"In Hollywood, the marketing and publicity arms of a [production company] will do everything they can to publicize the actors' faces. But here, nobody is spending money to promote us," he said.
"Marketing in Taiwan's film industry is so weak that the promotional budget for a local film is far less than that of a pop music album," Dai said. The industry struggles to brighten the star of even an actor with three contracts a year, let alone less exposed actors.
But there is always hope and passion, at least in Lin's newest project. Dai will play Robinson, a real-estate salesman who is surrounded by several women and the troubles of his loathsome job. "It will be a love story with modern feelings," said Lin.
Stardom for Chen is an old concept. "We cannot go back to the glory days of the 1970s, why not try something new?" she said after finishing her make-up. Chen has been accompanying Tsai on his nation-wide lecture tour of college campuses for the film What Time Is It There?. Using this new means of promotion, the film has garnered nearly NT$2 million at the box office.
"There will always be a huge gap between us and Hollywood. We don't have to chase them. We should be walking our own roads. It may be hard, but we should try as we can," said Chen.
Dai agreed. "Hollywood is not the only standard. We [referring to himself and Chen] joined this business at a time when we already knew about the weakened environment. Nobody forced us. I have this working philosophy that as long as I'm happy with what I do, I will continue. In this is business, you shouldn't struggle with reluctance and complaints, because you can always leave," he said.
And for now the two actors are happy with what they do.
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