The audition for "Scent of a Woman" began quickly. The audition room was the meeting room next door. This wasn't a makeshift setup, but a proper room, able to block out all the noise from the studio. A few people had gone in earlier, and none stayed for long—some came out almost immediately, and the longest only stayed for about three minutes. You had to understand, everyone in the waiting room had past works to show for themselves, and yet the audition was over so fast. That didn't leave anyone with a good feeling. Could it be that the production team was looking for newcomers without much experience today?
Soon, the man who had just told Hugo and Leonardo to shut up stood up. Hugo and Leonardo immediately sat up straight and proper, eyes wide as they stared at the man. They weren't being malicious or showing any specific attitude—it was just a normal observation, except their eyes were especially wide, which left the man speechless. He wanted to say something but couldn't, so he could only quicken his pace and step into the meeting room.
Seeing his flustered back, Hugo and Leonardo nearly burst into laughter but held it in, knowing their task wasn't done yet.
Sure enough, the man came out soon after. He had only lasted about two minutes. As soon as he stepped out, he saw Hugo and Leonardo still sitting upright like obedient school kids on their first day, eyes wide with curiosity staring at him. The man felt creeped out by their stares, but since there was no malice, he had nothing to say. In the end, he could only flee awkwardly.
This time, Hugo and Leonardo finally burst out laughing. However, no one else in the waiting room complained. In fact, several people in the room couldn't hold it in and chuckled as well, which helped ease the tension that had filled the room.
When Ellen Lewis came out, she saw just this cheerful atmosphere in the waiting room. Among the group of actors, Hugo and Leonardo sitting in the center stood out the most, naturally drawing everyone's attention. Among them, Hugo's sunny smile was especially captivating, that kind of warm, bright, and radiant aura unconsciously made others curl up their lips into a smile.
However, recalling Hugo's streak of three flop films, not to mention the negative impact of the Razzie Award, the smile on Ellen's face faded slightly as she refocused on her job. "Leonardo DiCaprio, you're next."
"Buddy, good luck." Leonardo stood up, and Hugo smiled as he spoke, which made Leonardo's expression ease a little. Then, he followed Ellen into the meeting room next door.
Without his chat partner, Hugo instantly felt a wave of nervousness wash over him, as all his attention shifted to the upcoming audition. The tension wound every nerve in his body tight, and his muscles felt so strained that even his breathing turned rapid.
Hugo picked up the script again, but couldn't read a single word. To be precise, his mind had gone completely blank—he couldn't even remember his original plan. Hugo knew he was just too nervous. During the audition for A River Runs Through It, Hugo had just transmigrated over and was still muddle-headed and unclear about the situation. He had gotten through the audition in a daze, but today's audition was clearly a whole different matter.
Deep breaths, deep breaths—Hugo kept forcing himself to adjust his breathing rhythm. Though he hadn't seen many big scenes before—the performances his band gave were all in small venues, and the Midi Rock Music Festival stage was the biggest in their ten-year career Hugo still had his own methods for handling nerves.
After a few deep breaths, Hugo's anxiety did subside, but his mind was still blank. Hugo knew that he would just have to go with the flow during the audition.
At that moment, Leonardo came out of the meeting room. Hugo looked up with a questioning expression. Leonardo hadn't stayed inside long about three minutes. He gave a helpless smile and shook his head, seeming to suggest the audition hadn't gone well. Then he didn't walk over, only said, "Good luck," waved goodbye to Hugo, and headed out to look for his agent.
"Hugo Lancaster." Ellen once again stood at the meeting room door and called out into the waiting room.
Hugo took another deep breath, stood up, hesitated for a second, then picked up the script from the sofa and stepped toward the meeting room.
He quietly said "Thank you" to Ellen who held the door open for him, and walked inside, immediately taking in the room's layout. Though it was called a meeting room, it was actually just a three-hundred-square-foot (thirty-square-meter) small room with a round conference table. Three people were seated around it.
