Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After getting the shots he wanted for the audition, Wang Yang poked his head out sideways from behind the camera to look at Jessica standing just a few feet away. “Now it’s time for the acting portion of the audition,” he informed with a smile.
“Sure.” Jessica took a quick, subtle breath to calm her nerves. The key to any audition was the acting prompt. She had to nail it.
Wang Yang pretended to be coming up with the acting prompt so that Jessica had time to compose herself. After taking a few deep breaths, Jessica was finally relaxed. Wang Yang looked at her and proceeded to give her the prompt, which he had devised earlier. “You’ve just overheard a conversation between your boyfriend and his friend and found out that he’s just playing you. He was never serious about you and he never really loved you. You are crestfallen, your heart is broken, you’re almost breaking down. Please show us how it’s done.”
As of late, Jessica had been honing her acting skills tirelessly. But great actors were not made in a couple of days. She furrowed her brows, thrust her lips out, and squeezed her eyes, mimicking, to the best of her understanding, the face of a girl who was about to cry. It was unrefined. Amateurish. Clumsy.
Watching her from behind the viewfinder, Wang Yang dissected her performance quietly. Jessica had demonstrated a basic repertoire of emotions that one would associate with sadness. But for a practical aesthetics actor, her performance was found wanting. It lacked the panache, the subtlety, and the depth required to truly bring a character to life. And for a method actor, her performance was not convincing enough. She was acting, and it showed.
Practical aesthetics acting focused on the experience of acting itself and was based not on the character but the actor. A practical aesthetics actor must approach a role with clarity and objectivity. He must analyze the scene and orchestrate his routine accordingly before taking it to the camera. The actor was divorced from the emotions experienced by the character. When the actor cried, he did not feel sadness in his heart. Although just like in any other form of acting, when a practical aesthetics actor would invariably get into character, he did so with a sense of control. He was above the mind of the character, not within. Like a puppeteer, he pulled with intent and precision the strings of the actor, guiding his performance.
Method acting, on the other hand, emphasized the practice of connecting to a character by drawing on personal emotions and memories. To the camera, the actor and the character were one, and everything the method actor did came from a place deep within the heart and not the head. To help themselves get into character, many actors of this ilk would take a walk in the character’s shoes. For example, Robert DeNiro spent months working as a taxi driver, picking up customers and driving through the streets of New York so that he could get into character for Taxi Driver.
Practical aesthetics acting and method acting were the two most popular acting techniques of that era. Wang Yang preferred the latter. For him, magic only happened when the actor had a profound understanding of the character, when he lived and breathed the character and delved into his mind, and when he became a conduit through which the character connected to the audience.
Just like the way Heath Ledger would bring The Joker to life with his transcendental performance many years later; just like Ellen Page’s brilliant showing in Juno, which he fell madly in love with the first time he stumbled across it in his mind—if there ever was a word to describe her acting, it would be “prodigious”.
“The reason I love acting is that I could lose myself completely in a character and live as a different person, even if it’s just for a moment,” stated Ellen Page in an interview. She was a method actor, through and through.
But as they were, Jessica’s acting skills had neither the mastery of a practical aesthetics actor nor the soul of a method actor. She had yet to find her voice, but it was all right. She was only 17. She was just at the beginning of her acting journey. With time, her skills would become sharper. No one ever became a great actor through talent alone; it also took hard work, dedication, and years and years of practice.
Besides, High School Musical was not exactly Moulin Rouge! Wang Yang did not require an award-winning actress to play the female lead character. All he needed was a youthful, pretty face for the audience to swoon over. Furthermore, there were not many heartbreaking scenes in the movie, and those that were there were not very difficult. Jessica should be able to pull them off with some coaching.
As Wang Yang reasoned behind that viewfinder, his lips curled into a smile. He hollered across the room, “Okay. Not bad, Jessica. Now let’s try a smiling scene. Let’s pretend that you and your boyfriend are having a nice chat and that this is a closeup. You will look at the camera and say a few lines off the top of your head. Then, I will say something to you, and you will respond to me as if you’re talking to your boyfriend. Got it?”
“All right. Got it.” At once, Jessica wiped the sorrow from her face and replaced it with a radiant smile. Cheerfully, she said, “Hi, I’m Jessica. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My, what great weather we’re having in Los Angeles today…”
There was an innocence in her smile and a sweetness in her gaze. Wang Yang nodded approvingly. Jessica was much better at smiling than at sulking. The former probably suited her personality better, and her performance could hardly be faulted. It was a good thing too because, in High School Musical, Gabriella would be smiling for the most part.
Next, Wang Yang threw a few lines at Jessica, which she handled beautifully. After seeing her performance, he said with a smile, “Well done, Jessica! Now, let’s try something with a little more passion and intensity. You’re looking your boyfriend in the eyes and you feel a sense of connection, warmth, and a little bit of embarrassment.” It was an important prompt. There were many scenes in High School Musical where the male and female lead characters would lose themselves in each other’s eyes as they sang together.
