The Best Director

Chapter 175: Actually, I am an actor

Early in the morning, breathing the fresh air, Wang Yang, dressed in casual sportswear, held the leash that tethered Danny as he walked across the verdant lawn of the park. He would occasionally grimace because Danny’s pulling caused a bit of pain in his right shoulder. The fight from yesterday had indeed been exhilarating, but it also left him with some minor injuries. Aside from Daniel Wu’s fists, he thought he had gotten a bit slack with his boxing practice in the past six months.

After all, he was busy fighting for every second. In the past few months, editing “District 9″ had him sitting all day, every day except for half an hour of morning exercise. He also hadn’t been smashing into that firmiana tree in the backyard to train. Bajiquan is akin to fighting with your life on the line; if you don’t maintain the hardness of your body, using techniques like charging and eating hits would end up with you getting hurt as now, injuring the opponent a thousand and losing nine hundred yourself, but initially it was just eight hundred.

Danny, don’t suddenly charge and then stop. It looks like I need to buy an extendable leash…” Wang Yang hadn’t finished speaking when Danny, who was running, suddenly stopped and started spinning around in place. That familiar pose… He chuckled and said, “Oh, buddy, you’re not going to relieve yourself here, are you? Why change spots?” Danny, unable to wait, lifted his tail and squatted, and Wang Yang hummed and looked away, gazing at the clear sky with drifting white clouds.

After confirming that Daniel Wu and Rachel would respectively star as Jeff Ma and Beverly Griffin, he had essentially completed the preparatory work for “MIT-21-TEAM”. The selection of other actors was entrusted to other producers, along with the early setting up of the crew; the script required further discussion and revision with Ben Mezrich and the real Jeff Ma.

Though not set in stone, Daniel Wu’s salary was roughly 500,000 US dollars, which was already quite generous compared to his earnings in Hong Kong; pop idol Rachel with 3.5 million, and superstar Natalie with 7 million, both were stars favored and pursued by the MTV awards, which meant they had considerable box office appeal among teenagers and could single-handedly support a youth soap opera film with an investment under twenty million.

If “MIT-21-TEAM” had been a commercial film by another production company or director, they might not have accepted the offer, especially with such ordinary paychecks; but this was a Flame Film production, directed by Miracle Yang.

Danny, having relieved himself, comfortably stretched his hind legs and then walked to the side and sat down, quietly watching his master. Wang Yang smiled and patted its head, taking a pre-prepared plastic bag from his pocket and bending over to dispose of the smelly stuff on the lawn. Naturally, this was something he had to do every morning when walking the dog, and walking the dog was an essential part of his life.

Danny was Jessica’s darling, and had long become his treasure as well. The man and dog first met at a birthday party in ’98, when it was just over 2 years old, and now it was 6. Wang Yang had walked it more than three hundred times, and when at home, it wasn’t always he who walked it; sometimes it was Jessica, or they’d leave it to Joshua when traveling, or to a personal assistant when both were too busy.

Talcing a bag of natural fertilizer to a nearby trash can, Wang Yang tossed the bag in. He suddenly noticed not far off a white man with black hair walking a large group of dogs and couldn’t help but give a second glance, guessing the man was a professional dog walker. He’d done this kind of part-time job when he was still studying at USC, having walked up to ten dogs at once, of course, some were small breeds.

The man was tall, dressed in a white T-shirt and black shorts, with a buzz cut and quite a handsome face. He also noticed Wang Yang, his light brown left eye and light green right conjured focus. He tugged at the leashes of the eight dogs he was holding and turned, pulling the dogs as he caught up to Wang Yang, calling out, “Excuse me, wait a moment! Mr. Wang, wait a moment!”

What’s up?” Wang Yang stopped, puzzled, and turned to look back, only to see a flock of dogs rushing over. Danny excitedly wagged his tail and leaped with a bound. But Wang Yang realized the man looked very familiar. Blinking, he thought for a moment, and couldn’t help but laugh when he recognized the charming man.

Hello, Mr. Wang,” the man with the buzz cut approached, keeping a distance that prevented the dogs from reaching Wang Yang. He had a faint smile on his face, his free left hand digging in his pocket, his voice filled with a pleasant magnetism. He stretched his hand forward and handed Wang Yang a business card, saying with a smile, “Actually, I’m an actor. Here’s my card, Wentworth Miller.”

Wentworth Miller… Wang Yang looked at the name and contact information on the front of the card, then flipped it over and checked the back, which contained personal data and acting experience: “Born 1972-6-2,1.87 meters tall… Performances: 1999 ‘Future Life’, Nelson; 2001 ‘Room 302’.” He grinned and raised the card, saying, “Buddy, I’ve got it, nice to meet you.”

Miller gave off a very friendly smile, knowing it was not uncommon to meet celebrities in Beverly Hills. Some of the owners of his dogs were famous people, or executives from television stations, or production companies. He’d been in Hollywood for nearly seven years and knew quite a few bigwigs, having chatted with countless of them at auditions. But it was of no use, audition after audition, it was always “I’m sorry, you’re not right for the part.”

