Chapter 648: Audition

"Sister Xiaoyuan, did you just go to film *Chinese Paladin* before?"

In the audition waiting area for *2 Broke Girls*, it was crowded with people.

A rough estimate showed at least a hundred people on site.

And this was just the first batch of people coming for the audition.

The girl talking to Deng Xiaoyuan was also an actress who had acted in several dramas, named Fang Fang.

Deng Xiaoyuan nodded, smiled, and said: "Yes, I played a small role in *Chinese Paladin*."

"So envious," Fang Fang said. "I went to audition for *Chinese Paladin* at the time, but there were so many small roles in it, and I didn't get any of them."

She sighed as she said this.

Deng Xiaoyuan: "I was just lucky to be chosen."

"How could that be? Sister Xiaoyuan, your acting is so good, and you are so beautiful," Fang Fang said immediately. "However, Sister Xiaoyuan, since you have filmed *Chinese Paladin*, do you know Lu Yan He? Do you know any news about this drama *2 Broke Girls*?"

"How would I know any news? If I could know any inside information, why would I still be sitting here auditioning?" Deng Xiaoyuan shook her head.

"That's true," Fang Fang sighed again.

Deng Xiaoyuan glanced at her and maintained a faint smile.

"I heard that Lu Yan He even directly refused to be a judge for the main competition unit of the Xitu'er Film Festival next year," Fang Fang said, her tone not without envy.

"I'm so envious; others have already been invited by Xitu'er to be judges."

Deng Xiaoyuan smiled slightly.

"So many people came to audition for this drama; the competition is too fierce," Fang Fang lamented. "I don't know if I can get a role in this drama. I don't even dare to hope for a lead role; just a small supporting role would be fine."

"Who doesn't think so?" someone next to her said immediately. "Even if it's a small supporting role, as long as it's Lu Yan He's drama, it can become popular and get attention."

"Sister Xiaoyuan should be here to audition for the female lead, right?" Fang Fang asked tentatively.

Others looked at Deng Xiaoyuan with some surprise.

Deng Xiaoyuan said with a smile: "Me auditioning for the female lead? I wish."

One sentence dispelled everyone's surprise again.

Suddenly, someone let out an exclamation.

This exclamation was not small.

"My God!" a somewhat exaggerated voice.

Everyone was attracted and looked over there.

A middle-aged man who was very short, about 1.3 or 1.4 meters tall, was wearing an ill-fitting suit.

The gazes looking at him from all around made his cheeks flush red, revealing various emotions such as embarrassment and shyness.

Deng Xiaoyuan also glanced at him with some surprise.

How... is he also here to audition?

Does this man count as a dwarf?

The first reaction in many people's minds was this question.

The reason for this question was that he wasn't particularly short, and he actually looked quite handsome, which didn't quite fit the impression people usually had of a dwarf.

However, no matter what, it shouldn't have been enough to make someone let out such an exclamation.

"..."

The girl who had just exclaimed showed a bit of contempt on her face and turned to talk to her companion.

This shorter man said nothing and silently found a place to sit down.

Seeing this scene, Deng Xiaoyuan felt inexplicably sad.

"Is this person also here to audition?" Fang Fang was curious and whispered.

"Maybe."

"With his height, what role can he audition for?" Fang Fang said.

"Maybe he is a special character specifically responsible for comedy."

"Not likely. In the scripts Lu Yan He wrote before, there have never been such special characters."

Hearing this, Deng Xiaoyuan suddenly thought of something.

Special character?

Specifically responsible for comedy?

Deng Xiaoyuan did indeed know a little more news than others.

For example, this drama is no longer like *Friends*, focusing on the daily stories between a group of handsome men and beautiful women, but highlighting the living environment of the "bottom layer."

For example, in this drama, the composition and appearance of the characters in the main cast will have greater differences.

In the audition waiting room, most are handsome men and beautiful women with good images—this is also the type of group most easily seen in the acting profession.

However, for this drama *2 Broke Girls*, this does not mean that the main body of the casting is this group of people.

The person who provided the news to Deng Xiaoyuan told her that when auditioning, one must not lean towards that kind of idol drama-style great beauty; it must be that kind of characteristic with a sense of life.

So far, in the audition waiting room, he is the only one with the same physique as the man just now.

Deng Xiaoyuan's eyes flickered, and she got up and walked towards the man.

Fang Fang and some others were stunned to see Deng Xiaoyuan suddenly get up, not knowing what she was going to do, until they saw her actually walk up to the man and sit in the empty seat next to him; they all showed expressions of shock.

