The Greatest Showman

Chapter 3:

"Please stop at the entrance of the theater."

Renly retracted the chaotic thoughts, said to the cab driver, and after the car pulled up and he paid the fare, Renly walked down quickly.

This road is a thorny one, a road with an uncertain future, a road where even a moth to a flame may not succeed, as George said, there are countless people who want to become actors in this world, but those who can really succeed are very few and far between.

Looking up, the cloudless sky was crystal clear, the golden sunlight spilled through the baby blue sky unhindered, and the towering, dense steel forest on New York's Manhattan Island did not stop the restless heat from blooming proudly on the solid ground, making people dizzy.

Renly exhaled a long breath, leaving all thoughts behind, striding into the hall, standing at the end of the line, joining the ranks.

Rami Malek tugged at his collar, trying to catch more fresh air, to relieve the tension and anxiety in his chest, but he soon found out that it was in vain.

The roar of engines from the street windows, the raucous shouts of passers-by, and the deafening sound of street performances can be faintly heard at the crossroads...... restlessness, countless stirrings, swarming agitation, like the release of a dam from the vents, the dust dancing under the sun as if caught in a hurricane, and a violent and turbulent attack.

All this is in stark contrast to the silence of the hall, suffocating.

Rami could not help but take another deep breath, lungs like a bellows whirring, but to no avail, the oxygen absorbed seems to be insufficient to keep the brain functioning. He felt like he was going to pass out.

Today was the fifth and final day of auditions for the cast of the drama "The Pacific".

Although "The Pacific" is only a TV series, but it can be called a dream opportunity for every new actor to audition for just like the classic "Band of Brothers" on HBO. "The Pacific" is the sister series of the classic "Band of Brothers", the most expensive series in history, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg...... every factor is highlighting the importance of this series, it almost can be said to be a nail-biter destined for success.

Similar to "Band of Brothers," " The Pacific" forgoes long-established actors and casts a large number of new, third or fourth-string actors. Using "Band of Brothers" as a reference, there are at least a hundred characters with lines, and the core cast is in double figures, which means not only a great opportunity, every actor will get a fair chance; but this also means more intense competition, perhaps one in a hundred, or even one in a thousand.

On the entire North American continent, there are more than 400,000 actors registered in the union, and less than ten percent of them are able to find regular work. What's more, "The Pacific" is such a great opportunity, no one wants to miss it. Rami is no exception.

He is already twenty-eight years old, he has been in Hollywood for nine years, he even starred in "Night at the Museum" and such a commercial masterpiece, but his career remains unimpressive. Now, what he needs is a breakthrough, a breakthrough to make progress in his career. He hoped that " The Pacific" could be a stepping stone.

When the tension is extreme, Rami can't help but start shaking his legs, he knows it's a bad habit, but he just can't help himself, such unconscious little movements can distract some of the attention, so he at least doesn't suffocate himself.

"Pop," came a gentle tap on the shoulder, Rami's muscles instantly tightened and he turned around violently, while also taking a half step backwards, as if he were a frightened rabbit.

Then Rami realized he was so nervous that he overreacted, and saw the embarrassed rawness at the corners of the other party's mouth, his cheeks could not help but burn up slightly. The young man standing behind him, had the appearance of a college student, sparse sunlight gently sprinkled down, penetrating that blonde brown slightly curly short hair, under the dappled reflection can be vaguely seen as if a long sword sheathed long narrow eyebrows, high straight nose transmit an aura of heroism, forehead down a few strands of lazy and messy hair, vaguely outlined a touch of sparse, like a clear lake above the dense curl of the water mist.

"Ahem." Rami coughed lightly twice to hide his embarrassment, "Uh ...... Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

"...... Sorry." The young man exhibited an apologetic smile, the lazy voice was like a cat, with a hint of huskiness in the midst of lightness, "Please forgive my rudeness." The standard London, British accent with a charming elegance, gentlemanly manners between the inadvertent leakage of a trace of childlike innocence, the afternoon sun has become bright.

Rami waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, I overreacted." Thinking back to the emotions that had tensed up to the point of almost breaking, Rami was a little embarrassed and raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, not knowing what to do with it.

