In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 83

From the next day, I practically lived in the practice room provided by the workshop.

The audition was divided into two parts: the first involved acting with lines and emotions, and the second assessed action skills.

“Action….”

Min-young unnie [older sister or close female friend] was looking into action schools near the hotel.

The preparation time was too short.

‘Anyway, I need to do the best I can on the first round, which is right in front of me.’

The role I was assigned was an important character, close to ‘justice,’ the most moderate of the heroes in the work, though with a small part.

A kind hero from the East, whom the other heroes sometimes relied on.

However, most of the lines were infused with action, making it difficult to express emotions while capturing that feeling.

It was challenging from the start to imagine myself as a hero in the mirror.

What kind of image should I portray myself as?

Me, flying around in a leather suit?

It was an image I had never even conjured up when daydreaming.

What was even harder to relate to was my flawless and amazing appearance.

I’m not such an amazing person.

As I immersed myself deeply and practiced various versions until dawn….

“Sena, are you still here?”

David often opened the practice room door on his way home after finishing his workshop lectures.

I would smile awkwardly at David.

“It’s my first time with this genre, so it’s not easy.”

Then David said with a smile.

“Most people can’t overcome that barrier. It’s funny just thinking about it. Me, a hero.”

David made a comical face.

I nodded seriously at his expression.

It was a convincing point.

“Good work.”

After David closed the door and left, I looked at the mirror in the practice room again.

And I recited the line in a low voice.

“Having many people to protect isn’t a misfortune. It means I love and am loved by that many people.”

* * *

After practicing day and night for a week, sleeping only one or two hours a day, finally, the audition venue.

“Bravo! Bravo!”

“Better than expected. You nailed the emotional acting.”

Immediately after finishing the performance, the director and staff applauded in unison.

I was briefly taken aback by the much better-than-expected reaction.

I bowed my head, then awkwardly smiled, realizing, ‘Ah, this is America.’

But the director said with a more surprised face than mine.

“As you know, we didn’t give the audition participants the entire script, so everyone had difficulty putting emotions into it.”

The director began to praise me sincerely.

These unbelievable moments kept happening in my life.

I couldn’t say anything and just stood there, staring at the director’s mouth.

“Almost all enthusiastic young actors can follow the action. But emotions….”

The director shook his head.

“Especially the emotional lines in hero movies are not easy to understand. Because you can’t experience them in everyday life.”

That was so true.

It took me a long time to relate to it as well.

I never thought I would end up living in a practice room at the LA acting workshop for a week after impulsively coming here.

“But Sena-ssi [term of polite address] did it.”

“I don’t know what to do…. Thank you.”

I was so dazed.

Then the director added a new explanation.

“Especially this role needs to make a big impact with a small amount of screen time. You have to give credit to the other heroes in every battle scene. That’s the virtue of this character.”

“……”

I nodded very slowly at those words.

It was a statement that could be interpreted in many ways depending on how you took it.

It would be better not to jump to conclusions for now.

The director continued.

“So the actor’s role is important. You have to stand out even with a small part. But someday, in the later series, there will be a big role.”

It felt like a comforting remark.

I put on a smile and answered cheerfully.

“Yes, I understand.”

At least I liked the director’s clear way of speaking, not beating around the bush.

“Then I’ll see you at the second round.”

The director said.

* * *

That afternoon, I walked down the street with the new script for the second audition.

As always, the weather was sunny.

I felt strange.

This isn’t really a dream.

Is this some kind of script possession [being trapped in a fictional story]?

I looked around quickly.

‘I passed the first audition for Warners.’

Maybe I really could be in a movie that produces superstars who dominate the world.

Me, there.

My heart was pounding more after the audition than during it.

I hadn’t slept for a week, but I wasn’t sleepy at all.

Rather, I was clear-headed.

When I told Min-young unnie about this, she was already going crazy.

