Chapter 556: Korea Trip (Eight-thousand-word update!)

Jiang Jun winning the Golden Globe Best Actor, the landscape of male stars in their forties in the domestic entertainment industry was reshuffled.

Jiang Yuqian winning a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination, her international star power had also remained at a first-tier level for the past six months, and her status was soaring and stable.

Liu Zefan was not nominated for a Golden Globe, but relying on the role of a young policeman bursting with hormones, his popularity was extremely high, especially among female audiences, and a group of wealthy women who openly expressed their desire for his body appeared—which also caused a lot of discussion.

The crazy character played by Wang Jing did not make her explode in popularity like the previous leads, but her attention in the country was equally high, and her popularity increased rapidly.

This battle royale drama, which did not have as much staying power as *My Own Swordsman*, returned to the audience's view again thanks to Jiang Jun's harvest at the Golden Globes.

Jiang Jun's acceptance speech also gained extremely high popularity on foreign websites.

A story about persistence, about someone who persisted for many years and finally stood on the peak.

*Squid Game* also soared in popularity on the Maxine site, and its daily viewership returned to first place.

This is the influence of a major award.

Winning a major award is not just an artistic achievement and honor, but also means bringing extremely high commercial returns.

This is also the reason why so many movies and filmmakers compete for the major awards of the international four major film festivals, the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes every year.

Because the commercial value they correspond to is also extremely high.

Up to this point, among the actors who have appeared in scripts written by Lu Yan He, they have already helped three actors win major awards.

At this moment of celebration, some extreme career fans complained angrily to Lu Yan He: "The scripts you write for others, one won a domestic Best Actor, one won a foreign Best Actor, what about yourself? If these scripts were all acted by you, you wouldn't just have one Best Actor trophy now! Can you try a little harder and have some career ambition? If you like writing scripts for others so much, you might as well just become a screenwriter; why be an actor!"

Seeing this complaint, Lu Yan He silently swiped it away.

He had been exercising his ability in this regard recently.

No explanation, no rebuttal, say whatever you want.

Instead, Ceng Qiao suddenly sent a message, only two words: What about me?

Lu Yan He: Ah?

Ceng Qiao: Is there no script written for me?

Lu Yan He: Brother, I am writing the script for the second season of *Silent River*.

Ceng Qiao: Can you give me a Best Actor?

Lu Yan He: I'm under so much pressure.

Ceng Qiao: Pressure brings motivation.

Jiang Jun won an award, Lu Yan He was targeted—

Mainly, this award-winning rate was too high.

Or rather, Lu Yan He's scripts were too good at promoting actors.

Not to mention these two plays, *Lost on Journey* made the newcomer actor Wang Dashan explode in popularity overnight, known nationwide; *Friends* and *My Own Swordsman* go without saying.

The latter also used the character Tong Xiangyu to make Liu Zi, who had never acted in film or television, famous overnight.

Someone summarized the actors who came out of film and television works adapted from Lu Yan He's scripts. With this summary, everyone discovered that the actors who appeared in film and television works adapted from Lu Yan He's scripts were never acting in vain.

Almost every character brought attention and dividends to the actors who played them.

Lu Yan He, who had already been targeted by major brokerage companies, agents, and actors because his plays were popular enough, was even more sought after at this time.

Moreover, this time, the actors who were tempted by Lu Yan He's scripts became those who were already big names.

Those big names also wanted to win major awards.

In the past twenty or thirty years, how many domestic actors have won major awards abroad?

In just two years, Chen Bige won a Best Actress at the Hexi International Film Festival, and Jiang Jun won a Best Actor at the Golden Globes.

This success rate, this gold content!

Ning Xiulian, who had just won at the Venice International Film Festival not long ago, specifically called Lu Yan He to express her congratulations, and also hinted at asking if there were any roles suitable for her to play. Not to mention those domestic acting powerhouses. Who wouldn't want to go a step further at this stage and make a name for themselves internationally?

Filming Lu Yan He's plays, the plays can be popular, the people can be popular, and there is an extremely high success rate of winning awards.

At a time like this, one must first get connected with Lu Yan He.

How to get to know him?

Who can be the middleman to introduce him?

By this time, no one in the industry asked anymore: What exactly is Lu Yan He thinking, choosing to attend the Blue Ribbon Awards ceremony resolutely under such circumstances.

Whether it was the overseas influence he presented at the premiere of *The Mist*, or the bomb-like result of *Friends*' average viewership rating breaking 3%, or the Golden Globe Best Actor that had just been released, all had fully explained one thing to everyone in the industry: Lu Yan He didn't need to care about those miscellaneous things.

