In this year's Chinese entertainment industry, a rather special scene is appearing: stars who are always sought after publicly say that... they are very free.
At the Weibo film festival in June, Dong Zijian stepped onto the stage to receive the "Best Film Artist of the Year" award. In his speech, he suddenly "reintroduced" himself, emphasizing that he is still an actor and is currently quite free, ready to accept film invitations. The audience burst into laughter.
Also that night, Liu Haoran joked: "Are you looking for a job for me? Thank you guys!". Trinh Tieu, when asked about the new project, also admitted that she is not too busy and hopes everyone will pay more attention to her because she has a lot of free time.
Those seemingly humorous sayings reflect a remarkable reality: even famous actors are going through long periods without new projects.
According to statistics compiled by bloggers and independent media, Liu Yifei has not participated in a new film crew for more than 900 days, since "The Story of Rose" completed filming in November 2023. Zhao Liying, Wang Yibo or Song Jia also have significant gaps in their schedules.
Of course, these numbers are only for reference because each source has a different calculation method. But what is worth mentioning is that these are not artists who lack fame or invitations.
Liu Yifei has a special position in the entertainment industry, with a career spanning many generations of audiences, from "The Return of the Condor Heroes" to "Go to the Windy Land" and "The Story of Rose".
Zhao Liying has also built a solid position after many years of operation. For artists in this position, if they want to appear again, finding a script is probably not a big problem.
What they are looking for may be a truly worthwhile project to wait for.
Liu Yifei has clearly shown the criteria for choosing a project for many years: the work has a large scale, a good crew and a role that is strong enough for her to put in all her effort.
Tong Giai once shared that being away from filming for a long time does not make her too worried. According to her, it is only a stage in her career; actors and film crews should have a natural affinity with each other, instead of actors just waiting to be chosen.
That calmness actually comes from an important condition: past achievements are good enough for them to have the right to say "no".
And this is probably the point worth considering. For many years, the film industry has operated according to a very clear logic: the more famous the star, the easier the project is to sell. Traffic can attract audiences, create heat on social networks and help a film attract investment.
But when the market changes, "fame" seems to no longer be a sufficient condition.
Audiences are increasingly interested in the story, characters, director and quality of the work. A big name can create attention, but cannot alone determine the vitality of the whole film.
Therefore, Liu Yifei's 900 days of absence is probably not simply a story about an actress "without a movie to act in".
That may be a sign that the era where just relying on fame to maintain appearance is gradually changing.
Stars still have value, but ultimately, what determines whether they will return or not may still be the simplest question: is this project worth their appearance or not?
