Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 414: Partnering in a Scene
After chatting together for half an hour, the director couldn’t stand it anymore and told Xie Qingci to continue shooting.
The director specifically asked Yu Xia, "You should help out more. If you think anything’s not right, guide him more."
Yu Xia was quite interested and nodded in agreement.
The assistant director joked, "You’d better let him relax first. I’m afraid with you standing here, he might never dare interact with that actress."
"You make me sound so terrifying." What strict control? That’s simply not the case. Do I look like a master manipulator who’d watch over her boyfriend daily to prevent him from interacting with anyone?
She dragged Xie Qingci’s lounge chair to the other side and sat down, slightly avoiding the actors’ line of sight so that Xie Qingci could relax a bit.
This scene was a re-shoot of one they hadn’t finished before, where Xie Qingci, the second male lead, saves the female lead from danger, dramatically swoops down, coolly and ostentatiously lifts her onto the motorcycle, and the two ride away.
Unfortunately, the female lead wasn’t moved at all by this and didn’t fall for him. After they were safe, she left him and ran to find the main male lead. The second male lead’s roguish expression held a hint of discomfort.
At this moment, the second female lead appeared. She had a high status, a strong background, and was beautiful. Her only flaw was liking the main male lead. To win him over, she deceives the second male lead into cooperating, intending to destroy the female lead.
But all the second male lead wanted was to make the female lead jealous.
Thus the plot naturally progressed to the intimate scenes between the second male and female leads.
Often in filming, scene sequences are mixed up. They don’t shoot in episode order but depending on the director’s decision based on the weather, environment, costumes, etc. Sometimes actors film the final scenes right after joining the group.
So, Yu Xia wasn’t sure if the director did it on purpose, deliberately bringing forward the intimate scenes between the second male and female leads.
To have her watch Xie Qingci and Rong Tan act out intimate scenes on the spot was, a bit awkward, even if a body double was used.
The crew again sneaked glances at her.
She remained expressionless, but the two people in front of the camera looked slightly uneasy. Whenever they were about to hold each other, Xie Qingci would look in her direction, or Rong Tan would cautiously glance over at her.
As expected, the scenes weren’t successful, and they got cut "Ka" two or three times before the director sighed and waved his hand.
"Alright, take a break and get mentally prepared."
"Director, how about we do it like this?"
At this moment, Rong Tan stepped up, volunteering to give way, "Anyway, it’s just filming my back, then a long shot. It doesn’t matter if someone else steps in, right? Isn’t Yu Xia here? Since they are a couple, Xie Qingci should be less restrained filming the scene with her."
Her attitude was open and sincere, as if it was entirely for the sake of getting through the shoot quickly and not wasting everyone’s time.
The director and Xie Qingci both looked at Yu Xia.
The two had similar builds, and in truth, Yu Xia had more presence and a better figure than Rong Tan. If she wore the same clothes, maybe the effect would be even better. Normally, the crew couldn’t even hire Yu Xia to play the second female lead; they were gaining an advantage here.
The director asked, "Yu Xia, what do you say? Are you willing to cooperate for a bit? Maybe with you, Xie Qingci will nail it immediately."
Yu Xia considered it.
During this time, she had already figured out what was going on with Rong Tan.
She was placed here by special request of the investors, specifically targeting the role of the second female lead.
The character of the second female lead was quite good: a powerful young lady with a scheming mind. In the past, such a character would be a vicious side character, but nowadays, tired of the sweet innocent female leads, this type had become more popular. In recent years, several shows with such characters have gained popularity by focusing on the second male and female leads.
There weren’t many intimate scenes between the second male and female leads. This scene was just a hug and a pretend kiss to let the main leads see them.
Did Rong Tan really suggest Yu Xia step in out of good intentions for Xie Qingci?
There was no animosity between her and Rong Tan; they hadn’t even spoken during their time at Xi Heng’s company. Yet it felt as if Rong Tan was just coming at her.
Thoughts flashed by quickly, with everyone staring at her, so Yu Xia stood up and said, "If the director says it’s okay, then it’s okay, but since I’m not getting paid, remember it’s just the back view."
The director nodded continuously and had someone bring up a set of matching clothes for her to change into.
With everything ready, everyone was interested in watching the real couple, curious about how they’d handle the intimate scenes. Would they really kiss?
Everyone was there for the show except for Rong Tan, who sat at the back of the crowd, resting.
Yu Xia glanced over, then stood before Xie Qingci, listening to the director explain the scene.
"It’s simple. Just hug each other in a rather rushed manner, then you stand on tiptoe to kiss him, and he looks over at the female lead before kissing back."
After explaining, considering they were a real couple and had probably kissed countless times, he added, "I won’t say much else, just don’t keep kissing."
Yu Xia: "..." Do I look like someone who can’t tell occasion from obsession with kissing?
Xie Qingci managed to suppress his laughter and nodded seriously.
Once the director walked away, she glared at him and said, "Act like we’re not close for now, stick to your character, and let’s get this done in one go."
"A bit difficult, might need you to help me out, Sister Yu Xia."
Yu Xia warned him, "Don’t you go wild. Those brainless TV dramas where they intentionally mess up to get more takes are the work of people with a screw loose. Do this today, and tomorrow the director can spread the word that you’re an idiot."
Xie Qingci sighed, looking regretful, "Then you’ll just have to make it up to me after filming."
"..." So shameless, fabricating affection from nothing.
The director poked his head in and asked, "Ready?"
She gave an okay hand gesture.
The cameras rolled.
The main leads acted as the backdrop, while Xie Qingci rather roughly pulled her over and hurriedly embraced her.
No gentleness, no courtesy, no warmth, because his entire attention was on the female lead, pulling her over in a moment of heated impulse to provoke her.
She saw the male lead too, though not as overtly. She simply didn’t look over that way, her hands weakly resisting on his chest, with a concealed smile, she stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
After being kissed, he was momentarily stunned, then looked at her with a sour expression.
There was a line here: "She’s watching. Aren’t you going to do something? If you want to provoke her, stop acting so pure and innocent."
Then, Xie Qingci kissed her back, not faking it, but with their lips actually touching.
The short scene quickly wrapped up.
The director grinned, "Real couples just let go more, Xie Qingci’s state was good."
He actually felt regretful. If they could arrange even more intimate scenes for Xie Qingci, and have Yu Xia participate, even this alone would attract many netizens.
Too bad Xie Qingci’s studio had a clause in the contract specifying no sudden increases in intimate scenes. If there were any, they’d have to discuss it and only accept reasonable adjustments.
There have been cases of sudden increases in intimate scenes, mostly driven by investors for hype or financial gain, or actors joining with investments lobbying for personal advantages, forcing the writers. They were guarding against exactly these kinds of situations.
For a newcomer to propose such demands right away, was it because... Yu Xia really did keep a tight leash?