For Lu Yan He, as long as he does everything well and walks down this path of his own, no one can shake his position.

On the day of the Blue Ribbon Awards ceremony, Lu Yan He was the last to walk the red carpet.

He and Chen Siqi walked arm in arm, and were personally welcomed by Wen Yang, giving them plenty of face.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi, this already very famous couple, although discussed a lot usually, rarely appeared together in public on formal occasions.

They were not the kind of couple who stuck together wherever they went.

Therefore, being able to attend the Blue Ribbon Awards together was also giving the Blue Ribbon Awards plenty of face.

This time, both sides were under tremendous pressure to support the scene tonight.

That night, Li Zhibai brought the opening performance, singing five classic film and television songs in a row, setting off the first wave of the climax.

Awards were presented one after another.

The party still looked star-studded, but Lu Yan He found that many nominees did not attend.

As a top domestic award, for an awards ceremony, with so many nominees not coming, to a certain extent, it was indeed somewhat abnormal.

No matter how many guests there are, the protagonists are still the nominees.

Several awards in the technical departments had winners who did not come to the scene, and they were all accepted by others on their behalf.

However, fortunately, at least on the surface, it all passed.

The party reached a climax when Lu Yan He went on stage.

This was a specially set segment.

*Golden Age*, *Seventeen Layers*, *Silent River*, *Squid Game*, *My Own Swordsman*, *Friends*, *Friends*...

The singers of the theme songs for every play Lu Yan He starred in or wrote came to the scene.

Lu Yan He stood in the corner of the stage, and before each song started, he said the most famous line he had in that play as the character he played in that play.

The entire segment was arranged very exquisitely, whether relaxed, or with a sense of the times, or tense and exciting, or lively.

The live broadcast screen also cut from time to time to Huang Kai, Jiang Yuqian, Wang Jing, Liu Zi, He Jiang, Yan Liang, Li Zhibai, Zhan Yun, and others; they were all actors in these dramas.

Most of the time, Lu Yan He just stood in the darkness, listening to the singer's voice, watching the dancers on stage dance.

Those singing voices, those dance moves, were actually the stories of those plays, as well as his memories in those plays.

Lu Yan He didn't have much feeling when rehearsing, but at this moment, he felt somewhat touched for no reason.

He had actually filmed so many works.

His eyes felt a bit hot, and he quickly suppressed it.

When the last performance ended, Lu Yan He thought this segment could end and he could go off stage, but a VCR suddenly appeared on the big screen at the scene.

"Hi, Little Lu, it's been a while since we've seen each other." Director Luo Yuzhong appeared in the VCR.

Lu Yan He turned around to look at the big screen with a face full of surprise, his mouth agape.

"It's an honor to be the director of your first play. Although you always say I'm your guide, I know that even without meeting me, with your talent, you would still shine just like you are now," Luo Yuzhong said. "It's a pity I couldn't come to the Blue Ribbon Awards with you this time, because you've done such an amazing thing. As a teacher, I should be standing by your side. Let's eat together after I finish filming the play on hand. I hope the next time we come to the Blue Ribbon together, it will be me presenting you with an award."

Lu Yan He nodded with a smile.

It was as if Luo Yuzhong was really standing in front of him.

The next second, Chen Bige appeared again.

"Hello, little junior brother, little Yan He." After she finished speaking, Wang Zhong suddenly poked his head in. "Recording a VCR for Yan He?"

Chen Bige pushed Wang Zhong away. "Director, don't join in the fun, we've officially started recording."

She revealed a smile again.

"The director and I are discussing the script *Raise the Red Lantern* that you wrote. He just praised the script you wrote for ten minutes," Chen Bige sighed. "Every time at this moment, I really want to know, how did you manage to do so many things we couldn't do at this age?"

"I actually never told you this, but you should know, I am very grateful that you could hand over such a good script and such a good role for me to act," Chen Bige laughed. "From *Seventeen Layers* to *Rouge*, and then to *Raise the Red Lantern*, in just a few years, we have actually collaborated four times, and we are about to collaborate for the fifth time."

When Chen Bige said this number, there was a gasp of surprise.

Collaborating five times... for people in the entertainment industry, it might be very difficult to collaborate with someone so many times in a lifetime.

"It's great that when I'm no longer a little girl in her twenties, I met a creator like you."

Lu Yan He hadn't expected at all that the Blue Ribbon Awards ceremony would arrange such a VCR for him.

The host walked onto the stage.

"Lu Yan He is only twenty-two years old this year, such a young creator, and has become a heavyweight creator in our Chinese film and television dramas. Yan He, let me interview you. After completing so many high-quality works that everyone likes, do you have any plans to share with us next? Just now I heard that you, Director Wang Zhong, and Miss Chen Bige have collaborated on a new work, is that right?"

