Global Film Emperor

Chapter 264

“Mr. Song Guiyuan, please come with me.”

Lu Ze was immersed in the script, preparing for the upcoming audition. He was thinking about some small actions and constantly checking their feasibility. He heard someone pull out a chair next to him. Lu Ze had never seen Song Guiyuan with such a serious expression before. In fact, this role was very important to everyone.

"Don't mess up, give it your all."

"Nonsense, do you need to tell me?"

I patted Song Guiyuan on the back and found that his back was already wet, but he was wearing black clothes so it wasn't visible to the naked eye, which showed how nervous he was.

Lu Ze couldn't remember how many people he had interviewed, but all the greasy middle-aged men who had auditioned for lead roles had already left. He exchanged a glance with Li Wei, who was auditioning for a supporting role, and they both shook their heads. Lu Ze then turned his attention back to the script.

Lunch was eaten at the company. The older generation of actors didn't care about such things, and the slightly younger ones, seeing that the older generation didn't eat out, didn't dare to go out and cook for themselves. They obediently ate the food, which wasn't bad at all, and the men went to the smoking room to relax with a smoke.

They were all people making a living in the same industry, and they all knew each other. Actors are generally heavy smokers, so the smoking room originally intended for the leaders was instead filled with a group of big shots chatting in the swirling smoke.

Lu Ze walked to the window and opened it to let in some fresh air. It was already getting cool in the capital. After getting used to the warmth indoors, the breeze gave him goosebumps.

Li Wei remained silent beside Lu Ze, finished his last puff, stubbed it out, and threw it in the trash can. The two then walked back to the conference room arm in arm. In fact, this friendship was quite precious to them. Although it had fallen behind for a while, picking it up again now was a good thing.

At 1 p.m., the auditions continued, and the staff called out the name of the first auditionee: "Mr. Lu Ze, please come with me."

He closed the script, nodded to Li Wei, picked up his bag and went out. As he walked down the corridor, Lu Ze kept adjusting his breathing rhythm, and by the time he reached the audition room, he was in the most stable state.

"Please come in."

After knocking, Liu Ying's voice came from inside. Lu Ze turned the doorknob. At this time of day, the window facing the audition room reflected the dazzling sunlight, making Lu Ze squint. The room was brightly lit, and with the exhaust fan on, there was a faint smell of smoke. There were five people in the room. Besides the three directors, Lu Ze didn't recognize the other two. After greeting them, he sat quietly in a chair.

"how do you feel?"

Liu Ying, being quite close to Lu Ze, didn't try to avoid suspicion and asked Lu Ze a question with a smile in her eyes, while gently tapping the table with a one-yuan lighter.

"I feel pretty good, I'm in good shape."

He Ruikuan took a deep breath, placed Lu Ze's resume on the table, leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and exhaled. He looked directly into Lu Ze's eyes, and the slight smile on his lips showed that he also admired Lu Ze. But now, this admiration could not influence his judgment, much less change his choice. He was simply hoping that this young man, who had been recruited exceptionally, could give him an even greater surprise.

"If you're in good shape, let's begin. Lu Ze, show me your true skills. Let's start with the second paragraph."

After the audition began, Lu Ze kept his head down, constantly adjusting his demeanor. When he finally looked up, all three directors showed expressions of great interest.
Lu Ze's mouth was obviously crooked, with some glistening saliva at the corner of his mouth. He was turned to the side, with one foot forward and the other foot turned inward. He turned his head to look at the three directors, and his whole body looked strangely distorted. This was because Wang Jian himself was a polio patient.

This one move caught the eyes of the three directors. It may sound harsh, but Lu Ze's portrayal of polio was indeed the best and most realistic among all the actors. However, since Lu Ze's limbs were healthy, they needed to be padded to make his limbs appear more deformed during filming.

"Boss, I'd like a bowl of vegetarian noodles, how much?"

Liu Ying provided Lu Ze with his lines, using a very appropriate tone, conveying a sense of impatience. Of course, this wasn't a special favor for Lu Ze; all actors were treated this way during auditions to increase their immersion in the role.

"Six yuan for plain noodles, anything else?"

