Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years

"With that face, claiming you're handsome is truly out of place. You better get into character quickly."

An Feng turned away, refusing to look at Qi Hao.

She feared having nightmares at night.

It's like your dream lover appears in your dream, and as you're about to greet them, he (or she) turns around with the face of Yan Guanying or Granny Luo Lan.

"Not bad at all."

Once the makeup was done, Director Han Jie was quite pleased. He felt Qi Hao perfectly embodied Mr. Tree in his mind.

If you don't look at the cast list, no one would guess that Mr. Tree is played by Qi Hao.

This could serve as a promotional highlight in the future.

At that time, editing a trailer without revealing the lead actor might intrigue the audience. They might wonder, wasn't Qi Hao supposed to be in it? Why didn't Qi Hao appear? The trailer must be too misleading.

"No way, I want more money. This role is ruining my image."

Qi Hao looked at the person in the mirror. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say even his mother wouldn't recognize him.

Even An Feng didn't want to look at his face.

"More money? Go talk to our boss, ask him to invest another twenty million, and it can all be your salary."

Han Jie didn't give Qi Hao any face at all.

"Alright, forget it then."

Qi Hao was speechless. Isn't it all his own money?

"With makeup like this, will it affect your performance?"

Han Jie only cared about the movie-related issues.

"It shouldn't be a big problem. However, I need some time to adjust. We probably won't be able to shoot much today."

Qi Hao made a few expressions and realized the effect was affected, but within an acceptable range.

Actually, seeing a stranger in the mirror mimicking your expressions felt rather eerie,

"Today we won't film formally. I'll give you time to adjust, but tomorrow we officially start shooting. I plan to finish this film within forty days, so don't expect to go home for New Year's this year."

Han Jie didn't treat Qi Hao as his financial backer.

That's just how he is.

Once at the set, it's his call, even if Qi Hao is the producer and has won the Golden Horse Award for Best Director.

"Alright, let's hurry up with the filming. I only have one request: your movie needs to help me win another Best Actor award."

Qi Hao quite liked Han Jie's straightforwardness.

So he candidly expressed his expectation for this film.

"Best Actor, huh..." Han Jie opened his mouth and scratched his head in frustration, saying, "I can't guarantee that. Winning Best Actor is really tough nowadays."

Although he believed he had some talent, very few people dared to guarantee winning a Best Actor award.

Only Wang Jiawei, Zhang Yimou, and a few others might have confidence.

Firstly, because of their own skill level, secondly, due to their international influence.

"So, just give it your best shot."

Qi Hao patted his shoulder. He still had some faith in the script.

His primary mission required him to win Best Actor.

This Best Actor award had to be secured, even if it meant a slightly lower-profile one.

Like from the Student Film Festival or the Changchun Film Festival.

"As if giving your best effort guarantees an award."

Han Jie sighed. Other producers aim to make money, but Qi Hao aims to win Best Actor.

"If you win a top-tier Best Actor, fifty thousand bonus; second-tier Best Actor, twenty thousand bonus..."

Qi Hao painted a dream.

"What if it's an international Best Actor?"

Han Jie's eyes lit up, showing no shame in his greed for money.

Who wouldn't want more money?

For making this film, his director and screenwriter fees combined totaled only twenty thousand yuan.

In reality, even the twenty thousand was elusive; he'd spent quite a bit on meals and accommodations for field research and writing.

Even selling the script directly wouldn't fetch just twenty thousand.

Feiyang Media paid three million for the script of 'Steel Piano.'

Han Jie surely wouldn't want to sell his script.

And with an eight million investment, Qi Hao only took one million for his actor fee. How could Han Jie take more than that?

Right now, the hope was for the movie to be a great success, at least allowing Qi Hao to win Best Actor.

Let Han Jie gain both fame and fortune.

"International Best Actor, huh? If it's one of the three major international film festivals, I'll give you a million bonus!"

Winning Best Actor was the requirement of "Main Task 2," which offered fifty thousand Apple shares. Selling them now would get around 740 million.

If he could win an international Best Actor, exceeding the task, casually rewarding some extra Apple shares could mean billions of increase.

Rewarding Director Han Jie, who helped him win Best Actor, a million would be ridiculously easy.

"Damn, I hate you rich guys the most!"

Han Jie swore.

"Why?"

Who wouldn't want to be friends with the rich?

"In front of you rich guys, I always feel like I can't stand up straight."

Han Jie sighed.

"Haha, don't worry, I love your rebellious nature. Let's start quickly. First, let Daoist Master perform the ritual, then we'll take a group photo and start shooting."

Qi Hao not only has to complete the Best Actor task, but also the Director task; he is even more eager than Han Jie to finish filming this movie early.

However, this film involves his Best Actor mission, so he cannot be too hasty.

