Chapter 653: Complex casting

Liu Teli asked Lu Yanhe: "How long will this film take to film?"

"Basically just a winter vacation time, because it can only be filmed when Huang Feng is on winter vacation," Lu Yanhe explained. "This year's Spring Festival might also be, have to keep filming, can't stop work."

After Lu Yanhe finished speaking, he felt that the possibility of Liu Teli agreeing to film this film was even lower.

Liu Teli nodded and said, "I need to ponder this script a bit more; I can't give you an answer right away."

"That's fine, no problem. However, Teacher Liu, please do give us an answer as soon as possible, because the start date for filming is not far off," Hu Siwei said.

"Alright, I will give you an answer within these two days," Liu Teli said, then laughed. "I'll go process the pork knuckle and get it stewing first; it takes a long time. We can chat more in a bit."

Lu Yanhe asked, "Shall I go and give you a hand?"

"What's there to help with? It's a very simple job," Liu Teli waved his hand.

Chen Qiang said with a smile, "Don't bother helping him. That pork knuckle of his—from start to finish, he absolutely won't let anyone else touch it even a little bit. Otherwise, if the taste is off by even a fraction, it's all your fault."

Liu Teli: "The few times the taste was off before, it was because you messed with it when I wasn't paying attention. I'm not wronging you here."

Chen Qiang rolled her eyes slightly.

Lu Yanhe and the others laughed.

"I heard the female lead for *Doomsday* is intended for Jiang Yuqian?"

Just as Chen Pinhe returned home, Zhang Yuezhen came down from upstairs wearing a dress with a soft texture.

Her question caught Chen Pinhe off guard.

"I haven't heard that, but it wouldn't be strange to seek out Jiang Yuqian. She is one of the most internationally well-known Chinese actresses right now."

"Jiang Yuqian—" Zhang Yuezhen looked slightly hesitant; she didn't seem to want to see Jiang Yuqian act in this movie with Chen Pinhe.

Chen Pinhe: "If Parameter wants to find Jiang Yuqian to act in this movie, it's not something we can control. It's not a domestic film company."

"What if Parameter has a better choice?" Zhang Yuezhen said. "For Parameter, having you as an actor is enough for the Chinese market, isn't it? Why use two Chinese actors?"

Chen Pinhe asked, "Yuezhen, why don't you want Jiang Yuqian to act in this movie? Because of *Squid Game*, her global recognition and popularity are very high. If she participates, it will also be beneficial for the movie."

"Because I don't want you to work with her," Zhang Yuezhen said. "You know I hate it when you have intimate scenes with those pretty actresses."

Chen Pinhe's brow relaxed as if he had let out a sigh of relief. He laughed, "Are you going to persuade Parameter to find an unattractive actress to play the role?"

"If it were a foreign actress, you wouldn't have many chances to interact with her, and I would be less jealous," Zhang Yuezhen looked up at Chen Pinhe slightly. "You promised me you wouldn't make me jealous."

Chen Pinhe: "Yuezhen, how could there possibly be anything between Jiang Yuqian and me?"

"I don't care," Zhang Yuezhen hugged Chen Pinhe's arm. "Anyway, I'll think of a way. You have to support me."

Chen Pinhe said with a smile, "I'm actually fine with anything, but we put a lot of effort into landing this movie *Doomsday*. Let's not lose the big picture over a small matter."

"That certainly won't happen. Given my relationship with Nicole, she will definitely ensure your appearance in *Doomsday*," Zhang Yuezhen said.

After Lu Yanhe and his group left Liu Teli's house, Chen Yin asked, "Do you think Liu Teli will agree to act in this movie?"

"Hard to say," Lu Yanhe shook his head. "To be honest, no matter which way you look at it, there is no reason why Teacher Liu Teli must take this role. He isn't the type of prolific actor, nor is he the type to take any role just because he can."

"Sigh, you're right," Chen Yin sighed. "Although Liu Teli and his wife were very enthusiastic just now, it was clearly because of you personally, not because of this movie."

"If Teacher Liu Teli really doesn't act in it in the end, there's nothing we can do," Lu Yanhe shook his head. "Things like this can't be forced; we can only go and contact other actors."

"Actually, if we look for actors in the same vein as Teacher Liu Teli, there are still many we haven't contacted yet, but they might not be as suitable as Teacher Liu Teli in every aspect."

