12 A Flying Moth That Darts Into the Fire (1/2)

”Isn't that guy tall and strong with an amicable face?”

After Rachel finished her sentence, Wang Yang turned his gaze to the entrance of the cafe. A tall man was walking into the cafe, wearing a light gray suit with a black tie. Although he was rather tall, he wasn't too muscular. Judging by his face, he should be in his early twenties—very handsome and amicable. Apparently, his look was a good fit.

”Nice look,” Wang Yang approved, nodding his head, ”but I'm not sure if he is here for the audition. He is all suited up.” In fact, among the 400 interviewees, no one had come to the audition wearing a suit. Rachel smiled and said, ”We are about to find out.”

”Let me see.” Mark Slate turned around and took a glimpse at that man. Then, he shook his head indifferently, ”No, no way. I bet he won't make it. As far as I'm concerned, besides Tom Hanks, nobody is good enough.”

Wang Yang rolled his eyes and refused to talk back. He just drank his coffee and looked at that man, who was walking toward his direction.

”Hi, excuse me. Are you the interviewers of the movie 'Paranormal Activity'?” the tall man asked with awkwardness on his face. Wang Yang didn't know the reason why this man looked so awkward, so he just nodded and said, ”Yes.” The tall man then smiled passionately and said, ”Haha, how are you guys? Nice to meet you all! My name is Zachary Levi, and I'm here for the audition.” Then, he turned to Mark Slate with a funny expression and said excitedly, ”Hello, Mr. director. How are you?”

Mark Slate got stunned for a little and spread his hands impatiently, saying, ”Do I look like a director to you? I'm not the director. That's the director over there.” He pointed his finger at Wang Yang.

”What?!” Zachary Levi was startled instantly and looked at Wang Yang in shock like he was seeing some terrible things. He said, with his jaw dropping, ”You are the director? Oh, my goodness. You are so young!” Mark Slate shrugged and said, ”Of course. He is, indeed, Yang.”

His shocked expression was pretty good! Wang Yang couldn't help complimenting him in his heart. This guy had a friendly face, which would make people feel amiable. If his frightened face was in a comedy, the effect must be very funny. However, if that expression was in a horror movie, the contrast would make the audiences feel even more nervous and terrified. And that's the reason why he insisted on choosing a friendly face.

Zachary Levi just stood there, frozen. ”Unbelievable. I just can't believe it! How could it be possible? I was born in September 1980. Who is older, you or me?”

Wang Yang smiled. ”I was born in February, so I'm a few months older than you. In fact, I find it hard to believe, too. You are the first person who showed up in a suit. You have no doubt made an impression.” Zachary Levi scratched the back of his head and said awkwardly, ”The truth is, I came here right after I finished working. I have this part-time job in a supermarket. I came here right after it, so I didn't get the chance to change my clothes.” Wang Yang nodded, meaning ”I see”. He clapped his hands and said, ”All right, let's stop the small talk and get to the point. Now it's the audition time. Have you brought your resume?”

”Oh, yes, yes.” Zachary Levi immediately pulled out a resume from his suitcase. The resume looked very old, which meant that he had been participating in these kinds of auditions for quite a while now. He handed over his resume to Wang Yang and said, ”This is my resume. Here you go.”

Taking the resume, Wang Yang began to read it. Zachary Levi was born on September 29th, nearby Lake Charles, Louisiana. Later, he moved from place to place with his family till, at last, he settled down in Ventura County, California. Since he was a little boy, he had started to perform at school and in the local theater. Singing and dancing were his strong suits. After graduating from Buena High School, he moved to Hollywood, LA, searching for opportunities to build his career. But for almost one year, all he obtained were some small roles.

Even the small roles could not be found every day. It was true that hundreds of movies were produced every year in Hollywood, but there were more than 200 thousand actors in SAG alone, not to mention there were even more actors who hadn't enrolled in any guild. If they divided the acting opportunities equally, there would be only 1 to 2 chances for each actor every month.

In order to make a living and stay in LA, a ”nobody” like Zachary Levi had to cut down the living expenses and find several part-time jobs.

As a matter of fact, Wang Yang and Zachary Levi were students in the same year and came to Hollywood almost at the same time. But the difference between them was that Wang Yang had become a student at USC, whereas Zachary Levi started to fight for his career. Of course, many of these kinds would flush in Hollywood every year. Many people had their acting dreams since they were little and performed some roles in school, but after graduating from high school, they didn't receive offers from any colleges. However, they were not willing to quit their dreams. Therefore, they would keep pursuing their dreams in Hollywood.

