The Greatest Showman - Chapter 6: Wait for notification

Chapter 6: Wait for notification

The audition was over, and the candidates remained on the stage, standing in neat, formal rows; there was a rustle of chatter from the audience, who were obviously exchanging opinions, and were likely to decide on the role on the spot.

Almost unanimously, everyone turned their attention to Renly – who had deservedly led the way in the audition process, barely giving anyone else a chance.

The first thing you need to do is to think about the process of waiting, Renly’s relaxed, casual posture, seemingly confident, calm, and even his nervousness was relieved a little. The two eyes were as deep as the night sky with a pale glow, and the light was thrilling, making Rami tug at the corners of his mouth in panic and smile awkwardly to cover up his distress.

But on second thought, he looked up again to cast a glance, and said with respect, “You were wonderful just now!”

Renly did not seem to anticipate Rami’s initiative to strike up a conversation, the ends of his eyebrows gently raised, and followed by a light smile, “We are all trying to present the most perfect performance, hoping to impress that group of people down there, aren’t we?” That confident but not proud, humorous but with a little playful tone, making Rami also involuntarily smiling along.

Turning around, Rami looked to the audience and complained in a low, muttered voice, “They look like they are discussing national affairs in the State Department.” The mocking tone also showed the humor that belonged to him.

Indeed, the discussion in the audience lasted for nearly five minutes, and there was still no result, which was really too unusual. Because this is still in the audition process, either on the spot, or afterwards to discuss, generally in the scene will not discuss too long, to avoid disrupting the audition schedule, as far as possible to maintain the average time of each group audition to about ten minutes.

“Steven, give me a reason, give me one reason why Renly is not good enough.” Tom’s stubbornness also came up, directly turned sideways and looked at Steven face to face, slightly raising his voice to show his insistence.

Steven was not moved, he calmly shook his head, “It’s not that Renly is not good enough, but we have a better choice!” The other staff members next to him all meekly shut their mouths and watched these two bigwigs argue their case, and no one even dared to raise their voices to remind them to pay attention to the time, just holding their breath and trying to eliminate their presence.

“If you say, give him another role, there is no problem! I can do it now, he is very good, he can do a lot of roles, but we are talking about the role of Eugene, he is the soul of the whole series, not just the number one male lead, he also has the emotional attachment that we have instilled in the series!” Unknowingly, Steven’s voice also slightly raised, looking slightly agitated, not giving an inch back, “So, yes, I refuse to have him play Eugene, I refuse to have such a strange young man with no acting experience to play Eugene! And yes, I think we have a better choice than him!”

“Joseph Mazzello?” Tom did not hesitate, saying directly, he even stood up slightly due to overexcitement, then immediately sat down, clearly expressing his inner raging, “Steven, I know you like him a lot, and I know he is a very good actor, but compared with Renly, he is really not good enough.”

Joseph started out as a child actor and is twenty-six years to date. In 1992, he starred in “Radio Flyer” with Elijah-Wood, when Steven and George Lucas visited the set where they were so impressed by his performance that Steven said on the spot that he wanted Joseph to be cast in “Hook”, but unfortunately, because Joseph was only seven years old at the time, too young, he had to give up on that.

After that, Steven even took the initiative to change the age and background of the character in order to allow Joseph to play in “Jurassic Park”; and during the preparation of “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”, Joseph was also Steven’s first choice, but unfortunately, because the preparation period was too long, he missed out. During the preparation of this work, Joseph is also Steven’s first choice.

In the preparation of the “The Pacific”, the soul of the drama Eugene, Steven from the beginning reserved it for Joseph, hoping to reach a second collaboration between the two sides, which shows his preference for the actor. Even Stanley Kubrick such a master when he was alive also had eyes on Joseph.

But now, Tom wants to give the role of Eugene to Renly, and this has become the focus of the dispute between the two sides.

“Jesus Christ! He’s only twenty years old! No works to speak of before that! Just now, you merely watched his performance for how long ……? Sixty seconds? Ninety seconds? And then just ……” Steven’s emotions were slightly agitated, but Tom did not show any weakness, directly interrupting Steven’s words, “but originally Eugene was only nineteen years old! “

Steven stood up at once, “but he does not have the kind of vulnerability and determination contained in his body! That’s why I insist on using Joseph!” The out-of-control voice broke through the auditorium and startled all the actors on stage, but since they hadn’t heard the cause and purpose, they were just confused.

