Chapter 236
Later on that evening, Jiang Lili arrived and brought some not so good news to Ruan Tian. It seemed that Ji Wangjiang's team was intensifying their pressure on the director and their new stand was: If the director refused to change out the actress playing the female lead, then Ji Wangjian wouldn’t act.
It could be seen that Ji Wangjiang was truly determined to kick Ruan Tian off of the cast.
And, at the end of the day, Ji Wangjiang's team definitely weren’t vegetarians. Moreover, Ji Wangjiang himself was the highest-ranking actor within his company and even owned shares, so his status within the company was definitely unusual. He had a lot of say.
Thus, he had many people working on his team and they were all among the best in the entertainment industry.
To make matters worse, Ji Wangjiang’s company was one of the investors in Director Cheng’s film.
Director Cheng Sui’an didn’t want to give up on casting Ruan Tian, but at the same time, he also didn’t want to offend his investors.
And he knew he had to make a decision soon. After all, with this sort of project, it would cost a lot of money even if filming ended up being delayed by a single day.
On the one hand, he didn’t want to give up on casting Ji Wangjiang.
According to his vision, Ji Wangjian was the most suitable actor to play the male lead.
Meanwhile, according to that same vision, Ruan Tian was the most suitable actress to play the female lead.
In his mind, it should have been two strong actors coming together, seamlessly cooperating, and increasing both of their respective strengths, so he didn’t understand how things had turned out like this.
Director Cheng asked his assistant to go and inquire about what had happened for things to reach this point, and from that he learned that it seemed his two main stars seemed to have had some conflicts during a variety show. Thanks to that, both sides now intensely disliked each other.
When he understood all this, he finally figured it out. No wonder that arrogant Ji Wangjiang had demanded for Ruan Tian to scram out of the cast! Even mentioning her by name.
Director Cheng was receiving a lot of pressure from Ji Wangjiang's team and some of the investors, so in the end, he personally went and found Ji Wangjiang. He asked bluntly: "What exactly are you up to?"
Ji Wangjiang was very polite when facing the director. He responded without any rudeness: "I just think Ruan Tian can not act in this film."
...she doesn’t deserve it.
He left that latter part unsaid, but it was what Ji Wangjiang really believed. In his eyes, Ruan Tian was a real villainous character who only liked to use her petty schemes to bully people.
These days he had suffered losses at Ruan Tian’s hands again and again, until the point that he felt that he really couldn’t just swallow these grievances anymore. He had to take things into his own hands.
Director Cheng fell silent for a few seconds before responding slowly, "Ruan Tian acted very well during her audition. This reason you’ve given me just now isn’t enough for me to remove her from the cast."
Ji Wangjiang snorted and didn’t bother with any nonsense. He directly laid down his ultimatum: “If you want me to act in your film, then Ruan Tian has to go.”
And Ji Wangjiang actually had the capital to say these kinds of rampant words.
After all, he had worked hard for years in this industry and his accumulated network of contacts had already developed to a certain extent, so it wasn’t too difficult for him to deal with a small little TV actress.
Director Cheng was surprised and couldn’t help but fall silent. He really hadn’t realized that this matter was so serious.
Ji Wangjiang politely poured him a cup of tea and then said, "If I don't perform, then my company will withdraw the capital they have invested. Moreover, taking ten thousand steps back, even if you cast Ruan Tian, a small little TV actress won’t be able to make any waves in this industry. All of your previous preparations will have been wasted and when the movie gets released, you will see for yourself what kind of box office draw Ruan Tian’s name has."
His words were very direct, with zero ambiguity.
Ji Wangjiang himself had a strong pull at the box office, and he knew it.
Moreover, this film wasn’t really all that important to him, and casting someone like Ruan Tian made it even less so. After all, everyone knew that if the male lead’s actor was much more popular than the female lead’s actress in a film, then the actor playing the male lead wouldn’t gain many benefits relative to the actress playing the female lead.
At this point, Ji Wangjiang's agent, one of the chief agents in the industry, who had been sitting to one side up until this point, smiled politely and said, "Director Cheng, you should understand how things work in this industry. Swapping out a little starlet is no big deal. It should be clear at a glance who is more important, right?"
Director Cheng looked at them dubiously and murmured, "For you two to do this sort of thing… is it really alright?"
In fact, this was actually the first time Ji Wangjiang had used his status to play the bully like this, but the target this time was that woman he hated, Ruan Tian, so the brief protests from his conscience were quickly ignored.
He just fell silent and made no reply.
However, his agent was quick to speak up on his behalf: "We also don't want to be so aggressive, but this Ruan Tian is really too much. She is always scheming and doing all sorts of bad things when she works on variety shows, and we’re worried that having such a person on set will drag down the quality of the film and maybe even delay the progress of filming."
Having reached this topic, he continued on: “However, if Ruan Tian comes and apologizes to Ji Wangjiang and admits her mistakes, then maybe we can still cooperate."
These words were tricky. At first glance, it seemed as if Ji Wangjiang's team were taking a step back.
But, in reality, it could be seen that they just wanted Ruan Tian to beg them.
