Fame's Unforgiving Light Chapter 10

Ethan Stone had just taken a shower and was lying on the bed in his pajamas, reading the script. He was holding a few highlighters and red and blue pens, making notes and markings on the side. He also had an open notebook where he wrote down the key points.

He just opened it for a while and read three or four pages.

It was just in time when Guo Baozhen called.

"Director Guo."

"Good evening, Teacher Zhuang."

"Good evening, I'm reading the script. By the way, Director Guo, can you send me an electronic version?"

"Okay, I'll send it to you right away." He just got home and turned on his computer. He was about to send the script to Qiu Ming. Thinking about the audition, the first person he wanted to notify was Ethan Stone.

"Audition? Jiang Zhuo's?"

"Yes, I just decided yesterday. There are several actors and it's a bit difficult for me to choose."

"Okay, when?" He raised his eyebrows, wondering if Oliver Scott would come?

Guo Baozhen said that the time had not been set yet, so he just told him first and asked him to go to the scene to select the people. Ethan Stone nodded in agreement, hung up the phone, and continued reading the script.

He rested his head on the headboard and leaned his body against the wall, doing a handstand and turning the script over.

Daily practice is a habit I have built over the years.

With his legs spread apart and split in the air, Ethan Stone read the script page by page.

Before I knew it, half an hour had passed.

The more Ethan Stone read, the more he felt something was wrong. Some of the descriptions in the script were very straightforward, directly depicting people's "desires". This was a script with little psychological description, mainly dialogues, and a large number of action cues.

Ethan Stoneneng could tell a lot was wrong from the lines, but on second thought, this was essentially a gay movie, so a little ambiguity would not be a big deal.

Until he saw the text that showed the two of them K!ssing.

The blood in his body rushed back, he looked carefully, and it was really... it was really a K!ss scene.

this???

He flipped through the script quickly and continued to read on. Soon, he found the next keyword.

K!ssing scene, K!ssing scene, K!ssing scene... S3x scene?!

Ethan Stone’s eyes went dark and he fell directly from the wall to the ground.

Out of his professionalism as an actor, of course he is willing to act in any drama, no matter how large-scale the drama is. He loves acting. Although he retired from the circle after the "Ding Dongfeng" incident in his previous life, he did not give up acting later. Instead, he calmed down and devoted himself to studying it.

But it is ultimately a one-man show.

He did not call Guo Baozhen immediately to ask for changes to the play.

Instead, he patiently read the entire script of "Hidden Heart".

In the movies he had seen in his previous life, the relationship between the two male protagonists was a repressed, unspoken emotion. If you think deeply about it, it seems to have an ambiguous interpretation, but on the surface, it seems to be just a relationship of mutual redemption in times of trouble.

But now, the script he saw was different from the movie.

In terms of plot, it’s more tense, with minor changes, and the exciting and thrilling action scenes come to life on the page.

But the emotional scenes are more straightforward, more explosive and more passionate. The emotions between the two male protagonists have nothing to do with gender. As for the descriptions of S3x, they are natural and seem to be so logical. And the encore scenes are much more than those in the movie.

Ethan Stone gets into acting very quickly and has his own method that is different from other acting schools.

He always considers the role with his eyes closed, and puts himself into the role. It is not about how I should act, but at this moment, I am him. In the play, all actions must have inner basis. If he always thinks of it as acting, then it will be superficial. If he wants to pursue the real effect, he must withdraw from reality and enter the kingdom of imagination.

He would think about problems from the character's perspective, and then step out and look at the overall situation from a macro perspective.

This was his own method that he developed after seven years of continuous research. He had watched thousands of movies, good and bad, and when he had nothing to do except editing to make a living, he would study this. He was almost crazy, living in the world of drama and not caring about his own terrible life.

This method of escape was very useful, but it made him a little confused. Layer upon layer of virtual space trapped him in a maze like a siege. He could not get out, and no one could get in.

Junior Brother Xiaodao took him to see a doctor, who thought his mental state was extremely unstable. During the psychological counseling, he used hypnosis to bring him back to the real world.

He read the script until midnight. Thinking of Su Wen urging him to get the script, Ethan Stone had to resist the sleepiness and sat up in the middle of the night to turn on the computer and search for how to convert PDF files into Word files.

