"In my opinion, Charlie is an upright and kind young man. He is just a preparatory school student who dreams of getting into an Ivy League school like Harvard or Yale to start his life. He is elegant, gentle, and energetic, yet also naive. It's an age where he is exploring the world. He has his own ideas, but they aren't firm enough. It's a volatile age where his outlook on life, values, and worldview are in the final stages of taking shape."Hugo stood before the four people, speaking eloquently. The nervousness he felt before entering the conference room was completely gone—not because he wasn't nervous anymore, but because his thorough preparation had given him enough confidence to speak at length about this topic.This version of Hugo possessed an indescribable charm: energetic, confident, and warm, yet without losing his humility and gentleness. In the eyes of Allen and the others, they couldn't help but listen intently to Hugo's words. As the Screenwriter, Bo Goldman naturally had a more profound understanding of the character. There was still no expression in his calm eyes, but only he knew that he was listening carefully; his ears were quite sharp."Such a young man might seem unremarkable on the surface. Perhaps he is just one of the many mediocre students, the kind you wouldn't be able to find if you threw him into a crowd. But at the same time, I don't want to deny his excellence—not just in his studies, but because of the kindness in his heart, which is his most outstanding quality."Hugo poured out everything he understood about the character of Charlie in one breath. After finishing, his nervousness was forgotten before he even realized it. "You want me to demonstrate a person's kind qualities in thirty seconds? I don't know if helping an old person cross the street counts, but other than that, I'm helpless. If it were the character of Colonel Slade, that might be possible."Allen couldn't help but smile at Hugo's final quip. "Then would you like to try performing a line for Colonel Slade? It looks like you're already prepared.""Oh, no, no." Hugo quickly waved his hand, accidentally revealing the slightly tattered script in his hand to the four people in front of him. Hugo smiled awkwardly and put the script back behind his back. "I don't think I can perform better than Pacino. To be precise, I don't think I can handle the role of Colonel Slade.""Because of your age?""Not just age; my acting skills aren't good enough yet." After saying this, Hugo showed an honest smile."Why? Don't you think you are an Actor with outstanding skills?" It was the director, Martin, who spoke. His expression now seemed much more relaxed, and one could even vaguely see a smile in his eyes. However, Hugo was so focused on the audition questions that he didn't notice."No, I don't think so." Hugo answered directly without much hesitation."Don't you know that if an Actor has no confidence in himself, it's very difficult to convince others? It even becomes difficult just to stand in front of the camera." Martin looked down at Hugo's resume, which detailed his career path since his debut in the little diner. Each of these works had become a mark for Hugo, allowing Martin to make an accurate judgment."Actors need confidence, but at the same time, they must have a full understanding of themselves. I am not an Actor with outstanding skills; otherwise, you wouldn't see me in the newspaper headlines recently, would you?" At this moment, the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Actor actually became Hugo's cover, hiding the fact that his soul had traveled across time. Although Hugo had been an Actor for five years before this, he had never received formal acting training, relying entirely on watching movies and learning from how those Actors portrayed their characters. "But I am willing to learn because I have enough talent, and I am willing to put in the corresponding effort."Acting skills are not built in a day, even for the most talented people. Hugo might not have the skills now, but that doesn't mean Hugo won't have them a year from now.Hearing Hugo's answer, Martin didn't say anything more; his gaze remained on Hugo's resume. Bo, the Screenwriter who had been sitting quietly on the side, spoke up at this moment, "Then may I know what preparations you have made for the audition for the role of Charlie?""Actually, I did prepare a set of lines for the audition." Hugo's words caused the four people in front of him to focus their attention on him once again, which made him feel a bit nervous again. Hugo took a deep breath and asked, "May I?"Allen nodded, giving his permission.Hugo knew that this was the moment to show his strength; he had to demonstrate all the ability he currently possessed. The scene Hugo had prepared for the audition was the part where Charlie first enters the cabin to meet Colonel Slade. It was very short, but it concentrated on showing the panic and naivety of Charlie, a student, when he first met the short-tempered Colonel."Sir?" Hugo clapped his hands to simulate a knock on the door. After saying that, Hugo looked left and right, suddenly realizing: Joseph hadn't followed him