MAIR – Chapter 88 – There are no small parts, only small actors

The plane landed at the airport in Shanyang city.

Guo Wenyuan sat in the business class and stretched. His assistant poured a cup of warm chinese wolfberry tea and handed it to him.

After getting off the plane, luxury cars arranged at the gate of the airport directly took them to a five-star hotel near Shanyang Film and Television City.

Guo Wenyuan had not yet had time to feel his muscles ache after the flight, when his assistant arranged a full set of massage services for him as soon as they entered the hotel, so he slept very comfortably.

Guo Wenyuan slept comfortably in the big bed of the five-star hotel and when he got up early the next morning, his assistant arranged a big breakfast.  While Guo Wenyuan was having breakfast, his assistant showed him movies according to his recent preferences, that had good reviews.

In the past, Du Yuping was used to suffering and had never experienced such an intimate and meticulous service. No matter how picky he was, he couldn’t say no against his own will.

He felt that although this assistant was not able to handle his business affairs, as a life assistant, he was still qualified. Let’s keep him, there was no need to fire him.

The assistant didn’t know that he had nearly lost his job. Seeing that Guo Wenyuan was full, he asked softly, “Boss Guo, are you going to have a rest in the hotel or do you want to have some fun? I have arranged some games with local characteristics for you. Would you like to have a look at them first?”

Guo Wenyuan frowned, “What arrangement? Didn’t I say we are going to the film city today?”

The assistant was stunned. He thought the boss was trying some novelty, and his enthusiasm would dissipate in a day or two. Unexpectedly, he really planned to go to the film and television city.

Fortunately, he had prepared for it in advance just in case.

At present Guanrui had three productions shooting in Shanyang Film and Television City. One was a movie, one was a TV drama and the last one was an online drama. The investment in movies and TV series was not small, and the boss couldn’t be allowed to make trouble there. The only one left was the online drama. The investment was small so even if Guo Wenyuan made trouble, there was not much to lose.

The assistant called the director and the producer in advance, and then drove Guo Wenyuan to Shanyang Film and Television City.

As the largest film and television city in China, tens of thousands of people depended on Shanyang Film and Television City for a living. Although it was not long after New Year, the film and television city was already working in full swing, with large and small groups having already started shooting.

Guo Wenyuan looked at everything in front of him and suddenly had a sense of familiarity.

When he was Du Yuping, every year he spent most of his time in film and television cities across the country. Before he found out that he was ill, he was still shooting films in Shanyang Film and Television City. At that time, his body already felt very uncomfortable, but he still insisted on finishing shooting the movie before he went for a check-up.

For actors like him, the film and television city may be more familiar than their own house.

The assistant cautiously asked him, “Mr. Guo, is something wrong with you?”

Guo Wenyuan came back to his senses. Putting away his thoughts for now, and said, “Let’s go see the crew first.”

The assistant didn’t dare to ask any further questions and hurriedly lead him to the crew.

The director of this online drama was a new director who had just graduated from school less than two years ago. He finally managed to seize the opportunity to direct an online drama and unexpectedly, the investor came here in person. He was simply flattered. He gathered the whole crew and waited outside the studio early on to express the importance of this matter.

When Guo Wenyuan arrived, the director got excited and hurriedly signaled to the staff nearby.

“Welcome Mr. Guo to the shooting location of ‘Secret History of the Hidden Palace’! Applause!”

Guo Wenyuan: “…”

He came across this kind of old-fashioned lines only when he was shooting local dramas.

The assistant didn’t dare to look at Guo Wenyuan’s face and hurriedly said to the director, “Director Wu, Mr. Guo has come here for inspection. You don’t need to engage in empty praises, we will just take a look.”

The director also estimated that his flattery might have been met with horse legs, and didn’t dare to make friends with Guo Wenyuan again, so he hurriedly greeted them and started shooting.

Guo Wenyuan folded his arms and watched.

The assistant was surprised to see that Guo Wenyuan was really watching carefully, and it was only then that he really believed that he had come here for inspection.

The assistant looked around and moved a chair to one side. “Boss Guo, have a seat.”

Guo Wenyuan was used to floating around, but now he couldn’t float and he had such a useless body. He just walked for a while and his whole person felt a bit weak.

As he lamented over his poor kidney, he sprawled impolitely on the chair.

