Chapter 4: casting process

Director Silas sat there with a cold expression on his face. He felt that today's casting for the film would not be as successful as he thought it would be. Many actors and actresses passed through that door, but no one pleased him.

Director Silas sighed and had his secretary call the next person. He started looking at the resume of the next actress, Heulwen Eudora. Her face made him quite impressed because it looked like someone but he still couldn't figure out who.

The deputy director realized the question director Silas had, so he turned to him and whispered to him. "This is an actress that many people say has a similar appearance to actress Selina Martha."

Director Silas received the information he needed and nodded. Then he flipped through documents about the films Heulwen had acted in. He was curious at first but quickly turned bored again. The roles Heulwen had taken on were exactly the same as Selina's acting path. Many people came here to audition for the lead role in director Silas's upcoming film. Therefore, he thought Heulwen would do the same or would choose supporting roles with innocent and gentle acting. Actually, everyone thought of director Silas.

Heulwen entered after being called by name. She took a deep breath and walked to the center of the room. Opposite her were the people who would make important decisions for the film. "Hello everyone, I'm actress Heulwen Eudora."

The deputy director nodded and said casually, “You can start. Let's act out the first and second scenes of the heroine."

As people began to prepare to scrutinize Heulwen's acting, she smiled softly and said slowly, "Perhaps there was misunderstood here. Today, I went to audition for the role of Esperanza Jocasta, the princess of the neighboring country."

Everyone was shocked and looked at each other. No one believed that a person who always accepted roles on the right side like Heulwen would choose a different path. In contrast, director Silas raised an eyebrow. He felt that Heulwen's audition would be very interesting. Director Silas never despised or refused to change an actor or actress because they could create a wonderful surprise.

“Are you sure?” Director Silas asked in a rather excited voice. After receiving a nod from Heulwen, he smiled encouragingly and said, “I'm looking forward to your performance. You can start.”

Heulwen nodded and started taking requests from the director. They wanted Heulwen to act out her confrontation with Andrey, the prince, and Janessa, the heroine, at the dinner table about political marriage. Heulwen briefly looked at the script even though she already knew the lines of Princess Esperanza. They wanted her to clearly show the two opposite sides of Esperanza; one was still gentle in front of Audrey, and the other was harsh with Janessa.

Props had been prepared for a long time. Heulwen sat down at the small round table and began to admire the cup of tea. When everyone was wondering how Heulwen would handle it, director Silas suddenly froze. Heulwen sat with her back straight and her legs slightly crossed to the side. Her hand gently rested on her lap and her other hand lifted the teacup. Her gaze changed. Director Silas shivered slightly at the feeling Heulwen gave him. It was as if she was born with the essence of a noble princess.

“Did Princess Esperanza sleep well last night?” A supporting girl's voice rang out.

Heulwen paused for a moment to drink her tea and put down her teacup. Then, she gently adjusted the teacup to match the pattern on the plate and said slowly, "No problem. All things are good here"

Then, Heulwen raised her gaze to the space in front of her. Her gaze made everyone feel that they were naked in front of her and could not hide anything. Heulwen's gaze momentarily changed to smiling eyes. She continued the script, “I still don't know the name of this girl, Prince Andrey. I don't remember you have a sister who looks like this girl."

Even though Heulwen was performing solo, the scene of a large dining table and the conversation between the three nobles were really present in front of everyone.

At this moment, Heulwen looked at Janessa's embarrassed gaze. She became curious about this girl who was not related to the blood of the royal family when she saw Janessa sitting across from her at the dinner table. Janessa glanced slightly in Audrey's direction as if asking for help. However, Andrey wasn't looking at Janessa and was enjoying the tea in front of him as if he wasn't the one to ask her to be with him. Because of this look, Heulwen felt quite interested in the secret relationship between the two.

"She's my close maid," Andrey answered Princess Esperanza's question.

Heulwen also slowly enjoyed the cup of tea. In Janessa's eyes, Heulwen and Andrey's actions were strangely synchronized and harmonious. This made her feel like an outsider.

“It seems you love her so much that you put her on the same level as a princess.” Heulwen caught a glimpse of Andrey's slightly stunned look so she showed irony in her eyes. Then, she frowned slightly and looked at the teacup. “Tea can make a person relaxed and serene.”

“Princess is right,” Andrey gave a light smile and looked at Heulwen. She saw Janessa's disapproval and felt the little devil in her heart jump up and down. Janessa saw that Andrey's cup was empty, so she made a habit of pouring tea for him. All these natural actions caught Heulwen's sight.

