"How is it?"
Liu Rulan asked with a light laugh over the phone.
"It's good, really good." Xiao He nodded vigorously, then asked curiously, "Sister Liu, how did this script end up coming to me?"
Xiao He had thought such righteous roles would never land in his hands anymore.
"Oh, it came from Shu Han's side. He Wenming felt Shu Han wasn't quite suitable, so it got transferred to us."
This highlighted the advantage of having two gold-medal agents in the same studio—resources could be shared, and roles deemed suitable could be swapped around.
"Ah? So it was originally meant for Brother Shu?"
Xiao He was somewhat surprised, but then it made sense. The probability of such a script going to Shu Han was much higher than coming to him.
The protagonist of this drama possessed formidable martial arts skills with numerous fight scenes to shoot. Shu Han's former title as a martial arts superstar wasn't for nothing, so it was actually quite normal for the production team to send him such a script.
"This script seems quite interesting to me. Why did Brother Shu turn it down?"
Xiao He felt that if playing a righteous character, Shu Han's face alone was quite convincing. How could he be unsuitable?
"Because they felt the protagonist's character design is too morally ambiguous." Liu Rulan massaged her forehead. "Shu Han likely can't handle it properly."
"Ah?"
Xiao He blinked.
"How to put it... this is somewhat metaphysical. You could understand it as there being no chemistry between the role and the actor."
Liu Rulan explained: "Shu Han thinks this role indeed has highlights and is very special, but an actor like him actually isn't very suited for such a role, understand? It's like the characters the actor played before are similar to this role yet completely different. If he were to portray it, it could potentially spark huge controversy and trigger judgments about whether the character's actions are right or wrong."
For example, when this character first appears, you see this actor and immediately think he's a good person. Then if this good character shows behavioral flaws, it will definitely attract massive controversy and scrutiny.
But if when this character first appears, you immediately think he's definitely a bad person, then when this villain acts completely normal or even very righteous, it instead makes people feel he's quite a decent person, even if his methods are ruthless, his way of doing things feels satisfying.
This is why sometimes when selecting script roles and actors, it often gives audiences a strange feeling—the actor's skills are good, but somehow they just don't fit.
This thing really is somewhat metaphysical; it depends on the actor.
After hearing Liu Rulan's words, Xiao He felt a dark line forming over his head: "So, I just happen to benefit from my past acting experiences?"
Although he often plays villains, giving people that stereotype, he has played good roles too!
Damn! Upright protagonists don't come to me, but now this righteously twisted protagonist needs me to stabilize it... Well, at least it smells good.
"What about this script? Is it an audition invitation or a work offer?"
An audition invitation means the role isn't completely finalized yet; the actor needs to audition. A work offer means the role can be directly confirmed, just needing to discuss details and sign the contract.
However, nowadays only major production teams and famous directors can send out audition invitations. Basically, very few ordinary small crews still send them because under such circumstances, famous actors simply won't come, and most good roles in the crew have already been filled by people sent by investors—every role has its occupant, no extras.
So now many production teams, big and small, directly send work offers. Some even have capital selecting actors first, then choosing scripts and roles.
Since Xiao He became famous from several roles, his studio basically receives work offers now.
"It was a direct invitation, but specified for Shu Han." Liu Rulan said, "But I can contact them first."
"Okay."
Xiao He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wait a moment."
Then Liu Rulan hung up and directly contacted them for Xiao He.
Xiao He glanced at his phone's time, tossed it onto the bedside table, and collapsed back onto the bed.
"Ah, I have to fly abroad again this afternoon."
He squinted at the faint light seeping through the curtains, then simply picked up his eye mask and went back to sleep for a nap...
At noon, when Xiao He got up to eat, Liu Rulan arrived.
"The production team agreed." Liu Rulan took out the contract. "But there's one thing I need to forewarn you about. Consider it carefully first."
"Mm, tell me."
Hearing that Liu Rulan specifically wanted to give him a heads-up, Xiao He's expression turned more serious. He put down his chopsticks and focused intently on Liu Rulan.
"This drama's production company is Banana Video, and their main promoted female artist was finalized long before us. So if you want to join this production, you need to mentally prepare yourself to act alongside their main promoted female artist—"
"Okay, that's actually fine."
Xiao He thought carefully.
Song Chenye only had vague affection toward the female lead, not yet developed into love. All his attention was on revenge, so the female lead and he always maintained a relatively close confidant relationship, never officially dating.
The proportion of scenes between them isn't heavy, so Xiao He felt it wasn't a problem.
"What if the female side is Yuan Sitong?"
Xiao He: ?
"Wait, wait, who?"
Xiao He immediately clutched his chest—
Not from excitement making his heart race, but because upon hearing that name, Xiao He's heart stopped for a moment.
Yuan Sitong, the female supporting role from the "Corner Also" production team, that female artist with super numerous troublesome habits, practically a production team killer. Being late was already commonplace, but most importantly, she wasn't serious about work, her professional skills were worrying. Normally she loved gossiping about others in the crew and getting into fights with certain actors.
Xiao He still remembered when she filmed a fight scene and accidentally stepped on another male actor's face, leaving a shoe print that forced him to redo his makeup.
The sadder part was that male actor was foreign and couldn't speak Mandarin, while Yuan Sitong's English was poor, so the two argued across language barriers for a long time, forming a grudge on the spot, often arguing across language barriers in the crew.
From that moment—no, even before that—Xiao He had already silently placed Yuan Sitong on his blacklist of people he would absolutely never work with again.
But now, why, of all people, her...
Xiao He's vision went dark, unable to see his own future.
Liu Rulan tapped the contract with an amused smile. "So, will you sign?"
"Wait, let me look at the script—"
Xiao He had already opened the script beside him.
"Episode 5, Scene 17: Song Chenye is misunderstood while investigating a case, conflicts with female lead Huo Wan'er..."
"Episode 6, Scene 2: Song Chenye and Huo Wan'er work together to solve the ghost skin hanging corpse case, resulting in getting chased by enemies..."
...
"Episode 38, Scene 14: Huo Wan'er drugs and attempts to poison Song Chenye, resulting in getting counter-killed..."
The more Xiao He read, the colder his heart felt. Thinking about Yuan Sitong's notoriously terrible fight scene skills, he felt he might very well die on set.
"Can we change the female lead?"
Xiao He asked despairingly.
Liu Rulan spread her hands. "This is a Banana Video production. The female lead definitely can't be changed, but they can change you. After all, this is considered a major male protagonist script. If your fame hadn't risen recently, they probably wouldn't even bother with you."
Xiao He: ...
Finally holding the script, his gaze vacant, he squeezed out a smile uglier than crying toward Liu Rulan.
"Sis, just one request—can she use a stunt double for all the fight scenes?"
Sometimes not being professional...couldn't it be considered a kindness to colleagues.