The showbiz industry is a cutthroat place.
If there’s a lesson that Jeffrey Xu has learned over his 12-year-long career, it’s that you shouldn’t offend the wrong people, especially if they are your seniors or directors.
Shaky Beginnings
Jeffrey Xu’s debut started off with a bang as he was the Winner of 2010’s Star Search.
However, his early success didn’t mean that he had an express ticket to stardom.
During his congratulatory speech after he won the Star Awards’ Best Supporting Actor Award, the 33-year-old actor admitted that he’s made his fair share of mistakes in his early days, such as yelling at a director who he felt had disrespected him.
In 2011, he was casted for the dramas Devotion and Beautiful Blessings as the supporting villain Zhen Yimin and supporting character Huang Fuyan respectively.
For a rookie that’s just starting out, being able to acquire these roles is considered a decent start.
After filming those two dramas, however, he experienced a lull period where he didn’t have any acting gigs for more than a year.
In 2012, he was only working on one project called Poetic Justice, where he played a minor supporting role.
The Dispute with the Director
While there’s no evidence that it was a direct consequence of his dispute with the director, it’s hard to presume otherwise, Lianhe Zaobao reported.
There were no other conflicts that Jeffrey could call to mind from that year besides this one particular incident.
Jeffrey Xu admitted that he had an “attitude problem” when he was younger. He liked having discourse about the script with the directors, but Hong Kong directors were a different breed, where they favoured efficiency, while he was just a newbie.
Back then, he felt that his suggestions were reasonable and in line with the character he was portraying, so he went ahead and voiced his thoughts.
However, the director told him, “You’re playing a homebody, not an idiot, why do you have to add so many things? Just do as I tell you to.”
The director’s remark left Jeffrey disgruntled, and he insisted on doing his way during the shoot, which in turn, made the director angry.
He yelled “cut” before storming over to Jeffrey, slamming the table before questioning him, “Am I the director or are you the director? Do you know how to act? How did you win Star Search?”
Okay, at this point, you have to admit that the director was pretty rude too.
Jeffrey Xu was offended as well, so he rose to his feet and shot back a retort, daring the director to repeat what he said again.
As a greenhorn, he was unaware that the filming culture in Singapore could be that harsh at times.
After the drama was completed, Jeffrey Xu apologised to the director, but the latter simply laughed.
That laughter must have sounded quite ominous.
Especially when the realisation of the consequences came trickling in, like raindrops seeping through a cracked tile in the roof, rippling outwards in a growing puddle.
Featured Image: Instagram (jeffrey_xu)