The director took a careful look at Guo Wenyuan and discovered that he had sat down. It seemed that he had no intention to leave for a while.

The director immediately felt the pressure and whispered to the crew, “Which scene are we filming this afternoon?” After getting the answer, he flipped through the script again and breathed a sigh of relief.

As the name implied, the drama “Secret History of the Hidden Palace” was a palace fight drama. It told the story of a young girl who rose from the lowest level of a concubine to empress step by step after entering the palace.

Since it was a palace fight, there must be opponents. For example, the biggest hindrance in the process of promotion was an enchanting and beautiful imperial concubine that was deeply loved by the emperor. In fact, she was an orphan from the previous dynasty who was sent to the palace for revenge but fell in love with the emperor in the process of getting closer to him.

The actress playing this imperial concubine was Bai Shilan, an artist under Hua Rong.

Bai Shilan’s appearance was a bit mixed, but she was still very good-looking after changing into ancient clothes. In addition, she had been practicing dancing all these years, making her figure very good. Standing in front of the camera, she had a sense of presence – at least in regard to appearance. Her acting as an enchanting and beautiful imperial concubine was still pretty convincing.

In addition, she had not received any professional training but was still very smart and confident in herself. Especially when she heard that Guo Wenyuan had come, she made an effort worth at least 12 points and both scenes were shot very smoothly.

Guo Wenyuan watched for a while, then he said to his assistant, “Go and find a script for me.”

The assistant wanted to say something but only complained in his heart. Can you read it? But on the surface, he obediently went and found a script.

Guo Wenyuan roughly flipped through it until he found the scene being shot, and read it carefully.

The assistant didn’t expect that he could really understand it. Seeing that he was really immersed in the script, he couldn’t help but lighten his movements, not daring to disturb him.

After a long time, Guo Wenyuan closed the script and turned his attention to the scene being filmed.

Today’s scene showed the imperial concubine being humiliated by the other concubines. Her identity was exposed violently, making the emperor so shocked and angry that he wanted to execute her. She was desperate and died by crashing her head in a column. This was also a turning point in the whole drama.

There were investors present and all the actors were full of energy, trying their best. Such a complex plot only had several NG before it passed.

The director called “cut” with satisfaction and was about to announce the end of work when he suddenly remembered that there was a big ancestor nearby, and quickly trotted over to him. “Mr. Guo, what do you think of our performance?”

Guo Wenyuan frowned slightly as if he was considering how to put it.

At the same time, Bai Shilan who had not yet removed her makeup came over and with a touch of shyness said, “Mr. Guo, I didn’t expect you to come to the crew today. I feel so honored. I’m not a professional actor so I don’t know how I’m doing. Can you give me some advice?”

Guo Wenyuan stopped thinking, looked at Bai Shilan and asked, “Do you really want me to give you some advice?”

Bai Shilan nodded, half-tilting her head, showing an expression of adoration.

The faces of the other actors showed expressions of envy, jealousy, and hate. Everyone wanted to have a good relationship with the investors, but Bai Shilan had already taken the lead to stand in that place, so they could only wait unwillingly.

“Alright, then I’ll just say it.”

Guo Wenyuan stood up, walked to the front of the monitor and skillfully opened the video they had just filmed.

“Let’s talk about this scene first. The imperial concubine commits suicide shortly after she was humiliated. What’s the matter with the heroic expression on your face?! Are you going to blow up the bunker?”

Bai Shilan’s expression suddenly froze, and there was a burst of low laughter at the scene.

Guo Wenyuan was unaware of it and continued to talk.

“And in this scene, the imperial concubine knew that she was set up by the heroine and her identity was exposed violently. Her mood changes from anger at the beginning to panic, but you just stared wide-eyed at her from the beginning to the end. There was no change in your mood at all. You are not a frog. Why do you keep staring at her! Be reasonable, even if a frog found itself thrown into a hot pot, it would still flutter at least twice besides staring… ” (level of scolding –> MAX – he is so fun to translate)

“And the actor who plays the emperor. Even if you are just a background board, you should still be a little more dedicated, okay? The woman you loved the most has died in front of you. Even if she had bad intentions, you’ve spoiled her for so many years. Even if you don’t feel sad now, you shouldn’t have an expression of ‘take a good picture and then pick your lunchbox’, right?”

Guo Wenyuan started with Bai Shilan and criticized the acting skills of almost all the actors.

