Studio Superstar

Guan Ruoying said curiously, “It says that Xue Xiao is 24 years old. If I remember correctly, Teacher Shen is 27 years old this year, right? The two of you are three years apart. I didn’t expect his acting enlightenment to be you.”

Enlightenment was the starting point of inducing interest in acting.

Most people’s enlightenment occurred at a very young age and their enlightenment targets were mostly middle-aged.

If Shen Tingyan was really Xue Xiao’s acting enlightenment then when did Xue Xiao become interested in acting?

Su Shijin suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said, “Hey, but Teacher Shen has been acting since he was nine years old.”

Shen Tingyan came from an acting family and both his parents had won awards.

He only debuted when he was 20 years old, but at the age of nine, he was led to the screen by his mother and participated in a movie.

At that time, the little boy with a pink and tender face and serious expression detonated the whole country and became the nation’s youngest son.

Guan Ruoying suddenly realized. “Yes, Xue Xiao might’ve watched Teacher Shen’s movie when he was a child…”

Guan Ruoying thought about it. Then she looked at Shen Tingyan, covered her lips and smiled. “…A six year old child worships a nine year old child in front of the TV. That scene…”

It was so cute to think about!

Feng Wei scanned Xue Xiao’s resume and said, “Graduated from the Chinese language department of Wencheng College? I remember that the Chinese language department of this school is quite high in the country… the years he has been acting is one year and three months. So it should be that he switched to being an actor after graduating for a while. I don’t know what he was doing before that.”

After working for several years, it wasn’t uncommon in the entertainment industry to abandon their original life on a whim to chase their dreams.

How many of the middle-aged extras in the film and television cities worked all the way after graduating from their major? Most of them had switched halfway.

Some had worked as plumbers, some had done sales and there were also tour guides, cooks, drivers, etc.

For well-known actors, fans would clearly pick up their past.

However, among the 50 participants they were facing now, more than half of them could be regarded as unknown.

No one knew them.

Who were they? What type of person were they?

Where did they come from and where were they going?

This show would be the key to opening that mysterious treasure box.

They wanted to find the brightest treasures from among them.

The four mentors raised their heads in unison to watch Xue Xiao on the screen.

The little guy was carrying heavy luggage. The moment he entered through the door of the selection room, his entire body was frozen in place.

Shen Tingyan paused slightly.

At this moment, the face of the young man on the screen… a strong brilliance burst from it.

It really was like his little face was suddenly glowing.

It wasn’t like Shen Tingyan had never seen this situation before. This type of happy expression that could be described as ‘dreams come true’ and ‘this life is enough’ had appeared on the faces of many people.

It was just that Xue Xiao’s face was the most vivid one he had ever seen.

Shen Tingyan watched it with interest.

The selection room.

In the huge room, posters of film and television dramas hung in a circle.

Xue Xiao knew every one. Many of them had roles that he really wanted to act out.

In the past, he could only lie on the bed of his rental house and fantasize about playing these characters. Now these characters were in front of him to choose!

Xue Xiao’s blood boiled almost instantly.

For a moment, he even wanted to send a WeChat message to Zhang Chengyu and shout, ‘Master!!!” to express his excitement.

…Then the cameraman carried the machine around him, aimed at his red face and did a big zoom-in.

Xue Xiao: “……”

He almost forgot that there would be a cameraman to follow him as soon as he entered the selection room.

Before entering the door just now, a young lady from the staff members reminded him that he could give some reactions.

Xue Xiao wasn’t comfortable with such a scene. He opened his mouth and said, “It is the first time I have faced so many characters. I’m a bit at a loss about how to start.”

After he finished speaking, he stretched out his neck shyly to look around. Suddenly, his eyes lit up like a pair of light bulbs were lit.

The cameraman just felt a figure flashing in front of him. He turned his head in confusion and found that the guy who had been in front of him just now had flown to the fifth play like a bird.

The small theater studio.

Feng Wei, Su Shijin and Guan Ruoying all let out clear sounds. “Oh…”

Out of the 15 plays in the first round selected by the staff, two of them were Shen Tingyan’s works.

