36 Its a Deal (1/2)

After getting the shots he wanted for the audition, Wang Yang poked his head out sideways from behind the camera to look at Jessica standing just a few feet away. ”Now it's time for the acting portion of the audition,” he informed with a smile.

”Sure.” Jessica took a quick, subtle breath to calm her nerves. The key to any audition was the acting prompt. She had to nail it.

Wang Yang pretended to be coming up with the acting prompt so that Jessica had time to compose herself. After taking a few deep breaths, Jessica was finally relaxed. Wang Yang looked at her and proceeded to give her the prompt, which he had devised earlier. ”You've just overheard a conversation between your boyfriend and his friend and found out that he's just playing you. He was never serious about you and he never really loved you. You are crestfallen, your heart is broken, you're almost breaking down. Please show us how it's done.”

As of late, Jessica had been honing her acting skills tirelessly. But great actors were not made in a couple of days. She furrowed her brows, thrust her lips out, and squeezed her eyes, mimicking, to the best of her understanding, the face of a girl who was about to cry. It was unrefined. Amateurish. Clumsy.

Watching her from behind the viewfinder, Wang Yang dissected her performance quietly. Jessica had demonstrated a basic repertoire of emotions that one would associate with sadness. But for a practical aesthetics actor, her performance was found wanting. It lacked the panache, the subtlety, and the depth required to truly bring a character to life. And for a method actor, her performance was not convincing enough. She was acting, and it showed.

Practical aesthetics acting focused on the experience of acting itself and was based not on the character but the actor. A practical aesthetics actor must approach a role with clarity and objectivity. He must analyze the scene and orchestrate his routine accordingly before taking it to the camera. The actor was divorced from the emotions experienced by the character. When the actor cried, he did not feel sadness in his heart. Although just like in any other form of acting, when a practical aesthetics actor would invariably get into character, he did so with a sense of control. He was above the mind of the character, not within. Like a puppeteer, he pulled with intent and precision the strings of the actor, guiding his performance.

Method acting, on the other hand, emphasized the practice of connecting to a character by drawing on personal emotions and memories. To the camera, the actor and the character were one, and everything the method actor did came from a place deep within the heart and not the head. To help themselves get into character, many actors of this ilk would take a walk in the character's shoes. For example, Robert DeNiro spent months working as a taxi driver, picking up customers and driving through the streets of New York so that he could get into character for Taxi Driver.

Practical aesthetics acting and method acting were the two most popular acting techniques of that era. Wang Yang preferred the latter. For him, magic only happened when the actor had a profound understanding of the character, when he lived and breathed the character and delved into his mind, and when he became a conduit through which the character connected to the audience.

Just like the way Heath Ledger would bring The Joker to life with his transcendental performance many years later; just like Ellen Page's brilliant showing in Juno, which he fell madly in love with the first time he stumbled across it in his mind—if there ever was a word to describe her acting, it would be ”prodigious”.

”The reason I love acting is that I could lose myself completely in a character and live as a different person, even if it's just for a moment,” stated Ellen Page in an interview. She was a method actor, through and through.

But as they were, Jessica's acting skills had neither the mastery of a practical aesthetics actor nor the soul of a method actor. She had yet to find her voice, but it was all right. She was only 17. She was just at the beginning of her acting journey. With time, her skills would become sharper. No one ever became a great actor through talent alone; it also took hard work, dedication, and years and years of practice.

Besides, High School Musical was not exactly Moulin Rouge! Wang Yang did not require an award-winning actress to play the female lead character. All he needed was a youthful, pretty face for the audience to swoon over. Furthermore, there were not many heartbreaking scenes in the movie, and those that were there were not very difficult. Jessica should be able to pull them off with some coaching.

As Wang Yang reasoned behind that viewfinder, his lips curled into a smile. He hollered across the room, ”Okay. Not bad, Jessica. Now let's try a smiling scene. Let's pretend that you and your boyfriend are having a nice chat and that this is a closeup. You will look at the camera and say a few lines off the top of your head. Then, I will say something to you, and you will respond to me as if you're talking to your boyfriend. Got it?”

”All right. Got it.” At once, Jessica wiped the sorrow from her face and replaced it with a radiant smile. Cheerfully, she said, ”Hi, I'm Jessica. It's a pleasure to meet you. My, what great weather we're having in Los Angeles today…”

There was an innocence in her smile and a sweetness in her gaze. Wang Yang nodded approvingly. Jessica was much better at smiling than at sulking. The former probably suited her personality better, and her performance could hardly be faulted. It was a good thing too because, in High School Musical, Gabriella would be smiling for the most part.

Next, Wang Yang threw a few lines at Jessica, which she handled beautifully. After seeing her performance, he said with a smile, ”Well done, Jessica! Now, let's try something with a little more passion and intensity. You're looking your boyfriend in the eyes and you feel a sense of connection, warmth, and a little bit of embarrassment.” It was an important prompt. There were many scenes in High School Musical where the male and female lead characters would lose themselves in each other's eyes as they sang together.