”Zachary Levi, let's say you and your girlfriend were watching TV on the couch. Suddenly, your girlfriend started to twitch every now and then, but she didn't even notice it herself. She kept watching the TV wholeheartedly and even laughed loudly.” After Wang Yang described the plots, he said, ”Witnessing this situation, you were so shocked and scared, so you shouted your girlfriend's name and shook her body. But she didn't respond to you at all and kept laughing loudly. Please act it out.”

”Oh, sh*t! In fact, I don't have a girlfriend!” Zachary Levi patted his forehead, feeling quite chagrined. Wang Yang pointed his mouth at Mark Slate and said, ”Let's say Mr. Slate beside you is your girlfriend.” Mark Slate rolled his eyes and said, ”Well, okay, but let me make it very clear; I'm not gonna twitch nor burst out laughing.”

Rachel smiled, showing her two dimples, and said, ”Or maybe I can do it. I'm glad to play the part.”

”No, no, no!” Zachary Levi waved his hand immediately in panic. He was undoubtedly captivated by this sweet girl with two lovely dimples. If she acted the role of his girlfriend, he wouldn't even be able to speak smoothly! Zachary Levi sat down beside Mark Slate and smiled dryly, ”Haha, Mr. Slate is good enough. Well, I'll begin my performance.”

All out of sudden, Zachary Levi's face was covered by fear. It was like he changed into another face. Staring at Mark Slate's face, he said, ”Oh, honey, what's wrong?” His face became more and more frightened as he shook Mark Slate forcefully. He said in a shivering voice, ”Oh, Jesus! My God! Julia, don't you scare me like this! Julia, wake up…” And then, he leaned forward to hug Mark Slate.

”Hold on, hold on!” Mark Slate pushed him away very quickly. He covered his chest with his arms and said, ”Buddy, I'm not gay!” Then, he frowned, ”By the way, who is Julia?”

”Well, Julia is Julia Roberts. I like her very much.” Zachary Levi smiled and blushed a little.

Rachel was amused by his words and said, ”Wow, Julia is amazing!” Then, she winked at Zachary and said, ”Great taste!” Zachary scratched his head shyly.

The performance was still a little immature, but Wang Yang could tell he had poured his heart in the role. Not bad… a tick mark emerged in his mind, and then he said, ”Let's try another one. In the middle of the night, your girlfriend awakened you, and you heard the sound of footsteps outside your bedroom, which caused you to be wide awake.”

”Okay, then I'll begin.” Zachary Levi closed his eyes and grumbled a few words before opening his eyes. He murmured sleepily, ”Oh, babe, what's wrong… what?” Then, he suddenly blinked his eyes and frowned tightly, leaning over to listen.

”Um, not bad.” Wang Yang nodded. In fact, his performance was quite average, lacking the escalations of the emotion. But overall, his performance was the best from the whole afternoon. It should be good enough for the role… He looked at Zachary, taking a deep breath, and slapped on the table, ”Well, you got it!”

Zachary was frozen, and his breath became more rapid. He shouted, ”Wow!” and couldn't believe what had just happened. He said unbelievingly, ”I'm the chosen one? I'm the chosen one?” Wang Yang nodded. Then, he burst into loud laughter frantically and said, ”Fantastic! This is just fantastic! Oh, thank God! Thank you, thank you so much…” He kept stuttering in ecstasy, shaking everyone's hand. At last, he swung his fist in the air and said, ”Oh boy! I am the leading actor now!”

Naturally, all of the customers in the café were disturbed by him, and some leered at him, shouting. Zachary smiled apologetically. ”Sorry, I just got a little carried away! I got the job!”

Zachary looked at Wang Yang with excitement. ”Director, when may I sign the contract?”

Before Wang Yang had the chance to speak, Mark Slate started to talk, smilingly, ”Actually, we can get to it right now.” He pulled out two contracts from his suitcase, one pushed to Zachary and the other pushed to Rachel. He first showed Zachary his SAG ID and said to him, ”In fact, I'm not quite optimistic about this movie, but 4,000 dollars for a week? Quite alluring, isn't it?”