Among the group of actors, there are too few middle-aged actors who can gradually possess the kind of audience appeal that Liu Teli has now. Basically, by the time they reach Liu Teli's age, those who can still have such audience appeal and drawing power are either superstars who have been popular all along and never faded, or they found success in middle age and haven't been popular for long—

After all, the audience's affection and attention are limited. There aren't that many stars who can truly make them like them for that long; love always has an expiration date.

Chen Yin said, "If it really doesn't work out, there is another line of thinking."

"What line of thinking?" Lu Yanhe asked.

"Try using popular male actors like Liu Zefan or Huang Kai. Since the character's age can be adjusted up or down, let these popular male actors who have acting skills play a type of role they have never played before."

"Then this movie might lose a bit of its childlike innocence, and it will cause everyone's impression of this movie to be misaligned," Lu Yanhe said. "If Teacher Liu Teli led one of them, making it an 'old leading the young' combination, it might be better. If both are popular young actors, yet it's a family comedy theme, everyone's impression of this movie would be a bit blurred, right?"

"I still hope the focus of this movie remains on this child. If the audience's attention is taken away by two bumbling thieves, the effect of the movie will be discounted."

Lu Yanhe has never been against using stars in a production; on the contrary, he understands the role of stars very well. However, to say that a movie can achieve a good box office just by using a few big, famous stars is absolute nonsense.

You have to use stars in the right place to achieve a one-plus-one-is-greater-than-two effect.

This is a science.

When Shen Teng acts in a crime suspense film, the box office still gets cut in half (in reality, it can still sell hundreds of millions, which is already proof of his box office appeal).

Chen Yin himself actually realized very quickly how unreliable his suggestion just now was. After Lu Yanhe spoke, he didn't bring it up again.

On the way back, Lu Yanhe kept thinking about who else could play these two bumbling thieves and have good chemistry.

He thought and thought until his scalp felt like it was going to break.

"Actually... it would be quite interesting for Li Zhibai to play a loud and bumbling thief," Chen Yin suddenly said. "The kind that looks quite smart but is actually stupid to the core... It has a contrast with his image, and it won't make people feel it's unrealistic."

In everyone's mind, Li Zhibai is actually quite reckless and prone to causing trouble; he isn't that shrewd, and he isn't the elite type.

Lu Yanhe thought to himself, that is indeed true.

However, if Li Zhibai were to play one of the bumbling thieves, unless Teacher Liu Teli could play the other, no one else could suppress Li Zhibai. A veteran actor who lacks the corresponding fame and status cannot "lead" Li Zhibai in the movie. This logic is the same as how no actress could be pursued by Lu Yanhe in *Those Years* while he was playing an "ordinary male high school student."

When it comes down to it, the key to the two bumbling thieves in this movie lies in the "leader" thief. Once the actor for this thief is chosen, the other can be paired with anyone. You could pair him with a silly one, an impulsive one, or an abnormal one. At this moment, Chen Ziyan sent him a message: Have the actors for the two bumbling thieves in *Home Alone* been decided? Many people are contacting me and sending me their resumes.

Lu Yanhe told her about the situation here.

Chen Ziyan: Such a headache.

Lu Yanhe: Sigh, when I first wrote this script, I felt that no matter which actor played it, it would be fine. I felt this script didn't depend on the actors. Facts have proven that I was naive.

Chen Ziyan: If it really doesn't work, you do it yourself. You play one of the bumbling thieves, and for the other actor, find a middle-aged actor who has worked with you and played your elder. That could also work. With you there, the lead cast will be enough.

Lu Yanhe: I... I have to be on the Spring Festival Gala and also film *Friends*. How could I possibly film this movie too?

Chen Ziyan: If you really need to film it, the time can still be coordinated. The days you film *Friends* can be used to film the scenes with Huang Feng and the other bumbling thief. You have many solo scenes in the script anyway; there aren't that many scenes where you are in the same frame. As for the Spring Festival Gala, we only need to attend three joint rehearsals. Fortunately, your status has risen, and you are old hands at the Spring Festival Gala, so you don't need to attend every rehearsal.

Lu Yanhe: You're making me... eager to try.

Chen Ziyan: The theme of *Home Alone* actually has the potential to sell at the box office globally. If you act in it, it will also help with the movie's sales overseas.

Lu Yanhe: But can I pull off that effect?

No errors in the content at a glance!

Chen Ziyan: Set your mind at ease. For the theme of *Home Alone*, as long as you put down your airs as an actor and act with a playful mindset, you will definitely be able to do it well. This movie is all about being joyfully exaggerated.

Lu Yanhe had never thought from the beginning that he could act in *Home Alone*.

