Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1255 - 1027: The Genuine Catherine_2

Chapter 1255: Chapter 1027: The Genuine Catherine_2

Screenwriters were not a concern: the industry’s most renowned and professional screenwriters had been gathered to form a substantial team.

As for the director, they had chosen the national treasure, Director Charovsky!

They even assigned two well-known directors as his assistants, essentially highlighting a luxurious lineup!

Everything concerning the directors and screenwriters was settled, and most secondary roles had been picked as well, but the most crucial character, the protagonist, remained unchosen.

This TV series, evident just from the title, was primarily about the leading lady, who would shoulder the entire show.

Her performance would directly determine the fate of this series!

Thus, Xie Liaofu and Director Charovsky discussed it back and forth, nearly bringing in all the information on well-known actresses from within and outside the country suited for this role, yet they still couldn’t decide on anyone.

Eventually, they selected five actresses who seemed quite suitable and Xie Liaofu took these choices to Wang Ye to hear his opinion.

In principle, this was inappropriate since Xie Liaofu, as the Station Chief of the TV station, shouldn’t have bothered his boss even with the selection of an actress; it somewhat showed a lack of responsibility.

But given the importance of the matter, Xie Liaofu couldn’t care less about propriety.

If the boss was willing to give his opinion, that would be ideal. That way, if the series did not meet expectations upon its release, the boss would likely not blame him too severely since he had chosen the lead actress himself...

Even if the boss was too lazy to bother himself and offered no opinion, it wouldn’t matter. In that case, he would just return and discuss it with the director, make a tough decision, as the situation couldn’t get any worse.

......

Through Wang Ye’s assistant Nova, Xie Liaofu arrived at Wang Ye’s office at the appointed time.

Fortunately, when he explained his visit’s purpose, the boss did not show any displeasure but instead seriously reviewed the actors’ data he had brought.

Wang Ye was indeed not displeased; instead, he felt that Xie Liaofu was right to do so, showing how seriously and attentively he regarded this series.

On the matter of choosing the protagonist, which could determine the fate of the entire series, it was only right to be extremely cautious. If Xie Liaofu had casually chosen a famous actress, Wang Ye might have reconsidered whether Xie Liaofu was suitable to continue leading NTV Television Station.

While flipping through the actresses’ data, Wang Ye recalled "Empress Yekaterina," a series he had seen in his past life. He had a very distinct impression of that protagonist, and the actress who played her indeed had solid acting skills.

Particularly, she had brought to life Catherine’s commanding presence, beauty, royal dignity, and charisma!

That actress seemed to be Marina Alexandrova.

He had even looked up Marina’s information online back then. In real life, Marina was also beautiful, but she was almost completely different from Catherine in the series.

It could only be said that dressed in classical Clothes and wearing a Crown, Marina seemed to transform into a different person, instantly becoming the empress whose name echoed through the ages!

However, in the information Xie Liaofu brought, Wang Ye did not see Marina’s name; at this time, she wasn’t famous enough in the acting world to be one of the candidates...

After reviewing the information, Wang Ye closed the folder and thought for a moment.

He felt that he should still choose Marina to play the leading role. In 2006, Marina would have been around twenty-four or twenty-five, suitable for playing the grown-up Catherine.

After all, in his previous life, filming for the first season of the series had started around 2012, not many years from now.

Moreover, Marina had been in Movies since childhood and had entered the entertainment industry in her teens, starring in many TV series and movies. Her acting skills should no longer be an issue; it was just her fame that wasn’t quite enough.

Choosing her now to take on the leading role, especially since the funds he was investing now far exceeded those for the first season of "Empress Yekaterina" in his previous life!

Therefore, the resulting quality and impact were bound to be much greater!

Thinking of this, Wang Ye spoke up, "A few days ago, while watching TV, I felt that a famous actress was quite suitable for the role of Catherine. Her name is Marina Alexandrova. You could contact her to have a screen test to see if she’s a good fit."

Xie Liaofu was a bit surprised, he had not expected the boss to actually recommend an actress to him, and moreover, it was an actress he knew!

After all, Xie Liaofu had been in the television industry for many years and was naturally familiar with the acting community. Marina, being somewhat famous, had appeared in several TV series broadcast on NTV Television, so it was normal for Xie Liaofu to know of Marina.

However, he had not anticipated that Marina could have connections with Chairman Mikhail!

He had never seen it before...

Sensing Xie Liaofu’s thoughts, Wang Ye smiled and said, "Don’t overthink it. I don’t know Marina personally. I only saw her in a classical drama on television and felt that she was very suited for the protagonist role in historical dramas, and her demeanor was also quite fitting."

Xie Liaofu quickly nodded. It didn’t matter whether the boss knew her or not, but since the boss had recommended her, he must take it seriously.

While verbally saying he and the director would assess Marina’s audition together, Xie Liaofu had already made up his mind that unless she was utterly unsuitable, the lead female role would be Marina’s!

Indeed, given Marina’s level of acting as an experienced actress, it was highly likely that she wouldn’t have any issues during the screen test...

......

This year, Marina is 24 years old, and in the Russian acting industry, she is considered a somewhat famous actress.

She had played roles in "Northern Lights", "Sun King", "Lost in Petersburg", "Star Age", among other movies and TV series, both as a main character and a supporting role, earning unanimous recognition for her acting skills from within the circle.

Unfortunately, none of these dramas were blockbuster hits, mostly small productions, so Marina could hardly be called a star, at most a talented actress.

In recent years, Russia’s economic situation had been tight, and the acting industry had also been struggling. Big-name stars were somewhat better off, but for ordinary actors like Marina, life was not easy.

In the past two years, her usual rates were about a hundred thousand US dollars for a movie and a thousand US dollars per episode for a TV series...

This rate was indeed very low, but the problem was that it was still hard to get roles, barely landing one per year.

The money she earned was only enough to scrape by in Moscow.

After all, actors like her had to spend considerably more than the average person on clothing and cosmetics, as they couldn’t afford to look too shabby...

That day, Marina was undergoing an audition directed by a small crew.

The bald, pot-bellied, greasy director seemed to have ulterior motives, hinting in his words that if Marina wanted the role, she would have to pay a small price.

As for what the price was, he didn’t specify, just saying that Marina should come to his hotel room that evening to discuss further and, incidentally, delve deeper into the script.

Marina, of course, was well aware of the director’s intentions. She suppressed the anger in her heart, restrained her emotions, and politely declined with a forced smile:

"I’m sorry, director, but I already have plans with my boyfriend tonight to go to a movie. Maybe you could reconsider. In terms of payment, I can still make some concessions.

Your TV series is planned for twenty episodes over about two months, right? I’ll take fifteen thousand US dollars total as payment for the series..."

In fact, she didn’t have a boyfriend; she just used that as an excuse to turn down the director’s invite.

If she actually went to the director’s room that evening, what would happen next wasn’t hard to guess.

Having been in this industry, Marina had seen too many sordid things and never wanted to degrade herself for the sake of a role or a film.

This might also be one of the reasons she hadn’t made it big yet.

Because of this, she had also lost many great opportunities...