”Yes, yes. This is great! And I love acting!” Zachary's face was so full of joy. He took the ID and contract and started to read. In the contract, it was clearly stated that he was hired as the leading actor in the movie ”Paranormal Activity”, the work period would last from one week to two weeks, and his salary was 4,000 dollars. He would receive half of the money before the project started, and the other half would be paid after the shooting.

The movie had the legal authorization to be released in movie theaters and in the form of DVDs. The actor hereby authorized the uses of the movie for purposes of publicity, and the publications would not infringe upon the actor's rights. The copyright owner was Wang Yang. He had all the copyrights to the movie.

”Okay, no problem!” Zachary went through the contract and couldn't wait to write his name on it.

Upon his signing his name on the contract, Mark Slate and SAG would receive a 10 percent commission, but meanwhile, he would also be under the protection of SAG. If Wang Yang also signed the contract and shot the movie, but refused to pay the salary to Zachary, SAG would take Wang Yang to court and safeguard the legitimate rights of Zachary.

Mark Slate finally smiled satisfyingly. Then, he turned to Rachel and knocked the other contract on the table and said, ”Rachel, I still think you need a short-term agent. Just take a look at this contract.” Then, he took out another set of IDs from his suitcase mysteriously and handed over to Rachel. He said, ”Actually, I have another identity. Oh, I'm not with the CIA. I'm just a licensed agent of CAA. With me and CAA watching over you, you Won't need to worry about any tricks from the young director.”

Wang Yang rolled his eyes and said, ”Come on, when have I ever wanted to play tricks?”

”CAA? Wow.” Rachel took the contract and ID and started to read carefully. CAA was also known as the Creative Artists Agency LLC, which was the most dominant agency in the United States. This document was not a contract for hiring an actor, but more served as a witness. She needed to pay 15 percent of her salary as commission so that Mark Slate, as a licensed CAA agent, would be entitled to protect her rights.

After Rachel carefully read the entire contract, she pondered for a while and nodded, ”Okay, looks good. I'll sign it.”

”Haha, I'll never let my commission slip through my hand!” Mark Slate laughed proudly. The 15 percent commission was even more than the 10 percent from SAG! He took a glance at Wang Yang with an annoying smile on his face.

Wang Yang felt a little depressed. After all, all of the commission was money out of his pocket! But anyway, it was worth celebrating to finally decide on the leading actor and leading actress. Therefore, after going through the two contracts, Wang Yang put his name on. Then Mark Slate signed the contracts as well and affixed his seal, which meant that the project of ”Paranormal Activity” had been officially launched and Wang Yang could no longer turn back!

The total cost of the two actors was 8,000 dollars, but Wang Yang only had enough cash for around 4,000 at that time. His money was enough to pay off the first half of their salary. When the shooting was over, he could return all the rental furniture, appliances, and the DV camcorder so that the 4,000 dollar deposit could cover the rest of the salary.

Just like that, besides the 10,000-dollar cost of making the movie, Wang Yang had less than 500 dollars as his living expenses. All of his paths had been blocked. He had only one choice—to make a great movie. Move forward, forward!

”Oh, Jesus! I'm crazy about this baby! MUMO…” Zachary frantically kissed his contract. When he made his contract wet all over, he finally put it down unwillingly. He cautiously put his contract back in his suitcase and happily said, ”I can't wait to share this great news with my family! I bet they'll be so happy for me! I can't wait! Director, may I leave now?”

”Sure, but let's first exchange our phone numbers.” Wang Yang took out his cellphone and exchanged his number with Zachary. He also wrote down his address and said, ”The shooting will be started tomorrow, and the location is my apartment. So please get up early and be there on time. There is no dress code; just put on your regular clothes like an average guy.”

”I got it, will do.” Zachary put away the paper with Wang Yang's address and then shook everyone's hand again. He smiled and said, ”Thank you, thank you! I'll hit the road now. Thank you…” He laughed, walking out of the cafe. Through the window, they saw him start running, swinging his fist and wiggling his body ecstatically, just like dancing.

”So it's all set.” Mark Slate started to pack his stuff and stood up, patting his suitcase. ”Okay, my mission is completed here. I'll have to head back to the guild to make a report. So long, young director. I'm looking forward to working with you next time.” He walked a few steps, then he turned around and said, ”By the way, your girlfriend is very beautiful. But anger will turn a lady into a monster. Good luck.” Naturally, Wang Yang rolled his eyes again because of what he had said.

