The Legendary Actor - Chapter 33

….”Okay, well, we’ll have plenty of time verify those gossips, but for now, we’d better let Renly go back to bed.” Stanley came out from backstage, saw Renly surrounded by everyone, clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, and then began to disperse the scene.

The Pioneer Village had closed an hour ago, but after closing the door, everyone had left Renly behind, passionately discussing everything that had happened in the past six months, and the passage of time had been completely forgotten.

“But Renly is going to be a big star next, and we won’t have a chance.” Neil took the lead in yelling, causing a huge uproar among the crowd.

Stanley, however, didn’t buy it, and gave Neal a blow to the back of the head, “Even now, you don’t have a chance.” The same words, different interpretations, everyone was stunned, then suddenly started laughing simultaneously, while Neal looked resigned. He just stood up and waved his hands, “Who knows? Don’t you think, Renly?”

Without waiting for Renly’s answer, several men rushed forward and dragged Neal away on his back, “Don’t disturb the clients here.”

Looking at Neal’s getting dragged, Renly raised his voice and shouted, “Alicia is hiding in the bathroom and crying in the toilet.” Alicia was Neil’s girlfriend, a kindergarten teacher who often came over to Pioneer Village to play, and everyone knew her very well.

Renly’s quip made everyone laugh, and the ridicule and banter were loud and clear, somewhat harmonious even.

“Go back to bed early.” Stanley patted Renly’s shoulder, “Long flights are always a torture.”

“I slept all the way here.” Renly, however, was not too tired and replied with a smile.

“Ha. I should have seen it coming.” Stanley was also in a very happy mood tonight, “I also should get back to bed, but my heart is unwilling.” Usually, Stanley would have gone home around midnight, but today, with the return of Renly, he also stayed at the bar and they all had two rounds of beer.

After making sure all the bar windows were closed, Renly locked the back and front doors as he was the last to leave Pioneer Village.

When he got back to the house, the cold air inside the house made Renly shiver. After turning on the light, he could clearly see a thin layer of dust on the coffee table and sofa, and it seemed that Chris was not home for a long time.

Walking over to the coffee table in the middle of the living room, there was a white piece of paper on top of it, with a cursive line written in pencil, “Haha! Please call me the hero!” All of the words are in capital letters, and even just looking at the note, one can clearly feel Chris’ inner ecstasy.

It seemed that he had finally gotten his wish, gotten the part, and was about to star in his first Hollywood film.

At the bottom of the line, there was a note, “Cash, Sean Bean.”

British actor Sean Bean is an absolutely famous, tough guy with a subtle acting style that has earned him an unassailable place in Hollywood, as seen in “Patriot Games”, “James Bond: Golden Eye”, “National Treasure”, “Troy”, “Silent Hill”, the “Lord of the Rings” series, and of course, the famous “Game of Thrones”.

It’s no wonder Chris is so excited to be working with Sean, and to be the male lead to boot.

He put the note back on his desk, picked up the cpenicl next to it, and wrote his own comment, “RAD” as a token of congratulations to Chris. Renly then chose to shower first, to wash off the dust and exhaustion and to really feel the familiarity of home.

Despite falling asleep all the way on the plane, but Renly was sleepy again. Ready to lie down under the blanket and have some dreams, not neccesserilly wet ones, yet his eyes hovered over the acoustic guitar in the corner.

The time and space dimensions had lost their meaning in the relaxed atmosphere of the comraderie, and the bonds between them had grown stronger rather than further apart.

Langley knew what Stanley meant by “gift” not a performance on stage, but a real recording of music.

Stanley was a man who valued talent, as evidenced by the way Pioneer Village was run and the way it selected its performers. When Renly first came on stage to save the show, Stanley was pleasantly surprised and excitedly offered to give Renly a chance to perform, to actually walk on stage and have thirty minutes of his own. But Renly declined.

The reason was simple: music was just a pastime, a distraction, a relaxation for him. The source of his passion has always been acting, and that has never changed, at least not yet.

He is a truly passionate musician, and in his opinion, there is nothing else in the world that can compare to music, so whenever he sees someone with great talent or a strong dream, Stanley is always there to support them. When he was rejected by Renly, he said he understood, but he didn’t give up easily. After that, he mentioned this matter to Renly many times, half jokingly, half seriously, and his perseverance made Renly feel a little helpless, but also a little touched.

Renly knew that Stanley was only as enthusiastic towards as Renly himself was passionate about performing.

After thinking about it, Renly went to the bedside, picked up the guitar in the corner, patted off the dust on it, and then turned on his computer. After all, he owed Stanley a Christmas present, and St. Patrick’s Day was coming up, wasn’t it?

In the new century, with the rise of social networks such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, the gradual improvement of online digital audio distribution networks such as iTunes, Amazon and Spotify, as well as the advancement of Apple computers and a series of electronic recording devices, even smartphones can complete the recording of music, more and more grassroots singers and independent artists have begun to emerge strongly. This is also the inevitable trend of entertainment, for, all could witness the inevitable development of highly mature music talent shows such as “American Idol”.

For independent musicians, the lack of advanced professional recording equipment is not a problem, but just an issue to be solved by modern technology. A good deal of indie musicians have chosen to use their garages as recording studios, and then paste egg trays on the walls as panels to create a simple soundproofing effect for their recordings.

Renly faced the same problem.

When he pounded on the wall, the whole wall shook like a sheet fluttering in the gale. The whisperings of sweet affair next door came to an abrupt halt. There was a pause of about half a second before a foul-mouthed man’s voice roared out, but Renly didn’t care, and yelled, “You keep it up, and I’ll tell Kingston what the hell you’re doing there!”

A single word stopped the noise, next door dead in silence. The neighbor has been cheating on his girlfriend behind her back, and can’t stop himself from getting annoyed. His girlfriend’s brother is named Kingston, who owns a butcher store three blocks away – specializing in pork, beef, lamb, etc., and has close ties to mobs.

Finally, it was quiet, a rare moment of peace to be found in New York at four in the morning.

Renly turned on his computer and held his guitar in his arms. But… Renly was a little stunned. When he first composed “The Ballad of Cleopatra” it was just a momentary burst of inspiration. He didn’t really record the melody and lyrics, and he didn’t play it again for the past six months.

He simply let go of his mind, let his fingertips find the strings, sketched them out at random, and the story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony resurfaced.

It’s always interesting when future generations look at history from a contemporary point of view, as life, worldviews, values, and the changes and progress of the times reassign special meaning to historical events. Just as the heliocentric theory was once dominant, and just as the Internet was once about the end of the world, things always change after the passage of time, and the truth at that particular point in history can no longer be accurately restored by anyone.

Countless people, including Shakespeare, believe that Cleopatra was an ambitious woman who almost single-handedly influenced the rise and fall of a Roman Empire. But has anyone in history ever understood Cleopatra’s feelings?

“I won’t be late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life

And when I die alone, when I die alone, when I die I’ll be on time”

The familiar melody flowed down from his fingertips once again, not only from Cleopatra, but from everyone in real life, how many people have missed the love of their lives, how many people have been shackled by fate in the choice between love and career, and how many people have struggled to reach the end of their lives amidst misunderstanding and suffering.

How many others, like him, have been given a second chance at life?

Happy and sad, spirited and lost, joyful and confused … the bitterness hidden in the light melody, quietly dancing on the tongue, the smile outlined on the lips, could’nt not hide the silence of the night, the music notes shone charmingly under the clear moonlight.

“Wait, how does this recording work again?” Renly looked at the recording software on his computer, full of questions.