Outstanding performance

"In my opinion, Charlie is an honest and kind young man. He is only a preparatory school student who dreams of studying at Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale to unfold his life. He is refined, gentle, energetic, and naive. This is a phase of exploration and he has some of his own ideas but they are not firm enough. At this age of uncertainty his worldview, values, and life philosophy are in the process of taking shape."

At this moment, Hugo stood in front of the four people and spoke confidently and eloquently. He no longer showed nervousness, not because he wasn't nervous anymore but because he was well-prepared and had enough confidence to express his views on this issue.

Hugo had a charm that was difficult to describe - energetic, confident, warm, yet humble and gentle. Ellen and others couldn't help but listen carefully to Hugo's words. As a screenwriter, Bo Goldman naturally had a deeper understanding of the character. He remained calm and collected, but only he knew he was listening attentively - his ears were sharp.

"This young man may not seem outstanding on the surface, perhaps just one of many mediocre students who could easily blend into the crowd. However, I also do not want to deny his excellence, not only because he is academically excellent, but also because of his inner kindness. This is also his most outstanding quality."

Hugo spoke out his understanding of the character Charlie in one breath, and after finishing, he unconsciously threw his nervousness to the back of his mind. "If you ask me to show a person's kind qualities within thirty seconds, I don't know if helping an old person cross the road counts. Other than that, I am powerless. If it's the character of Lt. Colonel, it's possible."

Allen was amused by Hugo's teasing at the end, and couldn't help but smile. "Do you want to try reciting a line of Lt. Colonel's dialogue? You seem to be prepared."

"Oh, no." Hugo quickly shook his head, took out the slightly worn script in his hand, and laughed awkwardly in front of the four people. Then he put the script back behind him. "I don't think I can perform better than Pacino, or more accurately, I don't think I can handle the character of Frank."

"Because of your age?"

"Not only because of my age, but also because my acting skills are not enough." After Hugo finished speaking, he showed a sincere smile.

"Why, don't you think you're a talented actor?" It was the director Martin who spoke, and his expression now seemed much more relaxed, and there was even a hint of a smile in his eyes. However, Hugo was completely focused on the audition question and didn't notice it.

"No, I don't think so." Hugo answered directly without much hesitation.

"Do you not know that if an actor lacks confidence in themselves, it will be difficult for them to convince others, even standing in front of the camera can become very challenging?" Martin lowered his head and looked at Hugo's resume, which detailed Hugo's trajectory after his debut in "Diner". Each of these works became Hugo's hallmark, allowing Martin to make an accurate judgment.

"Actors need confidence, but at the same time, they need to have a thorough understanding of themselves. I am not a person with outstanding acting skills, otherwise, you wouldn't be seeing me as the worst actor award winner in recent headlines, would you?" At this point, the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor had become Hugo's cover, concealing the fact that his soul had traveled through time. Before this, although Hugo had been an actor for five years, he had not received any formal acting training and relied entirely on watching movies and learning how other actors portrayed their characters.

"But I am willing to learn because I have enough talent, and I am also willing to put in the corresponding effort." Acting skills cannot be learned overnight, even for someone with great talent. Perhaps Hugo's current strength was still not enough, but that didn't mean that the Hugo of the near future would still lack strength.

Upon hearing Hugo's answer, Martin did not say anything further. His gaze remained fixed on Hugo's resume. The screenwriter Bo, who had been sitting next to them without saying a word, spoke up, "May I know what preparations you made for Charlie's audition?"

"As a matter of fact, I did prepare a monologue for the audition," Hugo's words once again drew the attention of the four people present, causing him to feel a bit nervous. Taking a deep breath, Hugo asked, "May I?"

Alan nodded and gave him permission.

Hugo knew that this was his moment to show off his skills. He had to display all of his current abilities. The scene he prepared for the audition was a short one where Charlie first enters the cabin and meets Frank Slade. It was very brief but it concentrated on showing Charlie's nervousness and inexperience as a student meeting an ill-tempered Lt. Colonel for the first time.

