The birth of an actor

Chapter 102 Hunched Back

"Come in on the 19th."

Upon hearing this, An Xin handed over her number and walked into the audition room.

The door closed, he stepped onto the cross, bowed, and began to introduce himself.

Kang Jianming was actually delighted when he saw An Xin walk in.

At the same time, a hint of curiosity welled up in his eyes.

Forget about Lao Liu; he knows the other person's temperament. He's never stingy with promoting promising talents.

Xu Fan... can understand.

The person Zhao Baogang recommended was indeed someone he found rare.

However, he was only the producer, so he didn't speak. Instead, Huo Jianqi looked him up and down and then asked:
Which part did you perform?

"At the beginning of the story, the son who failed to get into university chooses to take over his father's job as a rural postman. Before his first rural postman journey begins, he wears his father's hat and talks to his mother."

Kang Jianming was taken aback.

It wasn't that he was particularly surprised... it was mainly because he had a point of comparison.

Actually, this child is one of the two most special actors so far.

The other one was Liu Ye, whom Old Huo felt was very suitable for the role of "son" and took a liking to at first sight.

Liu Ye met Old Huo's first impression, while the child was recommended by four families.

He knew Wang Jinghua.

She is not only Chen Daoming's agent, but also has a good relationship with Si Wu, the screenwriter of this story.

This kid's participation in the public audition must be closely related to Siwu.

Coincidentally, Liu Ye and he chose the same clip. And since one of them was number 17 and the other number 19, Kang Jianming inevitably made a comparison in his mind.

Although his acting skills are still unclear, Kang Jianming could tell from the description of the audition clips that this kid named An Xin seemed to be more thoughtful than Liu Ye.

Of course, this doesn't prove anything, but the comparison does show some differences.

Huo Jianqi, on the other hand, didn't say anything, and even his words were exactly the same as before:
“Someone will argue with your mother. You have one minute to prepare.”

"Ok."

Anxin nodded, glanced at the direction of the camera, and then picked up the hat from the table.

However, he didn't rush to wear it, but instead stood aside.

A minute later, as Huo Jianqi announced "Time's up," An Xin took a deep breath and her expression calmed down.

Then, he walked step by step into the picture frame.

The fact that he could walk made the group of people look puzzled.

It's worth noting that in just six months, Anxin's height has reached 1.8 meters.

He specifically went to get it measured during the Chinese New Year.

But at this moment, despite being 1.8 meters tall, he had a hunched back.

He wasn't born with a hunchback; rather, he consciously lowered his height as he walked, and only started wearing a hat when facing the camera.

The way he put on his hat was also interesting; he didn't just put it on directly, but instead hunched over and wiped his hair in front of the camera.

He started growing his hair out after filming "Princess Pearl," and now it was about half the length of a finger. After smoothing it with his hand a couple of times, the stray hairs on his forehead were gathered up, revealing his entire forehead, before he finally put on his hat.

After putting it on, I felt that my hair on both sides looked a bit out of place, so I stuffed my fingers into the hat and then pressed the hat down hard.

Then he straightened his back and shouted in Huo Jianqi's direction:
"Mom, do you think it fits me well?"

As he said this, he deliberately straightened his back and showed everyone his white teeth.

Putting aside the prop hat, just that one smile perfectly captured the energy, cleanliness, and cheerfulness of that smile.

Like a ray of sunshine in spring.

This kid's teeth... are quite white.

Kang Jianming unconsciously had this idea.

He nodded silently as he watched TV.

"His smile is also very approachable."

At this moment, the narration began:

“Your dad has hardly ever worn this hat. Being a rural postman is too tough; you can’t walk the mountain roads in your uniform. You told me you’d like to be a farmer, or go to the city to be a factory worker…”

"mom."

Anxin's smile vanished, replaced by a perfectly timed expression of speechlessness:
"You do not understand."

But after he finished speaking, he suddenly paused.

He pulled his outstretched body back in, hunched over again, and began fixing his hat and hair in front of the mirror once more.

With his eyes fixed on the camera, as if facing his own reflection in a mirror, he said:

“A rural postman is a state cadre. My taking over is not the same as going to the city to work… Our family must have a state cadre.”

His tone was clearly hesitant and abrupt.

"Mom" is a pause, and "you don't understand" is another pause.

The two pauses, when put together, gave those present a strange sense of familiarity.

Or rather, the visual imagery.

That's because... when they were young, they felt a little impatient with the old man's earnest teachings.

However, this impatience was not disrespectful to the mother; it was merely an emphasis on rebuttal, followed by an explanation of her point of view.

Rural postmen are cadres.

They are different from those who come to the city to work.

He even spoke with a hint of contempt.

When he said the last sentence, "Our family must have a government official," his perfectly timed adjustment of his hat and the smile that appeared on his face conveyed a sense of pride.

"..."

"..."

In the silence of the group, An Xin's expression slowly faded.

"My performance is over."

Huo Jianqi nodded slightly, recalling some of the details he had just witnessed...

Why are you hunched over?

"Because the mirror isn't high enough."

Anxin's voice was very calm:

"In both the original novel and the script, there's a scene where the son carries his father across a river. While the script doesn't describe the height of the father and son, the original novel mentions that the father, looking at his son who is a head taller than him, silently sheds tears. Therefore, no matter how tall the son is, the father will never be tall. And the mirrors in the house won't be adjusted to fit the son's height; they'll be adjusted to match his parents' habits of using mirrors. So, he has to hunch over to see his reflection."

