Playing age
"Good! You two did well!" Director Xie shouted out triumphantly as she watched the replay of the scene they shot just now. Not stopping with that, she even exclaimed "Good!" three more times- it can be seen how delighted she really was.
Yu Ning moved towards the place where the director and the assistant director were sitting to take a peek at the replay of their scene. And, she had to admit that it came out really well. Without a single Ng scene to boot.
Later, she sat inside the dressing room together with Feng Xi as the makeup artists busied about removing their makeup, when she suddenly said, "I didn't know little sister Xi was this good at acting. We were even able to finish it in one shot."
Hearing this, the younger girl looked at her through the mirror and smiled cheerfully. "I'm not– I think sister Ning is a lot better than me. I could act well because it was you."
Yu Ning glanced at the smiling face of the other and shook her head. "Sweet talker." But in her heart, she thought the other's smile looked really good.
***
It was four days after Yang Jingshen arrived on the crew of the web series "Miss Peng's romantic encounter" in H city in H province. The distance from the capital was around 400 km and fortunately, the climate was pretty similar to the capital, so no need to adjust or anything.
He had now gotten used to this crew and its members, and Yang Jingshen was pleased to realize that there were no people who were holding a grudge against him or were jealous about his circumstances, unlike that Su Yijia from the last crew. At least on the surface that is.
He was no mind reader. How can he guess what others really think in their hearts? He also wanted to say that his life wasn't as privileged as these people assumed it to be, but who'd believe him?
"Sister Xi, are you done for today?" Yang Jingshen was dragged out of his inner lamentations by a voice, only to see that it was Meng Siqi, the fellow artist from her company. He moved his chair a bit to the side and signaled the other's assistant, little Sun to move a chair for his artist to sit on.
This person, Meng Siqi– Yang Jingshen felt like he owed the other a bit. In the last drama crew as well, the kid had done his best to show his goodwill towards him and was courteous and polite, never showing so much as a hint of disgust or any other form of vulgar intent.
Also, this little guy might not have much experience in acting, but he was quite keen on improving his talents. In other words, this was a proper and authentic little Ming(1), who was studious and diligent, at the same time morally upright, and quite a role model to be honest.
And, Yang Jingshen had to admit that Han Qi, as an agent, had a good eye for selecting talents.
"What's the matter?" Yang Jingshen asked the younger man even as he kept watching the scene being shot currently -it was a confrontation between the FL and the antagonist-, "Why the long face?"
This question– Meng Siqi didn't answer at once. He kept quiet and Yang Jingshen didn't press for answers either. It was a few good minutes later that the other finally opened his mouth. "I feel like I can't connect with my role. Like- like it's very difficult for me to truly become Lu Yang."
Yang Jingshen turned to look at the younger man and stared without saying a thing as the other continued voicing his doubts. "Do you think this character is too deep for me?"
"..Not really. Lu Yang is not a difficult character to portray. Also, this is a very simple drama– if you can't even challenge this type of easy role, then you shouldn't think of trying to act in more difficult ones."
Faced with these harsh words, instead of getting angry, Meng Siqi appeared dejected. This of course was within Yang Jingshen's expectations, but he still felt a little bit pleased. For an actor to succeed, what he needed the most wasn't talent, it was the ability to take others' criticism. Just because you're famous doesn't mean others would stop pointing their fingers at you.
In his last life too, he had taken to teaching some younger actors he met while working in different crews, and some of them had kept good relationships with him until the time of his death. In this manner, he could be said to have gathered a bunch of younger brothers under him.
'Wonder if those guys mourned when I died?' Probably not, and Yang Jingshen wouldn't expect that from them either. By the end, their relationships were invested with many other interests, regardless of how he first initiated contact with them by taking it upon himself to teach them some acting tips and tricks.
But now, seeing the obedient and studious student (little Ming) Siqi, he could feel that familiar itch to foster another little brother. Unfortunately though, he was no longer a man. ⧬_⧬
"Then sister Xi, what do you think I should do?" Yang Jingshen looked at the earnest eyes of the young child and felt his heart soften by a fraction. His earlier words were harsh and this guy looked quite dejected a few moments ago but was still able to ask him for advice.
He liked this type of courageous youngster. And since he already felt like he owed the other, he should just go ahead and teach him a thing or two. "What do you feel is the reason for your acting to fail?"
Meng Siqi appeared to be in thought before hesitantly answering, "The age gap? Lu Yang is supposed to be twenty-six years old, but I'm only nineteen. Also, all my costars are older than me."
"Hmmmm? But I'm only one year older than you ne?"
"Eh- this?" The young man scratched his head embarrassedly as he laughed in a foolish manner. Seeing this, Yang Jingshen heaved a sigh. He really couldn't blame the kid though… the age gap with their character was a problem faced by even veteran actors. But, he didn't think Han Qi selected this particular role for his artist for no reason.
"Why do you think you were able to act well as Yang Jian in the last drama?"
"This– because we're close in age?"
"Exactly! You were just out of school. Of course, you could act well like a high schooler. But do you think that you'd always get to act in roles suitable to your age? Haven't you seen older actors starring as young people? A good actor should be able to portray a character of any age."
"Ah!"
"Go through the script one more time. Try and see the world from the point of view of this Lu Yang. Like how he is behaving, what he thinks about others, and his little habits. Don't focus on his age. Instead, focus more on his life experience. Age doesn't make a man– experience does that"
Meng Siqi nodded his head slowly, as understanding slowly dawned in his eyes. But Yang Jingshen didn't stop at that. He still needed to hammer the last nail in. ^.^
"Also, do you really think that 26 is considered as old?"
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Glossary:
01) Little Ming - This is a character that appears in a lot of educational material in china, like in textbooks, compositions, etc. for example, a textbook might have a question like 'Little Ming bought 2 mangos, 3 oranges, and 5 carrots. What is the total number of fruits that little Ming bought? A. 2 B.10 C. 5'. This is only one example.
In other words, he's a role model in education and in other words, is supposed to be well... studious and good. At least, that's what I think. ≥∇≤