"This actor named Bai Yunfei was an acrobatics troupe actor before," Hu Siwei held a photo and introduced him to Lu Yan He and others. "He is only 1.4 meters tall, but his body is very flexible, and he has a handsome baby face. He won't give people a sense of discomfort on camera, which is relatively in line with the character portrait you gave at the beginning, Yan He."

In *2 Broke Girls*, the restaurant owner is a short Asian.

Lu Yan He has always felt that one very important reason why this drama *2 Broke Girls* could become popular and be liked at the beginning was that even before the big winds of political correctness and feminism rose in Hollywood, it had already consciously talked about equality in this drama.

Moreover, especially in an environment like an ordinary restaurant to talk about this theme, it appears even more real and valuable, and because it is wrapped in the shell of a sitcom, it lacks the heaviness of social issues.

Lu Yan He wanted to retain this characteristic of this drama.

He didn't expect that Hu Siwei had actually found an actor with such an appearance.

"Among so many actors who came to audition, he is the only one I invited," Hu Siwei said. "Of course, if you think he is not suitable, just give him a low score."

Lu Yan He asked: "He was an actor in an acrobatics troupe before; is his physical ability very good?"

"Yes," Hu Siwei nodded. "I have watched his performance. Although it is very different from film and television acting, he is very capable. As long as someone leads him to adjust his performance style, acting in our drama will definitely be no problem."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Today, he came to do the casting audition for *2 Broke Girls*.

This drama really didn't set any actors, preparing to rely entirely on auditions to cast.

Including the two female leads.

Lu Yan He is already very used to the job of auditioning.

There are still many people coming to greet him, and Lu Yan He is becoming more and more familiar with how to deal with such situations.

Anyway, it's just making small talk.

There are six screenwriters for this drama.

Very exaggerated, but also very normal.

Exaggerated in that the crews Lu Yan He encountered basically had scripts written by one or two people, at most plus a director who participated in script creation.

Normal in... actually, for sitcoms, under normal circumstances, there are many screenwriters.

Because every episode of a sitcom is a different small subject, it needs jokes and fun. Except for someone like Lu Yan He who has opened a golden finger, if you really rely on one or two people to do the script, creativity will soon be exhausted.

If you look at classic sitcom works, you will find that basically every sitcom has a large team of screenwriters.

Of course, in this drama *2 Broke Girls*, Hu Siwei originally wanted to put Lu Yan He's name in the chief screenwriter column, but Lu Yan He refused immediately. He didn't write a single word, so he really didn't have the face to hang as chief screenwriter.

Script creativity and script consultant. These are his final titles.

The screenwriters have already written scripts for several episodes, and today's audition is to use scripts from a few episodes to test the acting.

Everyone only has five minutes.

The actors auditioning come in one by one and go out one by one.

It must be said that many of the actors who came to audition acted quite well.

The problem is... the academic style is too strong.

Lu Yan He doesn't know how to say it, but if a sitcom uses that kind of particularly academic performance style, it will actually be very awkward—making the audience awkward.

Lu Yan He marks his list from time to time.

During the intermission, Hu Siwei chatted with Lu Yan He, asked about his feelings, and asked what these marks meant.

Lu Yan He said: "Oh, these marks are because I think they are relatively suitable for some roles in my other dramas, so I wrote them down and will invite them to audition later."

Hu Siwei asked: "Among the actors who have already auditioned, are there any you think are suitable for these resident roles?"

"There are a few that feel okay, but the time for testing acting is too short," Lu Yan He said. "Maybe I will have to look carefully later."

Hu Siwei nodded.

"Actually, quite a few first-tier actors have taken the initiative to ask, wanting to act in this drama, and have all lowered their pay," Lu Yan He shook his head.

"Sitcoms... uh, it's fine for first-tier actors to make guest appearances, but let's forget about the leads," Lu Yan He shook his head. "Unless it's like *Friends*, where everyone is a first-tier actor who became popular starting from this drama, otherwise, it's hard for the audience to get into the play. Moreover, any famous actor, placed in a lead cast where other actors' popularity cannot compare to him, is easy to make this drama become centered on him."

Hu Siwei wanted to speak but stopped.

"At the beginning, *Friends* had no choice. One was that although I was quite popular at the time, my status as an actor was not as high as it is now. Second, if I didn't star, this drama wouldn't have been able to start. Actually, when the first season was broadcast, there was this problem. All the publicity was centered around me. The other five people clearly had the same amount of scenes as me, but everyone's highlights were suppressed by me."

