Chapter 50 Ruffians
The producer that Li Yixiang mentioned is actually the director of production.
In more formal crews, this position is mostly assigned by the producer or investor. He is mainly responsible for all the chores in the crew and also has certain financial power. Everything from buying props, providing lunch boxes, to hiring extras are paid through him.
If it is a less formal crew, or if there is no designated production director, the crew will often hire someone like Chen Xuebin. His financial power is definitely not comparable to that designated by the investors, and his position is changed from production director to nominal assistant director.
In short, this is equivalent to the crew's steward, and in some cases it can even restrict the director.
Although Gao Qunshu himself is the investor this time, the power of the production director will definitely be reduced a lot, but he is still not someone Xu Kun can target.
So after learning that the production director was interested in casting him to play Feng Biao, Xu Kun completely gave up the idea.
The next day, Gao Qunshu had someone deliver the script and the contract. Xu Kun signed the performance contract and began to study the script at home.
When playing Tang Chaoyang previously, Xu Kun could only be considered to be acting half-true to himself, but this time as Han Yueping, many things were like looking in the mirror.
The role Xu Kun played beside Zhang Yong back then was almost exactly the same as the role Han Yueping played beside Liu Huaqiang. The only difference was that Han Yueping was brave and resourceful, while Xu Kun was more brave than wise.
Now that Xu Kun has made up for his shortcomings, he is even more adept at playing the role of Han Yueping.
However, he did not slack off just because it was a true-to-life performance. Instead, he spent seven or eight days applying Li Yixiang's character analysis method to concoct a brief biography of Han Yueping.
Putting aside the branch entries, the main core is just four words: ruffian.
This may seem like nonsense at first glance, but it is actually the biggest and most solid fulcrum of Han Yueping's character. From beginning to end, he only tried to break away from this fulcrum once, and failed.
Although the ruffians in Shishi seem to be capable of doing all kinds of evil, in fact, most of them dare not get involved in murder cases. Usually, deaths occur because they lose control of their emotions and do not dare to make a big fuss afterwards, but try their best to cover it up and escape.
Whether it was Ma XX, the prototype of Song Lao Hu, or Sun XX, the prototype of Feng Biao, although they were arrogant, they generally followed this code of conduct.
Song Lao Hu had never been involved in a murder case in his life, so he was never sentenced to a heavy sentence despite being in and out of court several times; Feng Biao was more careless in his actions and had several accidents, but he would try his best to cover them up afterwards.
Liu Huaqiang was actually like this in the early stage. The boss who sold watermelons was injured but not dead. Even if he shot Feng Biao, he aimed at his leg.
Later, in order to avenge his brother, he took the initiative to break this line and openly killed his former enemy, the former game hall owner Wu Tian.
This is also the reason why Feng Biao was so scared after hearing the news that he ran away overnight in his red shorts.
Because he understood that Liu Huaqiang had no scruples at all, and had upgraded from a local gangster to a real gangster, who was out to kill him.
This is enough to prove that there is still a clear line of difference between hooligans and desperate bandits.
Let’s go back to Han Yueping.
Because he gave in so quickly after being arrested, many people think Han Yueping is a wimp.
But in fact, in the early and middle stages, whether it was stabbing Song Lao Hu's brother, or teaming up with Hu Dahai to break Feng Biao's leg with a shotgun, Han Yueping never flinched at all, and in terms of ruthlessness, he was not much worse than Liu Huaqiang.
Because all of this did not go beyond the boundaries of hooligans.
But after Liu Huaqiang brought Jinbao and Dapeng, whom he had helped introduce, to start a killing spree in Shi City, Han Yueping could no longer keep up.
Because he is a gangster, he can do whatever he wants.
Because he was a gangster, he started to be afraid.
This practice of going beyond the established rules and leaving no room for retreat obviously caused great psychological pressure on Han Yueping, but he still tried his best to keep up with his elder brother.
So after discovering that Li Li knew a lot about Liu Huaqiang, Han Yueping resolutely decided to kill Li Li for Liu Huaqiang. Although he failed due to an accident in the middle, it was enough to prove his ruthlessness and loyalty.