in. God, he really was slow to react; he only noticed this now. If Joseph wasn't there, who would help him run the lines? Hugo couldn't help but feel annoyed at his own absent-mindedness. Presumably, Joseph hadn't been granted permission to enter the conference room, and he hadn't even realized it.Just as Hugo was hesitating whether to play both roles himself and continue the scene, Bo's voice suddenly rang out, "Don't call me Colonel!" Bo was already sixty years old this year, and his vocal quality had quite a few similarities to Pacino's. Although his voice was slightly stiff and lacked acting, it was enough for Hugo to run the lines.Hugo breathed a sigh of relief. He said, feeling a bit nervous and stammering, "I, I am sorry." Hugo's gaze passed over the heads of the four judges, deliberately avoiding focus, looking at the cluttered shooting area behind them. His eyes darted around unconsciously due to nervousness. "I meant'Sir', Colonel.""Oh, they brought in an idiot, didn't they?"Such blunt words made Hugo immediately become restless and uneasy. He looked back at the door, seemingly wanting to leave this place. He nervously wiped the sweat from his palms on the sides of his pants. "No, Sir... that, uh, this..." Hugo wanted to find someone to help him because he couldn't find an accurate term to address the other person, but there was no one else around. His eyes looked frantically at Bo Goldman, who was helping him run the lines. "Uh, Lieutenant, yes, Sir, Col...""Colonel! Twenty-six years of service, and no one has ever demoted me four ranks."Hugo's gaze involuntarily dropped, revealing confusion and helplessness. He slightly pursed his dry lips and stood there stiffly, at a loss."Come in, idiot!" Bo didn't know exactly where Hugo's performance ended, so he continued reading the lines. But Hugo looked up and said with a slightly shy smile, "My performance is over." It was such a short performance; Hugo felt it was indeed a bit too short.Unlike the last audition for a river runs through it, after finishing the lines, Hugo felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. Today, after performing this seemingly very simple scene, Hugo seemed to have some vague realizations.Acting is not just about making expressions and reciting lines. If you cannot combine the emotions of the lines with expressions and convey them together, what you present will only be a paralyzed image. The reason acting can make a character come alive is that the Actor endows the character with vivid mediums like lines, expressions, and body language, thereby outlining the character.Hugo had actually always known this; watching so many classic movies wasn't for nothing. But it wasn't until today that Hugo truly realized this in his own performance.For example, in the scene just now, although it looked like just a few simple lines, it expressed the honesty and kindness of the character Charlie. This included his softness when facing Colonel Slade's dominance and not daring to fight back, as well as the nervousness he felt when he kept making mistakes, and even the thought of running away, yet choosing to continue standing there because of his sense of responsibility, and then continuing to make mistakes.This scene used the simplest way to present Charlie's personality. This was also the reason why Hugo chose this scene for the audition on the spot. Emotions like nervousness, stiffness, and panic were always present during the audition process, so it wouldn't be that difficult for Hugo to get into character. Judging from his performance just now, it was quite outstanding."This scene is only about thirty seconds long, so why didn't you show it from the beginning?" Although he had to admit that Hugo's performance just now was quite impressive, Allen didn't get overly excited; he forced himself to calm down and continued to throw out questions."Because I didn't want you to treat me like an idiot who just came to mess around. I wanted you to know that I had seriously studied this character and found this performance that best suits showing Charlie's personality. I wanted you to know about my efforts." Hugo told the truth, directly and honestly expressing his thoughts.This scene was actually not very difficult. If Hugo had performed this scene right from the start, he would likely have been kicked out in less than a minute, considered lazy and insincere by Allen and the others. But now that Hugo had finished explaining all his thoughts and then performed this scene, accurately capturing the character traits of Charlie, this scene achieved a bonus effect."Then have you thought about what would have happened if we had let you leave before you performed this scene?" Allen was not that easy to fool and continued to ask relentlessly.Hugo couldn't help but reveal 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 originally prepared another scene, about three minutes long. But after coming in, because I was too nervous and you only gave me thirty seconds, it made me a bit anxious. I thought, reading lines while holding the script definitely wouldn't work, so... in the end, I had a sudden inspiration, and then we ended up here."
