Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years

The recording of "Light and Shadow Star Podcaster" was completed in one take, without any NGs, taking sixteen minutes in total.

Although it didn't break the record for "Light and Shadow Star Podcaster," it was considered a rare smooth session.

After finishing the recording, Qi Hao also accepted an interview with "China Film Report."

The predecessor of "China Film Report" was "China Film News," which changed its name in May 2000.

Its core isn't stars, but films.

However, films and stars have long been inseparable; for example, with films like "Wait and See" or "Steel Piano," their label is Qi Hao.

"Hello, Qi Hao. It's hard to believe it's been almost two years since you won the Golden Rooster Best Actor award."

The host, Jingwei, once hosted the 2007 Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival awards ceremony, the same year Qi Hao won Best Actor, so she chose this topic to start the conversation.

"Ashamed to say, I haven't won a new Best Actor award these past two years."

Qi Hao's face was full of shame, successfully making the host laugh. Humor really helps ease the atmosphere.

"You didn't become Best Actor again, but you became a director, which is also something to celebrate," Jingwei continued, "If the ultimate goal of acting is to become Best Actor, then what do you set your goal as a director?"

"First of all, I want to clarify one thing: actually, the ultimate goal of acting isn't Best Actor, because it's a comprehensive honor. You can't say Best Actor is just a small goal, but it's also just a beautiful scenery along the way."

Qi Hao, earnestly humble, but not humble at all in reality.

You say Best Actor is just a beautiful scenery along the way, but many people aren't even qualified to see this scenery.

"..." Jingwei was dumbfounded by Qi Hao's words.

She felt like she might not have controlled her expression well.

"As for the goal of being a director, I think it can't be looked at in the same cycle as acting. I was an actor for ten years before winning a Best Actor award. As a director, I hope to win the Best New Director award."

Qi Hao was almost shouting out with a loudspeaker:

Give me the award, I want the Best New Director award, and nothing else.

I'll be furious with whoever tries to give me a Best Director award.

"Yeah, it's already been ten years. Time really flies," Jingwei sighed.

Time flies like an arrow, and the years shrink like a turtle.

The young man sitting diagonally opposite her looked young, actually not even thirty, but he's already a veteran with ten years in the industry.

"I hope the next ten years bring new opportunities, such as winning the Best New Director award."

Qi Hao continued to emphasize.

The important things are said three times.

"The goal of winning Best New Director really is down-to-earth."

Jingwei expressed her admiration.

Everyone knows that Qi Hao's directorial debut is an art film, with someone like Zhang Meng, who has won awards before, ensuring a smooth process. So for him to set his sights on awards rather than box office results feels quite natural.

"Of course, awards aren't the most important thing. The most important thing is to satisfy the audience, for my films to evoke thought and emotional value..."

Qi Hao added a little more.

Just to avoid everyone thinking he's just obsessed with awards.

Like Wang Feng, who always wants to make headlines, turning it almost into an obsession, not knowing how attractive those headlines truly are.

"The audience is indeed the fundamental aspect of films. In your recently released 'Wait and See,' there's a performance style that many viewers really like. Could you talk about your thoughts on acting and filmmaking during its production?"

This question was practically an invitation for Qi Hao to boast about his contributions to the film, whether in acting or filmmaking.

So Qi Hao talked a bit about Hei Liu and Hei Qi, the two brothers.

Acting with animals for the first time, there really was a lot to talk about, and Qi Hao indeed contributed many of his own ideas, even Li Dawei couldn't deny this.

"Wait a minute, haven't you acted in 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' which also involved animals..." Jingwei's thought flashed through her mind.

"Uh, that wasn't an animal, that Diao was played by a human."

Qi Hao hurriedly explained about the Diao brother in "The Return of the Condor Heroes."

In fact, this version of Diao brother felt quite powerful, seeming like a strict teacher when training Yang Guo.

But audience perception wasn't particularly good.

Not sure if it was too young and not fully feathered, or too old and losing feathers, bald-looking. However, it did stay true to the original novel.

The original's description of the giant condor is: It's huge, taller than a human, extremely ugly, its body feathers sparse like half plucked, the color yellow and black, looking filthy, with a hooked beak, a large red lump on its head, both legs chunky, and sometimes when spreading wings, they seemed quite short, although having a sort of mighty appearance.

But truly restoring it reveals it's damn ugly.

If there's any flaw in Qi Hao and An Feng's version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes," it's probably that they emphasized authenticity but added many uncomfortable details.

If Qi Hao himself hadn't insisted, that extremely ugly mask would've been on his face.

