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Chapter 20.1
Editor: Jodi
Mu Nan fell deep into thought.
Leaving the company to start a studio was the first choice for many artists who had gained a certain level of fame— even Cheng Han did just that. Moreover, there was a senior in the industry whose studio, after years of operation, went public on the HK Stock Exchange last year. Therefore, starting his own studio was a very promising option.
However he still had more than two years left on his contract with the company, and leaving now would mean paying a sky-high penalty for breach of contract. He really didn’t know where Bai Wenyang’s confidence came from, thinking that he could definitely afford to pay such a sum.
“You can take your time to think about it.” Wilder said when he saw that he was silent. “You don’t have to consider me. If you decide to terminate the contract and still need me, I can leave with you.”
“Thank you.” Mu Nan said sincerely, “but for now, I don’t need to start a studio. The company has treated me pretty well over the years, so I can’t just bite the hand that feeds me. Besides, if I accept his help, it would be too big of a favor to owe.”
Mu Nan said firmly, “So, tell Bai Wenyang that I won’t leave the company during the contract period.”
Wilder stared at him for a while, confirmed he was serious, then smiled lightly. “I knew I didn’t misjudge you.”
“Don’t speak too soon.” Mu Nan said. “What if I change my mind? Then you’ll cry.”
“Impossible, I know what kind of person you are.”
Then, Mu Nan took out the TV drama project that Wilder had brought. It was a drama adapted from a well-known urban workplace novel, with the original author personally writing the screenplay. The female lead had already been decided—a first-tier young traffic star actress. The male lead’s role, however, was still vacant.
He hadn’t read the novel before, so he skimmed through the outline to get a rough understanding of the plot.
The story took place in a law firm.
The female lead was an intern who just graduated from law school, and the male lead was one of the partners at the firm—young, handsome, and wealthy.
The second male lead, on the other hand, was an intern who joined the firm at the same time and fell in love with the female lead at first sight. He pursued her relentlessly, even going so far as to take the blame for her mistakes and stood up for her when she was bullied, nearly getting himself fired in the process.
After reading the outline, Mu Nan’s head was filled with only two words: “boot licker.”
And sure enough, the male lead and female lead lived happily ever after, while the second male lead had nothing to do with the ending.
After reading it, Mu Nan was deeply puzzled: “So, I’d like to ask the author, did they create this character just to make the audience feel sorry for him?”
Wilder nodded. “Maybe. That’s probably why they want someone like you to play the role, because if it’s not done well, it could annoy people easily.”
“Even though the character is a bit awkward, the outline seems okay? The specific cases are pretty interesting too.”
Wilder said, “Of course, otherwise, they wouldn’t have shown it to you.”
“But I’ve never acted before. Can I pull it off?” Mu Nan started to doubt himself.
Wilder didn’t give a direct yes or no answer. “There’s still a week before the audition, so you can read the original novel to get a feel for it. Plus, don’t you have a close resource?”
“Who?” Mu Nan was confused for a moment. “Oh, you mean him.” He pointed upwards.
“Yeah, he’s acted in quite a few shows and has a lot of experience. You can ask him.”
Mu Nan pursed his lips, clearly reluctant, however he didn’t refuse outright either.
After Wilder left, Mu Nan found the original novel to read. It had over 300,000 words, so after reading just a third of it, he turned to the script.
Since there was still an audition round before the role would be finalized, the script he had wasn’t complete. However from the few scenes he had, he could see that the TV drama was quite different from the original novel.
In the novel, the second male lead was a bright and sunny young man, one that was occasionally impulsive, however his feelings for the female lead were straightforward, with the vigor of youth.
However, in the drama, the character had been turned into a complete bootlicker.
He wasn’t too fond of this adaptation, however perhaps the author had their own reasons.
Before he knew it, evening had arrived, so he went to his room to practice reading the lines in front of the mirror.
He had never acted before, nor had he taken any related classes, so him just delivering the lines with the right intonation was difficult for him. And when he tried to add emotion and facial expressions, nothing felt right.
His eyes couldn’t find focus, his expressions were mostly blank, and occasionally, overly exaggerated.
It wouldn’t work, if things continued like this.