Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Actually, I’m here for the audition of your movie. May I take the audition now?”
This blonde girl was in her early twenties. Because of the height difference, she needed to slightly raise her head when looking at Wang Yang. She cracked a smile, and two lovely dimples on her cheeks made her uniquely charming.
“Technically speaking, yes.” Wang Yang smiled warmly at the girl when he found out she was here for the audition. This girl gave him a very special feeling, and she looked familiar to him. He knew this feeling must mean something. It was highly possible that this blonde girl was to be a movie star in the future.
He pointed backward with his thumb and said, “But we are going to get some lunch at the diner over there. Come on, let’s discuss it on the way.”
“Okay.” The beautiful blonde nodded and then glanced at Jessica in question. Jessica explained to her, “No, I’m not the leading actress, nor have I come here for the audition. I’m Yang’s friend, and my name is Jessica.” The blonde nodded and said, “Got it.”
Sunset Boulevard was an extremely prosperous commercial street. On the two sides of the road, there were various kinds of shopping malls, restaurants, and cafes. The three of them were walking down the street with Wang Yang in the middle. Many people couldn’t help turning their heads toward them and looking at these two star-like girls in order to make sure they didn’t miss any chance to meet a real star.
“So, do you have a resume?” While walking, Wang Yang looked at the blonde girl on his left side and asked.
The blonde shrugged and said, “Actually, I just found out the hiring notice of your movie on the notice board. I’m very interested in a movie shot by DV camcorder, so I decided to take a shot.”
The notice board? Oh, right! Wang Yang remembered that, after he had left SAG, he had also printed a few posters for the audition and posted them on several notice boards. After all, there were still many actors who had not enrolled in SAG or had joined other guilds, instead. Just in case, he looked at the girl and asked, “So, you’re saying you are not with SAG?”
“No, I’m from Toronto, Canada and studying drama at York University.” The girl smiled and continued, “Actually, I’m here in LA in order to write a paper. It’s a part of my field study. And then I saw the hiring poster of yours, so here I am.” She briefly introduced some information about herself and said, “Oh, by the way, my name is Rachel McAdams.”
Rachel McAdams? Wang Yang couldn’t help frowning in confusion. This girl had a tall nose, relatively thick lips, and two dimples when she smiled. She was a typical “girl next door”. But who was she? Why did she look so familiar? Then he started to search his head quickly. Rachel McAdams, Rachel… and, finally, a poster popped out from his head.
On the poster of the movie “Sherlock Holmes” in 2009, there was a picture of the leading actress of this movie. She had a curly hairstyle in a piece of luxurious purple garment, smiling confidently. The name of the character was Irene Adler, and the actress who played this role was Rachel McAdams!
Finally, he remembered who this girl was. She was the leading actress of “Sherlock Holmes”! Wang Yang suddenly got very excited. Because he knew her as a famous movie star, she must have an outstanding performance technique and a special personality. Rachel McAdams was able to play the leading role in a 90-million-dollar movie, which meant that her future career must be rather promising.
As expected, Wang Yang further went through her profile in his database, and his speculation had been proven right.
On November 17th, 1979, Rachel was born to an average family in Ontario, Canada. Her father was a truck diver, and her mother was a nurse. Rachel loved acting ever since she was a little girl, and she participated in many musicals in school. After graduating from high school, she was accepted by York University, majoring in drama. Until now, she hadn’t made her name or even played any role in a movie.
However, in the field of figure skating, she was quite famous. Since she was four years old, she had shown great potential in this sport, and she kept training her skills and participating in the contests for many years.
In 2002, Rachel played a campus comedy in the movie “The Hot Chick”, and then got her roles in “Mean Girls” and “The Notebook”, and that was when she really shined to the world and became a popular idol among American youth.
However, even though Rachel would be famous in the future, and her performance was proven professional, it didn’t mean that she was a good actress now. The future was still in the future. Now, she was just a student at York University. Nobody could vouch for her acting. Moreover, in the future, the movies that made her name were all comedies and romance movies. Therefore, it still remained a question whether or not she could successfully perform the role in a horror movie.
“So? Is there a problem?” Rachel saw Wang Yang frowning and staring at her, so she asked questioningly.
Wang Yang was then dragged back to reality, and he cut off the information in his head. He shook his head and said, “Nothing. Everything is fine. Rachel, why did you come to the audition with such short notice? What’s the reason that makes you wanna take the role?”