Lu Yan He knew what Hu Siwei wanted to say as soon as he looked.

"I didn't act in the second and third seasons. In this respect, it was also a good thing," Lu Yan He said. "At least, for this drama, the other actors and roles have become the true protagonists in the hearts of the audience during this period, and their fates have also been paid attention to."

Lu Yan He said again: "Moreover, I am not only the lead of this drama but also the screenwriter. I am willing to give up scenes and exposure. If another first-tier star were to act, to be honest, they have already lowered their pay, can you still manage to treat them equally with other actors? Other actors have no assistants, no RVs, no separate dressing rooms. Does he have them? He does, and the distance in the crew is pulled away from other actors, affecting the creative atmosphere of the sitcom. If he doesn't, that's us being unrighteous."

Hu Siwei nodded.

"Okay, you are right."

"Sitcoms are naturally a theme that attracts audiences, so let's slowly accumulate audiences," Lu Yan He said. "First-tier stars cannot sign a multi-season appearance contract with you in one go. I am very welcome if they are willing to come for guest appearances, and I am willing to give the full market price, but for the leads, my attitude is to refuse."

Please... collect_(!)

Hu Siwei: "Fine, I believe in your judgment."

"Brother Siwei, since you are willing to deep-dive into sitcoms, I think you having your own led projects is one aspect. On the other hand, I suggest you can learn from the *Jump Up* theater model and start making pilot episodes directly," Lu Yan He said. "One is to discover directors, two is to discover screenwriters, three is to discover actors. As long as there is a good idea, a good point, pull up a crew and film an episode story first. Actually, to put it bluntly, it's the kind of skit in stage plays, ten to twenty minutes per episode. Throw it into the market. The broadcast volume doesn't matter. What matters is how the audience reacts. If the reaction is good, then continue to develop. If the reaction is not good, give up in time. Through one pilot episode after another, you can save up several teams that do sitcoms, and you can also have sufficient projects to support the production team."

Hu Siwei looked at Lu Yan He with some surprise.

"Pilot episodes require real money to be thrown in, and they may not necessarily be profitable."

Lu Yan He said: "Pilot episodes don't make much money, but a sitcom that can continue to be developed can definitely help you recover the production costs of dozens of pilot episodes. Not to mention how many talents who do sitcoms these pilot episodes can help us discover and accumulate. These are soft gains that cannot be measured simply by numerical returns."

Hu Siwei nodded: "I understand. I am willing to do it. How much budget can the company give me to do this?"

"You make the plan, how much budget you need, we will decide in a meeting later," Lu Yan He said. "In the future, the company can list a budget for your pilot episode production every year."

Hu Siwei smiled.

"I see other film and television companies are going to be even more full of complaints," he said. "Originally, *Jump Up* theater suddenly put dozens of dramas into this market, grabbing a lot of market share. Now we are starting to engage in sitcom skits on a large scale. Those with good feedback will also be developed into long dramas. This market is going to be grabbed even more."

"We have never grabbed their market. We are doing a market that other companies cannot do," Lu Yan He said. "*Jump Up* theater has been doing it for almost half a year, and our Linghe has also contracted several. To be honest, the combined profit is not as good as the profit brought by one episode of *My Own Swordsman*. It is itself a low-to-medium cost drama market, a market that other companies dislike for low returns and no one is willing to do."

Hu Siwei: "Then it is also grabbing the schedule of actors from other film and television companies, and grabbing the drama purchase budget of platforms."

"Then they can grab it back," Lu Yan He said. "They only ever want to do top-tier big dramas, investing hundreds of millions in one drama, earning hundreds of millions... We *Jump Up* theater might not be as good as one of their top big dramas in a year. Can this also make them jealous? To be honest, truly small companies rely on contracting *Jump Up* theater's dramas to eat meat and drink soup, without being affected by the current industry atmosphere of only pursuing the top and having to drink the northwest wind. Those who are bickering, who are they?"

Hu Siwei: "Hahaha, in the final analysis, it is actually that we broke the ecological balance they created before, making their production environment where they could lie down and make money change. They can't lie down anymore. Especially in the past half year, we have discovered so many directors, photographers, screenwriters, lighting engineers, makeup artists... Before, they had no chance to emerge. Now the whole industry has more choices. Those who were in positions without doing anything, without real skills, naturally have a hard time and started scolding us."

"Let them scold; they will always be eliminated."