Director Guo sent him an electronic file. Ethan Stone yawned and started to cut from the K!ssing scene. Otherwise, if Su Wen saw these things, he would have no chance of filming this movie.

After a night, Ethan Stone had to go out of town early in the morning. He didn't know when he fell asleep. When the alarm rang, he got up in a daze, washed up, and called Guo Baozhen with a sore arm.

"Director Guo, I have finished reading the script."

"Didn't you finish watching it a long time ago?" Guo Baozhen yawned repeatedly. He looked at the time and saw that it was only half past seven. He had spent half the night drawing storyboards.

"...I didn't watch it carefully last time and didn't know there were so many ambiguous scenes." He didn't sleep a wink all night.

Guo Baozhen hesitated: "You don't want to change the play...?"

"No, I think the script is very exciting and the emotions are very deep. I want to ask about the scale of nudity and passionate scenes..."

"Oh, don't worry! You probably haven't taken photos like this before? In fact, they are all dressed, and at most the shoulders are exposed, don't worry. You are still young, and we will watch over you when the time comes. We will never force you."

Ethan Stone had thought about it carefully. The hugging scenes were not a big deal, and most of the K!ssing scenes could be solved by using borrowed shots. Even if there were real guns and knives, it was not that difficult to accept. It was an actor's professional ethics to sacrifice for the show. What he found difficult was the scene in the bathtub and the scene on the bed.

He even thought about giving up the script, but quickly dismissed the idea.

He couldn't give up. He liked the script and the role. He liked acting and was eager to experience a different, deeper and more interesting life in his heart. Since he was determined to be an actor, separating the play from reality was just basic professional ethics. So no matter what he filmed, it was just a play.

It doesn’t matter what role I play.

Ethan Stonefei was out of town for an announcement. When he got off the plane, many fans came to meet him. When they saw him being escorted out by bodyguards, wearing a baseball cap with only half of his face exposed, they immediately screamed, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!! Qinqin ahhhhhhhhh!!!"

"Mom loves you!!"

The noise was so deafening that it seemed to be about to blow the ceiling off the airport.

He knew there would be a pick-up at the airport, so he put on a gentle smile, took the pen Jack Reid handed to him, put it on the notebook and photo in front of him, and signed his name fluently with a golden signature pen.

A girl tried to squeeze in, but she fell to the ground and was stepped on twice. Ethan Stone strode over and helped her up: "Are you okay?"

"No, it's okay..." The girl looked up at the very close face of the idol with a youthful look. He was so much more handsome in real life than on TV. The impact was so great that her heart was pounding and her breathing was rapid.

Ethan Stone smiled and said, "Everyone should be careful. Safety is important. Don't get hurt."

In front of his fans, he is a gentle, caring and perfect idol.

After getting in the car, he put aside all the gifts and letters sent by fans without even looking at them. He sat alone in the last seat, the light was dim, his eyes fixed on the back of the seat in front of him, and he wiped his fingers repeatedly with a wet tissue.

Many people touched him just now.

Jack Reid noticed his unusual behavior.

In fact, I noticed it many days ago that every time Zhuang Ge received gifts from fans, he would open the letter and read it carefully, smiling as he read. He cherishes those fans very much and really likes them. He would even eat the food made by the fans themselves and would never waste their thoughts.

But now, I don’t know what went wrong, it’s as if I don’t care about anything anymore, my sunny personality is stained with an invisible haze, growing wildly in the dark places, and returning to its previous state under the sun.

Of course, this is what being a celebrity is like. You look glamorous in front of people, but behind their backs, no one knows.

After Ethan Stone arrived, he first put on makeup and changed his clothes, and then went to participate in the endorsement event. The watch brand he endorsed opened a new store in Chengdu today, and he was specially invited to come and cut the ribbon. Thousands of people came to take pictures, shout his name, and say "I love you".

Ethan Stone bowed slightly and smiled sincerely, with the flash lights constantly shining into his eyes, creating a perfect spokesperson.

-

Guo Baozhen specially arranged the audition according to his schedule.

When Ethan Stone came out of the company, he asked the driver to take him to the theater.

Guo Baozhen arranged the audition location in a Peking Opera theater, mainly because there was no one in the theater on weekdays and there were no audiences, so it was very cheap to rent it for half a day, much cheaper than those theaters.

There was some traffic on the road, so the driver got on the highway.