Having been in Los Angeles for seven years, he had worked all kinds of odd jobs and participated in over 400 casting calls, averaging four times a month, once a week. His last performance was in the 28-minute short “Room 302” shot in 2000, where he played a minor role. The man in front of him was Miracle Yang, whom he was seeing in person for the first time. He had auditioned for a soldier in “District 9” but was eliminated in the first round by the casting director.

He tried to make light of it and said with a laugh, “I auditioned for an MNU soldier in ‘District 9¹, almost became splattered flesh.” He took a deep breath, not wanting to beat around the bush, and said directly, “Mr. Wang, if there are any auditions that might be suitable for me, could you contact me?”

MNU soldier auditions? Why didn’t I see you, did Cally eliminate you?” Seeing him nod with a smile, Wang Yang frowned slightly. Miller’s physique was perfect for a soldier; if he had to be eliminated, it was probably because he was a bit too handsome, his face lacking the roughness. But what about the character of Michael Scofield? Miller excelled in the original “Prison Break”, and Wang Yang had no complaints about it.

While putting the business card in his pocket, Wang Yang smiled and said, “There’s one now. We’re preparing a TV series called ‘Prison Break’, you’d be perfect for the lead’s appearance and aura, Wentworth. Interested in doing an audition?”

Although he knew that Miller was truly a perfect fit, and his acting would probably not pose any issues, he couldn’t just decide on the male lead for “Prison Break.” Since this was a TV series and not a movie, it was his first foray into TV production, and he lacked a proven track record that could instill absolute trust in others—success on the big screen did not guarantee an easy transition to the small screen.

It was common for a season of a TV series to have more than a dozen producers and 5 or 6 directors and scriptwriters, each referred to as a “principal creator.” “Prison Break” was no exception. Different tasks were delegated to the busy producers, while the scriptwriting team made revisions and additions, and the directors’ team crafted the shots and style, like gears in a precisely running machine.

There were also people from NBC, the network that had ordered the series, collaborating with the principal creators in supervising and producing “Prison Break.” Even though he had initiated the project, it didn’t mean that as Wang Yang or some famous director, he could decide everything on his own; it was not feasible. Even a minor role required mutual communication and collective approval, let alone the male lead.

Otherwise, if everything were up to you, even if you were an investor, why would well-known producers and directors take the risk of creating a flop, working alongside you? And why would the network want to buy it?

What!?” Miller was inevitably stunned—auditioning for the lead role?! He had attended auditions and tried his luck before, but most of the time he didn’t even get a ticket to enter because in the producers’ hearts, he wasn’t even considered an actor. No one would invite him to audition for a lead role; it wasn’t common for big productions to hold open calls for leads. You audition at your level, and the chances of success are actually higher that way.

Therefore, he spent years sending out resumes, waiting for contacts, attending auditions for supporting roles in big movies, lead roles in independent films, and notices from the actors’ union, seizing every opportunity he could, and now…

Really?” Miller couldn’t help but catch his breath and asked, “Mr. Wang, you said…” Then he realized, don’t worry if it’s a joke, make it a reality! He immediately broke into a grin, his eyes crinkling with a smile, and said, “Mr. Wang, thank you! I know ‘Prison Break,’ and I’m very interested! What time, what place?”

Meanwhile, the dogs that had been forced to stay put were becoming restless, particularly the white Labrador Retriever across from him that was freely turning around.

After thinking it over, since the audition was already scheduled, Wang Yang said with a smile, “How about this afternoon? MAN, you look great, and I can’t understand why I haven’t seen you on the big screen yet. Is there a problem with your acting?” He shrugged and joked, “As if every actor on screen now is an Oscar winner, but never mind that.” He seriously added, “As long as you put on a decent performance at the audition, you’ll be the male lead, I’m telling you.”

Oh!” Miller nodded, somewhat at a loss for words, having never heard a director speak to him that way before—he was always told, “You’re not good enough.” While he was dazed, a sudden powerful force tugged at the leash he was holding, almost causing him to stumble forward and fall. With a vigorous pull, he grabbed the leashes and yelled, “HEY! Settle down!”

Seeing the dogs getting out of control, Wang Yang hurriedly blew a few sharp whistles, and the dogs immediately quieted down, their ears perking up. He said with a laugh, “You can’t just force them, you’ve got to redirect their attention. I used to be a dog walker when I was in college.”

I usually only walk two or three at a time,” Miller said, wiping his forehead. He had previously walked pets for his boss, and had only started taking jobs at a dog walking company in the last few days. If this pack of dogs lost control and pounced on the amazing director, he didn’t know if he would still have this audition.

Each additional dog causes a different chain reaction due to varying breed and personality; you also need to consider your shoulder and arm control…” Wang Yang shared his experience, but as he spoke, he felt a twinge of pain in his shoulder. He couldn’t believe that even walking a single Danny could be so difficult! Shaking his head with a smile, he said, “Let’s continue walking the dogs! I’ll contact you later, the audition’s in the afternoon.”

After that, he walked ahead toward the open run area where the impatient Danny immediately brightened up.

Miller continued walking the Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Dalmatians, and the other eight dogs, occasionally smiling to himself as he watched Wang Yang walk away.

PS: There are fewer words today; I’ll rest early and continue next week! Actually, it is already the new week today, sweat, I ask for some recommendations, can everyone throw them to me, to get on the city genre list? Even the tail end is fine, thank you very much! (To be continued, for