“Steven, Tom ……” someone finally stood up next to them and said stiffly, “We can go back and discuss it slowly afterwards, now we are a little short of time… … “The words behind again hesitantly paused, carefully looking at the two big shots.

Steven sat down directly, then turned his back on Tom; Tom also sat upright again, supporting his chin with his right hand, without saying a word, looking at the stage, as if no one existed next to him.

The tense atmosphere was really alarming, but at least it has temporarily stopped, “Ahem.” The casting director cleared his throat, barring everyone’s attention back to the convergence, “Today’s audition is done for now, you can leave, wait for notification and follow up news.”

Wait for notification?

The result of nearly seven minutes of debate was “wait for notification”? All eyes fell on Renly again in a flash, full of disbelief – if even Renly’s amazing performance didn’t impress the crew, then who in the hell could win the opportunity to perform in “War in the Pacific”? This……

As a participant, Renly inwardly could not hide his disappointment, frankly speaking, he just performed really well, reached the excellent state, showed the best performance in recent times; coupled with the controversy and discussion on the scene, the expectation inevitably began to climb up, and now he actually got such a reply – “waiting for notification “.

Anyone who has ever attended an audition or interview knows that this response often means that there will be no response and that the stone has sunk into the sea, such a drop-off makes Renly a little disappointed.

Perhaps the talk show at the beginning had already foreshadowed the current outcome, hadn’t it?

When he thought of the phone call from his parents before the audition, his mood sank to the bottom, but it was only his first audition, the negative emotions only stayed in his chest for a moment, then turned into a cloud of smoke and dissipated without a trace, ten years in bed, two lives, he learned to be open-minded. The smile at the corner of the mouth lightly outlined up, like a red haze in the sky at six o’clock in the afternoon, soft and radiant.

The next group of candidates were ready at the entrance, so Rami followed in Renly’s footsteps and all the people left the theater one after another.

The fresh air brightened up the dreary atmosphere, and Rami looked at Renly’s fading back, hesitated for a moment, and then gathered the courage to take a big step after him, “Hey, Renly.” Once again, Rami realized that the height gap between him and Renly was too lethal, and that his short legs were running with extra effort.

Luckily, Renly stopped in his tracks and waited in place. Rami slowed his pace and stopped in front of Renly, breathing heavily, but found himself to be reckless, the prepared words suddenly became a blank, looking at Renly’s inquiring gaze, Rami held his breath and opened his mouth, “…… I think you can definitely get the role! ” Words beyond certainty, after finishing, Rami firmly nodded again, “I am serious!”

Although they met each other in a casual way as well as on opposite sides, Rami sincerely expressed his support and recognition. Renly’s smile also had a warm touch, “I believe that you will definitely be a part of “The Pacific”; moreover, I have a feeling that the role will definitely be of great importance.”

The look of certainty of Renly actually has a kind of unquestionable firmness, completely without any polite perfunctory, but the shock and dismay in Rami’s head simply could not stop, his performance just now can not be compared to Renly, if even Renly failed to be selected, how could he be chosen?

However, without waiting for Rami to continue to ask questions, Renly waved goodbye, Rami only had time to say “goodbye”, and then watched Renly go forward again, the inner waves of astonishment has just begun.

Renly wasn’t being nice, indeed he wasn’t, because that’s exactly what happened.

Rami not only played a major role in “The Pacific”, a role that was second only to the core two roles, but also later won the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series for the series “Mr. Robot”, making him a successful actor in Hollywood. After six years of struggling in the third-tier stage, he welcomed the beginning of his breakthrough as an actor.

Rami’s calf-like eyes are extraordinarily recognizable, he was born in 1981 but he always had a baby face as a result of the striking image of his eyes, and even in 2017, he didn’t look much different from now, as if time had simply forgotten his existence in the process of passing.

After leaving the theater and basking in the thin, relaxing New York sunlight, Renly took a deep breath of the slightly turbulent air and his mood soared again, the audition was just the beginning, a modest beginning, and he has a chance to rewrite his life all over again, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

In the summer of 2009, Renly’s dream journey began.

After receiving his skateboard from the doorman at the entrance of the theater, Renly thanked him, threw the skateboard directly to the ground, stepped on it lightly, and with a violent push of his left foot, his whole body flew with the wind.

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Translator Question of the day – Joseph Mazzello or Renly Hall?:)