At first, some actors secretly laughed at Bai Shilan’s humiliation. But later, everyone became as quiet as a chicken. The huge shooting location fell in silence.

The director wanted to speak out several times, but he was scared by Guo Wenyuan’s gaze.

The assistant pulled Guo Wenyuan’s sleeve with a headache and whispered, “Guo…. Mr. Guo, please speak more softly … “

Guo Wenyuan was in high spirits and was very unhappy when he was interrupted, “What!?”

Assistant: “Don’t ask for the movie standard. It’s just an online drama…”

“What’s wrong with online dramas?” Guo Wenyuan’s expression was cold. “Because of the lack of investment and the simple setting, you think you can casually fool around?”

The director was trying to echo the assistant’s words, but when he heard Guo Wenyuan’s answer, he was too afraid to say anything.

Guo Wenyuan glanced at all the staff present at the scene and couldn’t help expressing his disappointment, “It seems that you all think so?”

Everyone was afraid to speak. Someone in the crowd muttered, “Aren’t online dramas just like that? We’ve already done a good job… “

Guo Wenyuan sneered, “Who says all online dramas are like this?” He thought about it, and decided to find an example, “In ‘Honey’ which became very popular recently, Chu Mei Bo who played Wen Nan was pretty good at acting! That was an online drama too!”

Everyone: “…”

This example was too hardcore to argue with.

Guo Wenyuan sighed from the bottom of his heart.

He has always believed in the saying – There are no small parts, only small actors. 

For him, no matter how small the role was, he would always carefully prepare for it, study the script and figure out the character.

Even if he was just some random guy who would only be on stage for less than five minutes, he would still attach great importance to it. Whether it was slimming or gaining weight, or even experiencing life, he would try his best to do it as long as it was helpful for shaping the character. He had played so many roles in his life, good, bad, big and small ones, every one of them walking a different path in life, but each character had their own unique color.

He could be called “the golden supporting role that cannot be surpassed in film history” because of his respect for the actor’s profession, and his unremitting efforts over the years.

Guo Wenyuan stopped talking and called his assistant to go back to the hotel.

Seeing that he was silent, the assistant asked carefully, “Mr. Guo, you have already finished watching this drama crew, so can we go back to Zhongjing city tomorrow?”

Guo Wenyuan said in a deep voice, “We won’t go back! You go and find out for me which drama is holding an audition for actors now. I’m going to audition!”

Assistant: “What?!”

The assistant couldn’t believe his own ears and asked again cautiously, “You said…. Who is auditioning again?”

“Me!” Guo Wenyuan looked at him angrily. “What? If I can’t play in others’ dramas I’ll invest my money to shoot my own drama!”

Assistant: “…”

Edited by : Taalia

Proofreader: LuLu

Support translation:


This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. phirruel

    HAHAAHAAHAHAHHA! That last line! I love this Du guy already! I literally laughed out loud a few times.

  2. Zo Arai

    I knew it!
    He wouldn’t have the patience to wait and see other people’s acting.
    I wonder what will the future hold.

    Thank you for the update ❤️

  3. moomyung

    Omg what if he and the team shoot a movie together hahaha Shen Huai you need to find more people!

  4. Thanks for the chapter! In the end, the guy wasn’t wrong… good acting makes you forget the cheapest sets while bad acting destroys the best of movies… How many times have we heard about a movie solely carried by the great performance of an actor, & not even a main role… good, dedicated acting just shines… & if an actor truly loves their profession, not just fame, every role is is a new chance to create, to become someone else….

  5. Sai

    Hahaha! Thanks for the chapter! This Du dude is way too funny haha

  6. Mayme T.

    Haha this guy really can’t settle for backseat driving. He just ends up grabbing for the wheel himself.

  7. renimon20

    Mr. Du possessed the right person for his obsession in acting surpasses money LOL maybe make his own movie?😂😂😂😂😂

  8. Estee

    If he didn’t go back to acting, he could’ve become a director 😂

    1. octachus

      Noooo! That’s too cruel! You want to sick him towards those poor actors and actresses? If he become a director, the film he direct is not going to be aired until a decade later because of insufficient in competent actors. 😂

  9. Aforia

    Omfg only this heavy of a background and amount of money could accommodate the sheer magnitude of this man’s balls and keep him safe XD

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