“Look my boyfriend in the eyes?” Jessica thought to herself as her eyes wandered to Wang Yang, who was standing behind the camera. “He’s my boyfriend, he’s my boyfriend…” she drilled into her head repeatedly. Her heart began to race as she turned toward the camera and stared into its dark, cold lens. But slowly and naturally, her eyes lit up, the corners of her lips went up, and she broke into the loveliest smile. And when she fluttered her lashes, it conjured up in the judges’ hearts, feelings of new love and sweet, youthful innocence.
“Wow! Brilliant!” Wang Yang burst out with a compliment. She was amazing in that scene. Just before, when she’d been asked to act sad, she did not do very well. But now, she was a completely different actress! There was not a single flaw in her performance. She nailed it! “Cut!” Wang Yang cried out in jubilation. “Good job, Jessica!”
Jessica gave him a little smile. She ran her fingers through her hair to fix it and to settle her nerves.
They tried out a few more prompts with Jessica. Overall, Jessica made a good showing. Sometimes, she was a little stiff. Other times, she dazzled the judges. Wang Yang left the camera and went back to his seat behind the long table. On the score sheet, he put down A+ for both looks and charisma, and B+ for acting. She did not do well in the sad scene, but she more than made up for it in the love scene.
Wang Yang decided not to test Jessica on her dancing because she had stated on her bio that she did not know how to dance. It did not bother him because dancing was a skill that was easily taught. At that point, all that was left in the audition was the signing part. Jessica was standing before them awaiting her next challenge. Wang Yang looked at her and felt a curious tremor in his heart. “So Jessica, let’s hear you sing,” he proposed.
Mrs. Roberts clicked her ballpoint pen and held it at the ready, her eyes bearing upon Jessica with the utmost interest.
“Okay,” Jessica nodded. Suddenly, she could feel her heart beating fast. She took a deep breath. Her throat was mossy, so she cleared it. Then, out came the song that she had been practicing fervently for the past few days. It was Take a Bow, a midtempo pop ballad by Madonna. “Take a bow… The night is over…” she sang.
Wang Yang put his elbows on the table, knotted his hands, and leaned forward. He looked at Jessica as she sang, shining with encouragement. He savored her voice as one might savor a good wine. There was a hint nervousness in her tone, but overall it was an enjoyable experience. She seemed like she knew her way around a scale. Wang Yang glanced sidelong at Mrs. Roberts. Her face was white and stone-like. Now and then, she would scribble notes on her score sheet, and the monotony of her expression would be broken. But even during those glimpses, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
“The show is over… Say good… bye…” She held the final note of the song, giving it all that it deserved before the song ended. She caught her breath and let out a sigh of relief, feeling lighter now as she had given the audition everything she had.
Wang Yang applauded Jessica as soon as she finished her song. Seeing that, Sandy Parks began clapping his hands, too. But Mrs. Roberts did not make a sound. She was scribbling away on her score sheet with her ballpoint pen, eyes downcast. Then, Wang Yang told Jessica with a nod, “Jessica, you may go now. Thank you so much for coming.”
“Thank you. Goodbye, then!” Jessica gave Wang Yang and the judges one last smile, then turned around and started for the door. At the doorway, with the doorknob in her hand, she twisted her head and glanced over her shoulders at Wang Yang. Wang Yang was beaming assuredly and giving her a big thumbs-up, indicating to her there was nothing to worry about. She smiled back at him and went on outside, closing the door behind her.
Immediately upon Jessica’s departure, Wang Yang wheeled upon Mrs. Roberts impatiently. “Well, Mrs. Roberts, what do you think? Can she sing or not?” he asked, sounding slightly nervous.
“Her voice is all right. It’s not the worst I’ve heard,” Mrs. Roberts nodded, then shrugged, “But her breathing needs work. When the tempo picks up, she might not be able to keep up and go out of tune, which is why she was singing so slowly and cautiously just now. Also, she lacked technique; she did not know how to use falsettos or when to breathe. She’s obviously never been trained professionally.”
“So she has a great voice, bad pacing, and no technique. Who cares?” Wang Yang thought to himself and chuckled half-humorously. Then, cutting right to the chase, he asked, “Mrs. Roberts, with some professional guidance and a little post-processing at the studio, do you think we could make her sing well?” That was the most important question. It was the only thing standing in the way of Jessica becoming High School Musical’s leading lady. She was above the other girls when it came to looks and charisma. Her acting was passable. She could learn to dance. But could she learn to sing? Wang Yang thought about it and added, “My standards aren’t that high. As long as she sounds okay to the audience, I’m fine with it.”
