The Legendary Actor - Chapter 79

Rodriguez was truly thrilled.

Without a doubt, Ryan Reynolds was his first choice to play Paul Conroy. In fact, he had wanted to work with Ryan ever since he first saw “The Nines”. He always thought that Ryan’s performance has a special quality, not the explosive type, but with its own understanding and intricacies. After taking over the script for “Buried”, his first thought was: Ryan.

The desire was so strong that even though he knew that Ryan’s career was on the upswing and the odds of him taking on “Buried” were very low, he still extended the invitation.

To his surprise, Ryan not only responded to his invitation, but also showed up in front of him in person, a surprise that really hit him hard in the heart and took him by surprise, “Mr. Reynolds, how did you … show up here?”.

“Cooperation!” Ryan once again gives another surprise bombshell that blows Rodrigo’s mind, “Ryan, please call me Ryan, Mr. Reynolds is my father. “Ryan showed his sense of humor and his trademark smile.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation.” Renly’s voice stepped in just in time to interrupt the conversation that Ryan and Rodrigo hadn’t had yet time to develop further, “I just thought it would be better for me to leave now, to avoid interrupting your work afterwards.”

It was reasonable, so one could hardly acuse him of something. Still, Renly managed to drag the attention to him, not only from Rodrigo, but also from Ryan and Scarlett who both cast their eyes on him.

Rodrigo’s brain cleared up a bit, Ryan’s sudden appearance was so unexpected that it completely disrupted his thoughts, but now that he saw Renly, he came back to his senses once again, hesitation showing under his eyes, “Are you leaving now?”

Rodrigo was confused for a moment.

On the one hand, Ryan was his dream partner, and deservedly his first choice, and now that Ryan was here, it couldn’t have been more perfect; more importantly, Ryan is now stealthily among the ranks of the second tier, and with him on board, “Buried” and its future distribution rights and promotional operations will be much simpler.

But on the other hand, Renly’s performance just now rocked his world, whether it was a subtle and explosive performance that maximized the power of the dramatic conflict, or an immersive performance that sublimated the story and it was just at the tender age of twenty, in a simple posture without makeup. No doubt, this is the kind of actor that every director dreams of.

Originally, Rodrigo had no hope for Ryan’s appearance, and Renly as a surprise became his best choice, but now Ryan’s presence has fulfilled the initial plan, yet still…. From having no choice, to having too many choices, such a blissful worry left Rodrigo at a loss for words.

“I’m at the end final stage of casting, aren’t I?” Renly’s smile was gentlemanly and proper.

He knew that Ryan’s presence would be a fatal twist. If he could change the situation by playing the rogue and staying, then he would just be shamelessly continuing to watch, but that was obviously not going to work. So it was better to retreat, give Ryan the opportunity to act, give Ryan the space to talk, and then wait for the decision.

He also knew that his only advantage over Ryan was his strength, and truly, he had absolute confidence in his own performance, but otherwise he was a total underachiever in all other aspects. Fortunately, “Buried” was an independent project, and Rodrigo was more willing to consider it from the point of view of his work than from the point of view of a large corporation’s profit. This was his only chance.

“I hope I’ve just done a good enough job, as I won’t have any more capital to show off.” Renly handed over the script, half-jokingly, the subtext implying that strength was the only thing he had left to compete with Ryan.

Sure enough.

Rodrigo gave an awkward smile and took over the script, “Impeccable.” Rodrigo exclaimed, shaking his head lightly to express his admiration, “Honestly, I don’t know how it could have been any better.”

“That’s the part that should be the actor’s to worry about, isn’t it?” Renly’s confidence and humor succeeded in making Rodrigo reveal a big smile.

Although the performance just now had been amazing, somehow Rodrigo was willing to put his trust in Renly, believing that Renly was capable of giving even more spectacular performances, believing that Renly could still uncover more things, believing that Renly was far from reaching his limit.

“Who are you?” Ryan could feel the harmony in the air, his gaze shifting back and forth between Rodrigo and Renly, but he couldn’t resist the urge to simply and plainly ask the question, his slightly furrowed his brows showing his true feelings at the moment.

“I’m sorry.” Renly turned around and began with an apology, which made Ryan choke, “I forgot to introduce myself.” Renly politely extended his right hand, “Renly Hall, an actor, I’m also here today for an audition.”

“Who?” Ryan’s eyebrows became more and more tangled, full of question marks, searching his brain, but could not recall any relevant actors, apparently, the other was just a nobody. His hands were still in his pants pockets.

