Chapter 126: Mastery

The little beauty's name was Hannah Liu, and she was the only student among the auditionees who didn't have a boyfriend. Seeing that Leon Chen seemed clueless about acting, she kindly helped him with some last-minute acting tips.

From analyzing the emotions in the lines to expressing body language, Hannah explained everything thoroughly.

Initially, Leon just wanted to go through the motions, but seeing her so enthusiastic, he felt embarrassed to be inattentive. Hannah's guidance was quite vivid. She didn't overwhelm Leon with too many acting concepts because, ultimately, acting boils down to one thing—getting into character. If you have the heart, you can get into character. If not, no matter how hard you try, it's difficult to act well.

As Hannah's guidance went deeper, Leon began to feel a strange sensation. The script's lines seemed to come alive, deeply imprinted in his mind. The words arranged themselves in a fascinating way, and gradually, Leon developed an indescribable understanding of the script. It was as if the words disappeared, and he entered the world of the script, everything becoming clear.

The boys and girls around found Leon's meditative state amusing, not believing he could instantly grasp and act out a character's positioning and understanding.

"It seems pretty simple," Leon suddenly said, smiling.

"It sounds simple, but to get it right, to make the character entirely real, is not as easy as it sounds!" Hannah shook her head, thinking Leon was making a novice's common mistake.

"Maybe," Leon said noncommittally.

In the following time, Leon pondered Hannah's acting advice. It was a strange experience; it felt like every cell in his body was filled with the art of acting. When he looked at the bizarre script again, suddenly, Leon had a transparent understanding of the characters. The male lead seemed to become him, from his self-satisfaction to his despair and joy.

It was as if his life had new memories. Truly incredible.

"Sob…sob…" A low crying sound came.

Leon snapped out of his strange feeling, seeing Hannah with reddened eyes, on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked, sweating.

Hannah shook her head, covering her mouth.

At that moment, someone outside called, "Number eighteen, number eighteen for the audition!"

Leon responded, seeing that Hannah seemed fine, and walked into the audition room.

The H University students were puzzled. "Hannah, why are you crying?"

"Did Leon do something to you?"

Hannah shook her head, feeling better as she wiped her eyes and looked at Leon through the window. "I don't know, I just felt like Leon was in so much pain, it made me feel sad."

The students were drenched in sweat.

"Do you like him?" Henry Sun asked with his mouth open.

Hannah shook her head again. "No, it's just that Leon's feeling was so strange that I couldn't help but enter his world."

The drama students were stunned. They knew that the world's top actors could make the fake seem real and make others believe it too.

"It feels like getting into character," Hannah said, wiping her tears as she looked at Leon with admiration.

No way!

That computer science student?

They were speechless.

Leon entered the audition room, which was about a dozen square meters with a long window on the wall that allowed a view of the outside. Three judges, a woman and two men, sat casually behind a desk, chatting.

A girl walked out from a side door. She was beautiful, stylish, with a tall, slender figure and long flowing hair, but her expression was cold, giving off a lady-of-the-house aura.

She glanced at Leon and then looked away.

Seeing the two come in, the three judges casually glanced at them.

The man in the middle pointed with his pen to a red box on the side, "Draw your audition topics."

Leon drew a slip: "Love turned to hate."

The girl drew a slip: "Confronting a cheating boyfriend!"

After checking the topics, the man said, "You have five minutes to think about your topics."

Each sat on a chair opposite each other. "Love turned to hate?" It sounded simple. Leon didn't know why, but the feeling of acting came naturally, and he quickly had an idea. He looked at the long-haired girl opposite him.

She frowned, looking troubled.

Five minutes passed quickly.

The long-haired girl was to perform first.

They stared at each other, the girl's eyes still cold, making Leon worried for her.

"Action," the female judge called out.

The girl's cold expression suddenly filled with sorrow and bitterness, a look of resentment in her eyes.

The three casually watching judges showed a hint of amazement as Leon and the girl instantly got into character, seeming like a real couple.

Leon had initially wanted to go through the motions, but when the action call came, his soul seemed to transform, becoming the playboy.

"Why?" she asked painfully. "I loved you so much, gave you everything, why did you lie to me?"

No one expected that Leon, playing the playboy, would look so desolate, as if he had lost all will to live. Tears filled his eyes but did not fall, adding to the sad atmosphere. "I think it's time for me to go… because I can't allow myself to hurt your happiness, even though I always believed I could give you the most happiness…"

The girl showed a fleeting look of surprise.

Two minutes later, the girl hugged Leon, crying in his arms, while the three judges were in shock, their eyes moist with tears.

According to the initial understanding, when confronted about his infidelity, the playboy should have shown his frivolous and disdainful side. But Leon turned it around, using sweet words to convince his girlfriend, showing the playboy's nature even more profoundly.

The three judges put away their disdainful expressions.

After a while, the girl let go of Leon and returned to her cold demeanor, but her eyes were now wary and a bit different when looking at Leon.

"Your name is Leon Chen? A computer science student at H University?" the man asked, looking at the form.

Leon nodded.

The three judges exchanged looks, eyeing Leon strangely, perhaps wondering if he was a real-life playboy.

"Now it's your turn," the man said.

"Okay. Can you sit on the chair?" Leon asked the girl.

The girl was puzzled but complied.

Leon stood by the door, about ten meters away. Now, not only the girl but also the outside students and the judges were confused, unsure what Leon was doing. After all, it was hard to express hatred from such a distance.

As the call to begin was made, Leon's eyes immediately showed infinite tenderness, filled with memories of the past and love, enveloping the girl across from him.

The girl stared at Leon, feeling a pain in her heart.

What followed was a silent exchange. Leon gazed at the girl with love, as if an unbridgeable ocean separated them.

The heart, so distant!

Then, Leon's love turned to pained struggle, a feeling of his heart being torn, falling into a nightmare where reality and illusion blurred. He felt unprecedented fear, the pain of permanent separation mixed with the release of finally being free from a long torment. These feelings made Leon feel tired and weary.

At that moment, Leon looked up...

Everyone understood Leon's intention.

White Noise!

White Noise, according to theory, is acting without acting. It's not difficult but not simple either. It involves two concepts: one where the actor doesn't consciously act for the film's plot but achieves the plot's effect, usually with third-party help. The second is where the audience, through the film's plot, feels the character's emotions without the actor showing specific expressions, akin to the Kuleshov effect, where editing leads the audience to infer the protagonist's feelings from a blank expression.

The most famous example of zero-degree acting is Greta Garbo in the 1933 film "Queen Christina." In the final scene, the sorrowful queen, discovering her lover's death, orders everyone away and stands at the ship's bow, her expression causing much audience debate.

The challenge of zero-degree acting is making a blank expression full of emotion.

Leon perfectly achieved this.

Everyone was drawn into his inner world, feeling joy for his love and pain for his hatred. His gaze conveyed more than words.

The girl stood up, reaching out as if to stop him.

But Leon opened the door and left angrily.

The girl collapsed back onto the chair, weeping in regret.

Perfect!

Absolutely perfect!

The three judges stood up, applauding. It was flawless.

"You're both in!" the man said excitedly.

"Oh, and that student can come in now," the man said, calming down with tears in his eyes, smiling.

The girl also woke up, looking at her hands in disbelief.

A long time passed, but no one came in.

The man was puzzled, got off the table, and opened the door to see the students outside, all moved to tears, but the boy was missing.

"Where is he?" he shouted.

"Huh?"

Everyone was confused.

At that moment, in the elevator, Leon was speechlessly looking at his palm.

This was insane…