Role Auditions

After obtaining Stephen Chow's Comedy Character Creation Techniques.

Lin Chuan had been working on improving his ability to read people and recognize their qualities.

There was an old saying: "The world isn't lacking in beauty; it's just lacking eyes that can see it."

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The same was true if you replaced "beauty" with "comedy."

Everyone had a unique quality.

Being able to pick up on it and judge whether audiences would like to see it on the big screen

was an extremely rare skill.

Lin Chuan had nearly mastered it.

After spending five or six days relaxing at home, Lin Chuan went to school to get ready for the new semester.

"Lin, I heard you like lemonade. I bought this especially for you!"

"Lin, could I get your autograph?"

"Lin, would you like to have lunch with me in the cafeteria?"

"Lin, do you think I still have a chance?"

When he arrived at school, Lin Chuan discovered that he'd become the most popular person in his class.

Lin Chuan had never gone out of his way to hide who he was.

He'd even registered his Weibo account under his real name.

So when he got to school, he was greeted warmly by quite a few of his fellow students.

Although plenty of people online called Lin Chuan a scoundrel, in real life, people still treated him with considerable respect.

After all, Lin Chuan was only a freshman, yet he'd already made a film like Balloon.

It was top quality, and its box office had exceeded eighty million.

He was undoubtedly a rising star.

Lin Chuan exchanged contact information with quite a few new classmates and told them he'd give them priority if any roles came up.

Jianghai City Film Academy was, after all, one of the most prestigious schools in all of Huaguo.

If a suitable role came along, why not offer it to them first?

Of course, Lin Chuan wasn't going to shoehorn his classmates into the film just for their sake.

He wouldn't compromise a movie over some vague obligation. That would be putting the cart before the horse.

There was quite a bit to take care of after the semester began.

He also had some paperwork to finish.

Once he'd taken care of it all,

Lin Chuan went to the office of his counselor, Ma Wei, to discuss whether he could make a film during the semester.

Ma Wei was in his early thirties, chubby and harmless-looking. He was a very kind counselor.

"So you want to make a film while you're still in school?"

Ma Wei smiled. "You have my support. The school fully supports you. I've seen Balloon. It was excellent.

"For a student to make a film that earns so much at the box office is already an accomplishment beyond what 99% of people can manage!"

Lin Chuan smiled. "Mr. Ma, you don't have to flatter me. With your support, I'm already reassured."

As he spoke, he handed Ma Wei the script.

"This is the script I wrote. Could you take a look and give me some advice?"

Lin Chuan had faithfully recreated the script for Happy Family from memory, so there was nothing wrong with it.

But since he'd be making the film during the school term, showing the script to his counselor was the least he could do out of professional courtesy.

Ma Wei took the script.

He was curious about what Lin Chuan's new script would be like.

After all, Lin Chuan's previous work, Balloon, had made such a deep impression.

Ma Wei also intended to offer his student a few small suggestions.

Balloon may have been a hit, but it was still an animated film.

There was a big difference between animation and live-action.

As a counselor in the Director Department at Jianghai City Film Academy, Ma Wei was no nobody himself.

Some of his students had directed films that earned over a hundred million at the box office.

Lin Chuan was talented, but he wasn't Ma Wei's most talented student.

Ma Wei opened the script to the first page and began reading carefully.

A few minutes later, he began flipping through the pages much faster, yet with a surprising gentleness.

More than ten minutes later, Ma Wei finished the script, still wanting more.

He took a deep breath.

"This script is wonderful, especially that final twist!"

Ma Wei closed the script, looking a little embarrassed. "I thought I'd be giving you advice, but this script is even better than I could have imagined!"

"If there's anything you need, just tell me. I'll do everything I can to help!"

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Ma!"

Before long, a banner announcing auditions for Lin Chuan's new film was hanging at Jianghai City Film Academy.

Happy Family was a comedy with "ghosts" in it.

Choosing the actors for those ghosts was crucial.

Lin Chuan considered "approachability" one of the most important qualities to look for in an actor.

In the first half of the film, the ghosts would constantly torment the protagonist.

The actors had to make sure the ghosts could hurt him without making the audience hate them, while still making the audience laugh as much as possible.

That required the actors themselves to have a certain warmth.

At the very least, they couldn't have faces that made people feel wary or dislike them.

On the first day of auditions, Lin Chuan saw several hundred actors, but by the end, he still hadn't found anyone suitable.

In fact, people who were genuinely approachable and could stay that way over time were rare.

It took not only a positive, proactive mindset, but also the ability to withstand the wear and tear of life.

At first, plenty of people might seem warm and approachable.

But in real life, they could be mistaken for weaklings and treated like easy targets.

Under the pressure of daily life, they might remain tense all the time, and that warmth could gradually disappear.

The roles of the "ghosts" remained unfilled.

Lin Chuan, on the other hand, had found a few people for other roles.

First, there was Nurse, the woman the male lead of Happy Family had a crush on. Lin Chuan gave the role to Senior Female Student.

After all, she'd been by Lin Chuan's side throughout his growth.

The acting required for this role was right in her comfort zone.

And with Stephen Chow's Comedy Character Creation Techniques backing her up, she would undoubtedly stand out to the audience.

Among the actresses Stephen Chow had made famous, several hadn't made much of an impact after leaving him.

A major reason was that, outside of Stephen Chow's films, they'd never again found roles as suited to them.

Lin Chuan also gave a few other supporting roles to people he knew at school.

Of course, Happy Family wasn't a youthful romance. Most of its characters were ordinary people out in the world.

Most of them were around thirty.

Though he liked his classmates a lot, Lin Chuan still didn't force them into the cast of Happy Family.

Just as Lin Chuan was starting to worry,

the head of the Acting Department at Jianghai City Film Academy came to see him.

He hadn't come to audition, of course.

He was there to meet this newcomer director.

He'd watched both animated films, Balloon and Spoon Killer Demon, and was impressed by Lin Chuan's imagination and creativity.

The fundamentals shown in Spoon Killer Demon and the bold, frightening visual style of Balloon had both left a deep impression on him.

When Lin Chuan saw the department head, his eyes lit up.

A greeting almost slipped out before he could stop himself.

"Well, if it isn't the head of the Director Department?"

The department head's surname was Hou, but he looked remarkably like Chen Qingquan, who loved studying foreign languages late at night in a certain TV series.

Especially that air of self-righteousness beneath his apparent refinement, and the sly cunning beneath his sharp mind.

And the sleaziness that seemed to have seeped into his very bones.

Lin Chuan couldn't help feeling thrilled at the sight of him.

What a perfect choice to play Perverted Grandpa!