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Chapter 20: Self-recommendation

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Jiang Se’s appearance matched Gu Jiaer’s requirements. However, she had not listed down any acting experience. She was also not a student from the film academy. She was pretty, but that was all she was.

“Pretense to Reality” was important to Gu Jiaer. He had even written the script himself, and it had been edited several times before it finally passed.

He intended to contend for the Baihua Film Awards with this film and win it so that fame would follow the merit. Therefore, he was also careful in choosing his sponsors. He was worried that the sponsors would specify for some talentless artiste to be the male or female lead and ruin this film in which he had poured much of his energy and time.

He made repeated considerations for the female lead before deciding on Zhao Ruoyun whose looks and acting skills were up to his standard.

Sun Qiming flipped through the information list. The cast for the male and female leads had already been decided whereas the supporting actors with considerable screen-time had already been named by the larger sponsors.

The characters that the people here would be auditioning for were less important characters. Even so, they needed to have some acting skills.

With Jiang Se’s experience, even if she made it into the cast, she would only be an extra, at most.

Sun Qiming placed the list back onto the table. He was about to say something when someone called him softly from the back, “Brother Sun.”

He turned around to see a bespectacled man lean forward while his gaze fell on Jiang Se. There was a lecherous look in his eyes. “Isn’t Zhao Ruoyun in need of a double in the script?”

Sun Qiming immediately understood what he meant.

“Pretense to Reality” was a romance film, so there was bound to be intimate scenes in the film.

Ever since Zhao Ruoyun made her debut, she had been signed under Huaxing, a famous name in the industry. Huaxing had many connections and was very supportive of her. The company was very strict about maintaining her image as a fresh, high-quality idol.

This time, she accepted the role from “Pretense to Reality” and became Gu Jiaer’s female lead. Although Huaxing had relaxed some of its terms, the company rejected the scene whereby the female lead, “Wang Qianqian”, had to be shot half-naked. The company requested the crew to find her a double.

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There were all kinds of people in the entertainment industry, many of whom wanted to become famous overnight although most of them did not have the resources to. Naturally, there were also those who were willing to strip to become famous.

Sun Qiming had not been in a hurry to find Zhao Ruoyun’s double before this. It would be very easy to find a handful of doubles in the industry since there were many who were willing to show their backs on screen.

However, the bespectacled man’s words behind him gave him an idea. When he regarded Jiang Se again, there was a meaningful look in his eyes.

There were many unspoken rules in the entertainment industry. He had seen many young and beautiful girls such as Jiang Se who wanted to become famous.

If she wanted to appear on-screen, aside from having the background and acting skills, she could also get the opportunity by capitalizing on her natural endowments.

The people behind him knew about the rules of the games of the industry a long time ago. When the bespectacled man made that suggestion to Sun Qiming, the others acted as if nothing had happened.

Sun Qiming spoke, “You have no acting experience. This time...”

The moment she walked into the meeting room, Jiang Se appraised the people inside the meeting room just as she herself was being assessed.

She caught the expression and attitude Sun Qiming displayed when he talked to the others. Besides that, she noticed the subsequent change in his body language as well. Because she could tell that Sun Qiming was about to turn her away, she immediately cut him short, “When ‘Rescue Mission’ was filmed in Shen Villa, I was personally nominated by director Zhang Jingan to play one of the characters.” She made it sound vague on purpose and did not mention that it was only an extra role with a single line.

However, when Jiang Se said this, Sun Qiming’s expression shifted from being distracted to finding focus.

“What?” He sat up straighter. Then, he reached out to see the form which Jiang Se had filled up.

“You were in ‘Rescue Mission’?”

“Yes.” Jiang Se nodded. Her eyes were determined, and her gaze did not falter. She did not seem to be lying.

Indeed, “Rescue Mission” was being filmed in Shen Villa right now, so Sun Qiming half-believed what she said. “Why didn’t you include it in your form?”

“Did I have to write it out?” Jiang Se ran her hand through her hair and displayed a charming smile. “I managed to get into the ‘Rescue Mission’ cast thanks to Senior Liu Ye. I never filled up anything. I’m sorry. I didn’t know about that.”

When she said this, she bowed to express her apology, and her long hair fell from her petite shoulders. Her legs were stock straight and her slim waist caught everyone’s eyes.

“I’m really sorry about that.”

However, the look Sun Qiming was giving her right now was different from the one he had displayed before this. After all, she had mentioned the name of the Best Actor, Liu Ye.

He did not believe Jiang Se completely, but he did not dismiss her words either.

The main reason was that she was beautiful. She certainly possessed the qualities which would catch Liu Ye’s attention.

With the mention of Zhang Jingan and Liu Ye, Jiang Se’s standing in his heart changed. Sun Qiming reached for the script and the other information sheets again. When she saw him do this, she knew that her words had an important effect on him.

However, despite that, she was not convinced that she would be recruited by the production team.

Sun Qiming’s eyes were now skimming over the information sheets in his hands. Some of the important characters the script needed had been listed out. However, most of these characters’ names were underlined in red. In other words, the underlined characters were those whose actors had already been determined and could not be changed.

Sun Qiming frowned as he went through the remaining characters, running a finger down the list of names.

Jiang Se had landed a role in “Rescue Mission”. Even if it was a minor role, it was enough for him to take her seriously.

Zhang Jingan was a famous director, and “Rescue Mission” was a huge production. When it premiered in the future, aside from Zhao Ruoyun, who played a supporting character, he might be able to create some publicity with Jiang Se.

With this, Jiang Se’s status in his heart had immediately changed. After all, she was pretty and was topic material. She would be beneficial for the film in the future.

His finger reached a name labeled “Air Stewardess, Miss Zhang”. He looked up at Jiang Se and asked, “Can you speak simple English?”

Miss Zhang’s character required the actress to have some basic command of the English language. In fact, Gu Jiaer had mentioned that it would be best if the actress knew some French since she would also be saying some lines in French in the film.

However, that was not a requirement that was easy to fulfill.

Although there were people who knew French in the Faculty of Foreign Languages, there were not many who could express themselves and were pretty enough to be on camera.

Bearing that in mind, Gu Jiaer decided to compromise. He requested that the person who auditioned for this role to have a grasp of simple English.

Sun Qiming initially intended to get an actual air stewardess to play this role.

Upon hearing his question, Jiang Se sighed in relief and smiled.