"Yes." Lu Yan He nodded. "Actually, that was written together with *Rouge*. It was given to Sister Bige at the time, and we filmed *Rouge* first."

"How did you manage to be so creatively vigorous?"

"This—" Lu Yan He couldn't just say he was particularly good at writing, so he had to say: "I don't know either. Maybe it's mainly because I have an advantage over other screenwriters, because of my identity as an actor, basically whatever script I write, whatever subject I write, I never have to consider other people's opinions, so I can create very quickly."

This could also be considered a reason.

For professional screenwriters, the time he actually spent creating scripts wasn't much. What consumed the most time and energy were the creative ideas from all directions, modification opinions, and too many inexplicable situations that required modifications.

Lu Yan He said with a smile: "Since you asked, I also want to appeal to everyone to trust creators a little more. Leave the nitpicking and scrutiny until before deciding to collaborate with them. Once decided, hand over the creative autonomy to the creator; otherwise, it's really hard to produce good works."

"Yan He said it very well." The host played along.

Many people in the audience were also applauding wildly.

"So, Yan He, one last question? In fact, you have collaborated with all kinds of directors and actors, both big names who have countless honors and newcomers who are just starting out. Can you share with us how you have collaborated with so many people and collaborated so well, without ever having disputes or conflicts?"

Lu Yan He pondered for a moment and said: "I really can't say any generalized reasons. Let me talk about a few common characteristics of the crews I participated in. First, basically every crew I participated in held several script reading sessions before the crew officially started filming or preparing. Regarding characters, regarding lines, regarding understanding, many of our doubts, discussions, and disputes were actually completed in this session, and they wouldn't appear until the filming scene."

"The second one, it seems our crew has never consumed too much energy on things other than creation." Lu Yan He laughed. "Like whose screen time is more, whose screen time is less, whose billing is in front, whose billing is behind."

Many people at the scene laughed.

"The last one is, say what you have to say directly, don't hold it in your heart. Whether it's dissatisfaction or different opinions, you must say it out loud." Lu Yan He smiled. "Actually, I want to say that quite a few partners I've collaborated with actually had some friction at the beginning. It wasn't that our relationship was very good from the beginning, but because we all speak directly, and no matter what, everyone is acting seriously, so we slowly understood each other later."

When he said this, Lu Yan He felt he was still quite hypocritical.

However, on such an occasion, he couldn't say that he didn't like Li Yuefeng at first because he felt he was too utilitarian, and he had a gap with Ceng Qiao because he looked down on his idol identity at first.

But for others present, Lu Yan He being able to say these words on such an occasion had a very far-reaching significance.

Especially script reading.

What Lu Yan He didn't expect was that after he said this, several winners mentioned script reading when they went on stage to accept awards and give speeches.

"Script reading is very important for the crew. Spend a few more days in advance, everyone sits together to sort out the script and communicate the filming situation, and later during filming, the efficiency and quality can be increased by double without exaggeration," this was said by the Best Cinematography winner.

Then, inexplicably, everyone's speeches slowly began to move toward "how to film a good work, how to do one's own job well." An awards ceremony slowly began to turn into a year-end work report meeting and an industry discussion meeting...

When the Best Actor winner was announced as Liu Yu, many people's first reaction was actually to look at Lu Yan He.

After all, everyone knew that he was so good with Yan Liang that they could wear the same pair of pants, but Yan Liang didn't win an award.

Lu Yan He had long expected this, and his expression management was very in place, applauding sincerely.

Yan Liang was also applauding.

Because he knew early on that his hope of winning an award was slim, he didn't hold high expectations.

Later, the Best Actress winner was Lan Lin, an actress in her early thirties.

These two actors both belonged to actors who were relatively familiar to the audience but whose popularity and buzz were not very high. Old faces, but no fans. The works they won awards for this time were also realistic works they had always been deeply involved in. The broadcast data was not bad, there were many viewers, and everyone recognized their acting—it's just that it didn't translate into fans.

In this situation, Chen Lingling giving the two major awards to them was actually a very strong signal.

It must be a good performance, and it must be a performance recognized by the audience.

The winners of the major awards tonight almost had no major upsets, and the winners were all those who were considered to have the strength to win awards from the beginning.

Fortunately, these few winners all attended the awards ceremony tonight.

There was no embarrassing situation where the most concerned major awards had no one to accept them.

On the contrary, those who did not attend the awards ceremony were actually those who had little hope of winning from the beginning.

