Chapter 62: The Young Emperor
After entering the room, I saw that both sides were filled with mahogany armchairs.
There were only two actresses sitting on the chairs on the left, but they were both familiar faces.
The younger one is He Saifei, a professional concubine who played Yang Jiuhong in "The Mansion Gate" last year and whose career has reached a new level; the older one is Pan Hong, who was very popular in the 1980s and was as famous as Liu Xiaoqing.
On the right are four male actors, most of whom look familiar, but the one who can really be recognized is the youngest one - Wang Hui, who played the Thirteenth Prince in "The Yongzheng Dynasty" and "Li Wei as an Official".
Xu Kun only started paying attention to the list of actors after he entered the circle, otherwise he would never have known Wang Hui's name.
Seeing Hao Lei leading Xu Kun in, all the seniors politely put down the scripts in their hands, stood up with a smile and waited for Hao Lei to introduce them.
"Several teachers."
In front of several senior colleagues, Hao Lei boasted about Xu Kun: "This is Xu Kun. Like me, he was recommended by teacher Lü Liping to join the group. Although he is two years younger than me and has only been in the industry for more than a year, he has already starred in a movie and has starred in several TV series that have been released."
This made Xu Kun feel embarrassed, mainly because none of the films he could show off were released, and those that were released were not good enough at all.
He was just about to say something back when the old man at the top of the male cast nodded and said with a smile, "Xiao Xu is indeed good. I've seen Blind Well. Not everyone can play the wild and desperate spirit of Tang Chaoyang."
“Have you seen Blind Shaft?”
Xu Kun was greatly surprised and asked subconsciously: "You and Director Li Yang are..."
He thought the old man was Li Yang's friend or a close relative.
Unexpectedly, the old man waved his hand and smiled, "I just happened to see it at the Central Academy of Drama - many films like this that are going to be exhibited abroad will first be screened internally at the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy."
At this time, He Saifei took the initiative to help introduce: "This is Mr. Li Fazeng. Mr. Li used to be the director of the Performing Arts Center of the Central Experimental Theater. Now he is at the National Theater..."
“There is no such thing as now.”
Li Fazeng waved his hand again and said, "I retired when the China Experimental School and China Youth Academy merged into the National Theatre last year. Now I have nothing to do - so I came to our crew to make use of my remaining energy."
Everyone laughed in approval when they heard this.
The most famous people in this room are Pan Hong and He Saifei. Even Hao Lei is more famous than the male actor opposite her.
But if we talk about status in the circle, we have to say it is this Mr. Li.
Although he claimed that he had nothing to do, given his previous status, he would at least have been a consultant at the National Theatre. Moreover, he had only retired for more than a year, so most of his old relationships were still there.
Thanks to Li Fazeng, the embarrassment was avoided. Through mutual introductions, Xu Kun learned the names of several seniors and the roles they played in the play:
Teacher Pan Hong plays the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the biological mother of Emperor Shunzhi, Dayuer.
He Saifei still plays the concubine this time, playing the role of Huang Taiji's side wife, the biological mother of Prince Xiang Boguer, and the Grand Noble Consort Yijing - also known as Consort Yijing for short.
Hao Lei plays Shunzhi's first empress, the niece of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and the princess of Khorchin. She is the young actress with the most important role in the play.
Mr. Li Fazeng plays Prince Zheng in the play, the son of Nurhaci's younger brother, the cousin of Emperor Shunzhi, and one of the Eight Iron-hat Princes. He does not have many scenes.
The person sitting in the second seat is an old man who is a few years older than Li Fazeng. He is Zheng Tianyong, the director and planner of CCTV's "Qu Yuan Za Tan". Mr. Zheng plays Sony, the general manager of the Imperial Household Department, in the play. He has a very important role and is considered one of the leading actors.
Ranked third among male actors is Li Jianyi, an actor from the National Theatre of China. He was recommended to Liu Heng by Li Fazeng. He plays the eunuch Wu Liangfu in the play. It is said that his role is more important than that of Sony, and he is also Sony's mortal enemy in the play.
Then there is Wang Hui, who plays the nephew of Huang Taiji and the cousin of Emperor Shunzhi, Prince An Yuele, who is mature, steady and holds real power.
After asking around, it turned out that Xu Kun was the only one in the room who hadn't confirmed his role yet.
This made Xu Kun feel somewhat uneasy, but since he was there, he decided to make the best of it. He took the initiative to take on the task of pouring tea and water, and even got in a few words from time to time.
