Ch. 05 With just one glance, she was sure that it had to be him…
Qiao Nai came to Director Chen’s studio on Friday. It was originally agreed that it would be a simple audition, so she just dressed casually and wore a T-shirt along with jeans.
Director Chen also said before that he had already recognized her acting skills. Today, she mainly came here to try out the atmosphere between the two of them while doing a scene.
After all, if there is no spark between the two actors in this kind of emotional drama, it will not be a good thing for the drama.
Qiao Nai came to the door of the conference room and knocked on the door.
“Please come in.” It was Director Chen’s voice.
Qiao Nai pushed the door open and saw Director Chen and He Siyu sitting face to face. He Siyu was sitting with his back to her. Director Chen stood up first and said hello to Qiao Nai.
Then He Siyu slowly stood up, turned to look at Qiao Nai, and nodded slightly, “Nice to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Qiao Nai replied.
He Siyu was wearing a brown short-sleeved shirt, which made Qiao Nai stunned for a moment.
Because when the two protagonists in the book met for the first time, the male protagonist also wore a brown short-sleeved shirt.
At that second, it felt like she had stepped into the book and met the male lead himself.
Director Chen was standing between the two people. Looking at the two of them, he said in his heart that these two people really gave a sense of CP 1couple. Standing together, they were really eye-catching.
Qiao Nai briefly greeted He Siyu and then sat on the chair next to him.
He Siyu was holding the script in his hand.
“I was just talking about the plot with Si Yu. You came just in time. We can discuss it together.” Director Chen said and looked at He Siyu,
“Qiao Nai has already tried a scene before, and her acting is very consistent with what we want. Today you can also try a few scenes to get a feel.”
After saying that, he looked at Qiao Nai and said, “Although Si Yu is not a professional actor, his understanding still surprises me.”
Qiao Nai said politely, “Even I was not a professional actor before, but I feel that as long as you can empathize and understand the character’s heart and their behavior, you can express yourself as that character naturally.”
“Yes! I also think that talent is more important than experience in acting. And for being a good actor, you must be good at observing and feeling.” Director Chen nodded, then picked up the script and flipped through it, “Then let’s see which scene to try.”
He Siyu, who had been silent for a long time, finally said the first sentence, “Director Chen, before we start to try out the scene, I have a question.”
Director Chen made a “please” gesture.
“Do you think the male protagonist ever loved the female protagonist?” He Siyu asked.
Director Chen did not expect it to be such a subjective question, and said, “I have asked the original author this question before, but she said that the ending is an open ending, and many details are hidden in the movements and eyes of the male and female protagonists. Maybe only the male protagonist knows whether he loved her or not.” Director Chen paused and then continued to analyzed, “But I personally think that the male protagonist has never been in love, because he grew up in an environment lacking in love, causing him to be very indifferent about everything around him. Women are just a kind of emotional and physical catharsis2the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.“music is a means of catharsis for them” – Google for him. To him, the female lead is nothing special compared with others, so there will naturally be no difference emotionally.”
He Siyu carefully listened to him and after the explanation, he seemed to have something to say, but Qiao Nai spoke first, “I feel that he loved her.”
The two of them looked at Qiao Nai as she said calmly, “After the female lead told the male lead that she was leaving, and wanted to keep his lighter as a souvenir, he paused for a long time. Many people thought he was reluctant to give it because it was a gift from his first love and girlfriend. In fact, I think it was not that he was reluctant to part with the lighter, but that he was reluctant to give it to her. He had something to say in his heart to let the female lead give up, but in the end he didn’t say it because he was not sure.”
He Siyu narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded in agreement, “I also think that the male lead loved the female lead.”
Qiao Nai looked at him, and the two people’s eyes meet, creating a spark in between.
Director Chen laughed out loud on the side, “A hundred people have a hundred thoughts in their hearts. Everyone’s understanding is different. This is the embodiment of an excellent work. However, you two have such a tacit understanding. I respect your thoughts and it’s making me feel confident about this cooperation.”
Director Chen turned over the script and said, “In fact, the whole story has three stages of emotional changes between the two people. The female protagonist went from being defensive and fearful at the beginning, to falling in love with the male protagonist and then losing herself, to being decisive in the end and making the decision to leave. The male protagonist goes from being a lively and curious person at the beginning to being numb and indifferent, and in the end a little reluctant to let go but decides to let go. There are three levels in total, and the performance at each of these three levels must be very clear and differentiated, so that the audience has a sense of following the male and female protagonist’s growth and transformation.”