"..."

"..."

"And the reason I was fixing my hair was because the hat didn't fit. It was my father's hat, and since he was short, it definitely wouldn't be the right size for me. So I kept fixing my hair to make the hat look better, imagining how smart I would look when I actually wore this rural postman's uniform."

"……" "Um."

Kang Jianming nodded, glanced at Huo Jianqi who seemed unwilling to speak, and asked:

"Tell me your understanding of the role of a son."

"It can be divided into three stages. In the first stage, the son is like a young wolf eager to tell his father that he is ready to take over and replace him. The father is getting old and wants to become the new pillar of the family."

"...That's right, what's the second one?"

"The second stage is during the journey, where the young and energetic son interacts with his more experienced father. This interaction isn't about how much experience he learns or how much he learns about the people or things along the rural postal route. Rather, it's a process of accelerating mutual understanding. The third stage is the final sublimation. Understanding the rural postal route is equivalent to understanding the father's entire life. The father is still the same father, and the son is still the same son; nothing has changed. It's just that the father has personally passed on that legacy to his son."

"..."

"..."

After An Xin finished speaking, there was a few seconds of silence in the audition room before Huo Jianqi's voice rang out:
"Okay, that's fine. You can go now. Just wait for further instructions."

"Ok."

Anxin nodded in agreement and walked out.

"This kid is good. So far, better than anyone else. From the preparation of details to the understanding of the role... he's the best in my opinion."

Hearing Kang Jianming's words, Huo Jianqi nodded slightly:

"Okay, next one."

……

"Hey, Sister Hua, the audition is over. Tell me to go back and wait for our call."

"Okay, the phone number you left is mine, right?"

"Correct."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. Now we just need to wait."

"OK, all right."

He responded and walked out of the Beijing Film Studio's office building with his bag on his back.

Whether he gets selected next is no longer his concern. He's given what he was supposed to, so he's done his job.

After checking the time, he headed straight for the school.

I just managed to attend a long lecture.

During class, Sun Desheng chirped softly again:
"Are you free tonight? I tried writing an interview draft at noon, how about we give it a try?"

"Okay."

Anxin readily agreed.

"Okay, see you at your dorm tonight. By the way, you live alone?"

“Sun Desheng, if you don’t want to listen to the lecture, you can leave.”

"..."

Under An Xin's strange gaze, Sun Wukong, who was once nicknamed "Great Sage," became as if he had met the Bodhi Patriarch and dared not act rashly.

So, after a long lecture, Anxin went to the cafeteria for a quick bite to eat. Less than half an hour after returning to the dormitory, Sun Desheng pushed open the door and walked in with an exercise book in his hand.

Looking at the spotless dormitory, he nodded repeatedly:
Compared to you, our dorm is like a pigsty.

I can't deny that I feel reassured about that.

He remembers very clearly what his dormitory was like back then.

Well, to put it bluntly, he can even tell which colleague in the dormitory hasn't washed their feet today just by the smell of their feet.

You can figure it out yourself...

"Shall we begin?"

"Let's get started... Oh? A voice recorder?"

An Xin was surprised to see what Sun Desheng pulled out of his pocket.

The Great Sage smiled smugly:
"That's a Sony, I bought it for over 700."

"Fine, rich man."

"Hehe, then I'll sit here... so we can face each other?"

"Row."

So, with a table between them, I sat down at the table and took a deep breath...

"let's start."

"Hmm, first question...which celebrities have you met?"

"...?"

An Xin's lips twitched suddenly:
"What?"

"Tell me, which celebrities have you met?"

After Sun Desheng pointed the recording pen at him, An Xin was even more speechless.

"You're asking this kind of question right off the bat?"

"What? Is something wrong with you? One of the purposes of news is to seek knowledge. Aren't these the most basic curiosities people have about actors? Who do you know? Who have you met? Whose house have you visited? How much do you get paid for a role?"

"..."

Fine.

Since you asked, I'll answer.

"Hmm... let me think. Is it someone who's quite famous?"

"Yes, which of these well-known celebrities have you worked with?"

"It features Alec Su from the Little Tigers. Hmm..."

Recalling his pitifully small network of connections, he continued:
"I've met Mr. Chen Daoming in person and even chatted with him for a bit. I've also met Mr. Wang Shuo, and Xu Fan, who acted in 'Da Sa Ba'..."

"Have you met Wang Shuo?"

Sun Desheng was taken aback.

"Yes, I've met him. I even saw him once before the Lunar New Year."

"How's he doing lately? When are you planning to retaliate?"

"……Um?"

An Xin was also taken aback and asked in confusion:
"What do you mean by 'insult back'?"

"Wang Shuo, you don't know?"

"what do you know?"

"Recently, many people have been criticizing him. Various newspapers, magazines, and radio programs are criticizing him, saying that he is a representative of depravity and loss of humanistic spirit, exposing ugliness without condemning it, and a few days ago, a newspaper in Shanghai even published a special article saying that he violates the socially recognized moral standards and values, and misleads the public's aesthetic... Don't you know?"

"?"

A big question mark appeared on Anxin's face.

(End of this chapter)