Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 787: Chapter 522: Competing Forces on All Sides

Wei Ruxue reached out to Jing Jingcheng not long after, and, unexpectedly, Su Yan’s call also came through. She didn’t directly mention ”Stepmother’s Law” over the phone but instead asked him out for a meal.

After ”Heart Inquiry,” Su Yan had become a hot commodity in the market as well. Jing Jingcheng guessed her intentions and gladly accepted the invitation.

Indeed, if Su Yan was willing to act in the drama, it would be a good choice.

Su Yan’s acting fees weren’t as high as Wei Ruxue’s and were within a reasonable range. Furthermore, if Su Yan starred in the show, she would also bring in some advertising partnerships. Although Su Yan’s acting skills were somewhat lacking compared to Zhou Yun and Wei Ruxue, it wasn’t so bad that it hurt to watch. With proper effort, the show wouldn’t be bad.

Jing Jingcheng met with Su Yan and they exchanged pleasantries.

Su Yan soon brought up ”Stepmother’s Law,” ”I heard you’re preparing a new show?”

”Yes, the news even reached you, huh?” Jing Jingcheng laughed, ”But why the sudden interest?”

”Of course, I’m interested. I’m interested in any show you develop,” Su Yan said with a smile, ”You know, I just finished filming one drama, and I’m looking for the next one.”

Jing Jingcheng hesitated for a moment, then smiled, ”To tell you the truth, I did think about asking you to play the role, but when I contacted your agent, they weren’t satisfied with the script and wanted to make changes, so it didn’t go any further.”

Su Yan looked at him somewhat surprised, ”You sent the script to my agent?”

”Yes, your agent wanted to make some adjustments to the script, to remove some of the unlikeable aspects of the female protagonist. Didn’t your agent tell you?” Jing Jingcheng asked in surprise, ”I thought they would have at least shown you the script.”

”I haven’t seen it, but if Sister Ting made such a request, could it be that there are some unfavorable aspects in the script?” Su Yan inquired, ”You know how picky the audience is nowadays, they’ll scrutinize any flaws in a character with a magnifying glass.”

”I know, but the story itself is about a young girl who suddenly becomes a stepmother and then undergoes continuous changes and growth. After the novel was published, the image of the stepmother sparked a lot of attention and discussion. It’s not meant to be a supposedly flawless character.”

Su Yan asked, ”Then why not make some changes to the script during the development process, based on the original novel?”

”If we change it, then it’s no longer ’Stepmother’s Law,’ and the character will lose half of its value,” Jing Jingcheng explained.

Su Yan was taken aback.

She didn’t misunderstand the meaning of Jing Jingcheng’s words; she was just not expecting Jing Jingcheng to still be so committed to the value of a character.

The film industry in recent years was not quite the same as before. With the arrival of the era of influencer-led casting, almost all directors making serious dramas faced change; they either stopped filming or followed market trends to create more commercial works. She did not expect such a veteran producer as Jing Jingcheng to still care about the value of a character. In theory, if she decided to act in this drama, she felt she could change it however she wanted, which was her experience in these past years in this line of work.

Jing Jingcheng said, ”Perfect characters, likable personas—I’ve made many dramas with such roles, but when I first decided to adapt ’Stepmother’s Law,’ it was precisely because it was different from most other shows on the market. Otherwise, why would I bother adapting this novel?”

Su Yan suddenly thought of ”Heart Inquiry.”

When she was filming ”Heart Inquiry,” she also tried to delete two scenes where her character felt jealous of Zhou Yun’s Liu Rusu, thinking that if they aired, she would definitely be criticized. But at that time, He Ting directly talked her out of it, telling her that Director Kang Xin would definitely not change the script for such reasons. And indeed, although there were some who criticized after it aired, even more people understood why her character felt jealousy and related to her character’s internal struggles and anger.

”Brother Jing, I trust your judgment, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked you out for this meal today,” Su Yan put down her chopsticks, her exquisite features glistening under the lights of the restaurant with a porcelain-like shine, ”To be honest with you, after filming ’Heart Inquiry,’ I have a deeper understanding of acting; I understand why Sister Ting wanted to ask for a script revision from your side. She was afraid that if I played a morally flawed character, the audience would berate me. But I also know that real people can’t be without flaws; even the kindest persons have moments of evil thoughts and cruelty. Brother Jing, I truly want to film this drama. If you think I can play the role, then let the script be as it is. I’ll take the part.”