One reason is that the main protagonist of this movie is Huang Feng, and the other is his own preconceived notion that the setting for these two bumbling thieves was middle-aged men.

It was only after he set his sights on Liu Teli that he suddenly discovered that the age setting for the bumbling thieves could actually be changed.

Because age is not the main setting for these two bumbling thieves; the main setting is their personality traits.

If he were to play it, he certainly couldn't play the silly one.

The audience wouldn't have a sense of immersion.

A young genius who got into Zhenhua University with a raw score in the college entrance exam and has become a pillar of Chinese film and television in just a few years, playing a fool?

But if he were to play the "leader," the other "subordinate" certainly couldn't be an actor older than him. In the cultural atmosphere of "respecting the elderly and loving the young" in Chinese society, to make the audience laugh easily and without burden, these inherent moral burdens must be reduced.

Then how to pair them?

A young man who is naturally a bit slow?

A pair of brainless brothers?

Various thoughts kept popping up in Lu Yanhe's mind.

"Caina?" Chen Ziyan looked at Lu Qingzhen with some surprise. "She received an audition invitation for *Doomsday*?"

"Yes," Lu Qingzhen nodded. "Didn't you tell me that the male lead for this movie was originally going to be Yan He?"

"Right, it was changed to Chen Pinhe later," Chen Ziyan said. "Caina... does she have an agent in Hollywood?"

"No," Lu Qingzhen shook her head. "It was her agency in Thailand that received the audition invitation from Parameter. As far as I know, Parameter sent audition invitations to several famous Asian actresses, including Jiang Yuqian."

Chen Ziyan showed a look of confusion.

"Did they not look for Chen Bige?"

"As far as I know, they didn't," Lu Qingzhen said. "It's also possible they contacted her."

Chen Ziyan immediately called Chen Bige to confirm this news.

Chen Bige said: "It seems they did ask. My agent in the US discussed it with me and helped me turn it down. It was just a marginal female lead with very little screen time, and there were some intimate scenes. I didn't want to act in it."

"I thought so. This movie sent audition invitations to several Asian actresses. Logically speaking, you should have been their first choice," Chen Ziyan said.

Chen Bige must be the Chinese actress with the biggest name internationally.

Especially in the film field.

Even if Jiang Yuqian is very popular internationally relying on *Squid Game*, in the eyes of film companies, if they really had to choose one to act in their movie, with other aspects being equal, it would definitely still be Chen Bige.

Chen Bige said: "Ever since *The Mist*, which Yan He starred in, was released, there have indeed been more Hollywood scripts coming to me. It's just that the quality isn't great; they all want to piggyback on the topic of being Asian to cater to so-called diverse casts."

"You really don't need to act in these average films anymore."

"My agent in the US is helping me negotiate a film, a spy thriller. If we can talk it through smoothly, I should be acting in it next year," Chen Bige said. "She also feels this film has great promise, so she didn't suggest I act in *Doomsday* either."

"I haven't seen the script for *Doomsday* yet. When they looked for you, did they show you the script?"

"They arranged for someone to send it for me to see," Chen Bige said. "It was really tough. They only gave me twenty-four hours, and there was someone specifically supervising to ensure the script couldn't leave her sight. It was actually just a very ordinary commercial film script labeled with sci-fi and disaster, still those same old routines."

"Hollywood blockbusters, the routines are always those," Chen Ziyan said. "Then I know more or less."

This film is definitely a big opportunity for Jiang Yuqian and Caina, a big opportunity that can help them level up.

Chen Ziyan was a bit hesitant about whether to help Caina compete for this role.

Hesitation, one, Caina's overseas agency contract is not in her hands, and she has no obligation to do this. Two, one of the leads of this movie is Chen Pinhe, and emotionally, Chen Ziyan doesn't want to get involved with Chen Pinhe.

The further Linghe and Shihuo keep their distance from Chen Pinhe, the better.

But one thing is one thing: if Shihuo could help Caina compete for this movie, it would mean that the subsequent cooperative relationship with Caina could be further deepened for Shihuo.

Chen Ziyan wouldn't just keep her eyes on the immediate small patch of land just because she only signed Caina's agency in China.

Chen Ziyan pondered for a long time and decided to have a good talk with Lu Yanhe about this matter.

Regarding Chen Pinhe, she still needs to reach a consensus with Lu Yanhe.

Thus, Chen Ziyan made an appointment with Lu Yanhe to meet at his house in an hour and hurried downstairs.

Recommending the old entertainment-themed book *I Became the Scandalous Female Lead Overnight* (End of chapter)