The Legendary Actor - Chapter 80

Rodrigo looked at Ryan in front of him, suited and booted, spirited, smiling, and with impeccable manners.

However, Rodrigo’s mind came up with the picture of Renly’s dress today – for the audition, Renly’s clothing is undoubtedly rude, shirt with jeans, really too casual, looks like a … truck driver or an odd job contractor. But it was precisely this casualness that managed to conjure up the image of Paul Conroy, and it was clear that Renly had come prepared.

“I thought you would call ahead, I didn’t expect you to come to New York in person.” Rodrigo gathered up the chaotic and trivial thoughts in his head. Ryan was not only his first choice, but also, from the time he saw the script for “Buried”, he had decided to by all means bring him into the film.

Ryan also regained his composure at this point, showing a decent smile, “Because I can’t sit in Los Angeles and wait, I need to meet with you immediately, I need to talk face to face, I need to hear your ideas.” Ryan’s tone seemed cheerful and jubilant, “God, this is a genius script, I really love it! So, I’m going to surprise you. So … tart!”

It must be admitted that Rodrigo was somewhat flattered. The actor of his dreams expressed such an enthusiasm. Rodrigo was actually so happy, he didn’t even know where to place his hands, “If you like it, it would be great, it’s absolutely my pleasure.” Rodrigo wiped the sweat seeping out of his palms.

Ryan looked up and surveyed the surroundings, the crowd of onlookers not only did not decrease, but also seemed to congregate. Although everyone pretended to be busy with their own business, not bothering them, but the sporadic gazes still drifted over, and the buzzing noises always lingered in the ears.

“I wonder if we can find a quieter place where we can talk in depth.” Ryan retracted his eyes and looked at Rodrigo, revealing a big smile, “There are still some things I don’t quite understand about this script, about the whole project, and I hope I can further understand it through communication.”

Rodrigo could feel Ryan’s condescension – Ryan did not mean to, but that’s the way it was, Rodrigo pleaded Ryan to play “Buried”, and now among the top of the second line Ryan in “Buried”, there is indeed the capital to look down upon, not to mention, Ryan skipped the agent part, flew directly to New York, which had given Rodrigo enough respect.

The reasoning was clear, but Rodrigo couldn’t help but think of Renly again. Renly did not mind the noisy environment of the youth hostel, and the performance wasn’t Interrupted; Renly did not fail to understand the intent of the script, but also offered his own insights …

“It’s quiet enough here. They’re all very gracious fellows and won’t come over and bother us.” Rodrigo’s excitement slowly settled down, and after the exhilaration of connaisance, rationality gradually returned to its host.

Rodrigo knew that Ryan’s appearance meant that the possibility of cooperation had skyrocketed, but it still did not mean that cooperation was reached, as Ryan needed to further understand the situation; on the other hand, he thought that Ryan was the best candidate to play Paul, but that was only his own vision after all, and Ryan’s strength in the end needed to be further measured.

Rodrigo is Spanish and has no advantages on American soil. He is not a world-renowned master like Pedro Almodovar, but just a newcomer who was starting out, and “Buried” was very important to him and might be the door to Hollywood. Therefore, he hopes more than anyone else that this work will reach the expected level and then succeed.

Rodrigo took the initiative to sit down, and Ryan hesitated for a moment, then sat down in the same place Renly had just taken. Scarlett patted Ryan’s chest and whispered.

“I’ll leave your audition alone and go out for some air, then come back in later.”

In the audition process, the actor needs to be absolutely focused. This is not a social occasion to have dinner with the producer, so Scarlett chose to avoid it for the time being, leaving Ryan the freedom to play.

Ryan gave a smile, patted the back of Scarlett’s hand, and whispered, “It won’t take long.”

“Good luck.” Scarlett stood up, then gave Rodrigo a bright smile, “Mr. Director, I’ll leave you to your tet-a-tet conversation, and I hope everything goes well.”

Rodrigo nodded his head with restraint, although he was bit sensitive to Ryan’s “It won’t take long” – what did it mean, was he not taken seriously? Or did he think the project didn’t need to take too long? Or is Ryan thinking it’s already a done deal? But in the face of Scarlett’s smile, Rodrigo gathered his emotions, smiled and nodded in greeting, and watched Scarlett’s slender back leave the lobby.