The Fake Daoist brought his juniors this time.

And he brought four of them.

They all followed their Second Senior Brother down the mountain to experience the mundane world.

Apparently, the bustling world below fascinated these young Daoists immensely. It's uncertain whether they're yearning for the worldly prosperity or the foot massage parlors.

Daoist Suiyun's lineage of Daoists is somewhat carefree... unrestrained.

A Great Daoist accompanied by four young Daoists practicing swordsmanship is a spectacular sight, which made Han Jie want to shoot a film about Daoist culture.

Since Qi Hao wanted to learn his swordsmanship, the Fake Daoist performed a new set of sword techniques on-site after completing the ritual, removing his robe.

Qi Hao recorded it, planning to study it thoroughly.

Swordsmanship might not be forceful, but it's quite good for fitness.

After a simple opening ceremony, they began trial filming.

There were no specific filming tasks today; it's mainly to let actors find their acting state.

"Shu? What are you up to?"

The actor riding a motorcycle passed by and stopped in front of the camera.

Qi Hao greeted him with a cigarette between his fingers and one hand in his pocket.

"Zhuang, off work?"

Then Qi Hao got on the motorcycle, letting the person give him a ride for a bit.

"Cut~!"

Han Jie called out, pondering for a moment before asking:

"What's wrong with your arm?"

With an ordinary director and actor, if a director feels an actor's performance is odd, it can be directly changed to settle it.

However, Qi Hao is not an ordinary actor.

He is a Golden Horse Award-winning Best Director, so Han Jie cannot simply reject his performance.

"Is it too rigid, with a kind of awkwardness that has nowhere to go? I think this character..."

Han Jie, as the director, Qi Hao would certainly respect him, but respecting doesn't mean Qi Hao would be a mere echo.

Thinking back, when Zhang Yimou invited Jiang Wen to change his role into a director to shoot "Red Sorghum", arguments started from the first day in the crew, lasting half a day over camera positions or lines. Surprisingly, this great work emerged from their disputes.

Later when shooting "Let's Talk", they continued to argue over everything.

Some people even felt that although "Let's Talk" was directed by Zhang Yimou, the style was more aligned with Jiang Wen; calling it Jiang Wen's film wouldn't be wrong.

Now Qi Hao is starring in Han Jie's film.

He is the Best Actor, Best Director, and also the producer.

It's fortunate he doesn't 'bully' Han Jie like Jiang Wen bullying Lu Yu.

During the filming process, Qi Hao certainly insisted on his interpretations.

"Your design is quite good; how come I didn't think of it?"

After hearing Qi Hao's explanation, Han Jie doubted himself somewhat, but as someone genuinely dedicated to films, if Qi Hao's explanation was correct, he wouldn't reject it merely for pride.

"Didn't you forget, you asked me to go to the village and observe that Mr. Tree; I went over ten times and even secretly recorded his images..."

Qi Hao put great effort into this role.

Moreover, he found out that even the recorded, non-released footage can also serve as training material, with the non-formal actor images being used to train the character.

For example, letting Liang Jiahui, Li Xuejian, Ge You... each act as Mr. Tree.

And when he embodies within the character, he can perfectly experience the role.

"You're truly perverted."

Thinking from Mr. Tree's perspective, Han Jie imagined if someone secretly shadowed him, even simple masturbation wouldn't be restful; it would be a nightmare-like experience.

Especially with the recorded material, having a sleazy man savoring it carefully.

"It's all for the sake of the movie!"

Qi Hao didn't expect the people he sent would be so capable, recording everything throughout.

Sometimes it's unclear where they stood to shoot.

If there's a type of superhero in the world, it must be the photographer.

When you watch an extreme video online, don't marvel at the person in the shot first, because the shadowing photographer is more impressive.

"Oh right, and your smoking action; I remember you said you don't usually smoke, right?"

Han Jie smokes, but not during filming.

"Yeah, are the actions wrong?"

Qi Hao thought his smoking would be fitting for the role; he not only observed Mr. Tree smoking but also watched several villagers and old smokers.

As an actor, adhering to the role is fundamental.

You can't say smoking is bad and strip that trait from the role; if killing, reading deeply, or black society… so many things are bad, avoiding all of them leaves no room for movies.

Therefore, Qi Hao decided to perform smoking well.

"In just these couple of months, you've reached this level of proficiency; how many packs are you smoking a day, don't let it kill you."

Han Jie suspected Qi Hao was a film fanatic.

That smoking action couldn't be performed without a minimum of three packs a day.

"Ha, it's not that exaggerated."

Qi Hao laughed, embarrassed, indeed trying smoking in reality a few times, but not to the extent of one cigarette per day.

Primarily practicing in the training space, though it's hard to explain this.

Resigned to accepting the film fanatic persona.