“Young man, even that is a tall order,” Mrs. Roberts laughed. Then she nodded and said, “We can give it a try. She has shown us her musical talent just now. There’s not a lot of it, but not too little, either. I’m not sure if she’ll be able to sing live, but I think she’ll do fine in the studio.” With that, she threw her hands up and added, “But don’t you hope that she turns into a Madonna.”
“Yes!” Wang Yang burst out with joy. He clenched his fists and thrust them into the air, smiling as he let out a sigh of relief.
Beside him, Sandy Parks breathed out through his nose audibly. “Looks like that girl’s a shoo-in for the leading lady. She seems to be mighty friendly with Wang Yang. Who knows? They might even be dating!” Sandy speculated to himself at first. But for the sake of the company, he had to voice out his opinion. “That girl may be pretty, but her acting skills can’t quite measure up to some of the candidates who came before her, like that girl named Eliza Dushku; she was a better actress than her.”
“Sandy, I haven’t made my decision yet,” said Wang Yang, cutting off Sandy Parks. He turned to Fiona Hudson, the secretary, with a smile and said, “Let’s bring in the next candidate, Jordana Brewster!”
Sandy Parks shook his head resignedly.
It was not until they’d had their lunch break and then another hour of auditions in the afternoon that they called it a day. Wang Yang took all the files with the score sheets, the candidates’ bios, and the videotapes in which the auditions were recorded, and went back to his office. He leaned back in his chair, ruminating about which girl to choose for the leading lady while waiting for the computer to copy the contents of the videotapes.
He did not need to review the tapes. The truth was, he already had had a rough idea whom he would choose. The girls who did the best were Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eliza Dushku, and Jessica. Jennifer got an A in looks, A in charisma, A in acting, A+ in dancing, and A+ in singing. She had a sweet, innocent quality, but in a quiet, reserved kind of way, so she was not suitable for the role, which was a shame as her singing was really exceptional. Eliza Dushku got an A in looks, B in charisma, B+ in acting, A+ in dancing, and B in singing, but she was more of the sexy type, especially in the way she carried herself and the way her eyes looked. That put her out of the running, too. Jessica got an A+ in looks, A+ in charisma, B+ in acting. Her dancing skills were yet to be seen. But based on her future performance in Honey, Wang Yang gave her an A+ tentatively. Her singing was a B.
Wang Yang stared silently at the score sheet, at the girl’s names, and at their respective scores, seemingly lost. After a long while, he sat up straight, reached across the desk for a fountain pen, and used it to cross “Eliza Dushku” off the name list. She did not possess the quality of sweetness and innocence that he was looking for, and she was unremarkable in other aspects. Then, without hesitation, he crossed “Jennifer Love Hewitt” off the list, too. He looked at “Jessica Alba” and smiled to himself.
High School Musical was a movie about teen idols. It was only logical that the most attractive and charming girl should star in it. Jessica’s look and charisma were both A+ and she had all the qualities that personified Gabriella. She was not an incompetent actress. She had her moments and she had her flaws. Some of her scenes might not have turned out well during the audition. But in practice, they could always do a few more takes and give her some pointers until she got it right, so it was not a significant problem. Dancing was not a problem, either. And whatever inadequacies she had in singing would be compensated by the guidance of a professional and the luxury of recording her songs in a studio.
And if the coach and the studio did not do the trick, they could always record her songs with the help of a ghost singer. In the original version of High School Musical, Zac Efron, who starred as Troy Bolton, did just that, and it did not affect the movie in any negative way. As for live concerts, that was something to be worried about only if the movie took off.
Wang Yang kept his eyes on the prize. His aim was to make the movie look, feel, and sound as good as it could be. The looks and charisma of the actors should come first, and Jessica was the natural choice. She had just enough acting skills to do the job. She would be perfect as the leading lady.
Besides, was making a movie with Jessica and friends not one of the reasons he decided to make High School Musical?
“Oh, my God…” Wang Yang sprang up excitedly, turned his body sideways, and did a kick, followed by a few punches. At that moment, memories that had lain dormant in the depths of his mind suddenly floated upward to the surface. They kept coming into view, with every detail as sharp as if seen for the first time. He saw himself and Jessica as children.
They were sitting on a bench beside a field in a school. They were sitting on it leisurely.
Little Jessica was wearing a little, white, floral dress. Little Wang Yang looked at her and asked interestedly, “Jessica, what do you want to be when you grow up?” He put his head on one side with his chin propped in his hand and asked gleefully, “I mean, what’s your dream?”
Jessica smiled shyly, keeping her lips pursed so that her bracers could not be seen. She wagged her head. “I don’t know…”
Wang Yang leaned in to her face, staring intently with his big round eyes. “Really? You really don’t know?
