Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1465

“Huh? Could you say that one more time?” Han Eun-sol’s face showed a hint of disbelief. [I said I’d like to work with Ms. Choi.] “…Huh? Really?” Han Eun-sol couldn’t help but ask back, dumbfounded. They weren’t exactly people with a lot of free time. There was no reason for them to call here and play a prank. She knew that, but she was just too surprised to not ask again. [However, there is one condition.] Han Eun-sol swallowed hard. ‘Figures, things can’t be that easy.’ In her rush to find a script, she couldn’t find a role that perfectly fit Choi Yeon-ha. So, she did her best by pushing her into a role that seemed like it would work. She figured they’d probably want to change the role. The problem was whether the changed role would be to Choi Yeon-ha’s liking. ‘No, it’s whether it’ll be to my liking.’ Choi Yeon-ha had decided to approach this with the attitude of a complete rookie, and she was the type to actually do it. Even if it was a minor role where she only showed her face once, she wouldn’t refuse. But Han Eun-sol couldn’t accept that. ‘Still, it’s Choi Yeon-ha.’ Han Eun-sol usually nagged Choi Yeon-ha, but that was only when they were alone. If anyone was going to criticize her, it had to be Han Eun-sol. She absolutely couldn’t stand others belittling Choi Yeon-ha’s value. “What is that condition?” [We’d like to change the role.] ‘I knew it.’ So far, things were going as expected. Then… “Excuse me, but what role are you planning to change it to?” [Basically, we’ve determined that the role Ms. Choi auditioned for doesn’t match her image. After a meeting between the writers and the director who watched the audition video, they said it would be better to create a new role.] “Huh?” What was that supposed to mean? A new role? The beginning was as expected, but the result was a little different. Han Eun-sol quietly covered the bottom of her phone with her hand and whispered to Choi Yeon-ha. “They said they’ll create a new role for you?” “Huh? Why?” “I don’t know…” “Ask them why they’re doing that.” Han Eun-sol nodded slightly. “Excuse me, but could you tell me why you made that decision?” [Of course. Actually, we weren’t that impressed with your acting in the audition. What impressed us was what happened after.] “Huh? What happened after?” [Yes. We were deeply impressed by Ms. Choi’s reaction of getting annoyed and storming out of the audition after not being able to do the impromptu acting properly. One of our staff members was Korean, and after checking, we found that she had done that kind of acting in a few past roles. After watching the videos, we felt a great sense of freshness.] Oh, so… So, the audition was a mess, but they were impressed by how pissed off she looked after messing up. What kind of situation was this? “I, I’m having a little trouble understanding?” [There’s nothing difficult to understand. This is the style we were looking for. In Hollywood, Asian women are still being consumed as stereotypes. It’s only natural to try and find a new style.] So, a villainess, then. A villainess. ‘She’d be amazing at that.’ If she showed even half of her usual behavior on screen, it would become a hot topic for method acting. If she did well, she might even win an acting award somewhere. ‘Wow, how did this happen?’ Han Eun-sol swallowed hard at the unexpected stroke of luck. “What about the importance of the role?” [It’s difficult to make it a lead role. But I can say that the amount of screen time will be in the top three. Of course, we’ll have to see the revised script to know for sure.] “So, the script revision…” [You don’t have to worry about that, Mr. Han. It’s a new role, but to be precise, it’s more like changing an existing role to a female and modifying the lines and actions. It’s a role with a significant presence in the existing script.] “Ah, then there’s no problem. If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what role it is in the existing script?” [I’ll send you a personal script separately. Please keep in mind that it’s not the final version. So, when can we expect to hear back from you?] “I’ll contact you right after I look at the script.” [Thank you. I hope this will be a good opportunity for both of us.] “Yes, thank you.” Han Eun-sol collapsed onto the sofa as if she was exhausted after hanging up the phone. “What did they say? What did they say? Why do they want to do it?” But the ordeal wasn’t over yet. ‘They want to use her as a villainess because she looks so vicious when she’s pissed off.’ …Was she really going to say that as it is? No way. How was she going to handle the aftermath? “…They said they want to try something new. They said that Asian women have been used as stereotypes for too long, so they wanted to use a different approach this time. And then they saw your audition and picked you.” “…Even though I acted so terribly?” “W-well, not many people can do that, right? Your standards are too high. It’s not like this is an art film anyway, it’s a blockbuster, so how important is acting?” “Well, yeah, there are a lot of actors that even I find uncomfortable to watch.” “Exactly.” A drop of sweat trickled down Han Eun-sol’s back. “But I think my pronunciation wasn’t very good, is that okay?” “Ha. Ha. Ha. It’s not strange for an Asian person to not be good at English. Wouldn’t that be more natural?” “Thinking about it, it is true…” Han Eun-sol subtly avoided Choi Yeon-ha’s slightly suspicious gaze. ‘Even good things are a problem.’ There were such things as white lies in the world. If twisting the truth a little could make everyone happy, there was no need to tell the truth and leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. ‘I need to tell those people to keep their mouths shut beforehand.’ Anyway. Whatever the reason, being able to advance into a Hollywood movie was a positive thing. Until now, she had only managed to show her face in China, but the real goal of going overseas was, of course, the United States. Money wasn’t the issue. The important thing was to get the title of a world-class actor! This was a matter of honor. Of course, it was possible to enter the world market with Korean works. It wasn’t unusual for Korean movies to win awards overseas these days. Choi Yeon-ha had also been consistently appearing in movies with artistic merit, so if she continued like this, the day would come when she would show her face in the world market. But the important thing wasn’t recognition, but marketability. It was meaningless to remain as an actor who was good at acting. The important thing wasn’t the acting title, but becoming a marketable actor. ‘I think my sister has a slightly different idea.’ That was a good thing too. The actor focuses on the quality of the work and acting ability, while the manager focuses on marketability. Perhaps this was the most ideal form. “It seems they’re planning to change one of the existing roles to an Asian woman. They said they’ll send a personal script with the role’s scenes marked. Let’s print it out and check it as soon as we get it.” “Really?” Choi Yeon-ha’s shoulders tensed up slightly. “So, that means the Hollywood people liked me enough to change an existing role?” “Y-yes, that’s right.” It wasn’t wrong. That was 100% correct. Of course, there was a slight difference between the direction Choi Yeon-ha was thinking and the direction they were thinking, but that was a minor issue. “Then, how should we schedule this?” “I haven’t confirmed yet. We’ll look at the script first.” “If the role is weird, are you going to reject it?” “…Huh?” No way. How could she reject this? Others were going crazy trying to get a single role, and they were creating a role for her, so she was going to turn it down? “That’s not going to happen…” “We have to accept this. But, let’s add one more condition.” “What condition?” “I don’t need to get paid, but ask them to give me the right to revise the script. I’m not going to go out in a movie as a stupid Korean who says weird lines or does weird things. That could happen if I sign a contract without looking at the revised script.” “Ah…” Han Eun-sol nodded, realizing her mistake. ‘How could I miss something so trivial?’ If she had received this offer in Korea, she would have rejected it without a second thought. There was no need for Choi Yeon-ha to decide to appear in a movie that didn’t even have a finished script yet. But the word ‘Hollywood’ had clouded her judgment. She had hoped that Choi Yeon-ha wouldn’t get excited, but it was actually Han Eun-sol who was excited. ‘I need to reflect on this.’ “I was a little hasty. I’ll double-check that.” “Make sure you do.” Choi Yeon-ha frowned. There were quite a few overseas movies that portrayed Asians in a bad light. There was a clear difference between a role being a bad character and an Asian being portrayed badly. “I’m not going to tell them what to do with their movie, but I’m not going to be a part of it either.” “Yes, sis. But you have to get paid.” “If they make the script good, I’m even willing to appear for free.” “No. You can’t do that. Then, rumors will spread that the next people who go to Hollywood can be used cheaply.” “Oh… Oh? That’s true too.” This time, Choi Yeon-ha looked like she had realized her mistake. It was okay for Choi Yeon-ha to appear in one or two movies without getting paid. But that wouldn’t be the case for others. It was good to have passion, but if others were forced to have passion because of someone’s passion, that passion couldn’t be called a good passion. “It’s difficult.” “It is.” The two of them smiled subtly. “Still, it’s good that we can have these kinds of worries.” “Honestly, I still can’t believe it. I thought this day would come someday… No, this is too sudden.” “Right?” There were still many problems to solve. But she couldn’t help but laugh. “See?” “What?” “I told you, if you follow Jin-ho, you’ll get some crumbs.” “…It doesn’t seem like the chairman did anything this time?” “Why not? He brought us to the United States.” Oh, that was true? Thinking about it, there was nothing wrong with that. If it wasn’t for Kang Jin-ho, they wouldn’t have come to the United States, and if they hadn’t come to the United States, they wouldn’t have auditioned. Then, this luck wouldn’t have happened either. It wasn’t completely decided yet, but the fact that they could even have this negotiation was thanks to Kang Jin-ho. ‘This is so subtle.’ It was like it was thanks to him, and it was like it wasn’t. But no matter what Han Eun-sol thought, Choi Yeon-ha firmly believed that all of this was thanks to Kang Jin-ho. ‘That’s a disease.’ Han Eun-sol chuckled and then widened her eyes as if she had remembered something. “Oh? Wait a minute, sis.” “Why?” “…I need to check something. If the importance of the role increases, the filming period will be moved up and lengthened… I need to see if the schedule works.” “Huh?” Choi Yeon-ha looked blank.