The Script-Eating Actor – Chapter 92

Ch 92

It only took 15 minutes for actor Do Jae-hee to transform into the rookie ‘JaeHee.’

“How is it? I tried to make it look like it’s styled but not styled.”

If it had been neatly straight hair.

It had turned into the messy hair you have when you wake up after falling asleep with wet hair.

It’s the style I wanted.

“Jang Team Leader-nim’s skills are beyond doubt.”

“Hehe.”

After finishing the styling, I left the cramped dressing room and was guided to the waiting room. The waiting room was more like a concert hall, with a wide open space in the middle and chairs lined up in rows.

All audition participants wait here with their crews.

“Are there no individual waiting rooms?”

However, the staff and agents from Miyamoto Ryo’s side clashed.

“The audition details are under the jurisdiction of HighMount Pictures, not our UAA, so… there’s nothing we can do…”

“This is troublesome. Ryo is demanding a private waiting room.”

The star of Asia is confidently demanding a waiting room.

And haven’t we seen how such people usually end up?

However, it’s a little different from when it was Song Mun-gyo.

“Just give it to him.”

After persistent demands, the Japanese crew finally managed to get a small room attached to Studio 4 as a private waiting room.

“What is he doing, coming to an audition and acting like that?”

“Wow, is that what they call gapjil?”

“Let’s not pay attention to it.”

“How can we not pay attention? It’s practically the same as HighMount giving him special treatment.”

“….”

Right. With this, it was confirmed who the film company was most expecting from the audition participants.

At least, it wouldn’t be the stars gathered here.

Although we are on the same audition stage, the starting lineups are already different.

Some participants who came with their companies protested and demanded waiting rooms for themselves as well, but our side remained silent.

“That’s not what’s important.”

What’s important is not asserting ‘the rights of an audition participant’ right now. When they are the ones who need me, that’s when ‘demanding’ will have power.

Thanks to that, the waiting room was filled with me and unknown actors who didn’t have companies.

The audition began.

They said the audition order was randomly assigned, but looking at how things were going, those with a high probability of being eliminated were placed at the front.

A Chinese-American group left the waiting room for the audition, and they returned to the waiting room to pack their bags less than three minutes after being called out.

“Is it already over?”

“It doesn’t seem like they even listened to a whole song, right?”

Their faces were full of disappointment and frustration.

It was the same afterward. About a dozen actors from Southeast Asia, China, New York, and other places were quickly eliminated.

What they all had in common was that they all had faces that had tasted the bitterness of failure.

Among them was ‘Likin Bang’, a Hong Kong actor who was quite well-known, but he looked like he was about to curse, as if his audition had been a disaster.

Unpleasantness, disgust, and other emotions were reflecting his state of mind. What on earth happened?

He came up to me and said.

“You’re Jae-hee from Korea, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Don’t expect anything from this audition.”

“…. What? Why?”

“It’s an audition that was already over before it even started. Why did they call us when there’s already a pre-selected person? F*cking America!”

“….”

A pre-selected person?

I wanted to ask more, but Likin Bang, unable to control his anger, left the studio with his crew.

Team Leader Park Chan-ik was in a panic.

“What does that mean? A pre-selected person?”

“… I don’t know.”

“They called us from UAA when there’s a pre-selected person? That doesn’t make sense? The articles have already been all over Korea, right?”

“Ah, what’s going on? This feels ominous.”

And the remaining audition candidates are me and Miyamoto Ryo.

Just the two of us.

When one person went in for the audition, the next person in line would wait on a chair in the hallway. When I was called out, Miyamoto Ryo was surprisingly standing in front of me.

He was wearing a leather jacket and shiny patent pants, and he was swaying with a relaxed expression, with earphones plugged into his ears. Next to him, his manager was standing with an electric guitar case slung over his shoulder.

Who’s first?

At that moment, the audition room door opened and a female crew member came out and called out a name.

“Miyamoto?”

“….”

Miyamoto Ryo was first.

Miyamoto Ryo took the electric guitar from his manager after taking out his earphones. And when the studio door opened, he walked in with a confident stride.

Thud!

The studio door closed. And me and our staff sat down on the chairs and waited. On the chairs opposite us, the staff from TK Tokyo, Miyamoto’s agency, were sitting, and they were grinning as if they were in a good mood.

Jang Team Leader-nim, who was sitting next to me, muttered.

“Ah, why are they smiling so unsettlingly?”

Indeed, they seemed to have something to rely on.

The planning team leader, who knew a little Japanese, said.

“They’re looking into where to get a house in LA?”

“…. Do they think they’ve already been selected? What kind of trickery did they pull?”

I accepted it as calmly as possible.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I had already foreseen that the challenge in America wouldn’t be smooth.

I can’t lose my strength here.

It’s a different situation from three years ago in Korea.

In Korea, I was completely alone, but now there are so many people who believe in me.

“I’ll do well with what I’ve prepared.”

“…. Okay, Jae-hee.”

It’s not over until it’s over.

Miyamoto Ryo’s audition lasted for nearly 10 minutes.

The agonizing wait, just waiting for the door to open.

Then, squeak━ thud!

The steel door of the studio, which had been tightly closed, opened, and the same female crew member walked forward with a list in her hand.

Behind her, Miyamoto Ryo walked out.

“….”

His expression was somehow unusual.

