Chapter 416: Chapter 328: Last-Minute Change
"I heard Meng Ran went out to take on some extra work." During a break in filming, Liu Yuqian chatted with Zhou Yun, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture, "Sometimes I really don’t mean to look down on artists who come from talent shows, but they truly lack acting experience and systematic training. Even if they have a good attitude on set, the fact is they can’t act well. Not only that, they’re unwilling to devote all their energy to acting. Of course, it’s not entirely their fault. When their companies signed them, they invested a lot of money in training them to sing and dance, with the sole purpose of promoting them to stardom and then recouping the investment. As a result, they have to juggle too many things at once and can’t seriously study a script or a role."
Zhou Yun smiled without saying a word.
It seemed Liu Yuqian wasn’t really looking for agreement from her, and as soon as she had said enough to please herself, she felt relieved.
She let out a sigh of relief and said, "Luckily, Brother Shen’s incident wasn’t serious. I was so scared. I heard Brother Shen will be back on set to film tomorrow."
Zhou Yun asked, "Tomorrow? That soon?"
Liu Yuqian looked at her in surprise and asked, "Xiao Yun, you didn’t know? I thought you were already aware."
Zhou Yun smiled and said, "He told me last night that he could be discharged today, but I felt his condition didn’t seem like he was ready to start working right away, so I thought he would rest for a few more days."
Liu Yuqian: "Every extra day Brother Shen rests, the crew has to stop filming for a day, and the production can’t afford the financial drain."
Zhou Yun said, "No wonder."
"What’s no wonder?" Liu Yuqian asked.
Zhou Yun said, "I just overheard Liu Anshi talking on the phone at the door. He must have been informing Meng Ran to return to the crew."
Liu Yuqian curled the corners of her mouth.
At that moment, Zheng Xiaojue came over.
She said, "Sister Xiao Yun, your coffee."
Zhou Yun took the coffee and took a sip. Today she didn’t drink a latte; instead, she had an Americano, bitter and refreshing.
Wan Zhiliang came over to talk to the two.
"Xiao Yun, we’re shooting Yuqian’s close-up next, and the camera won’t be on you, so you can take a break, and I’ll call you back in a bit."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yun asked, "Don’t I need to act with her for her close-up?"
Today’s scene was entirely a dialogue between two people.
Even when filming Liu Yuqian’s close-up, it was still about filming the dialogue between the two of them.
If Zhou Yun didn’t act with Liu Yuqian to provide reactions, then Liu Yuqian would have to perform alone.
At most, someone off-camera could run lines with Liu Yuqian.
Liu Yuqian said, "It’s fine, Xiao Yun, you rest. I can act alone."
"I’ll act with you for your reactions." Zhou Yun said, "Your acting is good, I know, but having someone to act with you will make your performance more comfortable."
Liu Yuqian was a bit surprised.
Zhou Yun handed the coffee to Zheng Xiaojue and said to Wan Zhiliang and Liu Yuqian, "Let’s go."
Throughout the whole filming process, Zhou Yun was seriously acting with Liu Yuqian, providing reactions, and she didn’t slack off just because the camera wasn’t on her.
In fact, both she and Liu Yuqian’s acting were very professional, and the adjustments they made were fine-tuning on top of an already competent base. Sometimes Wan Zhiliang himself wanted to keep several versions to have more choices during editing.
After finishing the scene, Zhou Yun’s filming for today was done.
But she still had to take part in an interview with the crew. These interviews would later be aired as behind-the-scenes footage when the show was broadcast. The questions in the interview were mainly about the film and the actors involved. After completing the interview, it was already night. Night had fallen.
As Zhou Yun was about to leave, Liu Yuqian had just finished filming another scene of her own and bumped into her in the corridor.
Zhou Yun greeted her and was about to leave when Liu Yuqian stopped her, whispering, "I just heard Liu Anshi finding Director Wan to explain that Meng Ran would not be able to come back tomorrow because her company scheduled her for a program recording. Even if they hurry, she can’t return to the crew until The Day After Tomorrow."
Zhou Yun wasn’t surprised when she first heard Liu Anshi’s phone call and simply asked, "So what do we do now? Isn’t Brother Shen returning to the set tomorrow?"
Liu Yuqian said, "I don’t know how the crew will handle it, but what Meng Ran is doing is a complete breach of contract. If she really doesn’t show up tomorrow, we won’t be able to shoot our scenes."
The scenes scheduled for filming tomorrow had already been announced. Meng Ran’s presence was required; otherwise, those scenes simply couldn’t be shot.
Zhou Yun said, "Let’s see how the crew resolves it, I’m going back first, bye."
"Bye-bye."
After Zhou Yun left, the warm smile on Liu Yuqian’s face faded.
She entered her own dressing room, took out her phone, and dialed a number.
"Hello, Vivian, how have you been lately? I saw the article you pushed on your public account yesterday; it was so sharp! I loved it!" Liu Yuqian let out an excited shriek, "How do you always manage to write exactly what I’m thinking?... Hahaha, I’m calling you, of course, because I have an exclusive scoop for you, but remember our old rules, don’t forget."
...
Zhou Yun was still wondering, with Liu Anshi taking such a firm stance, Meng Ran’s company would probably be wary and wouldn’t really let Meng Ran go to another program instead of returning her, but it turned out Meng Ran really didn’t show up.
After getting her makeup done, she went out and saw Shen Yao looking very upset.
Even Yu Mengyao was present.
Yu Mengyao’s expression was also not too good, she was whispering something to Shen Yao.
The whole set had a somewhat low atmosphere.
Zhou Yun knew this must be related to Meng Ran not showing up, but she didn’t know how serious the situation was.
Half an hour later, Zhou Yun was notified to shoot another scene, one without Meng Ran.
Fortunately, it’s a movie, so the lines were limited.
For seven whole hours, they shot the scene where Zhou Yun and Shen Yao teased and flirted with each other in a hair salon.
What made Zhou Yun a bit uncomfortable was that Yu Mengyao was watching when she and Shen Yao teased each other.
She felt quite uneasy.
Even Wan Zhiliang noticed her off state and asked if she needed a break.
Zhou Yun didn’t want to say that it was because Yu Mengyao was present, making her feel awkward.
They went through the scene over and over again, repeating the same line until their lips were sore.
It was particularly draining on her spirit.
Finally, Wan Zhiliang called cut.
Zhou Yun took a deep breath of relief, her tense nerves relaxing.
Shen Yao said to her, "That take was well done."
Zhou Yun smiled.
Yu Mengyao walked over and handed Shen Yao a thermos, saying, "Have some water."
Seeing Yu Mengyao approaching, Zhou Yun said, "I’m done for the day, bye."
Shen Yao nodded, "Thanks for the hard work."
As she passed by a photography assistant named Xu Caisheng, she couldn’t help but take another look at him.
He was indeed good-looking.
But with Meng Ran suddenly leaving like that, what was he thinking inside?