CHAPTER 460: CHAPTER 457: BEST ACTRESS 24

Jin An reached out and tapped the script on the table: "This script’s director, Li Bo’an, specializes in art and ethics films, and has a significant reputation in the industry. Moreover, these films that primarily explore human nature have always had a perversely high demand for acting skills, but it’s very difficult for them to be box office hits."

Jin An turned a few pages of the script and continued: "Although the box office is destined to be bleak, such films are more likely to win awards and make actors famous. For you, that’s just right. Earning money is secondary now; breaking free from the shackles of the character Qin Shuangshuang should be your immediate priority."

Actually, Jin An didn’t need to say much; Ning Shuangshuang had her eyes on this role for the same reason.

Even though she is very short of money now, fame and fans are more important than money. With fame, dedicated fans will naturally bring money. If she doesn’t break through with different roles and gets stifled by the character Qin Shuangshuang, her career route will be over.

After finalizing the role, the next step is to face the audition. If it were for the previous two roles Ning Shuangshuang wanted to play, thanks to her fame and Jin An’s skills, she could easily secure the desired role, but this script is different.

With the director of the third script, Li Bo’an aiming for awards, the criteria for casting actors are naturally extremely strict. Yet, precisely because of this, if Ning Shuangshuang gets selected, it’s a golden opportunity to prove her acting skills, broaden her career, and boost her fame.

Not only Ning Shuangshuang but many established veteran actors are eyeing this opportunity. After Li Bo’an started the audition process, a large number of already famous stars competed for a chance to audition.

Speaking of which, Ning Shuangshuang knows the maverick director Zheng Mingjing and the eccentric director Fang Jian are both very strict with filming. But according to Jin An, this director Li Bo’an is even stricter to the point of harshness.

When Li Bo’an is filming, he wishes even the angle at which a leaf falls is perfectly designed, let alone his expectations for the actors’ performances.

This time, Li Bo’an’s requirements for the role are even more extreme because he is determined to find a truly young actor for this film, which makes things complicated, as young actors with good acting skills are typically only child stars.

But there are not many child stars, and due to age issues, even those with child star backgrounds, few can meet Li Bo’an’s exacting standards, who can even find flaws in award-winning actors!

Regarding casting the female lead for this script, Li Bo’an conducted countless auditions but couldn’t find the right fit. Li Bo’an himself was anxious, yet he was unwilling to compromise and insisted on finding the ideal lead.

To gain Li Bo’an’s recognition, before the audition, Ning Shuangshuang spent half a month studying the script, analyzing the female lead’s character word by word, and contemplating this role carefully. Ning Shuangshuang even visited some psychologists to better portray this character.

Li Bo’an’s movie discusses the impact of domestic violence on children, the dangers of early pregnancy, the hope life brings, and an ending that seems fairytale-perfect but subtly implies the motivational message that it’s never too late to start striving despite past experiences.

However, before Ning Shuangshuang could fully grasp the plot and character, she received a call from Fang Jian, inviting her to participate in a variety show. The drama she previously starred in as Qin Shuangshuang became very popular, and now that the TV series has just ended, there’s a plan to record a program.

The theme of this program mainly involves interviewing the Fang Jian crew about various interesting happenings during filming and discussing the actors’ hard work, but it’s enough to attract viewers and boost ratings.

Most importantly, the ratings of this program themselves are quite high, and series that aren’t extremely popular don’t even qualify to feature in such programs. Being on this show is an acknowledgment in itself, so when Fang Jian called, his tone was filled with excitement.

Such a good opportunity, Ning Shuangshuang naturally wouldn’t refuse and readily agreed. Besides, recording such variety shows doesn’t take much time, they’re usually done quickly, and it wouldn’t hinder Ning Shuangshuang with her auditions.

This variety show was filmed in H City, saving Ning Shuangshuang traveling time. She just needed to go on the appointed day using a car provided by the company.

This program’s host is a big name in the variety show industry, a fashionable woman in her thirties named Leng Hua. Leng Hua is also a veteran variety show host who is excellent at enlivening the atmosphere when hosting.

For this particular episode of the variety show, only director Fang Jian and a few of the main cast members attended, including the male lead He Bin, female lead Meng Simin, and Ning Shuangshuang, who became famous with the role of Qin Shuangshuang.

As soon as they started, Leng Hua took control and had everyone joking around to ensure no one felt neglected, and after warming up the audience’s enthusiasm, Leng Hua moved on to today’s theme, which was for everyone to share memorable happenings during the film shoot.

The first to speak was Fang Jian. He pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, "The most unforgettable part would be Shuangshuang’s dedication. When I first picked Shuangshuang, it was for her excellent acting skills. I didn’t expect that this girl not only acted well but was also particularly dedicated and willing to endure hardships. Initially, we planned to use fake horses or film on real horses and edit the shots, but who knew this girl insisted that such methods didn’t capture the vigor of General Qin and insisted on using real horses and filming fight scenes while the horse was running. During the film shoot, she fell off the horse several times, almost landing her in the hospital. That really scared us!"

Following Fang Jian’s words, clips from the filming of Ning Shuangshuang’s horseback battle scenes appeared on the large screen behind the crowd, showing a group of extras with weapons aggressively encircling Ning Shuangshuang.

Some of these extras even had wire harnesses, mainly acting as roles getting flung by Ning Shuangshuang’s spear. Meanwhile, Ning Shuangshuang maneuvered on horseback, appearing extremely perilous.

There were even two instances where Ning Shuangshuang accidentally fell off her horse, then got back on to resume shooting. The various hardships and dangers during this process had the live audience continuously gasping in surprise!

Leng Hua’s face also bore an expression of shock, and this wasn’t entirely an act. Although she’d already watched it before filming started, every time Leng Hua saw this video clip, she deeply admired Ning Shuangshuang’s boldness and dedication.

Having been in this industry long enough, you see all sorts of actors. It’s not that there aren’t actors willing to risk, but more often, actors prefer to pass on risky shoots to stunt doubles.

Even male action stars can’t avoid using doubles at times, let alone celebrities. Especially with such dangerous shoots, a careless fall from a horse could result in being trampled by a hoof, causing unavoidable injury.