error and time is on your side, so what do you have to fear?"
Jiang Cheng fell silent, Cai Yinong's words gave him a sense of clarity.
Sure enough, a bystander's perspective was always better.
What was he afraid of? This was his second chance at life, a chance to do things differently and try new things!
In fact, although he always told himself that this was a new life and that the things of his previous life were behind him, the shadow left by his previous life on him wasn't so easy to remove. He was afraid deep down in his heart of the thought of failing. He couldn't bear to fail again.
Some may ask, wasn't he afraid of failure in writing?
Of course not!
What did Jiang Cheng do in his previous life? He was a screenwriter! Although he wasn't the best to ever live, he had managed to carve out a spot for himself in the industry, in Hollywood of all places as well. So he was naturally confident in this aspect. Besides, everything he had released so far were all fine works that had been proven in his previous life. What did he need to worry about?
But acting was different. Although he had inherited the memories of the previous Jiang Cheng and gained a little experience over the last month at Uni. He had nothing truly concrete to put his confidence in.
So the past month he had been studying non-stop, pulling all nighters and doing everything he could, because he was afraid.
Afraid his acting skills would let him down and that he would fail....fail at venturing out.
But now here was Cai Yinong reassuring him: his acting skills weren't a problem.
His problem was his lack of confidence in his skills.
"Why should I be scared? I'm still young in this life, and I have enough money to squander. Besides, so what if I fail? If I'm scared of just this, how can I push on in the future to overcome difficulties and become the big time director I want to be?" Jiang Cheng fought the fear in his heart, and slowly, his eyes showed firmness.
"Sister Cai."
"Yes?" Seeing him go silent just now, Cai Yinong knew that Jiang Cheng was warring with himself, so she didn't rush him.
She believed Jiang Cheng could comprehend what she was trying to say by himself.
"Thank you and Shanghai Tangren, for trusting in me! I'm willing to play Hua Tuo!" His tone wasn't full of excitement instead it was calm and full of firmness and confidence.
"Great!" Cai Yinong laughed hearing him agree, "That's the Jiang Cheng I know! Young people should be full of dominance like this! Ok, I'll put in the relevant orders now and have Hua Tuo's lines and the scripts sent to you. If you find something unsatisfactory, you can directly edit it. After all, you're the screenwriter for this."
"No problem, I'll study the script and learn my role!" Jiang Cheng replied. Although he was the one who wrote the initial script, the person who would decide how it would be filmed was still the director. The script he wrote was bound to be different from the one being used to shoot the TV series, it would have undergone modifications and adjustments by the producers and the directors.
However Jiang Cheng was confident he could adjust and fit into the role of Hua Tuo well. After all, no matter how many sub-script changes were made, it would still be based on his original script, and the overall outline wouldn't have changed. As the screenwriter of the show, Jiang Cheng was familiar with the characters.
"Oh right!" About to end the phone call, Cai Yinong suddenly remembered something, "Let Hu Ge read through the script as well so he can prepare for his audition!"
"Audition, audition for what?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Cai Yinong laughed: "The role of Jacko hasn't been decided yet."
Jiang Cheng laughed hearing that: "Well then, he really has to be prepared..."
※ ※ ※
"What? They want me to star in [Autumn's Concerto].
When Hu Ge heard the news he stared at Jiang Cheng with wide eyes.
"Pretty much." Jiang Cheng said to Hu Ge with a smile. "They want you to come in for an audition. But you're signed to Shanghai Tangren after all and they'll probably want to keep it in the family so you'll probably get priority. It's pretty much in the bag as long as your performance goes well."
"Great, that's awesome! I envy you being able to act directly though! By the way, what kind of role is Jacko?" Hu Ge calmed down after the initial excitement and asked Jiang Cheng.
Seeing Hu Ge's reaction, Jiang Cheng nodded seeing how comfortably he took on the news, he was eager to see Hu Ge's performance.
"Jacko is a friend of Ren Guangxi, the male lead of the show. He is one of the main supporting characters. You'll have quite a number of scenes if you get the role. Remember to treat the auditions properly, none of your usual wild antics."
Hu Ge was a charmer, the usual class clown type. During their acting classes, he would shoot out jokes constantly setting the whole class and even the professors into laughter. However, if he tried this at the audition it probably wouldn't have the same effect instead it might just rouse the casting director's ire.
Knowing it was just a kind reminder from a friend, Hu Ge naturally accepted it with an open mind: "I know, I'll pay attention."
"Great." Jiang Cheng nodded. "Then I'll be waiting for the good news."
※ ※ ※
As expected by Jiang Cheng and Cai Yinong, Hu Ge passed the audition and got the role of Jacko. His acting skills easily conquered the casting director. In the words of the casting director: "He could go further and play a more important role."
But to this, Cai Yinong rejected the idea saying Hu Ge was still too young and that he needed to wait and bide his time, being famous too early wouldn't be a good thing for him.
As for Jiang Cheng it was too late, he was already famous, now they just had to embrace that and help him move forward.
Jiang Cheng had to say, the efficiency of Shanghai Tangren was nothing to scoff at. A film crew had been assembled, and the cast had been decided with the exception of a few roles.
For the role of male lead and female lead they had decided on Vic Chou and Barbie Hsu. With Dee Hsu playing the 2nd female lead He Yiqian. With such a lineup he knew the show would be eye-catching to people.
At present, the most uncertain thing was the role of Xiao Le. There weren't too many child actors between the age of five to six on the mainland with decent acting skills. The original actor for Xiao Le's character, Xiao Xiaobin, hadn't been born yet.
However, this wasn't so big an issue for Jiang Cheng. He had long thought of another actor to replace him. He put forward a suggestion and it didn't take long for the crew to find a child actor called You Haoran in Beijing.
You Haoran, born in 1996, was currently only five years old, but they didn't need to worry about his acting skills, he had been starring in adverts since he was three. He was also taller than most of his peers. Although he was only five years old, he looked like a six or seven year old.
In the future, he would play the role of Xia Yu, in the popular drama [Home with Kids]. He was honest and intelligent, and he had successfully shaped the role of Xia Yu, into a unique character. There should be no issue giving the role of Xiao Le to him.
After careful consultation with You Haoran's parents, they agreed to let You Haoran appear in [Autumn's Concerto], accompanied by his mother throughout the journey.
In this way, the cast for [Autumn's Concerto] was fully assembled as the rest of the roles were filled.
And Shanghai Tangren didn't procrastinate in announcing the show to the outside world.
They would be starting production for the drama in October and a news conference to announce production news for the show was to be held on October the 9th, in Shanghai, with all the major media outlets being invited.