After the awards ceremony ended, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi went to attend the celebration banquet held by the sponsor of this awards ceremony, Boya.

As soon as the two of them appeared, someone came over to say hello.

Almost everyone was asking about what plays he was preparing later, asking if there were any roles suitable for them.

Lu Yan He only said that he did have several plays in preparation later, but they hadn't entered the casting stage yet, and after entering the casting stage, he would definitely send audition invitations to everyone.

At this time, there were fewer actors who found it unbelievable when Lu Yan He mentioned auditions.

Accustomed to getting roles in other crews without auditions, they had all heard a little bit about Lu Yan He's habits and knew Lu Yan He's requirements.

In fact, many actors are unwilling to audition, really not because their acting is bad and they are afraid to audition, but because when they reach the stage of thirty to forty years old, they are no longer young people who have just debuted, and they have a certain popularity and industry status. When others don't need to audition to get roles, if they need to audition, it makes them look particularly inferior to others, so they all use "no audition" as a symbol of their status.

Now everyone doesn't resist Lu Yan He's audition requirements, also because Lu Yan He's plays requiring auditions has become a well-known thing in the industry, so auditioning oneself no longer becomes special.

To put it bluntly, many things are rendered by the media as if they are all problems of artists and actors, but in fact, many times, behind them are problems of the big environment.

The environment is the big dyeing vat.

The day after the Blue Ribbon Awards ended, *The Mist* officially started screening in the United States and was screened in Europe simultaneously.

Other countries and regions would follow one after another.

Korea was three days later.

For this kind of horror movie, except for Japan, which would delay for a period of time due to special screening policies, other places screen as soon as possible because the timeliness is very great.

Lu Yan He set off for Korea to participate in the screening activities in Korea with everyone.

Therefore, the moment the first-day box office of *The Mist* was released, all of them were together.

*The Mist* took a Friday box office of 12.5 million in the United States, which was in line with the estimates of forecasting agencies. Previously, the box office estimates of forecasting agencies had adjusted the total US box office to between 80 million and 100 million US dollars.

The better news is that the audience word-of-mouth for *The Mist* is quite good, with Rotten Tomatoes reaching 81%, which is a very good result for a horror movie.

However, everyone also knows that according to the nature of horror movies, in fact, whether it is box office or Rotten Tomatoes, it is difficult to go long-term.

The results of the first week and the second week are the bulk.

The box office results of the first weekend basically determine the fate of this movie, whether it is a success or a failure.

If the box office of the first weekend can reach over 40 million, then this movie can be described as a "great success," because the North American first weekend alone recovered the cost through the box office. But if the box office of the first weekend didn't reach over 40 million, even if the final total box office exceeded 60 million, recovered the cost, and realized a profit, it couldn't be described with the words "great success."

Of course, in fact, for Lu Yan He, this movie had already let him "recover the cost" before it was released.

The early promotional strategy of this movie made his popularity in Europe and America soar, making him more famous than many actors who had acted in four or five movies in Europe and America—

Moreover, Lu Yan He's performance in this movie had already won the praise of American media and film critics.

This made Lu Yan He already enter the sight of many film companies, producers, and directors.

Not to mention those film parties who care very much about the Chinese box office market.

Several scripts had already been sent over before this.

Judging from the number of Asian roles in Hollywood scripts and the fact that the movie hadn't been released yet, this sign was already very unusual.

It shows that Hollywood is also very optimistic about him.

However, none of the scripts that have come over so far have been liked by Chen Ziyan.

They are all those very iconic Asian roles, full of stereotypes, not even as rich as the role of the Asian ghost in *The Mist*.

Completely unworthy of Lu Yan He to act.

Chen Ziyan politely declined them all. Of course, she didn't decline them in vain; every time she declined a script, she recommended several Chinese actors with high role suitability.

After all, although these scripts are not suitable for Lu Yan He, they may not necessarily be an opportunity for other actors.

Especially those actors who don't have many film contracts or want to open up the overseas market.

In Korea, almost no one knew Lily Williams and the others. On the contrary, Lu Yan He was the big star in their group.

Whether it was the media or the people at the scene, almost all of them came for him.

Lily Williams was very surprised. She said: "I originally thought you were only so popular in China. Don't Koreans always dislike you Chinese?"

"Uh, we don't like them much either, but this doesn't affect the spread of our literary and film works," Lu Yan He said. "I have several plays that are quite popular in Korea, and their television stations have taken them for adaptation and remaking."

Lu Yan He also didn't expect that Lily Williams would directly say something like "Don't Koreans always dislike you Chinese?"

Lu Yan He thought for a while and added: "Lily, to be precise, it's that Korea has appeared with many behaviors that make us Chinese very angry. We have never stolen their culture and festivals."

