109: He's still rolling?!

The director continued, “You acted very well. I’d like to ask you to improvise a short scene.”

“Alright.”

The director handed him a piece of paper with the scene and lines for the final short segment.

In this segment, Fong Sai-yuk comes alone to rescue someone from the execution ground, using a roster in his hand to confront EErdo. EErdo suggests a one-on-one duel: if he loses, he will allow Fong Sai-yuk to be a filial son; if Fong Sai-yuk loses, he must hand over the roster.

Chen Fang’s gaze quickly scanned the lines.

Oh, he got it right.

Besides the ruthlessness, he had also practiced the other character expressions for this segment.

A minute later, the director said, “Teacher Chen, are you ready? If you can’t remember, even saying one line is fine.”

“It’s fine, I’ve remembered the general meaning,” Chen Fang said, putting down the paper.

“Alright, Action.”

…

EErdo looked down at Fong Sai-yuk from above, a confident, faint smile playing on the corner of his lips, as if everything was within his grasp.

He jumped off the platform, hands behind his back, smiling faintly, glancing sideways at Fong Sai-yuk. An arrogant, overbearing aura emanated from him, yet beneath the arrogance, his eyes revealed undisguised admiration.

“You’ve got guts, I appreciate people like you. If we weren’t on opposing sides, today I could drink with you and discuss heroes.”

He raised his hand, a hint of ruthlessness entering his eyes, “Alright, today, I’ll give you a chance.”

He picked up a torch nearby, glancing sideways at Fong Sai-yuk, and slowly walked over, a playful, cat-and-mouse look in his eyes, “If you can defeat me before the fire burns through the rope, I will let you be a filial son. But if you lose, you must hand over the roster to me.”

After speaking, his facial muscles tensed, his gaze turned cold, and he let out a cold snort before dropping the torch.

A hint of amazement flashed in the director’s eyes.

Arrogance, the overbearing nature of someone in a high position at a young age, wielding great power, looking down on the common people, appreciating talent but without pity—these feelings were all perfectly portrayed.

He was a singer by profession, so even with talent, how could he achieve such a level in just one minute?

The director asked, “Teacher Chen, if I may ask, how much preparation did you do?”

Chen Fang replied, “I used to practice acting privately. This time, after getting the character background information and script segments, I researched some historical materials, wrote three possible character biographies myself, and consulted with seniors in my company on how to express and perform various emotions.”

The director nodded, feeling a little stirred.

Before coming out this time, he heard from a friend that many actors nowadays can’t even speak their lines clearly or understand their characters.

Some actors even don’t know what a character biography is.

But look at this person—he delved into the character’s psychology and wrote multiple biographies just from getting the segment.

In terms of attitude alone, he was incomparable to the previous ten people.

His resources were indeed better than the previous ten, but among those ten, who achieved such a level?

Those ten also had companies and could prepare in advance. Even if they couldn’t get good acting teachers, they could still break down psychology and emotions. But clearly, none of them were as meticulous as he was.

In the acting segment, whether from the results presented or the attitude, in his mind, Chen Fang was undoubtedly the first among the first eleven people.

Not only the director, casting director, and others, but even Li Kaiming in the second row showed admiration.

“Alright, thank you, Teacher Chen. Please go to the actor’s lounge to rest and await the next round of assessment.”

“Alright, thank you!” Chen Fang bowed slightly and left the room.

In the audition room.

The producer watched him close the door, feeling a mix of helplessness and regret.

His appearance, temperament, and acting skills perfectly matched the Nine Gate Admiral, but unfortunately, this role had a second round of assessment—martial arts.

Producer Tang Shan looked at the candidate’s resume, her gaze falling on the words “Sanshou” in the special skills column, and she sighed lightly.

The other eleven candidates mostly came from Peking Opera martial arts roles, were martial arts athletes, or martial arts school students, and there was even one professional mixed martial artist.

Chen Fang’s resume stated he knew Sanshou, but how could he compare to these professionals?

If it were an ordinary historical drama, he would definitely be chosen.

Unfortunately, this was a wuxia film, and fight scenes were one of the souls of the entire movie.

In the storyboard, his first encounter with Fong Sai-yuk involved fighting continuously for six or seven minutes, and the entire film was only an hour and a half long, so there was no way to use a stunt double.

So the director had already informed Tang Chen that while he would audition, it was very possible that based on his performance, he might be adjusted to another role.

Alas, what a pity.

“Consider adding a role for him,” the director beside him said, looking at the screenwriter.

The screenwriter was initially reluctant to revise the script, but after watching this audition, he decisively agreed, “No problem, I’ll think about it later.”

The director looked at the casting assistant, “Please call in the last one.”

…

Meanwhile, Chen Fang returned to the lounge and found another young man in the room, chatting cheerfully with Tang Chen. He was dressed like a team member from an esports-themed idol drama, with an exaggerated eagle logo printed on his red and white baseball jacket and limited-edition sneakers, exuding youthful energy.

He had seen this person in entertainment news; he was Tang Chen’s other artist, Jiang Haotian.

Tang Chen saw Chen Fang walk in and stood up with a smile.

Jiang Haotian also stood up and grinned at Chen Fang, “Hello, Brother Chen.”

Tang Chen quickly walked between the two, “Let me introduce you two, this is Chen Fang.” He then looked at Jiang Haotian, “And this is…”

“We already know each other, why be so formal?” Jiang Haotian interrupted him, grinning at Chen Fang and extending his hand, “Hello, Brother Chen, I’m Jiang Haotian. My main profession is acting. I heard you’re super amazing, and I finally met you in person. We can play games together later. The boss is terrible at it…”

Jiang Haotian was rambling on when he was suddenly interrupted by Tang Chen, “Heh, stop putting me down to act like a master. You can’t even beat Yu Mengmeng, you can only compare yourself to an old man like me.”

Chen Fang smiled.

Tang Chen turned and looked at Chen Fang with a smile, “I’ll call the stylist over. You can chat with him for a bit.”

Chen Fang replied, “Alright.”

Tang Chen walked out the door, leaving only Jiang Haotian and Chen Fang in the room.