Millennium director

September 27, afternoon.

The familiar Beijing Cinema of the Light and Shadow Era was once again booked by the head office today.

However, unlike the low-key premiere of "Love Letter" inside, today's outside Times Cinema was very lively.

Reporters from all over the country, numbering in the hundreds, crowded into the small square outside Times Cinema, their cameras flashing non-stop.

On the red carpet that stretched less than twenty meters, well-known celebrities and entertainers in the industry walked on the red carpet one after another. They greeted the reporters on both sides in a low-key or generous manner, and then quickly walked into the cinema.

"Didn't you say that Director Wu will be here today?"

"Why haven't you seen Director Wu's car yet?"

"You're not going to come, are you?"

"Probably not. My colleagues at the airport saw Director Wu returning to China half a month ago."

"Cheng Long is already here, but Director Wu is not here yet. Is he going to be the last one to appear?"

The reporters at the scene faithfully recorded the guests present and chatted with each other.

Wu Yuan has not appeared in public for a long time. Ever since "Love Letter" was released in February, he has just disappeared, although everyone knows that he went to the United States to work on a new movie in the later stages.

But since others are not in the country, media reporters lack a lot of material!

Now I finally heard that Wu Yuan would make a public appearance at the premiere of "The Legend of Shushan". Everyone came to join in the fun, but they never saw him, so how could they not be anxious.

However, to the disappointment of these media reporters, Wu Yuan had actually arrived at the cinema a long time ago, and was even the first to arrive. However, he did not go through the main entrance in front, but entered the theater through the safe passage and is now inside. Chatting with Zhang Guorong.

"Director Wu, are you back from the United States?"

"Ya Wen asks me about your whereabouts every day, for fear that you will miss the premiere."

Zhang Guorong, who was obviously a little older, smiled and patted Wu Yuan on the shoulder.

The two of them stood at the door of the inner theater, greeting the guests who came to attend the premiere, while chatting about the current situation.

In recent years, the communication between Wu Yuan and Zhang Guorong has not been as frequent as before.

On the one hand, Wu Yuan is very busy with his work. He travels all over the world and is busy filming, so he doesn't have much time to go back to the company.

On the other hand, Zhang Guorong's director skills have grown up and he can now take charge of his own business. He is also busy.

From "Along with the Gods" to "The Legend of Shushan Immortals", Zhang Guorong can be regarded as the director who is best at special effects blockbusters besides Wu Yuan in the era of light and shadow.

"Brother Leslie, I heard that Han Yan asked you to film a movie, but you rejected him?" Wu Yuan asked with a smile.

Zhang Guorong sighed and said with some helplessness: "I am 56 years old this year, and Han Yan still wants me to play an idol doctor and a cold male god."

"Isn't this a joke?"

"If he asks me to play a grandfather, then I can still consider it. It would be a bit shameless to play a role that I played when I was in my twenties and thirties when I am almost sixty."

Wu Yuan was stunned, his eyes lingering on Zhang Guorong's face for a long time.

56 years old, this is really an unfamiliar number.

He had never been deeply impressed by Zhang Guorong's age.

When filming "The Embalmer", although Zhang Guorong was already in his forties, he looked about the same as he was in his thirties. He didn't look old at all, and his face was very tender. Even Wu Yuan regarded him as his same age. look.

But now in the blink of an eye, he is almost sixty years old. No matter how childlike he looks, the traces of vicissitudes and years cannot be concealed.

It's no wonder that Zhang Guorong has become more and more low-key in recent years. He rarely appears on TV shows, no longer appears in movies and TV series, and concentrates on behind-the-scenes directing work.

Perhaps for him, keeping his most perfect moment in the hearts of fans and not letting them see what he will look like when he gets older is also a kind of love for his fans.

However, Zhang Guorong's next words broke Wu Yuan's guess.

"I am only interested in the roles of the elderly now." Zhang Guorong said to Wu Yuan with great interest: "Like the role of teacher Li Xuejian in "The Embalmer" back then."

"Or the character of Mr. Yu Benchang in "Love"."

"I've never played an old man before, so it's very challenging."

"Unfortunately, no production crew invited me to play such an elderly role. They all regarded me as Zhang Guorong, who is sharp in singing and dancing and handsome in appearance."

Pointing to some white hair on his head, Zhang Guorong shook his head and laughed: "It's as if I have never grown old in their hearts, as if I was still Ning Caichen in "A Chinese Ghost Story"."

"But I'm going to be sixty soon."

Zhang Guorong's words made Wu Yuan feel a little dazed.

Even he had never regarded Zhang Guorong as an old man who was almost sixty years old.

To be honest, Wu Yuan agrees with Zhang Guorong's words. He himself believes that actors of any age should play roles of a certain age.

Youth movies need to find young actors who are 17 or 18 years old. When they are old enough to fall in love, they will make romantic idol dramas, and when they are old enough to get married, they will make real-life marriage dramas.

Wu Yuan couldn't accept middle-aged idols and ancient idols in their thirties and forties.

Zhang Guorong wants to play an elderly person, which is indeed in line with his physical and mental age.

But Wu Yuan couldn't accept it emotionally.

Asking Zhang Guorong to play an old man who walks tremblingly like teachers You Benchang and Li Xuejian did, this really ruined the image of Zhang Guorong in Wu Yuan's mind!

After murmuring for a while, Wu Yuan finally said: "Good books about the elderly are very scarce in the industry now."

Not to mention the elderly, there are very few scripts where the protagonists are middle-aged people.

Nowadays, the movie and TV drama circles are becoming younger, and everyone likes to use young actors to play the leading roles. Even middle-aged and elderly people like Liu Dehua, who are actually very old, the characters in the movies they accept are generally set in their thirties or forties. A handsome old man.

There are almost no movies like "Love" that focus entirely on the elderly in China.

Even if there are a few occasionally, the scripts may not be high-quality and not worthy of Zhang Guorong.

"That's why I'm telling you this." Zhang Guorong winked and smiled at Wu Yuan, "You are the best film screenwriter in the country."

"And you love to write this kind of literary film. If there are middle-aged and elderly characters suitable for me in the future, please remember me. I want to challenge myself."

"If you don't act, you'll be really old."

Wu Yuan thought for a while and nodded hesitantly. Just as he was about to say something else, Cheng Long's big head poked out from the infield.

"What are you two talking about?"

"The premiere is about to begin. Why are you still standing at the door? All the guests who are supposed to come have already arrived."

"Come in, the premiere speech is about to begin. If you don't come, Leslie, no one on the crew will dare to go on stage."

Wu Yuan turned his head, looked at Cheng Long's increasingly aged face, and sighed silently.

Uncle Long is getting old too.

Unknowingly, an era has come to an end. (End of chapter)