Renly raised his right hand in the air lightly, not minding Ryan’s ignorance, and a self-deprecating smile curved the corner of his mouth, “There must be more than one or two actors that Mr. Reynolds has never seen or heard of, right?”. The ridiculing yet sharp words stung Ryan, as he didn’t look too good.

Scarlett, who was standing beside him, could not help but wince, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. Because of her height, she could clearly see the banter in the eyes of the man in front of her, unassuming tone of voice always with a cool arrogance, words are not sharp, but there is a kind of detachment, sullenly hitting over. It is like a an invisible wall, you stumble upon it and become an instant mess while still remaining absolutely bamboozled by what happened, that is exactly how Ryan felt at this moment.

“Mr. Reynolds personally came all the way from Los Angeles to New York, obviously not to chat. So, I’ll leave you to your audition.” Renly’s gentle voice always had a faint smile, and his elegant, warm London accent added a touch of gentlemanly style, but the sarcasm in the depths of his words was there to see for the more discerning ones.

Scarlett didn’t hold back this time and puffed out a laugh. Renly’s remark was clearly a sarcastic reference to Ryan’s solicitation: even if he had come all the way from Los Angeles to New York, so what? What determines an actor’s ability is not rhetoric, but absolute strength. Rather than chattering about pleasantries, let’s cut to the chase as soon as possible.

The british quip hit Ryan so hard in the stomach that even Scarlett could hear Ryan’s muffled grunt of pain, especially the “Mr. Reynolds”, was polite, but ironic.

Noticing the scorching look in her husband’s eyes, Scarlett whispered, “I’m sorry,” and lifted her hand to hide it. And then raised her hand to cover her mouth, gathered up all the laughity-bits, and resumed her normal state – it didn’t seem right to mock her husband with an outsider, even though she was just here today to make fun of him anyway.

“Regarding our unfinished audition, I’ll wait outside the door and continue later.” Renly’s wording was very clever, to be precise, the audition they just had was indeed not over, the two did not have any further communication about the performance, nor did they talk about the collaboration, so, Renly gave Rodrigo a time and left a back door for himself, “So … ”

Renly nodded to Rodrigo, Ryan, and Scarlett, and then without stopping, he simply took a step to leave.

However, the way out was blocked by both Ryan and Scarlett, and Renly stopped and smiled at Scarlett. Scarlett thought that the man would take this opportunity to say a few more words, but instead, the man turned sideways and made a gesture to move on, and Scarlett unconsciously made her way out of the way, and then Renly quickly left.

This made Scarlett look up and glance twice at the man, but the man met her gaze without any fear, his eyes like a sunken lake in the forest and a smile flowing quietly in his eyes. And then, there was only the back left in the view.

Scarlett gently raised her eyebrows and withdrew her gaze. However, the atmosphere was somewhat dull, and neither Ryan nor Rodrigo spoke up, “Ahem.” Scarlett cleared her throat and pulled Ryan’s arm, “Honey, you talked endlessly about this script at home, you simply loved it, why are you silent again now? Was it because you were so excited to see the director?”

A simple statement successfully brought Ryan’s attention back, “Yes… Yes!” Ryan covered his panic with trivial words, “I simply couldn’t wait!”

Rodrigo’s surprise, however, slowly sank in. The Renly of just now was so very different from the one who played Paul!

This was Rodrigo’s first meeting with Renly. He had never seen “The Pacific” and had no idea of Renly’s acting style, nor did he know anything about Renly’s personality. In the previous auditions, Renly’s style was consistent throughout, with a coarse and forceful temperament that was so strongly “Paul Conroy” that Rodrigo almost thought Renly was in his true colors – however, the exquisite control and the ability to digg deeper still proves this idea wrong.

But the brief conversation now presented a very different Renly, with all the sharp edges toned down, yet firmly in control of the rhythm, with an unshakable determination behind the seeming lack of aggression. This is a completely different person from Paul, and he could even say that they were very different.

In other words, was everything in the previous audition a performance?

After realizing this, Rodrigo’s shock was nothing short of a violent storm, and the virtual reality that straddles the line between reality and fantasy is jaw-dropping. If possible, Rodrigo wanted to continue the conversation with Renly, even if it was just a simple chat, as his curiosity was overwhelming.

But the remnants of sanity still allowed Rodrigo to withdraw his attention and look at Ryan in front of him, “Yes?” This was his first choice, he remembered!