Lu Ze shook his head and took out a folded handkerchief from the inside pocket of his down jacket. This was a prop Lu Ze had prepared in advance. He had also prepared props for the other two segments, but he chose the second segment, so he didn't need them. The handkerchief was new and clean, which was a little out of place, but not a big deal. His fingers were also somewhat deformed. His thumb was raised, his index finger was pointed upwards but hooked, like the Chinese number "nine," while his ring finger was pressed down, forming a ninety-degree angle with his palm. This hand shape was difficult for a normal person to achieve. It was a small gesture that Lu Ze added himself, which made Wang Yizhuo and the other two interviewers whom Lu Ze didn't know try to imitate the gesture.

Gently unfold the folded handkerchief. The largest denomination inside is twenty yuan, which is the only one. There are a few old, scattered one-yuan bills, as well as fifty-cent and one-cent coins.

Lu Ze lowered his head, picked out six yuan with his deformed fingers, and gently placed it on the table. His lips twitched, and he used a lot of force. The three directors could see the large veins on Lu Ze's neck bulging and then disappearing under his skin.

One of the interviewers, whom Lu Ze didn't recognize, stood up, walked to the door, and opened it. But this didn't affect Lu Ze. Since the director hadn't said "cut," he had to continue acting; that's a basic quality of an actor.

The interviewer then closed the door. Lu Ze didn't look at him, but he noticed a bowl of noodles being placed on the table behind him, still steaming.

He picked up the chopsticks with his right hand, pressing one with his thumb and forefinger, and holding another between his ring and little fingers. He clumsily picked up a few noodles, tilted his head, and slowly stuffed them into his mouth. In pursuit of realism, one noodle was "accidentally" not held firmly and slipped into the soup, splashing soup that accidentally hit his eyelid.

The noodles were really hot, so hot that Lu Ze's eyelids stung a little, but apart from the actions that were supposed to be part of the character's performance, such as closing one eye and squeezing his eyelid hard, he didn't do anything out of character.

Fearing this scene, Lu Ze barely ate any lunch. Under the quiet gaze of the three directors, he finished his soup, raised his arm, wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his down jacket, and took a deep breath to try and suck back his snot, but failed. There was nothing he could do; even if Lu Ze felt sorry for his wolf claw down jacket, he had to keep using it to wipe his nose. Then, he accidentally burped.

Lu Ze slowly pulled an A4 sheet of paper from his backpack, stood up, one leg was normal, the other foot made a circle, walked to Liu Ying, and pointed to the blank A4 sheet of paper.

"Boss, could you please put this in your shop? My son is missing. His name is Wang Shuangxi, and he is seven years old."

"Judging from your accent, you must be from He Nan, right? What brings you to Shanxi to look for your child? How long has the child been missing?"

Lu Ze lowered his head in disappointment. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with obvious sadness. His lips twitched again, and his twisted fingers kept fidgeting with the seam of his pants. His speech was even more intermittent than before.

"It's been lost for over four years. He Nan has searched everywhere, but he hasn't found it."

"Then you can stick it yourself. Do you have any tape? Stick it in a conspicuous spot. Never mind, you're not good with your hands, just give it to me."

"Thank you. Thank you, boss."

He expressed his deepest gratitude, repeatedly thanking Liu Ying, before returning to his seat, getting up to pick up his bag, and preparing to leave.

"Okay, let's stop here."

Before Lu Ze could leave, He Ruikuan stopped him, took a sip of water from a disposable paper cup, leaned back in his chair, and lit a cigarette for everyone, including Lu Ze.

The primary consideration is acting skills, and in the performance just now, Lu Ze was very stable and flawless. The difficulty of this scene lies in eating noodles and controlling emotions. In short, it's about the use of actions and micro-expressions, not the lines. If an actor at this level can't even deliver a decent line, it's truly laughable.

Lu Ze's emotions, like in his other works, are full, but not too full, just right, not exaggerated, and even more sincere than in other works. Excellent actors are judged by their attention to detail, seeing who can be more and more meticulous, until they can't be more meticulous. Lu Ze's control over details is undoubtedly outstanding.

As for the actions, among so many excellent actors, none of them portrayed polio better than Lu Ze. Moreover, the small actions he added were very well done, without any sense of being out of place. On the contrary, it made the audience feel more immersed. If Lu Ze had a different face now, these people would probably really believe that he was a polio patient.

Actions, subtle gestures, micro-expressions, details, and the already competent dialogue—all three directors could score over 90 points in each of these areas, so what else is there to consider?
"This role is yours."

"."

(End of this chapter)