The Greatest Showman - Chapter 17: Entering the set

Chapter 17: Entering the set

The sunshine is mixed with the breath of sea water, turquoise blue sky, emerald, green shade, clear sea …… view is high and far, the whole world is vast and recklessly spread out beneath the feet, as if the whole heart is opened up. Such a scene, in New York or London is almost impossible to see, just the front, located on the west coast of the North American continent, San Diego has opened a warm embrace to welcome the arrival of Renly.

Today is Friday, the first official meeting of the cast and crew, and this past week, Renly spent all his time in the library, repeatedly reviewing many books on the Pacific War; and then rented the “Band of Brothers” set of classic episodes to rewatch them again, in preparation for the upcoming shoot.

After closing the door of the cab, patting the roof of the car, and turning around to look at the hot and crowded …… camp in front of him, Renly’s first reaction was “the wrong place”, shouldn’t the first group meeting consist of sitting down in a conference room, introducing themselves and getting to know each other, etc.? But in front of his eyes the place seemed more like a campground.

There were five or six managers scattered at the entrance, holding writing boards in their hands, each surrounded by a few people, lifting the dark gray backpack behind them, Renly took a step forward and casually searched for a line and he then queued up, there were only three people in front of him, and soon it was his turn, “Excuse me, is this ‘The Pacific’ crew? I was told ……”

“Name?”

Renly’s speech was interrupted, as he was about to open his mouth to answer, he did not expect the other party to have no patience at all, but continued to rush, “Name.” That stern gesture was somewhat military-like, an idea flashed through Renly’s mind, but his words did not pause, and he answered directly, “Hall.”

The other party pointed to another person beside him, “The ones starting with H report to him.” How many people are here, to actually arrange them in alphabetical order by last name?

Once again, Renly walked to the side and got in line. This time, without waiting for the other person to ask, Renly spoke directly and said, “Hall.” Then he saw the other side of the writing board quickly scan through, “Hall, actor, report to Barracks Number Three.”

Sure enough, this is the boot camp.

Before recruits officially go to war, they must go through boot camp training in order to avoid making low-level mistakes that will get them killed, not to mention their comrades. The “Band of Brothers” also copied the boot camp model when filming, not only to allow the actors to experience the real soldier feeling, but also to allow the actors to be professional enough in the performance process, and now, “The Pacific” followed this tradition as well.

It’s really a funny thing, isn’t it? Getting your first job as an actor, only to go into boot camp and train before being exposed to acting. This would have been almost impossible to happen in life if you hadn’t become an actor.

Barracks Number Three was very visible, located just to the left of the main road. The gray puffy concrete block walls were unremarkable, but the taller size easily differentiated it.

After registering and reporting at the entrance, Renly walked into barracks three and was greeted, not by his future fellow actors, but by …… untold numbers of clothes! The entire set of twelve gantries divided the spacious barracks into twelve aisles, which were dazzlingly filled with costumes, and not just soldiers’ clothes, but also vintage clothes from the 1940s, everything from luxury to civilian, looking like the scene of a warehouse sale.

After the gantry came the sound of talking, walking along the aisle, around a corner in front of his eyes, there is a large open space in the center, there are a dozen boxes of boots neatly arranged, and the whole wall behind it is hung with different ranks of Marine uniforms, the brand-new uniforms with the aroma of softener are placed together, which really has a great visual impact.

After one of the previous actors finished receiving his costume, Renly walked up smoothly, “Renly Hall, as Eugene Sledge.”

The staff member in front of him checked out the list and muttered, “Oh, 3rd Battalion, K Company, Private First Class.” Turning back around and skillfully finding a uniform, he handed it over, and Renly, seeing the other party’s movement, immediately extended his hands and took the entire uniform, “Shoe size?”

“Seven and a half.” But after he said the words, Renly then corrected himself, “eight and a half.” The other party’s eyebrows frowned slightly, obviously not satisfied that Renly actually did not even remember his own shoe size.

In fact, size seven and a half is a British size, while size eight and a half is an American size. It was just a reflex. However, sensing the impatience of the other party, Renly did not argue – this is a military barracks, apparently from the entrance, everything is in accordance with the rules and regulations of the military. Although this is a bit of a pain for ordinary people, but for actors, it is a necessary way to enter the role.

The other party bent down and took a pair of boots, and two pairs of socks, and put them heavily on top of the uniform, “After today’s training, from six to nine o’clock in the evening, there will still be people here, and you will have to come and get the rest of your uniform at that time. Before you enter the barracks, you have two more episodes of drama to film.”

