The set was bustling with activity. Director Ji had already poured her a drink. She could not refuse the offer from her senior, and he handed it to Xia Siyu with a smile, so she had to take it.
These days, it’s relatively easy to get by in the entertainnt industry. In China, the entertainnt industry is almost a gold mine, offering overnight riches with an astonishingly high return on investnt. Due to the fan economy, stars rely on their looks, and sotis not even that, just a persona is enough to gain popularity, resulting in fewer people taking acting seriously. Even if there are, many are small, peripheral roles.
In the past, the industry was full of stars, and achieving high ranks required both skill and luck to earn awards and fa. Nowadays, a whole year might pass without a good movie or a particularly outstanding TV series, and awards are given to the best among a diocre selection that wouldn’t have even been nominated in the past. However, those who work hard often have inherent limitations. Male leads can often say many people don’t care about looks, only acting skills. But for actresses, the constraints are too many; if they are not beautiful, they must at least have charm and temperant, and without these, no matter how well they act, they can’t carry the lead role.
Previously, there was only Shang Feifei, and her roles were heavily limited, only able to play cooler female leads. But now Xia Siyu has suddenly burst forth, as if she were possessed. Not only is she attractive, but her acting skills have also improved greatly, she’s hardworking, and her action scenes are impressive.
When filming "The Catch", the original female lead Zhang Fan was injured, and Wang Ju introduced Xia Siyu. Director Ji initially disliked her because of her scandals and her diva reputation, fearing she wouldn’t do action scenes. Surprisingly, she got better and better; although she was a bit pretentious sotis, he completely understood, as female actors often are. Most importantly, she didn’t hike up her price for either of the two films; she kept the sa rate as before, even after "Storm" beca a hit, she didn’t make any demands. And you could see, she even learned how to handle firearms. Since precise aim wasn’t required for filming, just the stance was already quite good.
Director Ji sincerely said, "Actually, I toast to you because I had so prejudice against you initially, and did not expect you to perform quite so well."
Xia Siyu laughed and said, "Director, you’re toasting too early. What if I retreat during a dangerous scene?" She still hadn’t shown her motorcycle skills!
"Retreating is fine too; so scenes already have doubles standing by, so if you can’t shoot them, it’s not your fault."
After the two finished a drink, the male lead and male supporting actors chid in: "Siyu hasn’t had a drink with us yet. We agreed on three glasses, not one less!"
Another lively toast, then another.
After three glasses, about a bottle of beer’s worth, Xia Siyu was feeling a little dizzy. When she drinks too much, she tends to want more, and soone else was offering her a drink, but Wei Jingjing quickly ca up to stop her.
Thankfully, the food was served afterwards. As soon as the dishes arrived, Xia Siyu focused on her al and no one paid attention to how much she’d had to drink. But the Jiang siblings sitting next to her, especially Jiang Bui, looked sullen.
She initially thought that she wasn’t even in this circle before and still managed to pull Xia Siyu down with her own efforts. Joining the crew, she expected to be even more of a hindrance.
But the truth was, the hierarchy in the entertainnt circle was strict, and even with her and her brother being financiers, they were still at the bottom and unnoticed. Let alone dealing with Xia Siyu, over these days, there were more than just a few people on set openly and covertly criticizing her brother for being terrible at acting and slowing down progress.
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