A Gifted Performer

Xu Xiu looked utterly confused.

Seeing that Director Hou had no intention of speaking, Ma Wei realized that the burden of explaining the scene had fallen on his shoulders.

Director Hou probably wanted to see what he could do, too.

Ma Wei calmly began:

"First, I'd like to praise Lin Chuan's opening performance."

"Didn't you feel that something was a little off about Lin Chuan's crying?"

Xu Xiu nodded.

Ma Wei continued, "Actually, that awkwardness is what makes it feel real."

"Good acting comes from within, then works its way outward, and from the outside back in. Lin Chuan's performance felt real because he truly had that sadness in him. He was just holding it back.

"Anyone who's been through it probably knows that when someone is genuinely sad, it's actually very hard to keep their emotions under control."

It was like asking someone who could deadlift 200 kilograms to lift 50.

Fifty kilograms was still heavy, but compared with 200, it was little more than a warm-up.

Xu Xiu's face reddened a little. That was exactly how she'd been when her students had made her cry.

She knew that continuing to cry would be embarrassing, but she just couldn't stop.

Now that she was remembering the whole thing, her toes curled up on their own, as if she could dig a hole in the floor with them.

Still, Xu Xiu couldn't help admiring Lin Chuan's skill.

After all, he was only a sophomore. Most students in his year would struggle even with an ordinary crying scene.

And Lin Chuan had managed to act it while holding back.

Seeing that Xu Xiu understood, Ma Wei glanced at Director Hou. He noticed the unmistakable fondness in the way Director Hou looked at Lin Chuan.

The chances of Lin Chuan transferring to the acting department might be slim, but Director Hou could always resort to some kind of persuasion.

Maybe he'd send a few female students his way, or offer some other perks.

You could never be too wary of a cunning bandit.

So Ma Wei changed tack and praised Lin Chuan's talent for directing instead.

Ma Wei went on, "Next, I'd like to praise how cleverly Lin Chuan set up the story."

"Lin Chuan plays a young man who's desperate and wants to kill himself.

"He rents a room by the hour so he can die quietly somewhere no one will know about. That tells us he isn't the sort of person who would use suicide to get attention.

"But even his attempt to kill himself doesn't go smoothly.

"He rents a room to die in, only to be harassed by the landlord over the phone and told to pay extra for the room. He takes sleeping pills and reaches for some water, only to find that a bottle costs ten yuan. He goes downstairs to pay for the room, but collapses and is rescued by the landlord.

"And the landlord doesn't save him out of pity. He's just afraid the man will die in his apartment and cause trouble.

"Lin Chuan didn't use an emotionally charged performance to spell out how miserable the protagonist's life was.

"Instead, he made the audience laugh while guiding them to realize how dire the protagonist's situation was.

"In just one simple scene, the audience subconsciously understands that the protagonist is a nobody on the margins of society, an insignificant little man."

Xu Xiu nodded. After hearing Ma Wei explain it, she finally understood that Lin Chuan's performance was far more complex than she'd thought.

His acting was remarkably nuanced, and he had a real instinct for it.

In an instant, Xu Xiu stopped seeing Lin Chuan as just a handsome student and began seeing him as a talented young man.

Director Hou added at just the right moment:

"Lin Chuan's pacing was excellent, too.

"In the first few seconds, when he was crying, the audience looked down on him, while also wondering why he was crying.

"Then, when Lin Chuan took the sleeping pills, his movements were exaggerated. He grabbed a big handful and shoved them into his mouth.

"That wasn't how someone usually took sleeping pills to kill themselves. It was more like a little kid stuffing candy into their mouth.

"That performance put a comic spin on something as heavy as suicide.

"Then Lin Chuan heard the phone ring. That was a very ordinary, everyday moment.

"Professor Ma, as a counselor, I'm sure you can relate, right?"

Ma Wei felt a shiver of sympathy.

As a counselor, he really did have a fear of phone calls.

A call from the emergency room in the middle of the night meant a student had fallen ill and been hospitalized.

A call from the police station meant a student had been arrested.

A student getting carried away by romance might threaten suicide in the middle of the night.

Getting scammed into a pyramid scheme was the mildest case. Some students had even been tricked into going abroad and nearly had their kidneys stolen.

Director Hou continued, "The sudden phone call, the landlord's demand for payment, the ten-yuan bottle of water—these everyday details will make it easy for young viewers to relate.

"I've been to internet cafés before. Even the instant noodles there cost more than they do in a shop.

"What makes Lin Chuan so good is his control over the audience's emotional distance from him.

"He can move effortlessly between two states.

"In one, he's a young man in a desperate situation, with nowhere to turn and nothing left to live for.

"In that state, Lin Chuan deliberately keeps his distance from the audience and uses comedic techniques to make them laugh.

"In the other, he's an ordinary, unremarkable young man.

"He winces at paying ten yuan for a bottle of water, thinks the phone is too loud, and complains about the landlord's rent notice.

"That's when the audience sees him as an embodiment of themselves.

"Because in that moment, Lin Chuan is performing a situation, an experience, a predicament that's common among young people today.

"After building that emotional connection with the audience, Lin Chuan doesn't push it any further. He collapses, and the landlord rushes in to save him.

"As Professor Ma said earlier, the landlord didn't save him out of pity. He was afraid the man would die in his apartment and turn the place into a haunted house.

"That pulls Lin Chuan away from the audience again, without them even realizing it. They can sit safely back and enjoy what happens next without worrying about being morally judged."

"My definition of the character Lin Chuan portrayed is this: wretched, but not simple."