Lily Williams: "... Alright."

Lily Williams asked again: "But, Lu, I want to know, if you dislike Korea so much, then what is your mood when facing so many Koreans who like you?"

"These are two different things, right? To be precise, I don't dislike Korea either. I dislike Korea as it is now," Lu Yan He said. "I have always hoped that this world is truly seeking common ground while reserving differences and respecting each other. Although I also know that this is almost impossible, competition is inevitable, and contradictions will never disappear. However, at least in terms of right and wrong, we should all have a scale. I tell you I dislike Korea, at least I can state the reasons and grounds for why I dislike it. I am not deliberately looking for trouble, nor am I arrogantly discriminating against a certain country."

Lily Williams looked thoughtful and asked: "Then do you like the United States?"

Lu Yan He was slightly stunned and said with a smile: "Between the two of us, because we are friends, if you like China, I like the United States."

Lily Williams thought for a moment and said: "Forget it, let's not dwell on these questions."

"Indeed, there is no need to dwell on it. Except for principled issues, you and I being friends is just a matter between the two of us. Still the same sentence: seek common ground while reserving differences," Lu Yan He said. "The you I know, the me you know, neither would want to gain our own interests by hurting others, and both hope for world peace, that's enough, right?"

Lily Williams nodded thoughtfully.

"You being able to tell me these things is quite surprising to me," Lily Williams said. "I have also met several Chinese directors and actors, everyone is always tight-lipped about such topics, which makes me very confused, why can't you discuss these questions."

"Because it's too sensitive, easy to be misunderstood, and even easier to be maliciously interpreted, so it's better not to say it," Lu Yan He explained. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have said it so specifically. I have been in contact with you and known you for so long, I know you and I are friends, and you won't distort and spread my words, so I told you."

Lily Williams sighed and said: "Alright, Hollywood does have many people who like to distort and spread other people's words."

What Lu Yan He wanted to say was actually not Hollywood, but since Lily Williams said so, he just smiled without saying a word.

After the screening activities in Korea ended, they were interviewed by the Korean TVN television station together.

At the same time, the box office for Saturday also came out.

*The Mist*'s box office in the United States on Saturday increased a little compared to Friday, taking 14.3 million in box office.

This made the box office of *The Mist*'s first weekend very likely to break 40 million US dollars.

If this result can really be achieved, the total box office of *The Mist* will likely break 100 million.

When everyone in the crew knew this result, they cheered and wanted to find a bar to drink and celebrate.

Lu Yan He originally wanted to go with them, but Kim Eon-sook of TVN suddenly contacted him, saying that Korean director Kim Ji-yeon learned that he had come to Korea and wanted to meet him.

When hearing this familiar name, Lu Yan He was stunned for a moment.

This one is a big Korean director. Before, he had thought about finding Shang Yongzhou to act, but because some conditions were not negotiated, Shang Yongzhou withdrew.

Director Kim Ji-yeon belongs to a big director in Korea who integrates commercial and artistic aspects relatively well. His works have won awards at international film festivals, and the box office in Korea is also very high. Several movies have had over ten million viewers—the statistics of Korean movie box office are in units of viewers, which is also very different from other places.

Lu Yan He thought for a while, told Chen Ziyan, and decided to meet Director Kim Ji-yeon.

According to what Chen Ziyan said, he is going to be an international director next, collaborating with directors from different countries—he also hasn't collaborated with a Korean director yet.

However, after Chen Ziyan received his message, she sent a message: It's no problem to meet, but be cautious, don't agree to anything. This person has a strong local consciousness and may not necessarily give you a good role. Before, he thought about collaborating with Shang Yongzhou, and the contact was not very pleasant.

Lu Yan He replied: Okay, I understand.

Chen Ziyan: But he is a big director, no matter what, you should respect him on the surface, especially since your international popularity and influence are very great now, he might even deliberately express that he doesn't care about these halos on you because of this point. This person... I haven't been in contact with him either, so it's hard to make a rash comment, but based on the news I've learned from various channels, this director is both arrogant and inferior in his bones. If he says some thorny things to you later, endure it if you can. That is Korea, don't suffer a loss in an unfamiliar place.

Lu Yan He: Okay, I know.

Chen Ziyan: No, I have to tell Zou Dong to take a few more bodyguards with you.

Lu Yan He:... Sister Ziyan, I'm just going to have a friendly chat with a director, not going to fight with people.

Chen Ziyan: In a foreign land, it's right to be more prepared and cautious. Who knows what will happen.

Lu Yan He: You made me suddenly nervous. ===== CHAPTER 557 =====