‘It’s actually quite simple. The role aroused my interest, so I decided to come,” said Rachel, walking and talking. Then, she smiled. “Although horror movies aren’t my favorite genre, the DV camcorder technique is rather intriguing to me. In fact, the history of the home video camera was very short. The first home, domestic, DV camcorder had just launched in the market this year, so using the domestic DV camcorder for shooting a movie? Wow, that’s a really pioneering idea. So, in my opinion, whoever dares to do it must be a very talented and brave person.”
Rachel continued her analysis in excitement. “I also think the rise of the DV camcorder movie will become a trend in the future. More and more young people could make their own movies but not be frustrated by the limited budget. All of them could get the chance to show their talent. Wow, I don’t know why, but it makes me feel so romantic.”
At last, she added playfully, “Well, of course… The 4,000 dollars is also one of the reasons to join the audition.”
This girl was talking in a very rational style—confirmative, but not aggressive. No wonder she got accepted by York University. Her sincere tone had a certain magic to immediately leave people with a very positive impression of her.
“You make me so surprised!” Wang Yang said excitedly. Rachel had completely spoken out his vision. As a matter of fact, seldomly could people have the vision to see the bright future of DV movies. Usually, people couldn’t even understand the beauty of it. The majority of people would take a dismissive attitude toward DV movies or not even have heard about it. But, finally, here came a person who shared his vision, which made him feel so thrilled and grateful. He said, over the moon, “You are such an interesting person. You are great, just great! I love what you’ve just said. You are absolutely right! That is very romantic!”
Rachel grinned, showing the two lovely dimples of hers. Then, she shrugged. “I thought you would like the sentence ‘whoever dares to do it must be a very talented and brave person’.”
“That one, too!” Wang Yang burst out laughing so delightfully.
Wang Yang and Rachel were laughing and talking wholeheartedly; they must have hoped that they could have met each other sooner. Jessica, walking beside them, wasn’t able to join their conversation. She sensed a strange feeling growing in her heart. The feeling was something close to “worry”, but she couldn’t tell clearly. All she could do was walk with them and look down. But, sometimes, she couldn’t help taking a glimpse at Wang Yang and Rachel…
She remembered that when she had first heard that Wang Yang wanted to make a movie with a ten grand budget, her reaction was a total shock. She couldn’t believe that was possible. Doubts and incomprehension were filling her heart. To be honest, even until now, she still had thought such a shooting technique was not serious enough. What she did was believe in Wang Yang. But Yang had never said “you are great” to her.
“So you don’t have to go back to Toronto for now? The shooting process will at least take one week,” Wang Yang said in a big smile. He finally met someone who understood the potential of the DV movie, and he was in a very good mood.
Rachel said light-heartedly, “Well, one or two weeks are okay with me. My college fully encourages and supports us to participate in real performances, plus my paper will benefit from this opportunity as well.” She giggled and said teasingly, “Of course, 4,000 dollars would be sufficient for me to live in LA for a week.”
“Well, as long as you don’t live in a presidential suite.” Wang Yang shrugged smilingly.
While chatting, the three of them arrived at the diner by the street. Wang Yang asked Jessica, “Jessica, do you want a burger? What kind?” Jessica replied absent-mindedly, “Whatever you want. I don’t really care.” Then, Wang Yang asked Rachel, “Do you want anything to eat?” Rachel nodded and said, “Okay, I’m hungry. Just get me a burger, please.”
“Okay, but I must apologize. I’m not paying for it!” Wang Yang chuckled and entered the diner.
The two ladies were outside, waiting. They sat on the long bench by the street. Rachel spread her arms and stretched. Later, she turned her eyes to Jessica, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Jessica.”
Jessica smiled at her too and said, “Nice to meet you too, Rachel.”
“Hollywood is really a beautiful place!” Rachel looked around, took a deep breath, and then continued. “I’ve been wandering around for days now, but there are still so many attractions. Wherever I am, as long as I raise my head, I can always see that giant Hollywood sign. The view is just amazing.” She giggled and said, “And all of the gorgeous clothes in the shopping malls… I don’t want to leave now. But also because of all these, I feel like everything is so unreal, which makes me feel like an illusion. So I guess several days would be enough for me.”
She stared at the sky, her crystal-clear eyes moving with the floating clouds, and said, “I do prefer the serene life in Toronto. I can ride a bike to work every day. Everyone living in the neighborhood knows you, and they would always greet you warm-heartedly. You would know which family has gotten some newly born puppies, or who in the street has just mowed the lawn… Well, that kind of life is so comfortable and good for the long term.”
Then she added, “Of course, it’s just my personal preference.”
