The birth of an actor

Chapter 101 Audition Excerpt
(A note beforehand: I made a mistake. Liu Ye is actually from the Central Academy of Drama, but I confused her with the Beijing Film Academy. Sorry, but it doesn't really matter. I've had a cold these past few days, with a runny nose and watery eyes, and my mind is foggy and unclear. Apologies everyone.)
"How's it going?"

"No problem. I went in and introduced myself, and the director let me stay."

After Fan Bingbing finished her audition and found An Xin downstairs, she immediately looked happy.

"Let me come over tomorrow for the first round of auditions."

"It's afternoon."

"Huh?... Oh right, you were recommended by four families, so you must have some special privileges~"

"..."

Anxin was speechless.

I thought to myself, "Who are you mocking?"
However, they didn't take it to heart; their relationship was so close that there was no need to hide anything.

"I am leaving."

"Why go?"

"Go back to class and come back this afternoon."

After waving goodbye to the girl, he quickly left and rushed to school.

I arrived just in time for the start of the second class.

He quickly apologized to the teacher and said he was going to change his dressing.

The teacher glanced at the bandage on the back of his head, nodded, and gestured for him to return to his seat.

After Anxin found a corner seat and settled down, the boy next to her immediately whispered:
"Don't worry, Lao Ren just assigned us a task. Starting this semester, everyone needs to write three reports or interviews. Can I interview you?"

The boy's name is Sun Desheng.

Anxin's roommate from her past life.

The two have a good relationship, both in their past lives and now. Furthermore, the main reason he was able to get to know many alumni and access various resources was because the other person's older sister was also a graduate of Renmin University. She currently works at an investment bank.

Back when I was still a student, I managed to sneak into an investment party and meet San Shi, the pig farm owner from Mannala Investment, by going with Sun Desheng.

"Row."

Anxin nodded and agreed:

When is the interview?

"Don't rush. The task I just assigned is three papers per person. Remember, this is homework. If you don't finish or do a shoddy job, you'll definitely fail if Teacher Ren finds out."

"Yeah. I know."

Interviews are actually quite easy to do; it's not a big deal.

After the two finished quietly listening to the old professor lecturing on stage, they stopped talking and listened attentively.

After class, they had a meal together before Anxin headed back to the Beijing Film Studio.

After offering sacrifices to the old man who had been lurking behind him, intending to ambush and stab him in the back, he walked into the factory area.

As a result, they saw two figures in front of the office building.

One is Chen Kun, and the other looks familiar... I think he's the actor who played in "Curse of the Golden Flower".

But he couldn't remember his name.

The two seemed to be chatting, so Anxin didn't move closer. She just nodded politely and sat down on a bench on the other side of the office building.

Little did they know, Chen Kun and Liu Ye were talking about him.

"Is this person also here for an audition?"

Hearing his senior's words, Chen Kun looked up at An Xin and nodded:
"Yes, his name is An Xin."

"Your classmate?"

"No, it's from Renmin University."

"Renmin University? How do you know them?"

"He starred in 'My Fair Princess' with Zhao Wei."

"Oh right, I remember now, we met during the audition for 'Princess Pearl,' right? I auditioned for Fu Erkang, and you were Fu Ertai. What role did he play in the show?"

"Fortey".

"Oh~~~"

Liu Ye suddenly realized what was happening, and then he heard Chen Kun say:
"He's also an experiential filmmaker. After Zhao Wei came back, we talked about him. Zhao Wei said he put in a lot of effort. He basically didn't look at the script on set and rarely did any NGs. Oh right, he and Lu Shiyu have a pretty good relationship."

"Is Lao Lu familiar with him?"

Liu Ye, also a junior, became interested:
"Should we go say hello?"

"No thanks, we're not that close."

"That's true. Are you confident about this role?"

"I don't know. What about you, senior?"

"It's alright. I got the book from Director Cui last year and read it over and over again. But I really didn't expect we'd be rivals, haha. Speaking of which, Director Cui really values ​​you. Normally, she wouldn't recommend scripts to freshmen so you could prepare in advance. When we were freshmen, we were always dragged along at the last minute, supposedly to train our impromptu reaction skills... Oh right, did Zhao Wei get selected?"

"Yes, she's tomorrow."

"Oh~"

Liu Ye looked on with a sigh:

"Your class is amazing."

An Xin had no idea what the two were talking about, and he didn't pay much attention to it.

At this moment, he simply sat quietly in the chair, his mind blank.

Grandpa Ye said that one must remain calm when facing important matters.

Auditions, in principle, are not a big deal.

But calming down is definitely the right thing to do.

Before long, the sound of people chatting could be heard from the surrounding area.

Clearly, as the time drew near, many people arrived.

Anxin ignored it and continued to sit on the bench, lost in thought. It wasn't until she heard someone shout, "All auditioning actors, come and collect your tickets," that her eyes regained some light.

Seeing the thronging crowd, he joined the queue and walked over.

The "coppai" actually refers to audition clips.