”Look my boyfriend in the eyes?” Jessica thought to herself as her eyes wandered to Wang Yang, who was standing behind the camera. ”He's my boyfriend, he's my boyfriend…” she drilled into her head repeatedly. Her heart began to race as she turned toward the camera and stared into its dark, cold lens. But slowly and naturally, her eyes lit up, the corners of her lips went up, and she broke into the loveliest smile. And when she fluttered her lashes, it conjured up in the judges' hearts, feelings of new love and sweet, youthful innocence.

”Wow! Brilliant!” Wang Yang burst out with a compliment. She was amazing in that scene. Just before, when she'd been asked to act sad, she did not do very well. But now, she was a completely different actress! There was not a single flaw in her performance. She nailed it! ”Cut!” Wang Yang cried out in jubilation. ”Good job, Jessica!”

Jessica gave him a little smile. She ran her fingers through her hair to fix it and to settle her nerves.

They tried out a few more prompts with Jessica. Overall, Jessica made a good showing. Sometimes, she was a little stiff. Other times, she dazzled the judges. Wang Yang left the camera and went back to his seat behind the long table. On the score sheet, he put down A+ for both looks and charisma, and B+ for acting. She did not do well in the sad scene, but she more than made up for it in the love scene.

Wang Yang decided not to test Jessica on her dancing because she had stated on her bio that she did not know how to dance. It did not bother him because dancing was a skill that was easily taught. At that point, all that was left in the audition was the signing part. Jessica was standing before them awaiting her next challenge. Wang Yang looked at her and felt a curious tremor in his heart. ”So Jessica, let's hear you sing,” he proposed.

Mrs. Roberts clicked her ballpoint pen and held it at the ready, her eyes bearing upon Jessica with the utmost interest.

”Okay,” Jessica nodded. Suddenly, she could feel her heart beating fast. She took a deep breath. Her throat was mossy, so she cleared it. Then, out came the song that she had been practicing fervently for the past few days. It was Take a Bow, a midtempo pop ballad by Madonna. ”Take a bow… The night is over…” she sang.

Wang Yang put his elbows on the table, knotted his hands, and leaned forward. He looked at Jessica as she sang, shining with encouragement. He savored her voice as one might savor a good wine. There was a hint nervousness in her tone, but overall it was an enjoyable experience. She seemed like she knew her way around a scale. Wang Yang glanced sidelong at Mrs. Roberts. Her face was white and stone-like. Now and then, she would scribble notes on her score sheet, and the monotony of her expression would be broken. But even during those glimpses, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

”The show is over… Say good… bye…” She held the final note of the song, giving it all that it deserved before the song ended. She caught her breath and let out a sigh of relief, feeling lighter now as she had given the audition everything she had.

Wang Yang applauded Jessica as soon as she finished her song. Seeing that, Sandy Parks began clapping his hands, too. But Mrs. Roberts did not make a sound. She was scribbling away on her score sheet with her ballpoint pen, eyes downcast. Then, Wang Yang told Jessica with a nod, ”Jessica, you may go now. Thank you so much for coming.”

”Thank you. Goodbye, then!” Jessica gave Wang Yang and the judges one last smile, then turned around and started for the door. At the doorway, with the doorknob in her hand, she twisted her head and glanced over her shoulders at Wang Yang. Wang Yang was beaming assuredly and giving her a big thumbs-up, indicating to her there was nothing to worry about. She smiled back at him and went on outside, closing the door behind her.

Immediately upon Jessica's departure, Wang Yang wheeled upon Mrs. Roberts impatiently. ”Well, Mrs. Roberts, what do you think? Can she sing or not?” he asked, sounding slightly nervous.

”Her voice is all right. It's not the worst I've heard,” Mrs. Roberts nodded, then shrugged, ”But her breathing needs work. When the tempo picks up, she might not be able to keep up and go out of tune, which is why she was singing so slowly and cautiously just now. Also, she lacked technique; she did not know how to use falsettos or when to breathe. She's obviously never been trained professionally.”

”So she has a great voice, bad pacing, and no technique. Who cares?” Wang Yang thought to himself and chuckled half-humorously. Then, cutting right to the chase, he asked, ”Mrs. Roberts, with some professional guidance and a little post-processing at the studio, do you think we could make her sing well?” That was the most important question. It was the only thing standing in the way of Jessica becoming High School Musical's leading lady. She was above the other girls when it came to looks and charisma. Her acting was passable. She could learn to dance. But could she learn to sing? Wang Yang thought about it and added, ”My standards aren't that high. As long as she sounds okay to the audience, I'm fine with it.”

”Young man, even that is a tall order,” Mrs. Roberts laughed. Then she nodded and said, ”We can give it a try. She has shown us her musical talent just now. There's not a lot of it, but not too little, either. I'm not sure if she'll be able to sing live, but I think she'll do fine in the studio.” With that, she threw her hands up and added, ”But don't you hope that she turns into a Madonna.”

”Yes!” Wang Yang burst out with joy. He clenched his fists and thrust them into the air, smiling as he let out a sigh of relief.

Beside him, Sandy Parks breathed out through his nose audibly. ”Looks like that girl's a shoo-in for the leading lady. She seems to be mighty friendly with Wang Yang. Who knows? They might even be dating!” Sandy speculated to himself at first. But for the sake of the company, he had to voice out his opinion. ”That girl may be pretty, but her acting skills can't quite measure up to some of the candidates who came before her, like that girl named Eliza Dushku; she was a better actress than her.”