After waiting for about ten minutes, a bald, round-faced man walked in quickly. He bowed to everyone and said with a smile, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, teachers."
Pan Hong smiled and said, "My great writer Liu, please stop being so hypocritical with us and quickly tell us why you called us here today."
"What do you mean writer or not? Just call me director from now on."
Liu Heng pretended to be dissatisfied and corrected him. The two were of similar age and had worked together before, so they were naturally more casual when talking. Then he said to Li Fazeng and Zheng Tianyong, "Teacher Li, Teacher Zheng, I plan to pick a few newcomers from the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy, and Shanghai Theatre Academy for this play. I invited you three to come here mainly to help you with your guidance and training."
After that, he turned to Pan Hong and said, "I'll trouble you with the actress."
Among these three, Li Fazeng has the highest status, Zheng Tianyong is the oldest, and Pan Hong is the most famous actor. It can be said that they are taken care of in all aspects.
Li Fazeng and Zheng Tianyong both said "no problem", but Pan Hong pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "Look at what you said, I can't teach male actors?"
After a few more jokes, Liu Heng said to the others, "During the audition later, we will have to ask a few teachers to help with the play. This is the script we are going to use. Please review it in advance."
As he spoke, he handed several scripts to He Saifei and others one by one.
Finally, it was Xu Kun's turn. He paused for a moment and said, "Xiao Xu, right? Your role is tentatively scheduled to be Prince Jian Jidu, the son of Prince Zheng. If there is anything inappropriate, we can adjust it later."
This clearly shows that he is not very confident about Xu Kun.
But this is normal. After all, Xu Kun is too young, has been in the circle for a short time, and is not a professional.
"Xiao Xu should have no problem performing Ji Du."
Li Fazeng interjected at this time. His words were much more effective than "Red Spider 2" or "The Killing Machine Collection".
Liu Heng immediately smiled when he heard this and said, "Since Teacher Li said so, it must be correct."
As he spoke, he patted Xu Kun on the arm and encouraged him cordially: "Xiao Xu, do your best. If you can perform the role of Ji Du well, it will be no worse than the male lead."
"Director Liu, don't worry, I will definitely act with all my heart!"
After watching Li Fazeng, Zheng Tianyong and Pan Hong follow Liu Heng to the main living room, they all opened the scripts in their hands at the same time.
This is a simple script. In addition to describing Ji Du's general role in the play, it only gives a few lines. It should be specially prepared for the auditioning actors.
Xu Kun read the script carefully, feeling relieved but also a little disappointed.
This Ji Du is another big villain.
However, there are huge differences between villains.
Jidu was a typical old Manchu Tartar, cruel and violent, ambitious, did not agree with the policy of appeasement, regarded Han people like pigs and dogs, and believed that only by continuing to demonstrate military force could the control of the Tartar Qing be maintained.
As the son of Prince Zheng, an iron-hat prince and chief councilor, Jidu looked down on Emperor Shunzhi, who had been a puppet for many years, from the very beginning.
But in the early and middle stages, his ambition was only to support his niece's son to become the crown prince and use that power to dominate the world.
Later, because he felt that Emperor Shunzhi was too weak and the court's policies were moving in a conciliatory direction that he did not agree with, Ji Du's ambition continued to grow in anger and unwillingness.
After Prince Zheng died, Shunzhi first recommended Yue Le to be the chief minister of state, but later, because of the death of Consort Dong E, he considered abdicating the throne to Yue Le.
This completely broke down Ji Du's defenses, and he finally decided to use military force to purge the emperor's side, support his nephew Sun Xuanye to take the throne, and take charge of military affairs himself.
The result, of course, was failure, and he was imprisoned in the sky prison.
But this man was also very tough. After Shunzhi's "death", Xiaozhuang ordered people to send Jidu's sword to him and asked him to kill himself. Jidu only asked: "Has Xuanye succeeded to the throne?"
After receiving an affirmative answer, he banged his head against the stone wall of the prison and died.
Cruel, arrogant, tough, ambitious...
These are undoubtedly Xu Kun's strengths. As long as the script is good, he is guaranteed to play the role well.
As for the question of raising the butcher knife against the Han people...
When Xu Kun played the role of a Japanese lieutenant colonel, every time he did he have to "kill" a few Chinese soldiers and civilians.
As long as the characters are portrayed as cruel and ruthless enough, and not deliberately beautified, the audience will be able to recognize the true face of the Eight Banners nobles.
(End of this chapter)