After queuing with the crowd, I felt relieved and received number 19. The audition slip for my performance contained the following text:

"My son, who failed his college entrance exam, is about to embark on his first rural postal mission as a postman. He puts on his father's uniform hat in front of the mirror."

Son: Mom, do you think this suits me? Mother (looks at him): Your father hasn't worn this hat much. Being a rural postman is too hard; you can't walk the mountain roads in a uniform... You said you'd become a farmer, or go to the city to be a worker...

Son: Mom, you don't understand. The rural postman is a government official. My taking over his job is different from going to the city to work. Our family must have a government official.

Just four sentences.

Anxin saw this and understood perfectly. This plot occurred at the beginning of the story. The son, who failed to get into university, decided to take over his father's job as a rural postman and enter the system. In addition, the father's leg was injured when he was young and he needed to get treatment, so he simply retired and let his son take over the position.

During this period, his son had not yet actually set foot on this mountain road. He was not thinking about the responsibility of connecting the mountains, but rather a kind of vain pride.

After learning the whole story, Anxin's feelings of belonging to her "son" began to stir.

Then, he joined the crowd and walked toward the waiting area.

There is a special room in the waiting area, which contains some folding stools.

But the number was clearly not enough, only about twenty in total, while there were at least thirty or forty people auditioning. Most of the people chose to stand in the corridor.

When Anxin arrived, there were no empty seats, so he chose to lean against the wall.

At this moment, some actors are staring intently at their notes, deep in thought; some are reading a copy of "The Dog"; and some are looking around. But most of them are in a similar state to him, immersed in their own mental world, oblivious to everything around them.

Soon, greetings like "Hello, Director!" rang out from outside, followed by complete silence.

The actors who were chatting stopped, and everyone started preparing.

Until the first actor was called and went in.

……

"Number 16, come in; number 17, get ready."

Upon hearing the commotion, Liu Ye immediately stood up from his chair.

“I went.”

"Come on, senior."

Chen Kun smiled slightly.

"Ah."

Liu Ye smiled and walked out, standing at the entrance of the audition room.

He waited for about three or four minutes, then the door opened, and number 16 came out with the staff.

"No. 17..."

"Here it is."

"Come in, number 18, get ready."

With that sound, the audition room door closed once again.

"Hello directors, my name is Liu Ye..."

Looking at Huo Jianqi and the others sitting at the table, Liu Ye slowly introduced himself.

Huo Jianqi, however, focused his attention.

This child is the one he thinks best matches the image of his "son," so he can't wait to see how the other person performs.

After the other person finished introducing themselves, he asked:

Which scene were you acting in?

"It's the beginning of the story, the part where the son is packing mail and wearing his father's rural postman's hat."

"Okay, someone will go over your mother's lines with you. You have one minute to prepare."

"Ok."

Liu Ye responded and began making preparations.

Soon, the minute was up.

He nodded and picked up the postman's hat from the prop table next to him.

After putting it on, he slightly raised his head, facing Huo Jianqi and the others, adjusted the hat a little, and said:
"Mom, does it fit me?"

As he said this, he barely moved, but continued to stare at Huo Jianqi and the others and asked.

At this moment, Zhao Weiyuan, the assistant director next to Huo Jianqi, glanced at the script and said:

“Your dad hasn’t worn this hat much. Being a rural postman is too tough; you can’t walk the mountain roads in your uniform… You’re thinking of becoming a farmer, or a factory worker in the city…”

While Zhao Weiyuan was speaking, Liu Ye's hands never stopped moving.

He seemed to feel that his hat was crooked and kept trying to straighten it, then tilting his head back and forth, as if he was looking for the right angle.

After Zhao Weiyuan finished speaking, he seemed to have finished adjusting himself and shook his head in Zhao Weiyuan's direction:

“Mom, you don’t understand. A rural postman is a government official. My taking over his job is not the same as going to the city to work. Our family must have a government official.”

After he finished speaking, he suddenly pushed up the brim of his hat and then made a gesture as if he had pinched the brim of his hat and wiped it from left to right in front of everyone.

This action is often seen in Hong Kong movies, especially by police officers. They look very cool when they wipe their hats like this.

But Kang Jianming frowned when he saw this action.

However, the television was blocking his view, so Liu Ye didn't see it.

After completing this last movement, he paused for two seconds before regaining his footing:

"My performance is over."

"……Um."

Huo Jianqi didn't say anything, just nodded:
"Alright, go back and wait for our notification."

"Okay, thank you to all the directors for giving me this audition opportunity..."

After exchanging polite words, Liu Ye left the room.

The staff at the door immediately looked in the director's direction, wondering if he wanted to think about it or call the next person directly.

At this moment, Kang Jianming made a "stop" gesture, then turned to Huo Jianqi and said:
"I feel like he didn't fully grasp the character. Especially that last move... that move didn't exist in the 80s."

"..."

Huo Jianqi thought for a moment and nodded:
"Give us another chance, we'll see in the second round. Next."

The staff member nodded and opened the door:

"Come in on the 18th, and prepare on the 19th."

In the waiting room, Anxin, who had been leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, opened them.

(End of this chapter)