To Gu Qingqiu's surprise, the number of people who came to audition the next day dropped sharply, perhaps because they were frightened by the scene the day before.
There were only five people auditioning for the female lead role; they were drawn by lottery to enter the room for the audition.
Gu Qingqiu drew number three, while the Best Actress drew number two. Gu Qingqiu felt immense pressure, and her palms were constantly sweating.
Number One entered the room first and came out ten minutes later. He didn't look too good, so things probably didn't go well. He left immediately without waiting for anyone.
Gu Qingqiu wasn't sure if her mindset was too cynical, but she was still somewhat happy to see one less competitor.
Then the actress who drew number two calmly entered the room. Gu Qingqiu's hands trembled slightly as she began to read the lines she already knew by heart over and over again. As a result, the actress did not come out of the room for a full half hour.
The expressions of contestants number four and five sitting opposite Gu Qingqiu were clearly anxious. Seeing their expressions, Gu Qingqiu calmed down a bit.
Another ten minutes or so passed before the actress opened the door and came out, her expression calm and revealing no emotion.
Upon seeing this, Gu Qingqiu's heart skipped a beat. Logically speaking, if an audition can last this long, it should indicate that the other party is quite satisfied with her.
Before they could even prepare themselves mentally, the crew members were already urging them, "Number three can come in for the audition now."
Gu Qingqiu took a deep breath and walked into the audition room. There were more than a dozen people sitting inside. Being scrutinized by so many people at the same time was indeed a test of her mentality.
Gu Qingqiu first introduced herself, and then waited for the other party's requests and instructions.
The producer spoke first, "Gu Qingqiu, your performance yesterday was excellent. The director and I are very satisfied with you. To be honest, if nothing unexpected happens, you can choose either of the two supporting actress roles you auditioned for. Even so, do you still want to continue auditioning today? Aren't you afraid that a bad performance today will affect our impression of you?"
Gu Qingqiu remained composed and dignified. "Thank you, but I still want to give it a try. If my performance today affects your judgment of me, then to some extent I am indeed inadequate, and I accept the consequences."
A man wearing sunglasses spoke up, “Let me tell you in advance, we have invested a large sum of money, so we will not compromise. Although there are only five people participating in the competition for the female lead today, it does not mean that we will definitely choose the female lead from among the five of you. If any of us have any objections, we will discuss it again or even look for a more suitable candidate.”
Is this a show of force?
Hearing this, Gu Qingqiu felt a little relieved. It seemed that even the Best Actress award winner hadn't necessarily secured the role, otherwise the other party wouldn't have said that.
The director spoke first: "Tell me about your understanding of the character."
This could be considered a lucky guess. Gu Qingqiu had specifically discussed similar questions with Xiao Yiming beforehand, so she calmly and methodically explained.
After listening, the director looked thoughtful. "You were able to extract so much information from the first five episodes of the script, which shows that you spent time and effort and have a certain understanding of the characters. Some descriptions don't match the female lead's later character development, but it's good that you dare to express your opinions. Many people are afraid of making mistakes and always use vague descriptions when describing characters, making the protagonist's image indistinguishable from the crowd. I don't like that. Your approach is quite interesting."
"Thank you." Gu Qingqiu breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that she had passed the "literary test," and the next step should be the "martial test."
Sure enough, the producer immediately said, "According to your own understanding, portray how the female lead should act when she has a crush on a royal physician."
This is completely different from the script I received for the first five episodes! And the character of the imperial physician didn't even appear in the first five episodes.
Although the request was completely beyond Gu Qingqiu's expectations, she quickly realized what was going on and took action.
Gu Qingqiu moved a chair from the corner to the center of the room and sat down very elegantly, her hand dangling in the air as if leaning on something. Then she made a tea-serving gesture, extending her wrist to the air on her left and said, "I have been feeling unsettled lately. Could you take a look at me?"
Then, she stared intently at the upper left, and after a moment said with a hint of coquettishness, "Did you look carefully? This Empress..."
"Cut!" the director shouted. "Act out what it's like when you really like someone but have to pretend you don't."
Gu Qingqiu readily complied, immediately pulling her left hand back and making a slamming motion with the air teacup she was holding, shouting, "Useless trash! You can't even cure this little ailment! If anything happens to my health, I'll make your entire Imperial Hospital pay with their lives!"
"Cut!" the director shouted.
Gu Qingqiu immediately stopped all her movements and expressions, and stood up straight to wait for the result.
The dozen or so people opposite them whispered among themselves for a while, and then a man with a thick beard said, "Let's perform the second scene of the third volume of the script and the eighth scene of the fifth volume of the script."
Phew... These are indeed two important explosive scenes in the first five episodes.
Gu Qingqiu had practiced many times and performed the role very smoothly.
This time, the director's eyes revealed obvious appreciation. "Alright, go back and wait for our call."
"Thank you, everyone, for your hard work." Gu Qingqiu bowed. "But may I ask when the results will be available? This might affect my subsequent work arrangements."
The producer was somewhat surprised. So many people had begged and pleaded to get a role in this big project, but Gu Qingqiu seemed to be acting as if getting the part would be great, but not getting it meant there was always a backup option. It was quite interesting.
"We will notify you in about one or two weeks."
After receiving the answer, Gu Qingqiu thanked them again, then walked out of the audition room and gently closed the door behind her.
Seeing Gu Qingqiu's calm expression, Number Four and Number Five became even more nervous. "Why did you come out so quickly?"
Less than ten minutes had passed between Gu Qingqiu entering the room and leaving, and judging from her expression, the outcome seemed to be alright.
Gu Qingqiu had already listed the Best Actress award as her biggest contender, but she still comforted contestants number four and five, telling them not to be nervous and to just express their true thoughts and perform according to their own understanding. She also acknowledged that she had made some mistakes, but they wouldn't have a significant impact.
Hearing Gu Qingqiu say that, the two of them obviously relaxed a lot, and then Number Four was called into the audition room by the staff.
Gu Qingqiu didn't linger either, but rushed back to the film set without stopping.
She still had a few scenes left to film, and today she took a day off under immense pressure, promising the production team an extra three days of filming time in addition to the contract, before she was able to leave smoothly. She also wanted to finish filming as soon as possible so she could fly to see Xiao Yiming.
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