When Director Hou finished, both Ma Wei and Xu Xiu nodded.

His analysis had been sharp and perceptive, with each point laid out clearly.

No wonder he was the head of the acting department!

After hearing all three of them analyze his performance, Lin Chuan felt much like Teacher Xu Xiu.

It was a little awkward.

Not quite enough to make him want to dig a three-bedroom apartment with his toes, though.

He didn't think his performance had reached the heights his teachers described.

And there was something decidedly odd about Director Hou's solemn expression as he analyzed Lin Chuan's acting.

That face of Director Hou's would be better suited to analyzing the undergarments of young women.

Lin Chuan could understand, though. The three of them were teachers, after all, and they hadn't acted in a long time.

Teachers in Huaguo might be the species on Blue Star most fond of overanalyzing things.

Lin Chuan decided to go along with it.

"I owe it to all of you, teachers. I've learned a lot from you, and my senior, who acted opposite me, helped me a great deal, too!"

That one simple sentence managed to make all four of them feel appreciated.

There was no need to mention Director Hou. Lin Chuan had already told him how much he liked his performance.

As for his counselor, Ma Wei, he was also one of Lin Chuan's teachers and had taught him acting.

Xu Xiu, meanwhile, thought Lin Chuan had drawn inspiration from the time her students had made her cry.

And the landlord had been played by Lin Chuan's senior, Tian Yu.

He wasn't well known outside the industry. Many years ago, his then-girlfriend had wanted to star in a film with some particularly risqué scenes.

Tian Yu had strongly opposed it, but to no avail. In the end, the two of them broke up.

Tian Yu's acting career had never really taken off.

His former girlfriend, on the other hand, had long since become an internationally renowned movie star.

The previous scene had starred Lin Chuan and Tian Yu, but everyone had praised Lin Chuan.

Standing off to the side, Tian Yu had felt pretty awkward.

Now, Lin Chuan had subtly given Tian Yu some credit, instantly changing his situation.

Even Director Hou couldn't help commenting, "Tian Yu really is a fine actor. I almost thought he was a real landlord."

Tian Yu smiled and played along, then sent Lin Chuan a grateful look.

In truth, Lin Chuan had only said one simple thing.

But it had unexpectedly produced an extraordinary result.

It wasn't that he was especially skilled at handling social situations.

The reason, at its heart, was the prevailing culture in Huaguo.

People in this land always gave geniuses a little extra consideration.

And Lin Chuan, whom they regarded as a genius, naturally enjoyed that special treatment.

As for Lin Chuan, he was getting ready to shoot the next scene.

The scene that had just won everyone's praise had been nothing more than an ordinary performance for him.

After receiving Stephen Chow's Comedy Character Creation Techniques,

Lin Chuan's understanding of acting had risen by leaps and bounds.

Stephen Chow had once been hailed as the uncrowned king of comedy.

He had brought nonsensical comedy to new heights.

His acting talent, however, had been overshadowed by his astonishing gift for comedy.

Hong Kong director Chen Jia Shang once revealed in an interview that Stephen Chow was the most incredible actor he had ever met.

It was during the filming of The Royal Tramp.

They had run into a problem.

Su Qier went to take the imperial military exam, defeated every opponent, and won the title.

But at the last moment, someone exposed the fact that he couldn't read a single character.

The emperor asked him to write his name, and he couldn't.

One moment he was the top martial arts candidate; the next, he'd been stripped of his status and reduced to a commoner.

Before the exam, he'd been the son of Guangzhou's general, a powerful and privileged golden boy.

Afterward, he'd nearly ended up behind bars, with all his wealth carted away.

One moment, you watched him build a grand mansion; the next, you watched him feast with guests; then you watched his house collapse.

Chen Jia Shang couldn't figure out how to express such complicated emotions in a single shot, even after pulling out all his hair.

With no other choice, he spoke to Stephen Chow and asked him for a shot that conveyed dejection.

Stephen Chow looked toward the camera and asked Chen Jia Shang where he wanted him positioned.

Chen Jia Shang said he wanted to create a sense of emptiness.

So Stephen Chow climbed onto the opium bed and began singing a traditional ballad.

Years later, Chen Jia Shang described how that moment had affected him:

"His performance left me stunned. That was the loneliest moment of all."

"You wouldn't expect the depth of his loneliness to come from neither wailing at the heavens nor sobbing."

"The ballad had a touch of anguish to it."

"As he sang, I watched him through the camera and saw a truly gifted actor."

In The Royal Tramp, what Lin Chuan saw was Stephen Chow's understanding of character.

In A Chinese Odyssey, what he saw was the strength of Stephen Chow's technique.

He could switch between several expressions in a single second, and make it all look completely natural.

That was what it meant to have a solid foundation in acting.

After acquiring Stephen Chow's Comedy Character Creation Techniques, Lin Chuan had absorbed all of Stephen Chow's comedic talent.

His understanding of characters had improved, and his acting was just as strong.

And he could maintain that peak level at all times.

Someone who could run a hundred meters in 9.85 seconds couldn't necessarily keep doing it for their whole life.

But with the system's help, Lin Chuan could maintain his peak condition every moment of every day.

What was more, Lin Chuan had also acquired Christian Bale's Rubber Man Talent.

As for controlling his facial muscles, he could say without exaggeration that he ranked among the top ten on Blue Star.

So even after all his teachers had praised him, Lin Chuan didn't let it go to his head.

He was also eager to give it a try.

Lin Chuan thought, If that last scene was an excellent performance, what would happen if I gave it everything I had?