Jessica looked at Rachel and felt her intellectual and elegant temperament. It was women’s nature that urged her to compare Rachel and herself, but she realized that she lost the competition thoroughly. She never went to college, she didn’t understand the DV movies, and sometimes she couldn’t even understand what Wang Yang was talking about…
“Oh, by the way. There must be a lot of people being interviewed this morning, right?” Rachel naughtily blinked her eyes at Jessica and shushed. “Jessica, come on, give me some hints, please. I don’t wanna get eliminated by this young director.”
“Well…” Jessica woke up from her sadness. Actually, the negative mood was piling up in her heart uncontrollably. However, she tried to pull herself together and recalled the audition this morning. She thought of the girl named Annie Dalen and many other girls. Wang Yang ruled them out for the same reason. So she said, “The feeling of acting the role was too obvious. Many people failed because of it. Yang always says that the performance should be natural—as natural as real, daily life.”
“As natural as real, daily life?” Rachel frowned, thinking, and immediately cracked a smile. “I got it. That’s true, I totally agree with his opinion! In the DV movie, if the point of view is the first-person narrative, then the acting must be very close to the real daily life. In order to make the atmosphere in the movie more authentic, the actor should act like they are indeed interacting with the DV camcorder.”
“Great! Well said!” While Rachel was expressing her opinion, Wang Yang walked out of the diner with three burgers in his hands. Upon listening to Rachel, he handed over the burgers to the two ladies and complimented again. “That’s exactly what I think!”
“Thank you,” said Rachel. Listening to Wang Yang complimenting Rachel, Jessica felt her heart twitch. Then, she took the burger from Wang Yang and took a bite of it. A big chunk of the burger was bitten off.
Rachel took the burger, too. Wang Yang sat down on the bench, eating his burger, and asked Rachel, “So let’s begin the audition now. Rachel, if you encountered a ghost in your home at night, what would be your first reaction?” This question was exactly the same one he had asked Annie Dalen this morning, and it was not changed a bit.
Rachel replied without any hesitation. “Me? I might just pass out immediately.” She chuckled playfully and then answered seriously, “Actually, I’ll need the script first because different roles have different personalities, therefore, their reactions will be different, too.”
Wang Yang nodded. Rachel, instead of receiving the notice from SAG, found the hiring poster from a notice board. Therefore, she hadn’t read the brief introduction of the script. Then, he started to tell her the outline of the story. “An ordinary couple moved into a new house, but many supernatural incidents happened. Therefore, they decided to investigate on their own. They always kept the DV camcorders in their house rolling, hoping to take some shots of the ghost.”
“Well… Something weird happened in their house, but they wanted to shoot the ghost, which means they could be someone who was interested in the supernatural stuff? Or at least, they wouldn’t be too scared of it upon hearing the noise.” Rachel’s analysis of the role’s personality was rather precise. In such a short time, she had gotten a grip on the role, which made Wang Yang nod at her constantly. Upon receiving his approval, she smiled and said, “If that’s the case, my reaction would be—get startled first, shiver in fear, and then ask, ‘Oh, God, are you the ghost?'”
Not bad. A “yes” emerged in Wang Yang’s heart. The purpose of this question was to test Rachel’s ability to understand the script. Only when she understood the script and the director’s intention thoroughly could she perform the role satisfyingly.
Compared to Rachel’s performance, Annie Dalen’s performance was obviously too simple. The only reaction of hers was screaming. It was true that screaming could be a reflection of being scared, but everyone knew how to scream. More importantly, she didn’t really understand the personality of the role, and that was the reason why her performance lacked the second part—the part Rachel acted out—shivering in fear and then asking “Oh, God, are you the ghost?”
Wang Yang then raised his voice a little and asked, “So, let’s say it was in the middle of the night. You and your boyfriend were lying in bed, sleeping soundly. But, out of the blue, the sound of footsteps came to you from right outside your bedroom, and they awakened you. Please act this situation out with your expression.” This question was also the same one that Annie Dalen had been given earlier.
After listening to Wang Yang, Jessica, while still enjoying her burger, suddenly brisked up. She looked at Rachel, wondering how well she could handle this question. Maybe she could win some points back…
“Um… Wait a second.” Rachel quickly chewed the burger that was still in her mouth and swallowed it down. She slowly closed her eyes and then opened them again suddenly. And then, she smiled, passing the burger to Wang Yang. “Could you please hold this for me? It’ll compromise my performance. By the way, if it’s possible, could you please stomp your foot for me? The sound of footsteps would really help me dive into the situation.”
She wrapped her arm on Jessica’s shoulder and said, “Oh, so Jessica will be my babe, then.”