If it were for the work, to win awards, or for the sake of acting, he'd be willing to sacrifice, but for some inexplicable authenticity, that's where he draws the line.

The original author wasn't such a faultless nice person either.

The original works were all altered beyond recognition by him.

"Haha, so that's how it is. What do you think is the most important thing when acting alongside animals?"

Jingwei laughed a lot, but fortunately she's professional and quickly adjusted.

"The most important thing is authenticity. Animals are actually very smart; they can sense your attitude towards them. If you're two-faced, it's hard to cooperate well with animals."

Qi Hao spoke frankly, and he didn't mind sharing some experience with other actors working with animals.

"Do you spend time with Hei Liu and Hei Qi when you're not filming?"

Jingwei quickly asked, as their film channel wanted this kind of theoretical exchange.

"Honestly, during the filming period over there, I would hang around in the livestock shed, brushing, feeding them hay, and sometimes even reading to Hei Liu and Hei Qi."

Qi Hao went on to talk about some amusing incidents during filming.

His descriptions were vivid and specific.

It didn't sound like pure fabrication; if you lie with such specifics, it's easy to be exposed by the crew.

This time the program discussed "Wait and See," and also talked about "Steel Piano," so naturally they couldn't avoid mentioning "First Love, This Little Thing."

C6, as amazing as it is, still needs ratings.

The popularity of "First Love, This Little Thing" clearly surpasses "Wait and See" and "Steel Piano" effortlessly.

Jingwei couldn't ignore it.

Since Qi Hao didn't bring up this movie on his own, she decided not to hold back.

I am born to be useful, but without being exploited, money's scarce.

If I offend, consider that you deserve it.

So she straight-up asked a very explosive question: "This time working with An Feng on 'First Love, This Little Thing,' what was the consideration for casting?"

Implicitly, since you swap romantic interests so frequently, even rabbits don't reproduce as quickly as you change partners, then why choose An Feng over your numerous other rumored partners this time?

To Jingwei, if a variety show could invite all of Qi Hao's rumored girlfriends to participate and have Qi Hao host, that show would absolutely blow up as a super popular program across the nation.

Hmm, having dozens of people appear together is hard to achieve.

The program could be split into ten seasons, each featuring ten previous rumored girlfriends.

What if there aren't enough people?

Don't be silly, with ten seasons, it would take at least five years to air. Given Qi Hao's rate of updates, over five years, dozens more rumored girlfriends might emerge.

Generation after generation of talented individuals emerge.

The entertainment industry sees a wave of "age-appropriate" female celebrities each year.

"This movie has quite a few absurd rumors attached to it, such as the company boss being tricked into buying the screenplay, which is impossible. Miss Gao Fei of Feiyang Media is a high achiever from a prestigious school..."

Praising Gao Family's young lady out loud.

Actually, Qi Hao is doing this for his own benefit too; otherwise, if everyone knows his partners are fools, it affects his business dealings.

"Actually, clearing this up is very simple..."

Jingwei and Qi Hao almost simultaneously blurted out, "Movie!"

Indeed, if the movie is released and everyone finds it truly terrible, then no explanation is needed.

But if the movie is very good, then Gao Fei buying the screenplay becomes a legendary story.

And one that's very much like a "爽文" (feel-good story).

A Thai guy wrote a good script, but no one domestically recognized its worth.

Full of passion and facing cold reactions, he had no choice but to go abroad, arriving in the more culturally rich and inclusive Huaxia, where he met the newly emerging yet gifted renowned film operator Miss Gao Fei.

A legend began to sail on this grand adventure.

"Yes, as long as the movie is good, everyone will know it was worth buying the script for a high price. I strongly advocate for the film industry to devote more energy and funds towards content production; content is king, and movies should tell more vibrant stories to the audience."

Qi Hao wasn't saying something perfunctory.

He genuinely believes this.

On December 19, 2002, the film "Hero" directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Li Lianjie, Liang Chaowei, Zhang Manyu, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Daoming, Zhen Zidan, among others, premiered, marking the official start of the "blockbuster era" of Chinese cinema.

Subsequently, domestic directors and movie companies, to stimulate the market, closely followed suit with "Wuji," "Night Banquet," "Curse of the Golden Flower," "Ambush from All Sides" — each with bigger productions than the last.

However, the common flaw of these movies is failing to tell a good story.

Directors speak to themselves, regardless of whether the audience can understand, nor do they care what the audience wants to see.

They're already lost in obsession.

Although Qi Hao didn't name names to criticize, his opinion delivery was quite sharply critical.

"Yeah, that's indeed the case. Let's continue talking about the casting decisions."

Don't change the topic; you haven't explained why you chose An Feng yet.