“No problem.” Renly’s answer was without delay, turning around and preparing to leave, this one small detail seemed to make the other party quite satisfied, he opened his mouth and said, “A friendly reminder, in the future it is best to answer ‘Yes, sir’.”

“Yes, sir!” Renly said in a vigorous and clear manner, and the other party’s mouth actually showed a small smile, “Your residence is Barracks Number Eight, go there and change your clothes.” After saying that, he ignored Renly again, then looked at the next person, “Name, role?”

Renly looked back and only had time to exchange a glance with the other person, and then quickly left Barracks Number Three. Although Renly did not know what was going to happen in the boot camp, but he will never forget the cruel and brutal way of recruit training in the movie “Full Metal Jacket”, the best thing to do is to be prepared.

Entering Barracks Number Eight, a small group of people gathered in the doorway smoking, and then there were a few people sitting scattered on nothing but wooden planks, focused on their own business. Renly’s arrival merely drew a sweeping glance from everyone, and then they all retracted their eyes.

Renly also did not say hello, he went straight to the central right-hand side of the public bathroom, where he changed his full set of clothes – including underwear and socks – and when he came out again, everyone instantly looked over in unison. Because only two people in the entire barracks changed their clothes, the other seven or eight people are still wearing the original civilian clothes.

Seeing Renly’s seriousness, one could clearly hear someone quietly snicker.

There was even a voice that was not suppressed, loudly said in a loud voice, “I wonder where is this country boy from, stupidly saying what to do, later the officer might make him offer his ass, he will certainly not say a word before unbuckling his belt ……”, that vulgar words led the others to laugh in unison.

Renly walked to an empty seat with a frank face and stuffed his backpack under the bed, ignoring their attempts. He was not so kind to caution them, once the training begins for real, they are the ones who will suffer, he just had to stand by and watch, in the end who is going to be the fool.

“Renly! Renly!” Amidst the laughter, a voice jumped in and called out, and in the doorway emerged Rami Malek, who was twenty-eight years old, but with a baby face that looked younger than Renly’s, with a delighted smile on his face as he sprinted all the way over, “You’re here too! I was just thinking, I couldn’t find anyone I knew anywhere and felt a little scared! I knew you’d be able to make the cut, and, and …… I made the cut too!”

Rami’s cheerful words spring out as though he couldn’t catch his breath, which made Renly dumbfounded, looking at the group behind Rami who once again began to laugh at him, Renly directly stood up and dragged Rami towards the public bathroom, only to have the voice earlier bustle again and shout, “It’s only broad daylight, but you can’t help but get on base already! The teasing voice drew laughter from the others again.

Richard Cawthorne was very satisfied with the effect of his joke, but he did not expect that Renly would not show any weakness as he instead threw a sentence at him, “If you’re envious, Dad doesn’t mind adding you to the list.” This instantly made him gush a mouthful of blood into his throat, and yet Renly did not pause at all and went straight into the public bathroom.

Once again there was laughter being heard behind him, which Renly ignored, “Rami, hurry up and change into your uniform, training should be starting any minute now.”

Rami just arrived at the barracks, still a little confused about the situation, but compared to Renly, he has been in Hollywood for many years, naturally he is more familiar with the situation, “do not pay attention to that group of people ……” he also wanted to comfort Renly, this kind of old guys almost every crew has. Particularly in the television industry, they bully rookies for fun, and even will squeeze their income, if the rookies resist, they have countless ways to make them suffer, that will not affect their normal work, but it will make the rookies feel bitter.

However, Renly simply does not care, and patted Rami’s shoulder, indicating a little, “Quick, change clothes.” After saying it, Renly realized that this sentence is somewhat ambiguous, and was ready to joke about it, but Rami did not care at all, throwing the cloth bag in his hands to the ground, and then began to change clothes.

This caused Renly to laugh dumbfounded.

Rami acted quickly, and the two men then walked out of the public bathroom, and a stern scolding voice then came from the door, “You shameless trash, how dare you still be here farting, are you waiting for someone to wash your asses for you? Quickly, get out!”

Following the sound, one could see a senior officer dressed in Marine Corps clothing, not quite clear whether it was a Lieutenant or Captain due to the backlight.

The barracks, where there was laughter, suddenly fell silent, as if frozen in a flash, which made the officer very dissatisfied, coldly grunting, “A group of losers. You have ninety seconds to assemble outside, and if you don’t show up after that time, you will run four miles back and forth on the mountain road!” After saying that, not even waiting for an answer, he directly turned around and left.

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T/N – The first filming for the MC is beginning, this is going to be fun. How do you like the novel so far? Also, if you find some mistakes while reading the novel, please tell me down in the comments.