After Zachary Levi and Mark Slate left the cafe, there was only Wang Yang and Rachel sitting at the table. They chatted for a while till five o'clock when the audition was over.

Wang Yang looked at his watch, exhaling long and hard. With a big relief, he said, ”It's done. What a victorious day!”

”Me too.” Rachel smiled and then suggested, ”Do you wanna grab a drink somewhere else?” She held up her contract, waving at him. ”I just earned four grand, so drinks are on me.”

”Sure!” Wang Yang agreed joyfully. Rachel and he were just talking about the relationships between movie and musical. The conversation had just heated up, so he was quite eager to continue this topic. What's more, the drinks were on her!

Sunset Boulevard was packed with bars. Wang Yang and Rachel had walked out of the Sweetheart Cafe fewer than five minutes before, and then already encountered this bar named ”Friend's”. This bar was a quiet diner bar with melodious classical music flowing out from the phonograph. Customers in small groups sat at the tables drinking wine. The whole atmosphere was very relaxing.

Wang Yang and Rachel sat down at a table by the corner. Because neither of them was 21 years old, they were only allowed to drink soda instead of alcohol. They drank their soda and chatted about various topics pleasantly, especially the topics related to movies and drama. Now, they were discussing the topic of musicals.

Musicals were no doubt one of the most distinctive genres in the movie industry and they played a significant role in movie history. For example, ”The Wizard of Oz” in the forties, ”Singin' in the Rain” in the fifties, ”My Fair Lady” in the sixties, and ”Grease” in the seventies. All of them were never-fading classics, which still led to the trend in the contemporary era.

However, in the recent one or two decades, the musicals had hit rock bottom for a while. Movies in this genre had been gradually forgotten. Musicals were also tagged as ”outdated” and ”obsolete”.

Rachel, in fact, was majoring in drama, which made her especially interested in musicals. In her opinion, musicals were one of the most unique performance styles, and they were very romantic. However, the status of musicals was going downhill. It seemed that Broadway was the only stage for it now, and the big screen had already abandoned it.

As a matter of fact, the topic for her paper this time was discussing the relationship between drama and movies and their prospects, and her focus was musicals in this research.

”Trust me, the genre of musicals will never be outdated. It keeps its vitality all the time.” Wang Yang affirmed, drinking his soda. ”Moreover, in my opinion, musicals will show their strength real soon.”

Rachel replied, rather intrigued, ”Oh? You really think so?” She shrugged and continued, ”Although I also believe musicals won't be always at the bottom like this, I am lacking evidence to persuade the others. It is highly possible that my personal preference clouded my judgments. Many of my classmates believed musicals are dead because they think the boring and tacky performance style doesn't suit this new era anymore.”

”No, that's absolutely wrong.” Wang Yang shook his head and placed his hand near his ear. He whispered, ”Listen, what do you hear?” Rachel frowned, leaning sideward and listening carefully. And then, she answered uncertainly, ”Music?”

Wang Yang snapped his fingers and fixed his gaze at the old-fashioned phonograph. ”Correct! Music, it is! Just think about it. In the whole world, is there any place without music? When you turn on the TV, you listen to music. When you drive your car, you listen to music from the radio. When you are at a bar, you also listen to music. Come on, will music ever be out of date? Also, in this entire world, is there any place without dancing? You dance at a party. You dance when you date someone. You even dance when you are excited.”

He laughed and made a conclusion, ”That's human. That's human nature. Music and dancing are like breathing, and they will never be out of date.”

Rachel agreed with Wang Yang's opinion and said, ”Yes, you are right. But…” She was very confused and continued, ”But I still have no idea about how musicals should be promoted. What should we do to revive the genre?”

Wang Yang pondered for a while, then said, ”I always believed that movies are an extremely inclusive medium. No matter if it's a musical or a puppet show, movies can include them all. Nowadays, the situation of musicals is indeed not ideal, but that's only because they haven't found the right direction.” He looked at Rachel and laughed. ”But, by the way, your classmates' opinion also makes sense. The boring and tacky performance style doesn't suit this new era anymore.”

Rachel paused. Just now, Wang Yang said musicals would never be out of date, but now he also agreed with her classmates. What was going on? She shook her head and smiled. ”I don't understand. What do you mean?”