SAE CH2

Jiang Fanxing had been working as an extra for less than half a month, yet quite a few casting directors from various film crews had already added him on WeChat, calling him up to be a special feature actor.

In other industries, good looks might not translate to cash so quickly, but in the entertainment circle, beauty is the most primal productive force.

Jiang Fanxing had mingled on quite a few sets by now and discovered that over ninety percent of the actors weren’t all that good-looking. Furthermore, their faces were quite bumpy and uneven—almost entirely the result of “modern technology and artificial enhancements.” Therefore, after Jiang Fanxing appeared on camera just a few times, casting directors took a liking to him, consecutively inviting him to play the 4th male lead or something similar.

Of course, the productions that took an interest in him weren’t massive blockbusters. Generally, they were small-budget web dramas with investments of around a million yuan, or those three-minute short-form video dramas. The chances of these finished products actually meeting an audience were extremely low, so no established actors fought for them. Basically, as long as you looked good on camera, it was very easy to snag a role in these kinds of web dramas.

When his senior called again, Jiang Fanxing simply took a screenshot of his bank balance and sent it over.

He had only been running around as a background extra, a foreground extra, and a special feature actor for a month, and his savings were already about to break the ten-thousand mark. What was there to complain about?

The senior never called again.

Jiang Fanxing took to the film sets like a fish to water. He was smart, exceedingly handsome, and had a silver tongue. Many people felt that even if Jiang Fanxing didn’t become a massive superstar, with his looks and emotional intelligence, he could easily become a recognizable supporting actor in the future. Because of this, everyone was fairly polite to him.

How did that saying go?

True beauties and handsome guys are like gold; they won’t be buried. Even if they don’t become wildly famous, at the very least, they can steadily book roles and live comfortably.

When Jiang Fanxing stood among the extras, he was like a crane standing among a flock of chickens. It was impossible not to notice him.

Thus, very quickly, Jiang Fanxing received invitations for special feature roles, and his daily wage skyrocketed to six or seven hundred yuan a day!

Because he was good-looking and tall, his rate was higher than that of an average special feature actor!

Jiang Fanxing also noticed that the mental state of many directors and actors on set was exceptionally stable.

If it was a crying scene, as long as the actor could squeeze in some eye drops, they’d just let it pass.

Wire-work was avoided whenever possible. If they finally managed to set up the wires, they would shoot every single wire scene in one continuous breath.

As for the romantic scenes between the male and female leads, if the actors couldn’t remember their lines, it was fine—they just counted “One two three four five six seven.”

The overall vibe was one of glorious slacking off.

“Anyway, no streaming platform is going to buy these shows; we’re just entertaining ourselves.”

“We don’t even have a decent screenwriter, so what’s the point of nitpicking someone’s acting skills? Even my directing is crap.”

“Just make do. Three more days and this show wraps. We’ll just shoot whatever and hand it in. Those idiot investors don’t understand filming anyway.”

“With a budget of less than a million, what the hell can I shoot? I can only afford twenty extras; I have to reuse them dozens of times in a single shot.”

“If it’s a trashy show, then it’s a trashy show. If it gets enough traction by being scolded by the audience, we’ll get investment for the next one.”

Jiang Fanxing really liked this kind of crew atmosphere. Everyone was just there to clock in and do their jobs, and since it was a project with zero expectations, there naturally wasn’t much scheming or backstabbing.

At first, it was indeed like this.

But then, when Jiang Fanxing actually accepted a casting director’s invitation to join their crew as the Male No. 6—the male lead’s younger brother, a minor supporting role with less than forty scenes in total—the drama started.

“I’m really sorry, Fanxing, but the Male No. 1 of our crew… got replaced,” the casting director looked at Jiang Fanxing apologetically. “So about the arrangement we discussed before…”

“Oh, so I can’t act in it? That’s fine, just pay me the breach of contract penalty, and I’ll head to the next set,” Jiang Fanxing had long prepared for the possibility of being recast. He hadn’t harbored much hope to begin with; this crew’s investment was tiny and they had no famous actors. All the supporting roles were picked from special extras and stand-ins, which was the only reason he agreed to try it out.

Moreover, right after confirming the schedule, Jiang Fanxing had immediately submitted a well-drafted contract. The penalty fees and everything were clearly stipulated, and he had even made an audio recording. If the other party wanted to back out, they couldn’t.

Getting recast was a common occurrence in the entertainment industry; it all depended on how foolproof your defensive measures were.

“No, no, our Male No. 1 was replaced by the investor’s little boyfriend. His body is alright, but his face requires a lot of hard work from the makeup artist. On the bright side, the investment budget went up a bit. Don’t worry, you can still play Male No. 6, it’s just that you need to yield your makeup.” The casting director was helpless too. The director prayed every day for him to find some handsome guys and beautiful girls to cast, but the truly photogenic ones had long been snatched up by film companies and celebrity studios back in college. If they occasionally bumped into a solitary good-looking person, they’d be quickly signed away by someone else.

These days, if you were good-looking, you could become an influencer or go into live-stream selling. With a little bit of online traction, you could get signed to play the lead in small web dramas. Wasn’t that much faster than starting as a background extra?

Everyone had eyes; who was good-looking and who wasn’t was obvious.