This fifth play was one of them. It was the movie in which Shen Tingyan played a supporting role when he debuted at the age of 20.

Su Shijin said, “There is really no suspense.”

Shen Tingyan told them, “This play doesn’t have a role suitable for him.”

The other three were stunned.

Sure enough, Xue Xiao’s face showed a disappointed expression in the next second.

His shoulders slumped and all his thoughts were written on his face. It was a sentence of sorrow: How come there are only these two characters?!

That’s right, for the fifth play, the characters that the participants could choose from were a 50 year old middle-aged man and a 16 year old girl. Shen Tingyan’s role wasn’t present at all!

Su Shijin suddenly burst out laughing.

Guan Ruoying couldn’t help laughing. “Have you realized that he changed as soon as he entered the selection room? Just now in the studio, he gave me the impression that he is very quiet. I didn’t expect him to be like a child now.”

Su Shijin nodded in agreement.

Feng Wei said, “Hey, he is aiming for Teacher Shen’s other movie.”

During the selection, Xue Xiao looked around again. Then there was another ‘snap’ and the light bulbs in his eyes lit up.

The cameraman hurriedly followed him to the tenth play.

This was a crime thriller starring Shen Tingyan at the age of 25 called ‘Praying Mantis.’

The scene chosen by the show was a three-person scene and the corresponding tablet showed the three characters that the participants could choose from.

The moment Xue Xiao saw these three characters, his eyes became even brighter. Then in the next second, he seemed frozen. Hesitation and worry appeared on his face.

The small theater studio.

Su Shijin wondered, “What’s wrong with him? Isn’t he choosing? He must want to play the role you played, right?”

These words were said to Shen Tingyan.

Shen Tingyan changed to a relaxed sitting posture and explained, “The other roles are fine but the role I play in this movie clearly requires a tall and physically strong person. It is an impulsive and violent gangster.”

Shen Tingyan was 1.89 meters tall and his own figure was just right with all the muscles he should have. But for this role, the director still asked him to gain more muscles.

Meanwhile, Xue Xiao was 1.78 meters tall. He wasn’t short but it was indeed a bit far from 1.89 meters.

There were some muscles on his body but as everyone had seen from the classic scene just now, the muscles of his body didn’t play a deterrent role at all.

Wearing clothes could cover up some of it but if the role didn’t fit, it didn’t fit.

Of course, no one would interfere with the choice of the participants in the first round. It wasn’t impossible for Xue Xiao to take this opportunity to force a play, but it would inevitably affect the final presentation effect.

What would he choose?

Would he insist on playing the role of Shen Tingyan, whom he liked, regardless of the effect, or would he simply give up this play and look at others?

Xue Xiao on the screen hesitated. He unknowingly grinded his lower lip with the tips of his teeth.

They thought he would struggle for a long time but after a few seconds, he suddenly calmed down and made a choice.

Guan Ruoying opened her mouth. “Hey, the one he chose is—”

Shen Tingyan’s eyes showed interest.

The selection room.

After Xue Xiao made his choice, the cameraman probably received a prompt from the director team. He asked quietly. “…You aren’t choosing Teacher Shen’s role?”

Xue Xiao was stunned for a moment before smiling at the camera. “I definitely want to choose it. I want to try any role, not to mention that it is Teacher Shen’s role. However, I can enjoy acting it in private. If I have to show it to an audience then I still have to be responsible.”

After all, there was the problem of suitability between actors and characters.

Some roles could be played by him with a bit of adjustment but some roles weren’t suitable for him no matter how he changed it.

The difference between them depended on what was the most indispensable label on the character.

For example, if the character label was inspirational, growth and enterprising then even if Xue Xiao was very different from the original actor’s body size and age, he could try to challenge reproducing the classic scene.

However, if the character labels were muscular and violent then it would be pure nonsense for him to challenge this role.

Normally, Xue Xiao forced Zhang Chengyu to act out everything but that was just blind forcing it.

For acting, he knew what he could and what he couldn’t do.

Xue Xiao’s fingers tapped on the tablet and he said with satisfaction, “It is enough to try the play that Teacher Shen has participated in.”