During the intermission, the two chatted for a while, returned to the audition room, and continued to watch everyone's auditions.

In one day, they watched hundreds of actors.

If Lu Yan He felt before that such a speed could not properly see the situation of every actor, now Lu Yan He approves of this mode instead.

Because actors are meant to compete for the audience's attention.

The more actors who can be remembered in this mode, the more they have the quality to eat this bowl of rice of the lens and eat this bowl of rice of the audience.

Auditioning until eight o'clock in the evening, all actors finished auditioning.

Lu Yan He stretched, feeling that he was sitting numbly, and his butt felt a bit cramped.

Hu Siwei said: "Shall we go eat something together later?"

"I won't eat," Lu Yan He shook his head. "I already have an appointment with Siqi."

"Oh," Hu Siwei smiled. "Then I won't disturb your date. Tomorrow is still this place."

"Hmm," Lu Yan He yawned. "Everyone worked hard. You guys eat. Tonight's meal is on me."

Hu Siwei: "Fine, then we will have a big meal."

Lu Yan He nodded with a smile.

Chen Siqi's car had arrived.

Lu Yan He walked out while talking to her on the phone.

"You guys go back first," Lu Yan He said to Zou Dong and Wang Biao. "You worked hard today. Tomorrow, let Xiaoyan and Huang Hai come to pick me up. You guys rest for a day."

Wang Biao and Zou Dong nodded.

Zou Dong said again: "Yan He, are you and Siqi going to eat outside later, or going back directly?"

"We reserved a restaurant and are planning to eat outside," Lu Yan He said. "We will go back after eating."

Zou Dong: "Then I will follow behind you. You auditioned here today. If someone has intentions, they might follow you. In case someone harasses or disturbs you, it's convenient for me to be there."

Lu Yan He wanted to say it wouldn't happen, but thinking that it wasn't like he hadn't been harassed by some crazy people in the past, he felt it was still necessary.

He nodded.

"Then I'll trouble you."

"It's nothing," Zou Dong shook his head. "Now there are three people rotating shifts with me, what's there to be troubled about."

Lu Yan He smiled.

"Then I'll go back first," Wang Biao waved with a bright smile.

"How are you going back?"

"I'll just call a car," Wang Biao said.

Lu Yan He and the others walked outside while talking.

Suddenly, a figure stood in front.

It was a somewhat familiar figure.

"Hmm?"

That person saw them coming and showed a surprised expression on her face.

"President Lu."

"Are you... Fang Fang?" Lu Yan He looked at her with some surprise.

"You actually remember me?" Fang Fang showed a surprised expression of being flattered.

Lu Yan He asked: "Are you waiting for me here?"

"Yes," Fang Fang said. "The audition time today was too short, I, I feel I didn't audition well, I was too nervous."

She looked at Lu Yan He with some nervousness and anxiety.

"I wanted to ask, can I fight for another audition opportunity for myself?"

Lu Yan He said: "You entered the second round of auditions. They will notify you later."

"Ah? Really?!" Fang Fang showed a surprised expression.

Lu Yan He nodded: "Really."

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah—that's great!" Fang Fang spun around and screamed on the spot.

It seemed like she was so excited that she lost her poise.

However... inexplicably, Lu Yan He saw traces of acting from this scene.

"..."

"Thank you, thank you!" Fang Fang suddenly stopped and bowed to Lu Yan He. "I will work hard!"

After speaking, she turned and ran like a happy little bird.

Lu Yan He couldn't help but smile.

"She is—" Wang Biao showed a confused expression.

Zou Dong said: "Probably, she wants to leave an impression on Yan He."

They walked and talked.

Wang Biao: "Sigh, people's hearts are not what they used to be. Why are there so many routines?"

Zou Dong said: "This is also a kind of ability. At least she is also openly fighting for herself."

Just as he was speaking, before the words had even finished.

They saw quite a few people standing in the lobby on the first floor of the building, at the entrance of this corridor. There were security guards guarding it, not allowing those people in the lobby to come in.

Those people would look and peer into the corridor from time to time.

When someone saw Lu Yan He and his group, they immediately ran to the security guards and looked at him eagerly.

Lu Yan He was stunned.

Wang Biao whispered and complained: "Openly? The truly open ones are these people who are blocked outside by security guards waiting for Little Brother Lu. She can stay in the corridor and wait; that's not something that can be done openly."

A cold wind surged through Lu Yan He's heart.

Recommend *I Became a Scandalous Female Lead Overnight* (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 649 =====