Qiao Nai turned over the script, nodded and said, “Then let’s choose one from each of the three stages and give it a try.”
He Siyu suddenly raised his head and looked at her, his eyes moving slightly.
Qiao Nai’s peripheral vision caught it, but she pretended not to see it.
She is a movie queen and he is a complete newcomer, auditioning in front of the director together.
This feeling is like a top student raising his hand to answer a question in front of a poor student, as if he is asking for credit and showing off to the teacher.
She didn’t know how much tension this audition needed, and whether she needed to go all out and take it seriously.
She is afraid that if He Siyu is very perfunctory and the two of them are not on the same channel, it will be very awkward.
In order to cover up her anxiety, she stared at the script closely and then cleared her throat and said, “Let’s try the fifth scene on page 8 first.”
In this scene, the female lead Tang Mi was struggling with wanting to get a tattoo, but she was afraid of pain and was remaining undecided.
Qiao Nai looked at the lines and almost memorized them immediately. She immediately got into the role, frowned at He Siyu, deliberately imitated a nasal sound, and made a soft and waxy voice that was not consistent with her usual voice, “Well… the tattoo, doesn’t it hurt?”
This voice sounded so innocent and pure that neither Director Chen nor He Siyu expected it. However, He Siyu was stunned for only 0.1 seconds and immediately picked up after her. He said coldly and with a bit of ruthlessness, “You’ll know if you give it a try.”
The script requires the female lead to stretch out her index finger and touch the tattooed arm of the male lead.
Qiao Nai stretched out her index finger, then gently extended her hand across the table and stopped next to his arm, and then asked while looking at him distressed, “You have so many tattoos on your body, doesn’t it hurt?”
He Siyu stared at Qiao Nai’s hand. He glanced at it and then raised his eyelids casually, “It doesn’t hurt, but looking at you 3It was originally something along the lines, ‘You look so good, you are not suitable for tattoos.’ I changed it to the above sentence because I thought that this sentence somewhat doesn’t match the vibes that the male lead is trying to portray in this role. Let me know what you think, whether I should keep the original sentence or let the modified one stay as it is., you are not suitable for tattoos.”
Qiao Nai’s innocent expression instantly turned a little embarrassed, “Then… I can tattoo it on places that can’t be seen.”
The next second, He Siyu sat up from the seat and leaned forward, as he lowered his head slightly to look into Qiao Nai’s eyes, then locked into them tightly, and gently raised the corners of his mouth and eyebrows, and said a little huskily, “And where is this place that can’t be seen?”
We have to say, this sentence was full of scumbag vibes.
Director Chen listening on the side, was stunned.
The understanding and rapport between these two people was much better than he had imagined.
It felt like a showdown between masters, but he couldn’t tell who was the better actor of the two.
He originally thought that He Siyu’s performance would be a bit awkward, but he didn’t expect that his lines were said in a pretty good way and even his rhythm was also very good. Even in front of Qiao Nai, his momentum was not weakened. On the contrary, it seemed as if he was the one controlling the rhythm.
He had heard before that He Siyu had a high IQ. It seemed that smart people could learn anything quickly.
One was them was pure and innocent, whole the other was flirtatious and scumbag-like.
It was simply a divine restoration of the original novel.
Director Chen even wanted to make a decision on the spot.
However, he was still looking forward to the next scene between the two. He wanted to see them act again, so he turned over the script and said, “Let’s try one more scene.”
In the latter scene, the female lead had completely fallen in love with the male lead and felt that the male lead should have the same thoughts about her, but in fact, the male lead simply did not have any special feelings for her.
Qiao Nai took a breath and showed longing, “Ah Yi, have you ever thought about our future?”
He Siyu replied casually, “I never think about the future.”
Qiao Nai’s expression showed disappointment, “If you like someone, you should probably think about the future with her.”
He Siyu replied matter-of-factly, “That’s why I never think about the future.”
Qiao Nai’s expression was inevitably awkward and somewhat self-deprecating, “That’s right, you always told me not to think about that, and just live tomorrow well first.”
He Siyu yawned and said impatiently, “It’s late, I still have a lot of work tomorrow.”
Qiao Nai put down the script, looked at He Siyu, and then lowered her head, as all the light in her eyes disappeared.