This was precisely why Jiang Fanxing, who had no studio and no agency, was able to land minor speaking roles as soon as he entered the industry. If he ever got famous one day, he might even boost the whole crew’s popularity. There were plenty of examples of an actor elevating a show, so everyone was happy to give these handsome guys and pretty girls a minor role to test the waters. If they hit the jackpot, they’d take off; if not, the only loss was a minor role. It didn’t matter who played it, since it wasn’t some S-tier mega-production guaranteed to be a hit anyway.

But out of nowhere, after seeing Jiang Fanxing’s photo, the new Male No. 1 got incredibly petty. He refused to outright say Jiang Fanxing couldn’t act in it—since they’d have to pay the penalty—so he proposed that Jiang Fanxing “yield his makeup,” hoping to squeeze him out this way. If Jiang Fanxing refused to act on his own, they wouldn’t have to pay the penalty fee.

The casting director had no choice but to play the bad guy.

“Yield my makeup? Oh, you mean have the makeup artist make me look uglier, right?” Jiang Fanxing had already picked up on a lot of industry jargon.

“We won’t make you too ugly, just put on a darker shade of liquid foundation so you don’t look as stunning on camera.”

“Hmm, how will the pay be calculated?”

“Naturally, we’ll follow what was previously discussed.”

“That won’t do.” Jiang Fanxing pulled up the digital contract on his phone and handed it to the casting director, saying, “Yielding makeup falls under supplementary clauses. According to our agreement, if you temporarily add requirements, I have to charge an extra three hundred yuan a day.”

The previously agreed forty scenes were to be shot over twenty days. At 500 yuan a day (the rate was discounted for longer contracts), twenty days came to a full 10,000 yuan. Even after taxes, he’d still net several thousand, which was enough for Jiang Fanxing to move to a much better apartment. Now, with a sudden extra 300 yuan a day, that was an additional 6,000 yuan—equivalent to booking a whole second acting gig. Jiang Fanxing would be an idiot to push that away.

“This…” The casting director was stunned. Where did this clause come from? He wasn’t the one who signed the contracts, so he hadn’t noticed.

“Don’t worry, I’m from A University’s Law Department. This contract is absolutely legal and reasonable. If you don’t believe me, you can spend money to hire a lawyer to review it,” Jiang Fanxing smiled. “Does your crew want to discuss it a bit more?”

“Fine!” the casting director said through gritted teeth. The director had previously insisted on keeping Jiang Fanxing. This show was going to be sold to a short-video platform for revenue sharing, and having a genuine handsome guy could save them a lot of money in initial promotional costs.

“Great, I’ll join the crew on time,” Jiang Fanxing smiled and shook the casting director’s hand. “If there’s an opportunity like this next time, remember to call me.”

The casting director looked at him, slightly speechless. “You’re willing to play ugly? This will be dark history for you later on.”

“If I get famous, this bit of dark history won’t mean anything. If I don’t get famous, no one will care about this dark history,” Jiang Fanxing wasn’t afraid in the slightest. “I can even play a dead body, let alone play ugly.”

The casting director went back feeling relieved.

Jiang Fanxing also tidied up, preparing to go home, pack his things, and buy some facial masks to apply, lest he actually get stained dark by the black foundation.

“Once you yield your makeup this one time, you’ll be asked to do it every time you join a crew. All the young male actors are competitors. As long as you maintain an ugly state on camera, you won’t be able to land any good roles.” A voice drifted over from the nearby resting room.

Jiang Fanxing frowned slightly.

He and the casting director had specifically picked this corner to talk, and someone had actually overheard them?

Wait, this crappy place actually had a partitioned resting room?

A tall man walked out of the room. He had large dark circles under his eyes and looked somewhat disheveled, as if he had just been woken up, but he still looked quite handsome—a bit like the elites Jiang Fanxing used to see at the law firm.

“What the hell does it have to do with you?” Jiang Fanxing swallowed his profanities and swapped them for something milder.

“I just think you have the potential to make a run as a high-traffic idol. You’re tall, have long legs, a small face, and sharp three-dimensional features. You should be able to handle a variety of makeup styles easily. With proper packaging, you could have a very strong starting point for a debut,” the man said, looking at Jiang Fanxing.

“Yeah, I know I’m handsome. Ever since I was a kid, tons of people have been asking me to be a child model.” Jiang Fanxing didn’t have stage fright at all. Unfortunately, his parents—one a tenured teacher, the other a tenured doctor—were well-versed in the philosophy of keeping a low profile. They saw no reason for a child to support the family, so they had rejected every single offer.

“This state of being handsome and knowing it actually suits entering the industry quite well.” The man smiled and handed over his phone, displaying a very clear WeChat QR code. “Do you want to consider signing with my studio? At the very least, if you encounter this kind of situation again, you won’t suffer a loss.”

“The way you say that, did I just suffer a loss?” Jiang Fanxing asked rhetorically.

The man fell silent for a moment. He truly hadn’t suffered a loss; it seemed he had actually improved his own compensation.

“Alright, added.” Jiang Fanxing quickly added the other party as a friend. “Remember to send me a copy of your studio’s benefits and contract. I’ll take a look at the resources and treatment you can provide. Oh, right, I made a resume myself, accept the file. If it’s a good fit, we can discuss signing over WeChat.”

Jiang Fanxing changed the man’s contact alias to “Sucker No. 6.”

Yep, out of all the people who wanted to sign him these past few days, this was the sixth one.

He’d compare the benefits they offered first before deciding which one to choose; shopping around never hurts.

Hopefully, he could find the most suitable sucker—no, the most easy-to-talk-to boss.