“Okay.” Wang Yang took the burger from her hand and waited until she closed her eyes, then he started to step on the floor.
When Rachel’s eyes were closed, she slightly frowned. A moment later, she slowly opened her eyes, still sleepy. She blinked several times in order to clear her head. Her facial expression was frozen. And then, she leaned over a little bit, listening to the footsteps from the outside. The footsteps were creaking, one after another. Her breath became more rapid, but she had to oppress it. She held her head still and used her hand to shake Jessica.
“Good!” Wang Yang was really impressed by her performance. Not even waiting for the end of it, he cheered. “That’s it! This is what I’m talking about!”
Not like Annie Dalen, who had been deeply influenced by musical theatre, which made her tend to express herself with her body language, Rachel acted in a natural way, including her facial expressions, reactions, and subtle body language. Her performance was completed with her micro-expressions. She truly understood the director’s intentions for this setting. The oppressed breath would make the audiences more nervous. Although the transition of her breathing speed was a little too fast, her performance was indeed one of a kind, considering she had acted it out on the bustling street instead of a real setting.
More importantly, Rachel’s performance had already crushed all the other girls who attended the audition this morning. Could 4,000 dollars help you to find the most suitable leading actress in the world? Apparently not. But now, he had already found a top student from York University. He had to admit that her performance was still a little raw, but it was definitely good enough for a high-demand movie.
Wang Yang knew that, from the bottom of his heart, the leading actress of “Paranormal Activity” belonged to her now—this Canadian girl named Rachel McAdams!
“So, do I get the role?” asked Rachel, eagerly looking forward to knowing the result.
Wang Yang nodded and smiled. “Yes, you get the part.”
“Fantastic!” Rachel shouted in joy frantically, She hugged Jessica and then hugged Wang Yang. Her smile was full of joy. Then, she said, “I guess I’ll have to stay in LA for a little longer now. Fortunately, my homesickness isn’t too bad for now. DV movie? It is such an interesting attempt. Seriously, I mean, I am really looking forward to it.”
“I’m looking forward to it, too.” Wang Yang also said excitedly. “Your performance really made me full of expectations.”
Determining the leading actress really took off some of his burdens. In “Paranormal Activity”, it was the leading actress who was possessed by the ghost, and the leading actor only needed to hold the DV camcorder to shoot the footage. Therefore, the shots and the acting proportion of the leading actress were both much higher than the leading actor. In other words, the performance of the leading actress was the key to success.
Both Wang Yang and Rachel were so thrilled, but neither of them had paid any attention to Jessica, who seemed a little sullen on the right side of the bench. She looked down with her red eyes, holding the burger. Apparently, she had become lost in her thoughts, chewing the burger mechanically.
“Let’s discuss the role now, shall we?” Wang Yang wolfed down the rest of his burger and began to talk about the personality of the female protagonist and the movie plots in high spirits.
Rachel kept nodding her head, and she brought up her questions and ideas. She was a drama major student, which provided her some insights about the DV movie. Because of it, she could basically understand everything Wang Yang was talking about. Their conversation was smooth and pleasant.
“Well, this movie is more like a psychological game, so we need to figure out a way to make the audiences scare themselves. It should be a highly immersive experience. It is surely an advantage of the first-person narrative in the DV movies. Try to imagine, in a dark movie theater, the audiences, sitting in front of a big screen, follow the leading actor’s camera as if they were the ones who held it. And suddenly… wow! I bet the audiences in the movie theater would be thrown out of their seats.” Wang Yang’s eyes were filled with expectations, describing the images of his future movie.
But this time, Rachel was slightly stunned and asked curiously, “Movie theater? I thought it was for your graduation project.”
Graduation project? More like an “Expulsion Project”! Wang Yang shook his head in a smile and said confidently, “Nope, it’s not the graduation project. It is a movie—a movie that will hit the big screen. I’m pretty sure that it will be published, and the box office won’t be too bad.”
“I like your confidence. Wow, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about my face appearing on the big screen. Like a dream come true… I don’t even think I’m ready for that.” Rachel chuckled. “But, before I came to LA, I never expected that I would become a leading actress in a movie. But now, I’m about to sign the contract. So, is anything impossible?”
She nudged Jessica with her elbow and asked, “Jessica, what do you think?”
Jessica, who had been ignored for a while, said absent-mindedly, “Yeah.” She suddenly realized that, when Wang Yang and Rachel had been talking about the movie, she had wanted to join the conversation many times. However, she swallowed her words, for she had thought that her opinion wouldn’t be as insightful. Both Wang Yang and Rachel were immersed in the heated discussion, and nobody noticed her. She felt she was excluded from their world, and her heart ached severely.