Chapter 236
Later on that evening, Jiang Lili arrived and brought some not so good news to Ruan Tian. It seemed that Ji Wangjiang's team was intensifying their pressure on the director and their new stand was: If the director refused to change out the actress playing the female lead, then Ji Wangjian wouldn’t act.
It could be seen that Ji Wangjiang was truly determined to kick Ruan Tian off of the cast.
And, at the end of the day, Ji Wangjiang's team definitely weren’t vegetarians. Moreover, Ji Wangjiang himself was the highest-ranking actor within his company and even owned shares, so his status within the company was definitely unusual. He had a lot of say.
Thus, he had many people working on his team and they were all among the best in the entertainment industry.
To make matters worse, Ji Wangjiang’s company was one of the investors in Director Cheng’s film.
Director Cheng Sui’an didn’t want to give up on casting Ruan Tian, but at the same time, he also didn’t want to offend his investors.
And he knew he had to make a decision soon. After all, with this sort of project, it would cost a lot of money even if filming ended up being delayed by a single day.
On the one hand, he didn’t want to give up on casting Ji Wangjiang.
According to his vision, Ji Wangjian was the most suitable actor to play the male lead.
Meanwhile, according to that same vision, Ruan Tian was the most suitable actress to play the female lead.
In his mind, it should have been two strong actors coming together, seamlessly cooperating, and increasing both of their respective strengths, so he didn’t understand how things had turned out like this.
Director Cheng asked his assistant to go and inquire about what had happened for things to reach this point, and from that he learned that it seemed his two main stars seemed to have had some conflicts during a variety show. Thanks to that, both sides now intensely disliked each other.
When he understood all this, he finally figured it out. No wonder that arrogant Ji Wangjiang had demanded for Ruan Tian to scram out of the cast! Even mentioning her by name.
Director Cheng was receiving a lot of pressure from Ji Wangjiang's team and some of the investors, so in the end, he personally went and found Ji Wangjiang. He asked bluntly: "What exactly are you up to?"
Ji Wangjiang was very polite when facing the director. He responded without any rudeness: "I just think Ruan Tian can not act in this film."
...she doesn’t deserve it.
He left that latter part unsaid, but it was what Ji Wangjiang really believed. In his eyes, Ruan Tian was a real villainous character who only liked to use her petty schemes to bully people.
These days he had suffered losses at Ruan Tian’s hands again and again, until the point that he felt that he really couldn’t just swallow these grievances anymore. He had to take things into his own hands.
Director Cheng fell silent for a few seconds before responding slowly, "Ruan Tian acted very well during her audition. This reason you’ve given me just now isn’t enough for me to remove her from the cast."
Ji Wangjiang snorted and didn’t bother with any nonsense. He directly laid down his ultimatum: “If you want me to act in your film, then Ruan Tian has to go.”
And Ji Wangjiang actually had the capital to say these kinds of rampant words.
After all, he had worked hard for years in this industry and his accumulated network of contacts had already developed to a certain extent, so it wasn’t too difficult for him to deal with a small little TV actress.
Director Cheng was surprised and couldn’t help but fall silent. He really hadn’t realized that this matter was so serious.
Ji Wangjiang politely poured him a cup of tea and then said, "If I don't perform, then my company will withdraw the capital they have invested. Moreover, taking ten thousand steps back, even if you cast Ruan Tian, a small little TV actress won’t be able to make any waves in this industry. All of your previous preparations will have been wasted and when the movie gets released, you will see for yourself what kind of box office draw Ruan Tian’s name has."
His words were very direct, with zero ambiguity.
Ji Wangjiang himself had a strong pull at the box office, and he knew it.
Moreover, this film wasn’t really all that important to him, and casting someone like Ruan Tian made it even less so. After all, everyone knew that if the male lead’s actor was much more popular than the female lead’s actress in a film, then the actor playing the male lead wouldn’t gain many benefits relative to the actress playing the female lead.
At this point, Ji Wangjiang's agent, one of the chief agents in the industry, who had been sitting to one side up until this point, smiled politely and said, "Director Cheng, you should understand how things work in this industry. Swapping out a little starlet is no big deal. It should be clear at a glance who is more important, right?"
Director Cheng looked at them dubiously and murmured, "For you two to do this sort of thing… is it really alright?"
In fact, this was actually the first time Ji Wangjiang had used his status to play the bully like this, but the target this time was that woman he hated, Ruan Tian, so the brief protests from his conscience were quickly ignored.
He just fell silent and made no reply.
However, his agent was quick to speak up on his behalf: "We also don't want to be so aggressive, but this Ruan Tian is really too much. She is always scheming and doing all sorts of bad things when she works on variety shows, and we’re worried that having such a person on set will drag down the quality of the film and maybe even delay the progress of filming."
Having reached this topic, he continued on: “However, if Ruan Tian comes and apologizes to Ji Wangjiang and admits her mistakes, then maybe we can still cooperate."
These words were tricky. At first glance, it seemed as if Ji Wangjiang's team were taking a step back.
But, in reality, it could be seen that they just wanted Ruan Tian to beg them.