Just like a wilted flower who couldn’t get any love.
In fact, this part of the relationship is mainly a test for the actress playing the female lead. The male lead only needs to show indifference, so Director Chen is quite confident in this part.
He turned the script to the last page and said, “Let’s try the last scene.”
The last scene is when the female lead leaves and says goodbye to the male lead.
Qiao Nai asked Director Chen, “Director, do you have any cigarettes?”
Director Chen nodded, took out a box of cigarettes from his trouser pocket and threw it to Qiao Nai.
He Siyu also looked at Director Chen with a tacit understanding, “Do you have a lighter?”
“Yes.” Director Chen gave the lighter to He Siyu.
He Siyu took the lighter, opened it and then closed it, then looked at Qiao Nai and said, “Let’s get closer to try this scene.”
Qiao Nai nodded and pulled the chair in the direction of He Siyu.
The two people’s knees accidentally touched each other, and Qiao Nai immediately went back, creating a little distance between the two.
After getting closer, Qiao Nai suddenly smelled a light and pleasant fragrance.
Qiao Nai especially likes to study perfumes and collects various brands of perfumes. In order to avoid conflicting scents, she usually uses more than one perfume, so her scent can be considered unique.
Precisely because she is particularly sensitive to fragrance, she can basically guess the brand and model of everyone around her by smelling it.
But this one around He Siyu made her feel familiar but yet strange, strange yet familiar.
It seems that it is also a mix of several perfumes.
It is a stack of two relatively unpopular perfumes.
Usually when meeting someone who uses mixed perfumes, Qiao Nai feels like she has met a confidant.
She looked at He Siyu, and He Siyu also happened to look at her.
The interaction between the two people’s eyes was like some kind of silent understanding.
Returning to the scene, Qiao Nai took out a cigarette and held it in her mouth. She looked at He Siyu and said with a vague voice, “Light me one.”
He Siyu’s slender fingers had distinct joints, making them look slender and clean, as he flicked them gently, open the lid of the lighter, pressed it with his finger, and with a “click”, the flame busted out.
The whole series of actions were smooth and fluid, with his hands looking so beautiful that they were in themselves a pleasure to watch.
He lit a fire and held it in front of Qiao Nai. Qiao Nai took the cigarette but did not light it. Instead, she looked at the flames of the lighter and said with a little unfocused eyes, “How about you give me the lighter.”
He Siyu turned off the lighter and held it in his hands.
His eyes wandered from Qiao Nai’s face and to the lighter. She could clearly see his fingers exerting force on the lighter, as if they were reluctant to release it from their hold. After a pause of about five seconds, He Siyu opened his lips slightly, as if he was about to say something.
At the same time, Qiao Nai spoke with some special tacit understanding, without allowing him to continue, “Just to keep something of yours with me, think about you.”
Hearing that He Siyu pursed his lips and handed over the lighter in her hand.
The audition was over.
Director Chen felt particularly surprised.
The script did not say that the male lead made any move to speak at that time.
Maybe it was because of Qiao Nai’s analysis just now that he felt that the male protagonist did have an urge to say something at this time.
But when he happened to open his mouth, he was overwhelmed by the female lead’s words.
This ending seems to have a more suspenseful feeling.
The hesitation to speak can make people more confused.
Such a change made the director instantly suspect that the male lead should have loved the female lead, or at that moment, he suddenly discovered that he actually loved the female lead.
And this makes the sense of loss in the ending even more subtle.
Now, Director Chen couldn’t wait for the two of them to sign the contract. He clapped his hands and said, “Its fixed, my male and female leads are you. No one else can do it except you.”
After the scene, Qiao Nai also felt an indescribable sense of relief.
The three of them had a great time talking about the details. Before signing the contract, He Siyu looked at Qiao Nai as if asking for advice and said, “I wonder if Teacher Qiao thinks I am suitable for the male lead in your heart?”
Qiao Nai was startled and didn’t know how to answer.
In fact, the moment she stepped into this room and saw He Siyu, saw his carefree and a bit indifferent eyes, although he had a bohemian temperament 4a socially unconventional person, especially one who is involved in the arts, she realised that he had a charm that easily captured people’s hearts.
Actually there was no need for this audition, just one look and she was sure that this role was for him.
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The author has something to say:-
Qiao Nai: To put it simply, he is a scumbag at first sight…
He Siyu: …