"Boss?" Hugo clapped his hands as a way of knocking on the door. After speaking, Hugo looked around and suddenly realized that Joseph had not followed him. Oh God, he was really slow to react, only realizing this now. If Joseph wasn't here, who would help him with the scene? Hugo couldn't help but feel regretful about his own confusion. It's likely that Joseph didn't get permission to enter the conference room, and he didn't even realize it.

Just as Hugo was hesitating whether to play both roles alone and finish this scene, Bo's voice suddenly sounded, "Don't call me boss!" Bo was already sixty years old this year, and his voice had many similarities with Al Pacino, although it was somewhat stiff and lacked acting skills. However, for this scene, it was already enough for Hugo.

Hugo immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and nervously and stutteringly said, "I'm, I'm sorry." Hugo's gaze passed over the heads of the four judges, deliberately shifting focus, and looking at the messy filming behind them. His eyeballs unconsciously wandered around due to nervousness. "I mean 'sir', not boss."

"Oh, we've got a fool here, haven't we?"

Such straightforward words made Hugo suddenly restless, he turned to look at the door, as if wanting to leave this place. He nervously wiped the sweat from his palms on the sides of his pants. "No, sir... um, this..." Hugo wanted to seek help from someone because he couldn't find an accurate term to address the other person, but there was no one else around. His gaze frantically looked towards Bo Goodman, who was helping him with the scene. "Um, Lieutenant, yes, sir, Lieutenant..."

"Lt. Colonel! I've served for twenty-six years, and no one has ever demoted me four levels."

Hugo's gaze involuntarily dropped, revealing confusion and helplessness. He slightly pursed his dry lips and stood in place, not knowing what to do.

"Come in, you fool!" Bo didn't know where Hugo's performance was supposed to end, so he continued reciting his lines. But Hugo raised his head and said with a slightly shy smile, "My performance is over." Hugo felt that this short performance was indeed a bit too short, unlike the audition for "A River Runs Through It".

Unlike the last audition, after performing the lines this time, Hugo felt a sense of exhilarating satisfaction. Today, after completing what seemed to be a very simple scene, Hugo seemed to have a faint understanding.

Acting is not just about making facial expressions and delivering lines. If you can not combine the emotions and expressions of the lines, what you present will only be a blank face. The reason why acting can make a character come alive is that the actor endows the role with vivid mediums such as lines, expressions, and body language, thus depicting the character.

In fact, Hugo had always known this. Watching so many classic movies was not just for fun, but he truly experienced this in his own performance until today.

For example, the scene just now, although it only had a few simple lines, it portrayed Charlie's honesty and kindness, including his softness when facing the strong Frank Slade and the tension he felt when making mistakes, even to the point of wanting to escape, but he chose to stay and continue making mistakes because of his sense of responsibility.

This scene presented Charlie's personality in the simplest way. This was also why Hugo chose this scene for his audition. Nervousness, awkwardness, and panic were present throughout the audition process, but it was not difficult for Hugo to get into the situation. From his performance just now, it was very impressive.

"Why didn't you show this performance from the beginning, given that the scene was only 30 seconds long?" Although he had to admit that Hugo's performance just now was very impressive, Ellen didn't get too excited and so she forced herself to calm down and continue to ask questions.

"Because I don't want you to think I'm a fool who's just here to waste time. I want you to know that I have seriously studied this character and found the most suitable performance to showcase Charlie's personality. I want you to know my efforts." Hugo spoke honestly and directly conveyed his thoughts.

This scene was not particularly difficult, and if Hugo had performed it from the beginning, he would probably have been kicked out in less than a minute, and Ellen and others would have thought he was lazy and insincere. However, now that Hugo had explained all his thoughts and then performed the scene, he accurately grasped Charlie's character traits, and the scene achieved a bonus effect.

"Have you ever thought that we might have asked you to leave before you performed this scene?" Ellen was not easily fooled and continued to inquire.

Hugo couldn't help but show a shy smile, but his gaze remained clear and firm as he looked at the four people in front of him. "No, actually I had prepared a different scene originally, which was about three minutes long. But when I came in and saw that I only had thirty seconds, I became very nervous. I knew that reading lines from the script wouldn't work, so...I had a sudden inspiration, and that's how we ended up here."