Rodrigo’s eyes fell on Ryan again, revealing a modest, brilliant smile, “Ryan, which part of the script are you most impressed with? If you don’t mind, it’s perfectly fine to just perform and see, so we can communicate in professional language.” Rodrigo could feel Ryan’s muscles stiffen slightly, but his words continued without any pause, “I know that this project is a severe test for actors, which is why you were the first person I thought about. So, what do you think of the script and the role, exactly?”

Ryan just felt choked, shouldn’t he be the one to take the initiative? Shouldn’t he be the one to control the pace? Why … things seem a little off?

Scarlett left the lobby of the youth hostel. The door led to a small courtyard, not much space, even smaller than a basketball half-court, but there were two sycamore trees, their shade almost covering the entire space. Sparse sunlight shone through the dappled leaves sprinkled down, brown soil planted with a variety of plants, next to a large creeper along the corners all the way up.

At a glance, Scarlett saw the man called Renly, who was standing at the front door, as if standing in front of a window and gazing through to another world. The casualness and scruffiness of the plaid shirt wrapped around broad shoulders, the outline of the side of his face could be seen in the shadows, calm as water.

“Do you need a lighter?” Scarlett’s footsteps stopped at the man’s side, standing at a similar angle, peering out, trying to take in the sight of the man who spacing out. The undulating road of Amsterdam Street stretched quietly away in sight.

The hoarse voice was not like that of a smoker, but of a woman who matured early with high awareness of her own sexuality. You don’t need to turn your head to know that the person coming was Scarlett.

“Hmm?” Renly gently raised the end, seemingly puzzled by Scarlett’ opening.

Scarlett pursed her lips and rolled her eyes straight away, answering with a contemptuous look, “You should know that the only reason many people hold a cigarette is to smoke it; if you want to pretend you have a high moral character, you can choose a pipe or at least a cigar.”

Renly looked down at the cigarette he was holding in the corner of his mouth and laughed dumbly. It was just a little habit of his from his last life.

He used to be an old smoker, and his moderate life gave him little breathing room. In college, he smoked a pack and a half a day, and couldn’t quit even if he wanted to; what’s more, he didn’t want to. Under the weight of life, smoking was the only way he could spend his time – he didn’t play games, he didn’t play sports, he was far from being a good drinker, and cigarettes were the only thing he could fall back on.

Then the car accident hospitalized him, not to mention that the hospital didn’t allow smoking, even if it allowed, he had no way to smoke. The pain and suffering of quitting smoking seemed insignificant compared to the pain and suffering of being paralyzed from up to down, so it was much easier to quit smoking than one would think.

After being reborn and being able to smoke again, he was no longer obsessed. Not because in the last life in the hospital he saw too many cases of lives buried because of smoking, but because after experiencing death, nicotine has become less important.

Holding a cigarette in his mouth is more like a habit, a habit of thinking, a habit of remembering, a habit of the body. It helps him focus, it helps him start thinking; he carries a pack of cigarettes with him, but it’s been a long, long time since he lit up one.

“How do you know it’s not a joint, I didn’t light it because I didn’t want to be targeted by that officer on the corner.” Instead of getting angry, Renly laughed softly, took the cigarette off and put it back in the case.

Scarlett’s eyes fell on Renly’s fingers, long and pale, like bamboo shots, simple movements but like a work of art. Scarlett took a closer look at the cigarette, “So, is it?”

“You need a puff?” Renly not only did not deny it, but also said smoothly, grabbed the cigarette case with his right hand, then put his index finger against the top corner of the case and gently turned it, “I thought you needed to stay awake today, you know, Ryan is having an audition and you are his most solid backing.”

“He doesn’t need … for his career,” Scarlett said smoothly, but before the words were out of her mouth, she reacted with a playful smile, “I thought you were competitors, and Ryan’s failure should be something you would be pleased to see.”

Renly shrugged and nodded with a smile, “Fact.” The frank acknowledgement of Scarlett’s words, which in turn caught Scarlett off guard, dumbfounded her, “I will not refute, because as a competitor, I have very few chips in hand. This hand is not easy to turn over.”

“A true poker master knows how to bluff.” Scarlett’s eyes flashed slightly, smilingly said.

The last thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you’re doing. Renly’s eyebrows raised slightly, “Then guess, am I bluffing or winning?”