Jessica shrunk away from him, red-faced and eyes downcast, too shy to look him in the eyes. “I really don’t know…” she squeaked.
“Why are you looking away? Look at me when you’re talking to me!” Wang Yang threw his face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching and stared right into her eyes. She recoiled like a frightened animal. He laughed, pointing a finger at her, and jeered, “Aha! You know! You know!” Then, beggingly, he said, “Please, Jessica, tell me. I really want to know.” Jessica shook her head meekly, stricken with embarrassment. Suddenly, Wang Yang’s eyes rolled up as though struck by a brilliant idea. “How about this? I tell you mine, and you tell me yours. What do you say?”
Before Jessica could utter a word, Wang Yang went on eagerly, “My dream? Hmm. I think I want to be a director so that I can watch those hidden cutscenes. Yeah… I want to be a director!” With that, he wheeled upon Jessica with his lower lip thrust out. “Now it’s your turn.” Jessica blushed, started to speak, found a frog in her throat, cleared it, and stammered. It displeased him. “Come on, I’ve told you my dream. Why can’t you tell me yours? I thought we were friends,” he said impatiently.
“No, no…” Jessica muttered in fear. She waved her hands in refusal and looked away. Then, mustering up every ounce of courage in her little heart, she declared, “I-I want to be an actress.”
“What? An actress?” Wang Yang responded incredulously, then laughed and said, “Well, it’s not a bad dream. It’s not a bad dream at all!” Jessica’s face burned with embarrassment. Kicking her little legs back and forth, she said in a strained tenor, “I’m not really serious about it…””Please, Jessica,” Wang Yang turned to her and said. The amusement was all gone out of his voice. “Do you think I’m laughing at you? Do you think I’m like Peter? I’d never laugh at someone’s dream. I’d laugh at someone if they wet their bed, though. Haha!”
Feeling better, Jessica tittered. “Yang, I know you’re not laughing at me. I just feel that I’m not good enough to ever be an actress,” she said gloomily.
“Not good enough? What’s there to becoming an actress? I say you can do it!” said Wang Yang as he beat his chest assuredly. Jessica’s fears vanished, and she was grateful. But then she looked at him and said doubtfully, “All the girls on television are so pretty. But I’m…”
There are ugly girls on television too! Wang Yang was about to say. But he kept his peace. He wracked his brain for some way to encourage her and came up with the story of the ugly duckling that he had seen on television last night. “Jessica, have you heard of the story of the ugly duckling?” he asked. Jessica nodded. He went on, “Now, you may be an ugly duckling. But when you grow up, you’ll become a beautiful swan! Trust me. I know you’ll become an actress! And when I become a director, I’ll make you my leading lady.”
“Really? Will I become beautiful?” Jessica asked in a manner that showed hope and doubt. Her eyes, big, round, and liquid, were on Wang Yang’s. Wang Yang nodded with a smile. “You’re actually very beautiful. It’s just your bracers are kind of ugly. But they’ll come off eventually, won’t they?” Then, picking up a line he had heard in a movie once, he said to her, “Look at your eyes. They’re like gems. Those are the eyes of a beauty!”
Jessica flushed. She hung her head bashfully and looked him out of the corner of her eyes. At last, she broke into a real smile, bracers and all, and said, “Thank you.”
“All right, already. I’ll become a director, and you’ll become an actress.” Wang Yang held out his tiny fist and said smilingly, “Here, Jessica.” Jessica, smiling, held out her tinier fist and bumped it against his. They both laughed. “It’s a deal!”
As he recounted their childhood, Wang Yang broke into a stupid laugh. “Jessica’s eyes are like gems?” He cringed. “What was I thinking?” Then, he laughed some more and said to himself, “I’ll become a director, and you’ll become an actress…” Who knew a silly, innocent promise would soon become a reality? It was unbelievable!
Wang Yang paced back and forth in his office. He could wait no longer. He took out his cellphone and dialed Jessica’s number. Walking up to the French window and looking out of it at the streets, he waited for the call to connect. Jessica answered the call. He smiled and said, “Hi, Jessica. Where are you?”
“Hi, Yang. I’m just shopping around in Hollywood. What’s up?” Jessica answered over the phone.
“Can you tell me where you are exactly? … Oh, I know where that is. Stay where you are. I’ll be right over,” said Wang Yang as he went back to his desk to pick up a blue-grey windbreaker. He slung it on on his way out.
Suddenly, a thought struck Jessica. “Yang, is this about the High School Musical audition? Have you decided on the leading lady?” She sounded very concerned now.
“Oh, no. We still haven’t come to a decision,” he invented readily, when, in fact, he wanted to tell Jessica the good news face to face. “It’s about some other stuff. See you. Bye!”
“All right. Bye!” said Jessica.
He stuffed the cellphone into his windbreaker’s pocket. He quickened his pace and headed straight out.