“However, if used too much, it will cause a lot of disadvantages. Initially, the tea leaves were very valuable, but when steeped in hot water, there was nothing left but a pile of scum. When we see them in the water, we used to love it and then we feel disgusted right away and take them out.”

Heulwen said softly and set her teacup down on the plate. In it, a tea leaf was emerging in the middle and receiving her hate. Janessa's hand holding the teapot was stiff in the air. She understood the deep meaning of Heulwen's words.

Heulwen looked at the trembling Janessa with a secret and disdainful look. Andrey listened to Heulwen's words and then raised his hand to stop Janessa's tea from pouring, surprising her. However, when Janessa looked up to see Andrey, she saw only sight of Andrey and Heulwen looking at each other with sweet eyes. Her heart constricted violently.

"Cut," the director's voice called out, waking everyone up. They felt that they had just returned from the old royal room to the modern one. They have seen movies starring Heulwen. They didn't expect that she could give them such a surprise today.

Director Silas was breathing heavily, showing that he was extremely excited. Many actors came to audition for the role of Princess Esperanza, a secondary role in the film. However, the feeling they bring to director Silas was an overbearing and somewhat stupid princess, who could only raise her voice and give orders to people with a lower status than them. Heulwen gave the exact opposite feeling. She was an educated princess who knew what to say and do. No matter who she was sarcastic about, she expressed it with noble and luxurious actions. The words were gentle and pleasant to the ears but brought poison to the listeners.

Another action of Heulwen caught the attention of director Silas. Princess Esperanza had a hard-to-break habit of keeping things organized and in a certain order. The slight twist of the teacup to match the patterns was scored in the heart of director Silas. A small action that no one noticed but depicted the character's personality. None of the actors noticed this except Heulwen. They purposely arranged tea cups like that to test the actresses’ level of role-playing.

The deputy director had been following director Silas for so many years, so he understood his director personality very well. The deputy director placed Heulwen's material through the lowest stack of documents. Heulwen broke out of the role. She bowed to everyone and walked out.

“I want her to play this role. What do you think, Charmaine?" Director Silas got excited and looked at the nearby computer. His words startled everyone. Wasn’t this supposed that Heulwen will have this role?

Charmaine sat in her office on the top floor of the building. He was attending the casting for the role through the screen. When Heulwen walked in, Charmaine felt that she was a bit familiar. He thought for a moment and then suddenly remembered what happened in the alley one evening. Charmaine wanted to suppress the smile on his face but couldn't. He covered half of his face with his hand and pretended to be thinking. He had just found an interesting girl who could help him with his upcoming plans.

“I trust the judgment of director Silas,” Charmaine threw the final decision to director Silas. He didn't think he'd spend a few hours of his free time and receive such awe in return. The later auditioners also did not arouse interest in Charmaine's heart even though their acting was not bad. He hung up the video call and called his secretary.

"You find out the actress Heulwen Eudora for me," Charmaine commanded and took the stacks of documents in Gideon's hand.

“Yes,” Gideon nodded but the next second he froze and looked at Charmaine in disbelief. For the first time, Charmaine asked Gideon to find out information about a girl, not to mention calling out with such excitement.

"What's wrong? What's your opinion?" Charmaine sensed Gideon's strangeness and looked away from the stack of documents.

Gideon pushed his glasses over his face and asked solemnly, “Are you sure?”

"Sure?" Charmaine repeated Gideon's words. “Is this difficult for you?”

"Not difficult. But I want to make sure you've picked the right person because this is the first step in a love affair." Gideon spoke solemnly as if Charmaine was facing an important choice. He looked at Charmaine's bewildered and confused expression then nodded, "I get it. I will bring her to you as soon as possible, oh sorry, document about her as soon as possible.”

Waiting for Gideon to come out of the room, Charmaine was still surprised. He felt like his secretary had misunderstood something but he didn't get a chance to explain. Charmaine ignored Gideon's distorted thinking and continued working.

On this side, Heulwen walked out with everyone's surprised eyes. The screen outside didn’t show the entire audition process inside the room, but it did show the person's name and the role they chose. Heulwen was not too famous in the world of artists, but not a few people know her. When they saw Heulwen cast the role of Princess Esperanza, they thought their success in accepting the role had increased this time.

Jade walked over and took Heulwen's hand to walk out of the casting. Heulwen didn't say a word because she felt Jade's anger. After getting in the car, Jade opened her mouth to ask Heulwen.

“Why did you choose that role? Do you want to retire from the acting world?”