Casting Standards

The stars of the original Romance on Mount Lu were Zhang Yu and Guo Kaimin, both from the Shanghai Film Studio.

Actually, Zhang Yu hadn't been the first choice. Another actress had been cast, but the police caught her sleeping with a foreigner at a hotel for foreign guests.

Both stars were in their early twenties. Their acting could only be called competent, with the stylized mannerisms unique to the era, but they were young and attractive, and they landed a good film. They became instant hits.

Zhang Yu went on to star in Evening Rain, Street Players, and other films, becoming wildly popular. In a single year, she swept the Golden Rooster, Hundred Flowers, and government awards, achieving a grand slam at a young age.

Then she went abroad.

There was a comical phenomenon at the time: whoever won best actress at the Golden Rooster Awards would damn well go abroad, making the awards look like an overseas migration agency. Xie Jin was furious. "Don't give awards to young actresses. When they win major awards so early, they take their prizes and run abroad..."

"When we cast actors, we usually look at people from the studio first. If there's no one suitable, we look outside."

At the subject, Wang Haowei suddenly sighed. "To tell you the truth, these past few days, I've been sifting through those girls in my head even in my sleep. Whether it's Liu Xiaoqing, Li Xiuming, or that little Cai Ming, not one of them is right for it.

"It's quite a challenge!"

"Then what do you think the female lead should be like?" Chen Qi asked.

"First, she has to be pure and innocent. Second, she has to have a Western air!

"We can't cast someone gaudy and vulgar. She absolutely has to have a girl's dainty charm.

"And she's an overseas Chinese from the United States, so she's bound to be different from us. We need to show that difference. Her makeup, hairstyle, clothes, every move she makes-we have to be meticulous about all of it, but we can't exaggerate either."

"She has to keep her distance from ordinary people, but not be so high above them that she's out of reach?" Chen Qi said.

"Yes, exactly!"

Wang Haowei tapped the table. Talking with this young man was a real pleasure; he understood at the slightest hint.

"I've heard actors experience a character's life before filming. How do you experience that Western air?"

"We'll arrange what we can. For example, she could spend a week at the Overseas Chinese Hotel and observe how real overseas Chinese speak and behave."

"You're spending that much?"

"It's tradition! Perfectly normal."

Wang Haowei thought nothing of it and asked, "Little Chen, what do you think?"

"I agree with you about the female lead. As for the male lead, I think it would be best if he were more pretty."

"Pretty?"

Wang Haowei was amused. "Why describe him as pretty? Why not handsome?"

"The male lead is shy and rather passive in the relationship. He blushes and gets embarrassed easily, so he can't be a very masculine tough guy like Ken Takakura. He can be a little gentler, a little prettier."

"A little prettier..."

Thoughtful, Wang Haowei made a note in the notebook. "Anything else?"

"The story spans five years. At the start, the male and female leads are young and innocent, but what about five years later? They can't still be young and innocent, can they? I think their styling should change, make them a little more mature. Their personalities should preferably mature a little too."

"Mm, good, good!"

"The male lead's older sister is a traditional woman. I don't have any particular thoughts about her. There should be plenty of actresses like that."

The two talked for quite a while. Wang Haowei was delighted and said with a smile, "I thought we'd have a lot of disagreements, but I didn't expect us to be so much in agreement. We'll start preparations in earnest next. If there are any problems with the script, I'll come find you again."

"Then my job is almost done?"

"No, no. You can offer your opinion on every aspect, and we might need to make changes on the spot during filming. We'll need you to handle those too. Normally, we can start filming in the second half of the year, finish before the year ends, and release it next year."

Wang Haowei paused and made a point of adding, "In other words, you can take part until filming is finished."

"So I can keep staying at the guesthouse?"

"Ha ha!"

Wang Haowei laughed heartily. "Don't be embarrassed. For the studio, it's just paying one more person's wages. If that gets us a good film, Director Wang would jump at the chance!"

Back at the guesthouse, in the familiar room 302.

Chen Qi washed his face. With nothing to do, he decided to lie down on the bed and take a nap.

He'd heard that people from Shanxi loved afternoon naps most of all. It was in their genes, carved into their bones, just like people from Shandong taking civil service exams, people from Tianjin talking, imitating, teasing, and singing, and Sichuan girls saying, "Your old lady's counting to three"...

When he woke up, it was already four in the afternoon.

He washed his face again, feeling a little depressed. Now that he'd finished the script, he had time on his hands again. It seemed he needed to find something else to do. He might look lazy and carefree, but deep down, he wasn't a salted fish. He wanted to build a career.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in!"

When Liang Xiaosheng came in, Chen Qi was reading a copy of English 900, which he'd asked Yu Xiuli to get for him.

English wasn't a sensitive subject now. A craze for learning it had swept through the public. In Romance on Mount Lu, for example, the female lead even taught the male lead to say, "I love my motherland." It was all a sign of the times.

He often made a show of studying the book to cover up his increasingly fluent English.

"Finished talking with Teacher Wang?"

"Yeah, it went well. We're making rapid progress."

"You're probably the only one who can make rapid progress. You have no idea-directors and screenwriters have even come to blows over disagreements before. As the saying goes, scholars look down on one another. It's the same in filmmaking; they all think they're the best."

Liang Xiaosheng sat in a chair and crossed his legs. Room 302 had become his second dormitory. "By the way, Ge You has his exam tomorrow. He's practicing hard at home, with his old man coaching him personally. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions Art Troupe is recruiting. If he doesn't pass this time, there really won't be much hope left."

"He'll be fine. For the sake of all those big pigs and little pigs, he has to pass."

Liang Xiaosheng sat for a while, then got up to leave.

After a moment's thought, Chen Qi followed him out.

As they walked across the courtyard, before they reached the main building, Chen Qi suddenly grinned and quickened his pace. Up ahead, Jiang Shan was walking toward them. Her eyes widened, and she took off running.

"What are you running for?"

"Don't come over here! You're so annoying!"

"You didn't say hello to me. That's rude. I'm telling your dad!"

"Ahhh! You bad guy!"

"Ha!"

He had successfully teased the little girl and was delighted. Liang Xiaosheng sighed. Little Chen was usually quite mature; he hadn't expected him to have a childish side too.

Once they reached the main building, Chen Qi really did go looking for Jiang Huaiyan, but not to tell on her. He wanted to borrow the telephone. In those days, telephones were rare too. Private households didn't have them at all; only large organizations did.

He didn't just mooch food and drink. He mooched everything.

He shamelessly dialed China Youth Daily. "Hello, is this China Youth Daily? ...Oh, I'm looking for Reporter Yu, Yu Jiajia!"

After a short wait, a woman's voice came through the receiver.

"Comrade Chen Qi? Why are you calling me?"

"I wanted to ask you something. I heard Tianjin Daily has started running ads. Have the newspapers in the capital started accepting them?"

"No. Tianjin is Tianjin, and the capital is the capital. What are you planning to do?"

"There have been more and more tea stalls lately, and the competition is putting a lot of pressure on us. I want to keep promoting our tea stall... How about this? Why don't we work together and make a news story out of it?"

(Thanks to Life Is a Tea Table for becoming an Alliance Leader...

That's all!)

(End of chapter)