Global Film Emperor

Chapter 557 Audition
"Good morning, Mr. Lu."

"morning."

The audition was held at the city center headquarters, not at the film studio in the suburbs. This was the third day of auditions, and today only the other lead actors besides Lu Ze were being interviewed.

Upon seeing Lu Ze, the receptionist stood up warmly and, after greeting him, picked up a coffee cup from a pile of cups at the front desk and handed it to him. Lu Ze took it and downed it in one gulp, then casually tossed the small, wine cup into the trash can. He strode into the meeting room, opened the door, and saw Mickey and Zhuang Yu already in place. He patted them on the shoulders, sat in the innermost seat, and began looking through the list of auditionees on the table.

Mickey has a rich nightlife and goes to bed much later than Lu Ze and Zhuang Yu, who is married. It's 7:50 in the morning now, and he probably didn't get enough sleep last night, maybe even four or five hours. He's currently lying on the table with his arm under his head, his left arm outstretched and hanging down in front of him, a cigarette between his fingers, with a faint blue smoke drifting as it burns.

"What time did you go to bed last night?"

"I can't remember exactly, but it was probably a little after."

Yawning, Mickey stood up as he responded to Lu Ze's words, popped a strong mint into his mouth, and his spirits improved noticeably. He raised his hand to check the time on his watch and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

After sending a message to the staff in the audition actors' break room, Zhuang Yu announced that the third day of auditions had officially begun. He turned on the camera and, after a rather robust middle-aged man entered the room, the camera switched to shooting mode.

The soft beep caused the male actor to subtly change his demeanor; he smiled at the three of them and then sat down quite naturally.

Lu Ze looked through his resume and saw that he was a veteran actor with experience in filming many movies. Although he had never played a leading role, he was well-known in the industry as a supporting actor.

He has excellent acting skills, is steady and reliable, asks for low prices, and has a proper attitude. No crew has ever reported any rumors about him cheating or being dishonest. His only weakness is that his facial features are not very memorable. He has a square face, a big nose, blond curly hair, and light freckles on his cheeks. His skin quality is not high. He has a very typical Western European appearance. He is the type who was not handsome when he was young and became overweight in middle age.

"Smith, thank you for coming so early in the morning."

"It's alright, we're old acquaintances, no need to be so polite. It's been a long time, Mr. Lu."

Smith waved and greeted the three men. As he said, he had known Mickey for a long time. He had acted in Mickey's box office flop, "Birdman," when Mickey was just starting out. Later, he co-starred with Lu Ze in Mickey's comeback film, "The Effect." However, the two did not continue to work together after that.

After a brief chat, Smith took out the script and placed it on the table. He didn't seem nervous at all, since the two were quite familiar with each other. If the role Smith was auditioning for wasn't so important, and Zhuang Yu hadn't hoped to audition several people to select the best one, the role would have been decided directly by Smith without any audition.

"Shall we begin?"

Mickey looked at Lu Ze. Naturally, Lu Ze would be in charge of acting opposite Smith next. Seeing Lu Ze pick up the script, Smith stood up, slowly exhaled, and then pressed his thumbs against the other knuckles of his naturally hanging hands, making a few crisp cracking sounds. After getting ready, he nodded to Lu Ze.

"I'd like a hot dog, no ketchup. How much?"

Smith took out his wallet from his pocket, looked down to find the right bills, and occasionally looked up at Lu Ze, just like the other diners, he didn't care about the hot dog vendor at all.

"6 yuan."

"Could you add an extra portion of onions? They look good, and I like them a little caramelized. How much?"

"It's free."

"Thank you very much."

Smith took out some money and handed it over. The paper slowly floated to the ground. He took the change without any physical object, put it into his wallet, gently wiped the non-existent rain from his forehead, dusted off his clothes, and then struck up a conversation with the "vendor".

"This must be the heaviest rain of the year."

"Ah."

He didn't seem to mind the vendor's taciturn nature. After taking the hot dog, he took a big bite of air, hissing as if he'd burned his mouth. While chewing, he peeked at the ceiling and continued, "Your business probably isn't doing too well today. This rain isn't going to stop anytime soon." "Hmm."

The vendor seemed unwilling to talk to him anymore, but he didn't mind. After taking a couple more bites, he pointed to the side and casually asked, "Your girlfriend? Or your wife?"

"Girlfriend".

"Oh, I really envy you. I've been married for eight years, and I can't even remember the last time my wife accompanied me to work."

He extended his palm, the back of his hand facing Lu Ze. The silver ring on his ring finger was slightly faded due to its age. After he finished speaking, the vendor remained silent, which annoyed him. He could only silently continue eating his hot dog. After a long while, he looked into the distance, as if he had discovered something, and asked a question.

"Is there an election in your city? Harry Streisand, you look very young, only in your thirties?"

"32 is old."

"That's really a promising future. I think I vaguely remember him; I think I was..."

"do not talk."

He seemed to recall the deputy mayor candidate's experience and was about to talk to the stall owner about it when the stall owner interrupted him. Although he was still stirring the onions and carrots with his head down, the stall owner's tone was clearly displeased, and he said impatiently, "Do you want anything else to eat?"

"Uh... one hot dog is enough."

"Then please do as you please."

The man was stunned for a moment, still holding half a hot dog and not quite recovered. After a few seconds, he shrugged, turned his back to the stall owner, and finished the food while watching the non-existent torrential rain.

After his meal, he lit a cigarette. On this rainy day, the cigarette butt cast flickering light on his cheeks. He waited until the rain subsided slightly before waving goodbye to the stall owner.

"The hot dog is good."

The stall owner didn't answer, and this indifferent attitude annoyed him. However, he didn't want to argue with the stall owner too much and waste the brief respite from the rain. So, before leaving, he turned to the stall owner and said, "I don't know why you're acting this way. Maybe you don't like him, and neither do I. That man, I remember he used to be a scumbag."

After saying that, he strode away into the rain.

……

“Very good, thank you Smith, but at the beginning of the conversation I wanted was that nonchalant, slightly slow-paced feeling. Your pace is a bit too cheerful, and the gesture of looking up when giving change should be removed. I want the effect of not looking at the main character at all.”

Smith turned and sat back down. Mickey began to critique his performance, pointing out a few minor flaws that Smith was asked to correct on the spot. After a brief re-performance, both remained silent, making their final assessments.

Lu Ze didn't care. He had no right to choose who to hire for the casting, nor did he want to make a choice for Mickey. Only Mickey and Zhuang Yu were whispering and discussing something. After two minutes of discussion, Mickey made the decision, looking directly into Smith's eyes and saying.

"You'll have to work hard again this time, Smith."

Upon hearing this, Smith, who had been interviewing for a long time, finally showed his first bright smile since entering the room and nodded.

"Okay, I'll do my best."

"..."