“I think… I think yes. You are right.” Jessica forced a smile on her face.
At this moment, Wang Yang’s head was completely occupied with his movie and expectations of the future, so that he didn’t notice that Jessica’s smile was only a disguise. He took a look at his watch; it was almost one o’clock. He stood up and said, “It’s about time, now. We need to head back to the cafe.” Then, he turned to Rachel and smiled, “My leading actress, follow me, please. I need to talk to the agent sent by SAG about the updated situation. I need to tell him I found you.”
“Okay.” Rachel nodded.
Later, the three of them went back to the Sweetheart Cafe. As soon as they sat down, Wang Yang couldn’t wait to continue the discussion with Rachel. Rachel, on the other hand, had already noticed Jessica’s silence, so she tried to pass the topic to Jessica. Jessica, however, didn’t appreciate her nice gesture. She just replied to the questions with a perfunctory “yes” or “no”, and her face became more and more emotionless.
At one o’clock, Mark Slate came back punctually. When Wang Yang saw him coming in, he said in excitement, “Hi, Mark. I’ve found my leading actress. This is her, Rachel McAdams!” He pointed at Rachel and gloated jokingly, “But, unfortunately, she is not a member of SAG, so you won’t be able to get the commission.”
“Hi, how are you?” Rachel greeted Mark Slate politely.
Mark Slate murmured an, “Okay,” and then began to observe Rachel from head to toe, “Not bad, not bad. But she looks pretty young, too. Pardon my curiosity, may I know how old you are, Miss McAdams?” Rachel smiled at him, said, “I’m turning 20 this year, but my birthday is yet to come.” Looking at her lovely dimples, Mark was so impressive. He shouted, “Wow! Your smile is so sweet! Although you are still quite young, your career path will certainly be a promising one. Miss McAdams, trust me. I’ve been an agent for so many years. You are gonna be a star.”
“Well, sadly, my commission fell through.” Mark shook his head, feeling sorry for himself. And then he looked at Wang Yang and complained teasingly, “Young director, I just don’t get you. Miss McAdams and Jessica both look quite young, and they both fall into the category of sweet girls. So why, indeed, did you refuse to choose your girlfriend to play this role?” Then, he added, “Of course, Rachel is definitely a good fit, but she makes me lose my commission. I hate her.”
Wang Yang didn’t speak a word but noticed Jessica suddenly frowning after a long silence. She opened her eyes wide and raised her voice at Mark Slate. “Come on. I’ve told you I’m not his girlfriend! I hate this joke, okay? So the girlfriend is whoever walks with you? Why do you guys always think things like that?!”
Everyone present was frozen in shock. Wang Yang never expected that something like this would happen today, nor did Rachel and the “bad joker” Mark Slate… Why did Jessica get all worked up like this?
“Err… um… I’m sorry. My bad…” Mark Slate scratched his head, feeling totally confused, but he apologized to her anyway.
“Jessica…” Wang Yang murmured her name but had no idea what to say next. After throwing a tantrum, Jessica was stunned by herself, too. She stared at the floor with her face turning pale. Daring not to look at anyone, she said, “Excuse me, I-I need to use the restroom…” Then, she swiftly stood up and fled away from the scene.
“I’ll check on her.” Rachel stood up and followed Jessica. She gave Wang Yang a smile, meaning “don’t worry”.
“Well, young director, you are in trouble now!” Mark Slate, instead of Wang Yang, acted like a cat on hot bricks, shaking his head and crossing his arms. And then, he said to Wang Yang as a wise man, “If I were you, I would definitely choose Jessica to be my leading actress. Come on, even I can’t tell the difference between Rachel and her. Yes, it’s true that Jessica looks a few years younger, but who would care? Why do you have to piss off your girlfriend because of it?”
Whoever walked together was the girlfriend? So that’s what Jessica really thought? Wang Yang frowned tightly. The entire good mood previously was perturbed. But why did she get so angry? Girl stuff? Or maybe it was just because of the joke made by Mark Slate?
D*mn it! Whatever! It was all his fault. He just couldn’t stop making those tiresome jokes… Wang Yang leaned back on the chair, staring at Mark Slate and gritting his teeth in rage. Then, he slapped on the coffee table and yelled, “Mark, she is not my girlfriend. I hate this joke, too, okay? She was just here to do me a favor, and that makes her my girlfriend?!”
Mark Slate rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Okay, okay! It’s all my fault. All my fault. I’m the jerk here.”