The Birth of a New Acting School

Raul held the script in one hand while continuously wiping sweat with the other. The few pages of the script visibly trembled.

Aisha found it somewhat amusing and tried to reassure him. "Why are you so nervous? We're not going to do anything to you."

Raul gave a dry laugh.

That wasn't convincing at all, okay? Yulian was still twitching in the corner!

He tried hard to calm himself and focus on the script.

When he had signed up, he had figured that since he probably would not pass anyway, he might as well try for the lead role. So that was the role he had auditioned for.

To prevent candidates from performing the same scene, every actor auditioning for the same role drew a script excerpt.

For instance, Yulian had just drawn the scene where the protagonist fought zombies hand-to-hand in a station.

Raul's scene was one where the protagonist's group had been chased by zombies to a supposedly safe train carriage. The people inside refused to open the door, and one of the protagonist's companions sacrificed himself to buy time. In the end, after the door was forced open, the protagonist furiously beat down the person who had led the refusal to open it.

The part Raul needed to perform was the final segment, where the protagonist hit the man and demanded answers.

Anger—how was he supposed to portray anger?

The current mainstream method was to categorize characters into types, then establish standards for every emotion and action belonging to each type.

That method had grown increasingly extreme, to the point that whether an actor performed well was judged by how closely their performance matched those standards, rather than whether it felt real or emotionally compelling.

He did not like that.

Judging by how they had stopped Yulian's performance earlier, the judges clearly did not like it either.

If it was a contest of who best matched the standards, everyone in the Mixed Beast Troupe combined would still not compare to a background actor from Swan Castle.

He would do it his own way—the unorthodox approach that the city's actors mocked as crude and improper.

"Begin."

Raul repeated the lines one final time, set down the script, took a deep breath, and immersed himself in the character.

Anger. What would make him angry?

His daughter had been put in danger. It had not been an accident—someone had brought that danger upon her.

The dummy before him no longer seemed like a dummy. It became the person who had just put his daughter in danger.

Raul's gaze gradually sharpened.

No, that anger was too shallow.

The protagonist—me—had just escaped death by a hair. Exhaustion. Confusion over why the others had agreed to shut the door. Disappointment at their cold indifference.

What else was there?

A companion had sacrificed himself to buy time, and he had failed to seize the chance to save him.

Unwillingness.

Yes, unwillingness.

The outward anger was also a cover for the pain brought by his own helplessness.

Raul's expression turned savage and complicated. His eyes were fixed on the dummy, yet they were not focused on it. They even seemed somewhat vacant, as though he were scrutinizing himself.

He punched the dummy to the ground and gripped its collar tightly.

The sudden outburst made the surrounding crowd instinctively take half a step back.

His first line was a venting roar. "Why did you close the door?! Why?!"

He paused for a moment. Only his heavy breathing remained, tightening the atmosphere even further.

"You selfish bastard." There was helplessness mixed into the curse.

"They all could have gotten in." His voice was already trembling as he realized how useless his anger was.

"Why?" Anger and grief intertwined. His lips would not stop shaking, and his final question was so feeble that it was as if he were the one who had been knocked down by that punch.

The performance ended, and the venue fell silent.

The onlookers had all been stunned by what they had just seen. They had never witnessed a performance like that before and could not even judge whether it was good or bad.

But one thing could not be denied: his performance was far more impactful than anyone else's.

Raul emerged from his immersion in the role, and the audience's reaction made his heart race.

Was it good or bad? Say something already!

"Clap, clap—"

Applause broke out. It was Drogo.

After he gave his approval, Madam Flynn and Aisha joined in as well.

The members of the Mixed Beast Troupe came to their senses and began cheering and whistling enthusiastically.

Drogo was extremely satisfied. After watching a whole morning of performances stamped from the same mold, he had finally found one that made the dragon's eyes light up.

Judging by how completely Raul had immersed himself, he might even be a method actor.

"That was an impressive performance, Mr. Raul," Aisha said on behalf of the group. "The role is yours now. Congratulations."

"Phew."

Raul let out a breath of relief. He had thought that receiving this opportunity would make him wildly excited. Regardless of whether this so-called magic film succeeded, the lead actor's pay alone would be enough to improve his life. At the very least, he could send Marlin to a good school so she would not have to drift from place to place like him.

But now that he had truly secured the role, even more thoughts arose in his heart. His acting style had finally been recognized, and a sudden sense of mission filled him.

He wanted to perform this role as well as possible. He also wanted the magic film to become a massive success and for more people to see his acting. He was an actor, and he craved fame.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"No need to thank us yet. Is that little girl sobbing her eyes out over there your daughter?"

Raul turned around and saw that Marlin was even more excited than he was.

Her little face was already streaked with tears. She knew how difficult things had been for her father.

Raul picked her up and gently swayed her as he comforted her.

"May I ask," Aisha suddenly said, "is your daughter interested in acting?"

After being tormented for several hours by the exaggerated performances of the otherworldly academic school, Drogo decided to change his approach.

He would reject actors from famous troupes and instead seek out suitable people to play roles close to themselves.

It was not that those actors were unprofessional. On the contrary, they were too professional. It was simply that the direction their professionalism had taken was completely incompatible with what the magic film needed.

Furthermore, their foundations were too solid, and their habits had become muscle memory. They could not change in a short time, so after weighing the options, he had no choice but to give up on them.

Since professional actors would not work, he could only find people who could play themselves naturally.

At its highest level, method acting meant completely merging with the character to achieve an authentic effect.

So why not skip the process of experiencing the role and simply find actors who already fit their characters?

There had been works like that on Earth, where an unknown actor's performance crushed that of all the famous stars acting alongside him, because he was merely playing himself.

With that change in thinking, Raul's daughter naturally caught their attention.

They could even skip the step of cultivating a father-daughter bond with the protagonist.

As a result, the afternoon's recruitment went much better, especially for the Mixed Beast Troupe, which provided several roles.

A half-orc played the tough man who dearly loved his wife; he had once fought in underground bare-knuckle matches.

A subterranean gnome played a beggar; when he had first come to the surface, he had genuinely begged for food for several years.

A shapeshifter played the potion factory manager, though not because his experiences fit the role. It was simply because he could transform into Ragu Kulman.

Since that was the case, there was no need to limit their choices to those who had come to audition.

For the old sisters, they directly found a pair of goblin best friends who had known each other for forty years among their subordinates. For the baseball club roles in the original work, they invited the Spell Dodgeball Club from Spellcaster Academy. The conductor was even easier—the conductor of the Voyager came over during his vacation to earn some extra money.

Unfortunately, the Sutton Kingdom had not yet developed into a politically correct version of itself. Otherwise, with the racial diversity of the current Holy Mountain Journey cast, all sorts of awards would have been chasing after them.

After the actors were confirmed, each role's appearance had to be finalized. To enhance the realism of everyday life, everyone except the shapeshifter only made slight adjustments to their usual appearance.

At the same time, news arrived from Drogo Film Base Island that the sets were essentially complete.