So this is NO SURPRISE whatsoever for anyone following the exploits of C-ent troll producer Yu Zheng, master of his own universe and deliverer of actual hits and stars from time to time. Recently his top actor Xu Kai re-upped his contract with his agency, mainly due to inertia and a lack of ambition but also an awareness that Yu Zheng has been good to him. His top actress Bai Lu‘s contract is also up soon and reportedly all the recent hullaballo around her drama casting has been orchestrated by Yu Zheng as a soft pressure campaign to get her to also re sign with his agency. He’s been pressuring her by saying Xu Kai signed again, also Wang Xing Yue is the next big thing and belongs to the same agency, and reminding her of how good he has been to her all these years to make her a top star. Bai Lu is reportedly noncommittal, neither yes or no openly, which is frustrating Yu Zheng. Her side doesn’t like how he keeps making her do period dramas and also bringing newbies along as plus ones in her dramas. But he counters that period dramas have made her career and she needs to keep doing it, and also plus ones is a fundamental principle of his agency and she has always known that, plus she gets her top billing and full salary so why should she care if he slots in rookies into small roles in her dramas. C-ent insiders think she will end up re signing with him due to fear of the fall out if she doesn’t, but it’s not inked yet.
He should help her achieve what she wants and not so much what he wants. Like maybe give her a break from historical and let her do more genres to grow. The audience might grow tired of same old and move to favoring someone else. Tricky fellow.
But I already heard she is renewed her contract with him at the same time with Xu kai, or was it not true then.
Really? Upon confirmation… I would say, if she did extend, I am not surprised. But if she did not extend, that is interesting…
I do hope to see her take on dramas of her choice, focus on improving her acting genre and also work less/ rest more. Bai Lu really need to progress to next stage now….her acting is just repetitive.
This should be interesting. Is it possible she might want her own studio at this point? She’s no longer in her twenties and she might want to take on more dramas that improve her acting skills and have critical acclaim instead of the constant period dramas that may give her popularity but limit her chances for growth. She’s already done so many of them, so I can see her wanting to move on to something else. Given her success, she should only renew her contract if she gets total control over the dramas she gets to do. I enjoyed her and Xu Kai in Arsenal Military Academy and I wish more interesting roles like those would come their way. I would love to see her in some well written modern dramas.
I don’t like his methods because it’s creepy, but honestly, her acting is capped, and with the limited range in topics to write about with censorship, she’s not going up from here. Resigning is probably her best bet. Capitalize on your youth, girl.
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Is any other agency courting her at this time? She may have a chance to break free if she has another offer from somewhere else. She is his cash cow, but she needs to lookout for the longevity of her career otherwise she’ll find herself like Yang mi, too old to play the tired costume dramas, but without enough experience in other genres to make the necessary transition to ensure her continued acting career.
Xu Kai is a man so he had more time on his hands (sorry to say, females career length is much shorter for a number of reasons), plus lately he’s diverged from costume dramas, isn’t working as much as he used to and is doing a lot more modern dramas. If she decides to sign on with Yu Zheng, she had better put what she wants into her contract and include a necessary period of rest (I heard the poor girl was burnt out by doing back to back period dramas). Hopefully she doesn’t let him strong arm her into doing what he wants, she needs to stand up for herself. She has more bargaining power now.
As much as I like Bai Lu, I feel she’s reached her threshold now, getting stuck doing the same thing repetitively and tbh it gets kinda boring. She probably needs to act as some shocking character to get her breakthrough, maybe become the villain? She certainly has the acting chops and charisma to do it. And Yu Zheng is definitely not gonna help much imho but I can imagine him throwing a tantrum if she refuses to renew lol.
Fans may not like BL or XK decisions to stay with the same agency but artists will still prioritize their resources most of the time bec they will always have projects to do under YZ. Joblessness in c-ent is lethal as viewers move on fast. If your fave still get projects after projects then his/her career will be OKAY. Artist will have projects inventories so fans can always look forward for the next work. Although no breakthrough but still stable vs begging for works with zero work inventories.
She should just leave. Yu Zheng forced her to do a xianxia right after she finished filming one, and is going to force her to do another period drama to push his new fave.