It wasn’t the confident expression he had before going in, but a nervous face, as if he was being followed by a very annoying mosquito.

“Jae-hee?”

At the female crew member’s call, I got up from my seat. And I took the acoustic guitar from Jae-ik Hyung and fixed the strap（shoulder strap） on my body.

At that moment, Miyamoto Ryo stopped in front of me.

“….”

He looked like he had something to say to me, but he let out a rough breath as if he was holding back, and then turned his body.

“… What was that?”

“….”

I couldn’t be sure, but I was certain that the audition hadn’t gone as they had intended.

“I’ll be back.”

“Fighting!”

“Aja aja!”

And without any special motion, I followed the female crew member into the studio.

It was a wide space, but a little stuffy due to the dust.

Inside, four producers were sitting at a long table, and indoor lights were illuminating the chroma background.

A microphone was set up in the middle, and session musicians like drummers and bassists were sitting on the side.

‘Are they doing a live performance?’

There was no mention of that.

I erased any signs of nervousness and stepped into the acting zone taped in a + shape.

Then, Bill, the UAA agent who followed me in, explained to the producers sitting at the table.

“This is the last one from our side.”

I looked at the producers in front of me and greeted them brightly.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Do Jae-hee from Korea.”

“Nice to meet you.”

And then I was surprised again.

Among the producers sitting at the table, there was a woman wearing a mask.

I knew who she was right away.

Ellani O’connor.

She was looking at me with a playful smile. When our eyes met, she slightly lowered her mask and smiled brightly.

And she said with her lips, so that no one could hear.

‘Long time no see.’

I smiled brightly in response. Hmm, is it almost three months since we last met?

The producers were introduced.

The planning team leader of HighMount Pictures, Director Paul Anthony, the assistant director, and the music director.

It should clearly be a difficult setting, but knowing one of them makes me feel at ease.

The assistant director said to me.

“Have you heard about the movie? Um… what kind of movie it is.”

“Yes.”

“It’s about an Asian musician who came to America to realize the American dream, but only experiences failure for several years. The position is vocalist and sub-guitarist. Acting is important, but it’s also an audition where you have to prove your abilities as an artist. Are you ready?”

Am I ready?

“Yes.”

Of course.

“Okay, then let’s start by listening first. The sheet music… let’s see. Ah, here it is. Is this a self-composed song?”

“No. I borrowed a song from a great band in Korea.”

They’re not very well-known, but it’s undeniable that they’re a band that writes great songs.

“Oh, ho. Let’s hear it live. Is that okay?”

The assistant director said, pointing to the session musicians.

I smiled and nodded.

“Of course. Just a moment. Give me 10 seconds.”

“Take your time.”

Before starting the performance, I closed my eyes for a moment.

And I looked back.

Recently, I had so many experiences, as if they were telling me to do well in this audition.

I learned the beauty of music firsthand from the unknown buskers I met in London. And the unknown actors I chose myself acted out ‘fighting spirit’. I also encouraged them by putting their lives into my voice in a documentary format. Now, I’m in their position, singing myself.

It was like the string of acting that guides my life led me to this audition stage.

They want me to act as an unknown musician?

Their lives are embodied in me, I just need to sing their voices.

I just need to acknowledge their lives.

“Hoo.”

I opened my eyes, matched the chords with the session musicians, and checked the tempo.

And then

“I’ll start.”

I said to the producers.

The drummer tapped the sticks on the beat, and strongly hit the cymbal on the exact beat.

Clang-! At the same time, the bass reverberated.

My guitar connected to the amp was an acoustic guitar, not an electric one.

My choice to erase the sharp feeling and create a richer and warmer feeling.

A warm and cheerful melody rang in my ears, and the lyrics I had sung a hundred times flashed through my mind.

I quickly strummed my right hand and buried my face in front of the microphone.

“No one knows. No one knows.”

My voice spread through the amp.

But in my ears, which were blocked with an earphone.

…. I can hear it.

The cries of the unknown people I had encountered.

I just need to represent their feelings.

Even if I sit here. Even if I sit here.

Even after winter. Even after winter.

No one knows. No one knows.

Even without absorbing a book.

I can act.

Like the ‘signature’ that only Seol Gang-shik Senior has.

With the ‘signature’ that only Do Jae-hee has.

With the life I have felt with my skin so far.

Hidden in the cheerful melody, I continued to cry out in pain.

I’m ordinary Bird man.

I’m ordinary Bird man.

An ordinary bird.

A nameless bird.

A bird that dreams of being a swan, but moves along with others.

With all my sincerity.

Calmly.

About three minutes passed quickly like a flash of lightning.

Three minutes in which I was so engrossed that I couldn’t remember how I sang.

When I finished singing and slowly opened my eyes, still unable to erase the emotion.

“…..”

I saw Ellani O’connor, who had completely lowered her mask and was looking at me.

A HighMount employee with a dumbfounded face, holding up my profile.

The assistant director, applauding and cheering.

And.

“Mise-en-scène!（Mise-en-Scène）!”

I faced Director Paul Anthony, who was shouting, “Mise-en-scène!（A film and stage term. An outstanding screen composition）!”

Director Paul Anthony was flushed and excited.

“Art itself! The role itself! It’s a perfect picture that could be captured on camera as is!”

“….”

Ah, I might actually get it.