So why did Han Yueping become so cowardly and weak so quickly after being arrested?
Xu Kun believes that the key to the problem may lie in the two events of Song Lao Hu's murder and Han Yueping's arrest in the mall. Back then, Song Lao Hu openly raped Han Yueping's wife, and Liu Huaqiang had no intention of risking his life. In the end, it was Han Yueping who took the initiative to call the police and rescued his wife.
After Liu Huawen was chopped, Liu Huaqiang immediately went on a killing spree. Without any evidence, he let Jin Bao kill Song Lao Hu.
People who are involved in gangs care about their face the most. According to the commonly used evaluation system in the underworld, Han Yueping's hatred is actually greater and deeper than Liu Huawen's, and the evidence is conclusive.
Although Liu Huawen is Liu Huaqiang's biological brother, Han Yueping is also Liu Huaqiang's childhood friend. He has been with Liu Huaqiang for at least ten years. He has shed blood, risked his life, and worked hard for him.
Even if there is a difference in closeness, the treatment is so different...
Therefore, Xu Kun believed that Han Yueping was dissatisfied with this.
Han Yueping was further disheartened when Liu Huaqiang suddenly asked Han Yueping to meet him at the mall but did not show up, which led to Han Yueping's arrest by the police.
That's why he confessed so readily in the end.
Xu Kun showed this biography to Li Yixiang and Gao Qunshu respectively. Both of them gave good comments, especially the core summary of "local thug and gangster", which they both agreed with.
This gave Xu Kun more confidence, and he prepared to make some fine-tuning for Han Yueping, just like he did with "Blind Well".
However, Han Yueping's storyline is relatively complete, and unlike Tang Chaoyang, he has not undergone any "surgery" in his character setting, so he does not have much room for free play. At most, he can make some attempts at some important nodes.
In May, as the departure date got closer, the main members of the crew got together and had more time to develop tacit understanding.
Xu Kun and Li Yixiang, as well as Chen Bing who plays Hu Dahai and Zhang Li who plays Wang Dapeng in the play, followed Sun Honglei to various entertainment venues for several days.
All the behavior and mannerisms are based on those in the drama, just to get a feel for it in advance.
I have to say that the director's choice of Sun Honglei to play Liu Huaqiang was a real eye-opener.
Xu Kun was a little unconvinced at first. Relying on the fact that he used to be in this business and had met a lot of "big brothers" in the trading floor, he wanted to compete with Sun Honglei.
So one time when they were visiting a disco, he didn't act according to the role, but put on a shameless face, trying to suppress Sun Honglei's momentum.
At first Xu Kun succeeded, but when Sun Honglei reacted, he managed to regain the focus with his lines and facial expressions.
Finally, he put his arm around Xu Kun's shoulders and said with a smile, "Kun'er, if you do this, your brother Li will have nothing to eat."
This Li Ge refers to Zhang Li, who plays another gunman Zhou Dapeng in the drama. There is a scene in the finale where he bites the muzzle of the gun and acts fiercely, fully showing his crazy side.
What Sun Honglei meant was that Xu Kun could at most go to Zhou Dapeng's side, and could not pose a threat to Liu Huaqiang.
Xu Kun was also convinced now.
If ordinary people were asked to vote who looked more like a gangster, Xu Kun would definitely be elected with a high vote; but if people were asked to vote who was the highlight of the play, Sun Honglei would definitely be the winner.
Xu Kun is a genuine gangster, while Sun Honglei plays a gangster based on the audience's preferences.
How can a real gangster be as entertaining as one in performance?
Acting in your true self is not a panacea, especially for a role that requires some exaggeration.
Xu Kun casually used a lighter to pry open two bottles of beer, placed one in front of Sun Honglei, then picked up the other bottle and touched it to the top, praising him sincerely: "Brother Honglei, your momentum just now makes you more like a big brother than the big brothers on the road!"
After saying that, Gududu blew the entire bottle into his mouth as an apology for his previous provocation.
Sun Honglei laughed loudly, picked up the bottle and blew into it, then turned the bottle upside down to show it, and said, "Tomorrow, brothers, be more restrained. I will take you to meet the actress in our play."
(End of this chapter)