“Thanks to the show for giving me this opportunity.” He smiled at the camera with curved eyes.

After speaking, he left the cameraman who was dazed by his laughter and simply pulled his suitcase. He hummed a song as he walked briskly to another studio.

30 minutes later, Jiang Lianlian and Chang Yun finished choosing and came over to reunite with Xue Xiao.

40 minutes later, Fan Xue walked in.

An hour and a half later, all the students made their selections for the first round.

Jiang Quan came in and called eight participants. They had failed to form a group and needed to make a second round of selection.

In order to speed up the efficiency, the eight participants could enter the selection room together. This meant they could discuss their choices.

Chang Yun used his fingers to summarize the popular plays that everyone had discussed just now to Xue Xiao. Fortunately, he and Jiang Lianlian had inevitably collided with others but it wasn’t a big car accident.

Jiang Lianlian looked at Fan Xue, who was still sitting at the front of the noisy studio. She whispered to Xue Xiao, “I don’t know which one Fan Xue chose.”

This guy had always been calm and composed. It wasn’t known if he was confident in his acting skills or if he found that no one had crashed into him and was relieved.

Jiang Lianlian said again, “But Xiao Xiao, you don’t seem to have any candidates for your play.”

Xue Xiao told her, “Not everyone is talking to others so it is hard to say.”

Chang Yun said, “There must be many people who want to choose Teacher Shen’s plays. I almost wanted to choose it just now, but it isn’t easy to act and I couldn’t choose it!”

Another half an hour passed. Finally, the eight people came out.

By the time Jiang Quan entered the studio again, it was nearly 8:30 in the evening. Many people are hungry and had back pain.

Jiang Quan reassured them. “I know that everyone is already very tired. Hold on a bit longer. Once the selection results are announced, everyone will know each other’s teammates in the first round of performances and you can go to rest and eat.”

Everyone saw up straight and saw a typed form appearing on the screen of this studio.

The next second, the audience was noisy.

“Ah, sure enough, my play has crashed. It has really crashed!”

“Hahaha, it turns out that there are no candidates for this play?”

“Yay, no one chose the same as me!”

“F*k, there are three groups for my play.”

Xue Xiao froze after seeing the grouping situation of ‘Praying Mantis.’

Jiang Lianlian was shocked. “How can that be—”

Someone below was equally surprised. “Brother Xue, you are actually with—”

The man looked at Fan Xue and turned his head to look at Xue Xiao in the back row.

The play ‘Praying Mantis’ had three roles.

The first character was a righteous policeman and was played by another actor in the original movie.

The second character was a gangster and a serial murderer in the movie. It was played by Shen Tingyan in the original work.

The third character was a reporter with a hidden face and it was played by a powerful actor in the original work.

Two groups were formed from this work.

In the first group, Xue Xiao was the third character and formed a team with a group actor and an amateur.

In the second group, Fan Xue was the second character and he formed a team with two signed actors.

…They actually came up and were going to fight in the ring!

Fang Xue, who was in the front row, turned his head abruptly and looked at Xue Xiao in disbelief. It was as if he found it slightly absurd.

Then he soon sneered with a sense of ‘you bumped into me yourself.’

Xue Xiao frowned slightly and subconsciously tightened his hands.

The small theater studio.

The reaction recording of the mentors was coming to an end. The four of them stood up and took off their microphones.

Seeing this scene, Su Shijin sensed something and asked Shen Tingyan, “What do you think your fanboy looks like now?”

Shen Tingyan squinted at her.

Su Shijin wondered, “Anxious? Afraid? Panic? Regret it?”

Shen Tingyan replied, “This is your ability to figure out characters as a screenwriter?”

Su Shijin was surprised. “? Talk well. Don’t attack!”

Shen Tingyan sneered. He shifted his gaze and looked at Xue Xiao on the big screen.

It was clearly written on his face that he was unhappy.

The person called Fan something playing his role made Xue Xiao unhappy like this? Did the two of them know each other?

Shen Tingyan lazily put his hands in his pockets and his gaze swept over Xue Xiao’s hands on his knees.

The small fists were still clenched tightly.