Ethan Stone closed his eyes and rested, with the script of "Hidden Heart" on his legs. When his cell phone rang, he opened his eyes and picked up the phone.

Su Wen: "In the car?"

"Um."

"How did you get Mr. Shen to do that?" Su Wen couldn't believe it. When the top management learned that he was going to take on a same-S3x script, they were actually indifferent?

How did Ethan Stone do it?

Ethan Stone said: "I just talked to Mr. Shen."

"This is not a good sign." Su Min has a broad perspective and naturally knows what this seemingly magnanimous move by the top management means.

Is it because Ethan Stone has become disobedient and now all the resources are being directed to Lucas Foster?

This totally doesn't make sense. With Ethan Stone's traffic, how could the company make such a stupid decision?

Ethan Stone thought about it, but still didn't tell Su Wen about the gambling agreement. Su Wen had no idea and said, "I read the script. Didn't you say there was no K!ssing scene?"

"Yes... there shouldn't be any, right?" Didn't I delete it completely?

"You didn't watch it carefully, but I did! I'll take a screenshot and send it to you, and ask the screenwriter to change it! What nonsense is this? If it really happens, it will be terrible!"

"Okay." Screenwriter Zhuang nodded.

"Well, have a good rest tonight. You need to prepare for tomorrow's red carpet. You are not allowed to drink water at night."

After ending the call, Ethan Stone put away his phone and parked his car outside the theater.

This theater is relatively small and was built in the 1990s. It is not as famous as Chang'an Grand Theater and Mei Lanfang Grand Theater. There are few people coming in and out, and the location is remote. Ethan Stone put on his hat and mask and got off the car.

He was a little late and caught a glimpse of a flashy purple supercar parked outside the theater, which was very conspicuous.

Jack Reid couldn't help but say: "This car is kind of cool."

"Let's go." Ethan Stone took him in.

He had been to all the major theaters in the capital, including this one. He walked through a dark corridor and there was a door in front, which led to a small courtyard and the theater lobby.

There were about ten people sitting scattered on the stone benches in the courtyard. Ethan Stone took a quick look and saw that they were all passers-by, sitting with their legs crossed and playing with their mobile phones - they were probably migrant workers hired by Guo Baozhen.

Ethan Stone lowered his hat, pushed the door open and went in.

The Spring Festival had just passed and big red lanterns were hung in the theater. The lobby had a small capacity and there were boxes on the second floor, but all together they could only seat three or four hundred people.

Only Guo Baozhen was sitting in the audience, and on the stage, an actor was performing. Jiang Zhuo's character didn't have many lines, most of which were eye contact and action scenes, which tested the actor's acting skills even more.

Ethan Stone didn't go forward, but stood behind and watched for a few minutes, like Ma Jingtao's version of a cold-blooded killer.

Guo Baozhen called for a stop: "That's enough, you don't have to act anymore, thank you."

"Ah? Oh, director, did I pass?" The actor stopped immediately.

Guo Baozhen said vaguely: "We still need to discuss it. I will let you know in a few days."

"Good director." The actor went downstairs.

"Next one, number 34."

Ethan Stone walked forward and sat in the first row: "Director Guo."

Guo Baozhen saw him, stood up and said, "Oh, Teacher Zhuang, you are here. Come and sit here."

Ethan Stone sat next to him, flipped through the information and asked casually: "Is it number 34 already?" He was surprised that so many people came to audition?

Director Guo lowered his voice and answered: "No, in order to make it sound like there were more people auditioning, I started scheduling from the 30th."

Ethan Stone: "...are all the people outside hired?"

"Hire."

"How many people actually came to audition?"

"Only six." Guo Baozhen was not embarrassed, but rather quibbled, "I told them that the shows before the 30th were morning shows, and they were all over. They were afternoon shows. The theater only gave me two hours, and the MD actually charged me 1,000!"

Ethan Stone: ...

This audition was like a joke.

He had a headache. He couldn't imagine why someone like Oliver Scott would take on such a drama.

The two chatted in a very low voice. The actor No. 33 who had just come on stage stood in the center of the stage and bowed: "Hello, Director."

Director Guo said calmly, "Hello, please just sing a segment. The time limit is ten minutes."

Ethan Stone looked up at the stage and was surprised to find that he actually knew actor No. 34.