Chapter 9
Shortly after Zhao Ziwang, another actor who had previously worked with Xia Zhiyi arrived. It seemed to be a male-centric event today, as no female actors were present.
Regardless of what these people who came over to greet her were thinking, everyone appeared to be on friendly terms, and no one dared to provoke Xia Zhiyi.
"Hey, are you auditioning for the male lead this time?" A young man of similar age to Xia Zhiyi asked, somewhat surprised. He seemed surprised that Xia Zhiyi had actually mentioned the role she wanted to audition for, or perhaps he was surprised that Xia Zhiyi wasn't choosing a supporting role this time.
Heaven knows, although Xia Zhiyi has kept a low profile over the past few years, his fan base has been steadily growing, but the amount of material fans can see is pitifully small. They can only watch clips from his various film and television dramas, and they have been forced to become career fans. It doesn't matter if Teacher Xia doesn't like to take on gigs, at least there are still dramas to watch!
For various reasons, Xia Zhiyi always chooses roles with fewer scenes but more memorable characters, which has led to him being labeled as a professional supporting actor in the industry even though he is only in his twenties.
In other words, Xia Zhiyi doesn't like marketing. Even if someone tries to undermine him, the people behind him wouldn't actually let anyone climb to the top by stepping on Xia Zhiyi. Usually, as soon as a trend emerges, it's suppressed.
Even so, it still couldn't stop some people from courting disaster and always trying to Xia Zhiyi down with them—there's no way around it, Xia Zhiyi is one of a kind in this industry, his extraordinary skills have made it impossible to find a substitute in the industry for a short period of time, it's as if he monopolizes this market share, it's no wonder that people are envious.
Because he couldn't find a substitute for a meal replacement, Xia Zhiyi's fans were extremely loyal. Even though he didn't do any marketing or accept any gigs, and later didn't even participate in the drama's promotions, he focused solely on acting for three years without any distractions, yet miraculously, his popularity continued to rise.
Her debut variety show appearances have been thoroughly reviewed, her character cuts have been edited in countless ways, and her new drama has generated astonishing popularity.
Some people realized after being pinned down that Xia Zhiyi's identity was not simple, or that the people behind him were not so simple, but if everyone in this world were smart, many things would not happen again.
After Xia Zhiyi was extricated from the project team, the first thing she did was to gather information about herself, and she was naturally aware of these rumors.
But what does that have to do with him?
Xia Zhiyi: "Yes, I really like Huo Zekang, so I'd like to give it a try if I have the opportunity."
Zhao Ziwang chuckled from the side, "I heard that Director Min is going to invite two or three actors to play Huo Zekang at different ages. If you're the one, you'll definitely be Huo Zekang when he's young. If we both succeed, then we'll be a perfect match as ruler and subject."
This indirectly reveals the role he's auditioning for.
The man paused slightly, glanced at Zhao Ziwang, then at Xia Zhiyi, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then smiled and said, "Oh, what a coincidence, I also want to try being an emperor."
Anyway, there were three emperors. The first two died young, otherwise Huo Zekang wouldn't have been able to serve as a veteran of three reigns. He didn't say which one he was auditioning for.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ziwang raised an eyebrow, but since he wasn't actually very familiar with this artist, he didn't press the matter further.
Soon, when the auditions were almost over, a staff member came out from the other side of the hall, cleared his throat, and told those present to go and get their number tags.
The others naturally walked in that direction, while Zhao Ziwang and Xia Zhiyi tacitly slowed down at this moment, increasing the distance between them.
Zhao Ziwang said in a low voice, "Why did you just say that?"
Xia Zhiyi smiled and said, "There's nothing I can't say to others."
Zhao Ziwang chuckled, "You're quite the artsy type. Oh well, it's good that you said it. Several roles are auditioning together today, so it's good that they know in advance and can switch targets accordingly."
Clearly, Zhao Ziwang had great confidence in Xia Zhiyi's abilities.
Xia Zhiyi smiled. Was he going to say that this was exactly what he had in mind all along?
The rumors about Xia Zhiyi, such as "professional male supporting actor," carry a slightly derogatory connotation. After all, most people think that who would want to play a supporting role when they can play the lead?
Besides, Xia Zhiyi's skills have almost become legendary in the industry over the past few years. It's just that Xia Zhiyi isn't doing variety shows right now, otherwise, if she did, the production team would ask her if she could perform on the show so they could get more viewers.
Secondly, Xia Zhiyi's acting skills are widely recognized as flawless in the industry.
Yes, flawless.
Regardless of the role, whether positive or negative, whether gloomy or cheerful, as long as Xia Zhiyi is on camera, her own labels are completely torn off, and everyone only sees the character herself.
Their acting is absolutely phenomenal.
Who would think Xia Zhiyi's acting is bad?
Won't.
Even Director Min, when he heard that Xia Zhiyi was interested in taking on this role, even though Director Min Xia Zhiyi wanted the lead role this time instead of the supporting role he usually chose, only hesitated briefly before saying that he could directly give her the role of Huo Zekang in his youth and adolescence.
Director Min didn't even need an audition; he believed Xia Zhiyi could do it.
However, Xia Zhiyi wanted a full portrayal of all stages, which is why he ended up here. Director Min judged from Xia Zhiyi's previous works that he could perfectly portray the young Huo Zekang, but he had some doubts about anything more.
Because the oldest role Xia Zhiyi had played before was only thirty years old, and that was a character who was thirty years old in physical age but eighteen years old in mental age.
If Xia Zhiyi succeeds in this audition, she will essentially be playing the roles of three people, even though those three roles are actually based on the same person's storyline.
As for failure... how could he possibly fail!
Zhao Ziwang was naturally unaware of Xia Zhiyi's thoughts; he simply believed that with Xia Zhiyi's acting skills, today's performance was just a formality.
"Hey, number 89." Zhao Ziwang took the small card with the number 89 printed on it from the staff member, and then handed the number 90 card to Xia Zhiyi: "Here, this is for you."
Xia Zhiyi looked down and said, "Thank you."
Looking up, I met the slightly excited gaze of the staff.
Xia Zhiyi:?
The staff member seemed to realize their lapse in composure, cleared their throat, and said gently, "In a little while, the director, screenwriter, and producer will randomly select numbers to call people for auditions. It would be best if you two didn't leave the lobby unnecessarily; it would be better to find a place to sit and wait."
Zhao Ziwang asked in confusion, "Isn't it supposed to be in numerical order?"
The staff member's eyes unconsciously drifted towards Xia Zhiyi, but he spoke to Zhao Ziwang, "Well, Producer Fan said that issuing number plates at this point is no longer in order, so let's just shuffle the order."
Zhao Ziwang: "..."