Henry's Acting Masterclass

Charlize looked at Henry with surprise. "You can teach me acting? Have you ever taught anyone?"

With a smug smile, Henry said, "Little girl, don't underestimate me. Although I've never taught anyone, I have many ways to help. You just need to let me prepare."

So, has anyone ever praised your acting skills?

"Everyone who's seen it says I don't seem to be acting. What do you think?" Henry said smugly, hands on his hips, head tilted back.

In fact, it was a dark chapter in his history that he didn't want to recall. Back when he was helping Mutants fight aliens, who would have thought that Clown-Sup was acting? Who wouldn't have thought that Clown-Sup was genuinely insane?

But there's no need to say those things.

Charlize found it strange. "What If...? that's the case, why don't you continue developing your career in Hollywood?"

Henry's initial smugness turned into a helpless sigh. Henry pointed to his face and said, "I've asked a lot of agents, and they all say I don't have a photogenic face. If I go to Hollywood, I might have to endure twenty years of playing supporting roles before I can make it big."

"No production company would dare to gamble on me if I wanted to play the male lead. So tell me, what's my reason for continuing? I'm not the kind of person who loves acting, and it's the only way I can make a living."

"Did anyone say that about you?" Charlize was quite surprised.

"Oh, do you think I'm pretentious?" Henry was overjoyed and laughed happily.

"No, they're right. You're nowhere near as good as Tom Cruise."

After a great rise, a great fall naturally follows. Henry lowered his head sadly. "Okay, I know all that, you don't need to emphasize it."

"But you're still pretty cool in certain moments, my hero." Charlize rested her chin on her hand, looking playfully at the man whose expressions were constantly changing.

This pleased Henry again, and he made a shrug, pouty, and smug face.

Charlize slapped Henry across the face with a look of disgust and then pushed him away with a laugh.

Henry, holding the girl's hand and giving it a kiss, got back to the point. "Anyway, my method is very simple: watch movies with outstanding actors and learn their acting techniques."

"Then I'll get a camera and record your performance. Then we'll adjust the gap between what you think and what you actually do. We'll figure out how to achieve the same performance as the actors in the movie."

"Ultimately, actors are judged by their performance in front of the camera. First, you need to be photogenic and not awkward on camera; then you can focus on what role you're playing and how well you can embody it. What do you think of this training method?"

Charlize couldn't find fault with Henry's method either. Starting with imitation and accumulating experience in a near-real-world way was far better than watching performance textbooks and memorizing texts.

Performance is an art of expression, not a field where simply having a large amount of knowledge can determine the winner.

So Charlize nodded seriously. Although she didn't say anything, you could feel how much she valued it.

Henry continued, "But it's not enough to just focus on acting skills. To become a good actor, you have a lot more to work on."

"You need to study some psychology to understand what kind of behavior appears in what kind of people, the meaning of their micro-movements and micro-expressions, and where to focus your observations and attention."

"You also need to spend more time reading and understanding the background of a character. This way, you can easily portray behaviors that fit that character."

"Finally, there's the issue of accents. If possible, you should train yourself to learn more accents to suit different characters and backgrounds."

"People say the United Kingdom accent is popular mainly because it's the London accent used by the upper class. There's no need to deliberately learn those accents from the United Kingdom countryside; there are plenty of variations here in United States."

"In the United States, the most beautiful accent is generally considered to be from the Great Lakes Region. But most people still speak the New York accent from the East Coast, or the Los Angeles accent from the West Coast, or the cowboy accent from agricultural states like Texas."

"But I believe you have no problem with that. Your English is very fluent and standard, and it's hard to tell where your accent comes from. Unless you say it, who would know that your native language is actually Afrikaans?"

Hearing Henry say all this only dampened Charlize's confidence. She stammered, "I have so much to do. When will I ever have a real chance to perform?"

Henry quickly explained, "No, no, no, what I'm saying is that if you want to pursue an acting career, you must constantly improve yourself and strive towards that goal. However, you should also continue your acting work at the same time."

"This is to enrich your resume, accumulate experience, and, more importantly, build your reputation in this industry. These things..."

It's something we do together. There's no Reason in saying we have to be fully prepared before taking the next step.

"You might audition dozens of times and not get a single acting role. That's the norm in Hollywood. So you can't wait; you have to start now. If you just wait, the opportunity will go to someone else."

She had to study, attend auditions, and work odd jobs to support herself. Charlize never considered giving up those temporary jobs and relying on Henry to support her.

Although the upcoming schedule will be busy, at least we can see a glimmer of hope for the future, instead of the darkness and uncertainty of the past.

Charlize extended her hand to Henry. "So, from today onwards, you're my agent. When shall we sign the contract?"

Gently fiddling with the soft yellow fabric extended before him, Henry gazed at the beautiful woman before him. "This matter can't be done so quickly. I need to register with the Actors Guild for authorization before I can act as an agent."

"Only then can we sign a contract, and then help you find a job and negotiate with others. By the way, speaking of which, have you registered as a member of the Actors Guild yet?"

Charlize shook her head regretfully. "I heard it doesn't cost a lot of money."

Henry rubbed his forehead, utterly exasperated. "It's true we want money, but it's not a lot. What's John thinking?"

I don't think he ever intended for you to become an actress in the first place.

Looking at the girl's complicated expression, Henry said, "Anyway, come see me tomorrow. We'll go to the Actors Guild together."

I'm requesting authorization to act as your agent; you're logging in as an actor.

"I'll cover the expenses first, you can owe me the rest. Whether or not you're registered with the Actors Guild is very important to many film crews. Besides providing you with security, it can also save these crews some trouble."

"Otherwise, if something goes wrong, you'll have to go through the trouble of seeking compensation from the production crew all by yourself, which is very troublesome. The production crew will also be afraid that you'll ask for exorbitant prices and disregard the rules. So, unless it's a production crew with inherent problems, most people will prefer to use members of the Actors Guild."

"Okay." Charlize compromised, indicating that she accepted Henry's next arrangements.

"You've had a lot going on today. Go to sleep early. Get some rest, and tomorrow will be a new beginning."

This time, however, Charlize shook her head in protest. She flipped over and straddled Henry. Looking at the man she was holding in her arms, she revealed a cunning Vixen -like expression and said, "Round two." Then she started kissing him again!

This is a case of getting addicted; women can be terrifying.

Kitty, sprawled on the cat tree, realized that the female two-legged creature had once again overpowered the Krypton two-legged creature. In her mind, the female two-legged creature was now ranked higher than the Krypton two-legged creature, and then higher still. Meaning, that female was someone not to be trifled with.

Kitty understood. She flicked her tail and continued to close her eyes to rest.