Chapter 1410: Chapter 733: Waves Rise Again (Part 2)
Song Chi awkwardly touched his nose.
He couldn’t say it, but he felt those roles weren’t worthy of Zhou Yun.
What would the actors who played those roles think?
Zhou Yun realized her words made Song Chi awkward, so she smiled and said, "Actually, we are both like this. At work, we try our best to remain relatively independent and not get too mixed up together. Acting, in particular, is something you dread repeating, so unless it’s a particularly suitable project, we wouldn’t frequently mix our personal lives and work. He has his own career, and I have mine."
Lew Qing listened and was filled with admiration.
"Actors who are as clear-minded as you two are really rare, no wonder you’ve achieved such accomplishments."
Zhou Yun said, "Actually, I fear when others praise me because I know I’m not as good as they say. I’m not a very resolute person who never changes once something is decided. I often change my mind, change my attitude, so when it comes to being clear-minded, really, don’t praise me like that, I don’t think I’m clear-minded at all."
Lew Qing said, "But from what I know, many producers offered you extremely high pay, yet none of them managed to sway you."
"Because I don’t lack money," Zhou Yun said, "If I needed money, maybe they could sway me."
She laughed.
The whole room laughed along.
Zhou Yun said, "Using the fact that I rejected high pay to talk about my clear-mindedness is actually unfair to other actors, because even though I turned down those high-paying offers, the films I acted in also paid me well. I’m not an actor who gets paid very little."
"You deserve it," Lew Qing said.
"That’s true." Zhou Yun nodded confidently.
"If there’s a good script, but the pay is very low, or even requires you to act for free, would you do it?" Lew Qing suddenly asked.
Zhou Yun pondered for a moment and said, "First, it’s important to see if the producer truly has no money to offer or simply doesn’t have faith in the market prospects of the project and is unwilling to invest much in the beginning. Second, I’m a professional actor, and unless it’s for charity, I wouldn’t act for free. I’m not saying you must offer me a certain amount; if you can’t pay cash, you can offer me dividends or other forms, so my contributions are respected. Third, if the script is really good, facing challenges with no one daring to invest, I’d invest myself to help the director make the film, using my investment to pay myself."
Lew Qing was astounded.
"You use your own investment to pay yourself?"
"Yes," Zhou Yun said, "This is a professional environment. Of course, we all have idealistic moments; if there’s a role that’s a must-do, OK, if you don’t pay me, I might still go for it. The key is whether there’s something that moves you."
"Very emotional," Lew Qing said.
Zhou Yun turned to look at Song Chi.
"How about you?"
Song Chi said, "I’m similar to you. If the producer lacks funds and can’t pay, no worries, I’ll help find investors."
Lew Qing exclaimed, surprised.
"You two are indeed top actors now, handling things differently from others."
"I can’t use a solvable approach just to highlight myself for being willing to act for free and appear great," Zhou Yun laughed, "Actually, whether it’s me or Song Chi, we have resources and channels many other actors might not have. This industry has given us many advantages, and we need to help others when we can. Instead of acting for free, there are many more things we can do."
"That’s true," Lew Qing nodded.
"Then if a completely new director brings a script to you, would you read it?" Lew Qing asked again.
Zhou Yun said, "I have a dedicated team to screen scripts for me. Honestly, if not for a recommendation from people I know, I don’t have the time or energy to read a script by someone I have no idea about. However, I’ve always asked my team to include scripts from newcomers in every batch they send me. I’m especially afraid of using a celebrity filter to choose scripts. I still want to maintain my sensitivity to content and my judgment for art."