Hugo walked up and placed his résumé on the table. Since this was an open audition, handing over a résumé was required. Ellen also came over and sat down beside the table. With a smile, she pointed to the woman sitting on the outer side and said, "I'm casting director Ellen Lewis. This is Lily Stekamp, representative of the actors' union." Hugo and Lily exchanged a polite smile. "Alright, you may begin. You have thirty seconds."
Hugo was instantly stunned. The two men in the middle hadn't been introduced at all—who were they? And they were starting immediately as soon as he walked in without even looking at his résumé? Thinking back to how the previous candidates had spent no more than three minutes each, Hugo understood now.
"Thirty seconds? I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Hugo said honestly, lifting his right hand that held the script.
"What do you mean?" Ellen frowned in confusion. The two men in the middle, who had just been looking at Hugo's résumé, also raised their heads and looked over.
At that moment, Hugo was no longer nervous. He spoke fluently, "What I mean is, Charlie is a student. He doesn't have a concentrated highlight to his personality that can burst out in a short time. If you only give me thirty seconds, no matter what scene I perform, I won't be able to convey the essence of Charlie's character.
Ellen's face showed a probing expression, but the two men in the middle still remained expressionless. They only exchanged a glance. "You haven't read the script, have you? Charlie has several confrontations with the Colonel. He has plenty of space to perform." Hugo opened his mouth, originally wanting to say, "Those are dialogues—opposite scenes that require mutual stimulation to perform well," but Ellen, as if she had already seen through Hugo's excuses, raised her hand to stop him and continued, "Are you trying to say that the student role isn't challenging and you can just play yourself?"
"That's not it." Hugo wasn't discouraged. During auditions, all kinds of situations could come up—there was no way to prepare for everything. Even if he had worn out the pages of the Scent of a Woman script, it wouldn't help. So he didn't panic and continued in an orderly manner, "What I mean is, the aura of a student isn't something you can act it's like you can't fake how well-read you are. Even Al Pacino—if he were to play Charlie—wouldn't be able to fully bring it out. Otherwise, you wouldn't be holding an open audition today, would you?"
Ellen looked to the two men on his right. The three of them revealed thoughtful smiles. "Even if everything you said is true, that doesn't mean your actions are justified. You think you can just walk in, do nothing in the thirty seconds we give you, and still land the role? That's impossible."Ellen struck Hugo down mercilessly. But she didn't see any frustration on Hugo's face—only that same warm smile. "By your logic, how did you land the role in Dead Poets Society?"
Objectively speaking, Hugo was a great fit for a student role. His classic scholarly temperament was striking. In Dead Poets Society, he had played a student.
Hearing the question, Hugo was momentarily troubled. He truly didn't know how the Dead Poets Society audition had gone. He couldn't very well say it was a backdoor connection through Tracy. So Hugo raised his right hand and waved it lightly, "I said… 'Hello'?"
That childish humor made Ellen laugh, and the other three also smiled, which made Hugo feel a bit more at ease.
"Since you believe the essence of Charlie can't be conveyed in thirty seconds, then clearly you have your own understanding of the character. Would you care to share it with us?"Ellen glanced at her watch. The thirty seconds had already passed, but she made no move to ask Hugo to leave, and the two men beside her clearly had no such intention either.
The two men sitting in the middle were director and producer Martin Brest and screenwriter Bo Goldman. Although, on the surface, casting director Ellen was the one holding the power today, the fact that both the director and screenwriter had come to the audition showed how seriously they took the role of Charlie. They absolutely didn't want to find a poor match for Al Pacino's co-star—that could ruin the whole film. Although they hadn't revealed their identities, it didn't mean they would stay silent forever. It was just that no actor so far had been worth speaking up for.
Although the direction this audition had taken caught Hugo off guard, the question itself was not difficult for him. All that repeated script reading he'd done was finally paying off. Where his mind had previously gone blank, he now had a steady flow of ideas. Without even needing to think, Hugo could start speaking.
"Of course—so long as you're not in a rush to kick me out," Hugo's first sentence once again made Alan and the others smile.
...
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