The young man, however, casually shrugged, the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile, "I just wanted to inquire, how much time did each group take finish their auditions?" The young man pointed to the group that was beginning to shorten in front of him, signaling that Rami should move forward.

Rami tugged at the corners of his mouth in chagrin, and hurriedly took a few steps forward to keep up with the line, and then turned back again, the young man in front of him did not seem nervous at all, but on the contrary, also seemed a bit too free and easy, white collarless shirt with lake blue suit, pants attire has a taste of French down-and-out artists, which made Rami a bit envious, "a group of five people. On average, each group takes about ten minutes. However, the last group entered about fifteen minutes ago, I guess someone was selected, so the audition time was longer." The worry in his words inevitably leaked out, and the tension once again grabbed his heart.

The young man gave a bright smile and patted Rami's shoulder, "Don't worry, this chance belongs to everyone, and only you can decide the outcome." That natural flow of confidence and openness, allowing Rami's inner irritation to calm down a little.

"The next group is getting ready." A staff member's voice came from the door, rambling, "You wait at the door, I will open the door later, you will give me your information, and then enter in order and walk to the center of the stage. Next, the casting director will give you instructions, and you will follow them. Attention, please don't make any noise! Stop shouting!"

"There should be three more groups before it's our turn." The young man nodded to Rami, walking up the last step, looking ahead, casually rolling his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, raising his hand and combing back the loose hair that fell in front of his forehead, that inadvertent actions nevertheless had a unique style/flowing charm.

It was only then that Rami realized that the young man was really too tall. He was five feet nine inches (175 cm), but he was still more than half a head shorter than the other side, who looked at least six feet two inches. (One hundred and eighty-seven centimeters), the two of them were standing on the stairs just now, and he was on the upper one, so he couldn't feel it. Now that the two of them were completely on the same plane, Rami couldn't help but flinch a little over the imposing figure.

Seemingly sensing the change in Rami's mood, the young man turned his head to look over and gave a friendly smile, which made Rami look the other man in the eye for the first time, the pair of narrow eyes hidden under the handsome sword eyebrows, dark pupils like the sea after a storm, deep and vast.

The young man extended his right hand in a polite greeting, "Renly Hall, it's a pleasure to formally meet you."

"Rami Malek." Rami found himself actually a little clumsy, panicked to shake the other party's right hand, he is not a fledgling rash, but standing in front of this young man, the kind of quiet elegance to break the bonds of time and he had a kind of illusion, as if he was the new actor who had not yet graduated from college.

The concept of time seemed to lose its meaning in the tense moments. Not knowing whether ten, or thirty minutes had passed, the doors opened once again, and it was finally their turn to go on stage. Rami's brain seems to be a bit dead, simply too late to react, he raises his right hand to shake it in an empty way, as if to say: the opportunity is always in our own hands.

The corners of his mouth rose before Rami realized, he turned his head and kept pace, hastily handing over his personal details to the door staff, and the other actors in the same group entered the gate in a fishtail, followed closely by the young man.

Following the procession, the queue walked up to the stage, the entire empty theater in full view, large red and navy blue decorated with a solemn space in the dignified, cumbersome carvings and luxurious chandeliers that shows the splendor of the past.

In front of the stage, in the third and fourth rows sit a small group of people, about a dozen, tall, short, fat and thin, they are the decision makers behind the scenes that control the fate of the actors; the lights on the audience did not open, only a table lamp glow to support a small window for vision, at the edge of the circle of light one can see a square-faced man is whispering and communicating with the bearded man next to him, it is Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg!

Unexpectedly, these two top bigwigs of Hollywood have actually personally appeared in today's audition stage, which is definitely a huge surprise.

Generally speaking, the audition stage has a casting director, assistant director and executive producer, which is enough, the really big name producers have other jobs to keep them busy, especially Tom and Steven who have a full schedule of work throughout the year like the top of the pyramid people. Sometimes, even if the whole scene is completed, the actors do not see those top producers.

This also means that today's audition is not just for "The Pacific", if you can impress Tom and Steven, then the road ahead is open for anything!

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Translator Question of the day - Did you watch "The Pacific" and if you did, did you like it?

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