Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 786: Chapter 521: Half

Zhou Lan was just thinking about this when he suddenly slapped his forehead: Jing Jingcheng would definitely not agree to have Wang Jing act in this drama. They had previously approached Zhou Yun, who had declined.

Zhou Lan wasn’t keen on Xu Siyao taking the role in ”Stepmother’s Law” either. Both the script and production crew were excellent, and with Xu Siyao’s acting skills, she might actually earn critical acclaim.

Even though Zhou Lan didn’t like Xu Siyao, he had to admit her acting was genuinely good.

If she really did a good job, given her style, she would probably cause even more trouble.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering to whom should he reveal this news?

If it hadn’t been for Lew Qingqing already taking on Zhong Heping’s new film, Zhou Lan would have preferred to tip Lew Qingqing about this project. She would have been a good fit.

After much contemplation, Zhou Lan realized he only needed to do one thing: he just had to let the news of the ”Stepmother’s Law” casting preparation out.

That way, surely many actresses would be eyeing up this juicy role.

After all, the original novel had won awards and was a bestseller, receiving a lot of attention.

Zhou Lan immediately spread the news that ”Stepmother’s Law” was in preparation for casting through his own channels.

However, Zhou Lan probably hadn’t expected that the first two actresses to show interest in the film would be Wei Ruxue and Su Yan.

As soon as Wei Ruxue got wind that Jing Jingcheng was starting this movie, she made a call directly to Jing Jingcheng.

”Jingcheng, how come I heard that you’ve started a new project? I didn’t receive any news about it,” Wei Ruxue said. ”Why didn’t you let me have a look at the script?”

Jing Jingcheng was baffled when he received the call from Wei Ruxue.

”Ruxue, are you asking about ’Stepmother’s Law’?” Jing Jingcheng said with a smile, ”The stepmother in the original story is a young girl just over twenty years old.”

”What’s the matter, do you think I look too old now, not like a girl just over twenty?” Wei Ruxue asked directly.

Jing Jingcheng had a headache.

”Of course not, but Ruxue, you have been in the industry for many years now, and everyone is familiar with you. Besides, most importantly, you’ve just played a powerful empress in ’Spring Cold’. Having you in this role might make it hard for the audience to suspend disbelief.”

Wei Ruxue: ”Ah, I never thought that filming ’Spring Cold’ would affect my future roles. Jingcheng, let’s forget it this time. But do make sure you come to me with a good script for your next project. I’ve told you before, I want to work with you again.”

”We’ve already started looking,” replied Jing Jingcheng. ”My team has been searching for something suitable for you; once we find it, we’ll start on it right away.”

After hanging up, Jing Jingcheng sneered to himself.

He pondered that before Wei Ruxue’s salary demands came down, he was definitely not going to work with her again. Ever since she won the Huayu Award for Best Actress, her already high salary doubled. Of course, with ”Spring Cold” as a precedent, there were still fools willing to pay her handsomely for collaborations. But Wei Ruxue was aware that those with cash in hand seeking to work with her were backing projects that were clearly designed to rake in money. Producers like Jing Jingcheng, who made their way step by step in the industry, valued every project greatly, because if they were to fail just once, they would face much more severe consequences than an actor would.

To Jing Jingcheng, the most crucial aspect of a project was not to lose money; that was the bottom line. Why were both Xu Jinbo and Jing Jingcheng always sending scripts Zhou Yun’s way? Not only because she was currently the hottest actress, nor just because her acting was top-notch, or even because she had secured the title of Movie Queen. To producers, the key aspect was that, despite her peeking at the very top in various criteria, she never overcharged. Her salary didn’t even come close to half of what Wei Ruxue demanded; even Su Yan’s pay was slightly higher than hers.

Of course, these were very private matters, known to few in the industry, only producers who had deeper contact with Zhou Lan were aware of this.

Salary was never the factor that swayed Zhou Yun.

In Zhou Lan’s words: ”Our Xiao Yun can make money with anything she does. There is no need to make money solely through acting. If your script is good and your production team reliable, and you don’t have the funds, we can even finance the project and help you shoot it.”

Jing Jingcheng didn’t want to use Wei Ruxue, and it had nothing to do with her age or the audience’s impression. What a joke, if he could really get Wei Ruxue for this movie, given the influence of ”Spring Cold”, the picture would make at least a small profit regardless of its quality, with product placement alone bringing in a significant income.

But this was all on the condition that Wei Ruxue’s salary did not cost half of the entire production budget of the movie.