‘Oh my gosh, you really did something?! I’ll book a reservation at a big action school that I’ve been looking into. It’s run by world-class martial arts directors and stunt actors. I’ll book a hotel near there, so move right away!’

Recently, unnie’s voice had been high-pitched.

I smiled softly at her voice.

The company was probably bearing twice the expenses of sending me to America.

I have to do better because of that.

I quickly stuffed a sandwich into my mouth, flipping through the new script page by page.

I read a few lines and stopped walking.

Even someone who doesn’t know the first thing about action could tell that it was a scene involving all sorts of equipment and wires.

And it was more difficult than I expected.

Do all the other audition participants practice action too?

I felt overwhelmed.

Besides, what should I do about another problem that just arose?

The audition staff had just texted me that the second audition schedule had been moved up because there were fewer successful candidates from the first audition than expected.

I shook my head.

I have to do it.

I can do it, so I will.

I started walking forward again.

Then my steps slowed down again.

This time, it was because I suddenly remembered what the director had said at the audition.

‘Especially this role needs to make a big impact with a small amount of screen time. You have to give credit to the other heroes in every battle scene.’

‘But someday, in the later series, there will be a big role.’

But these hero series require at least 3-4 years….

I couldn’t do it, so I sat down on a bench that I saw.

“The sky is so blue.”

I tilted my head back and closed my eyes.

Let’s not think about anything.

First, I’ll go to the second audition.

I decided to empty my mind until then.

* * *

But action was a much bigger challenge than I thought.

A few days later, at the action school.

About six hours of wielding a sword in the air while wearing wires.

“Focus on your core and relax your body!! You’ll get hurt!!”

And I’ve been hearing the same thing for six hours.

I couldn’t stand the back pain.

Besides, I kept getting motion sickness, which was painful.

“Ugh.”

“Stop for a moment.”

The teacher took me down from the wire.

“I’ll take a break.”

The two coaches who were watching dragged me to a chair.

I kept feeling dizzy.

I ran outside, gagging.

In front of the action school.

I lay down on the grass and looked at the sun that made my eyes sting.

I’m the one who got recommended and even made it to the second audition, and this is what I look like.

Is this okay?

I lifted my tattered right arm and looked at the even more tattered script.

I flipped through the script and closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them….

Something flashed before my eyes.

At the same time, the script in my hand disappeared without a trace.

I heard the sound of someone running away in the opposite direction.

A pickpocket?!

“Hey!!”

I got up and started running after the guy who was running away quickly.

Why my script, not my bag or wallet?

But I felt my feet lift into the air as I was running, and the sensation of the ground receded.

“……?!”

My body was rising higher and higher.

Then, with a deafening roar, the asphalt under my feet split in two.

A large rock flew towards me from afar.

I screamed in surprise and struggled.

At that moment, golden letters appeared before my eyes.

[Mission: Awaken Superpower]

“What?!”

[Reward: Time]

Then golden letters appeared in succession.

What the heck?

What’s going on?

“Mom!!”

* * *

At the same time.

Aiden was sitting in the car with the script in his hand.

It was the same script that Han Sena had.

However, the highlighted areas in the script were the lines of a different character.

That is, another male hero.

Aiden closed the script and looked out the window with his chin resting on his hand.

He had a listless expression.

‘I wanted to do a different style now.’

Aiden was in deep thought.

He had played such an intense villain in his previous work that he needed an image change.

However, as soon as the audition offer came from Warners Studio, the agency pushed in the completely opposite direction.

It was important to give the public a strong impression first.

Apparently, the agency was prioritizing profits, and there was no alternative to offer on his side.

‘But image fixation is the fastest way to wear out an actor’s life.’

Aiden looked at the closed script.

Two days ago, he heard that this script was also given to Han Sena, who was attending the same workshop.

“I wonder what that person is doing.”

For some reason, the few performances he saw at the workshop were so intense that they were etched in his mind and wouldn’t go away.

He only thought about talking to her, but he hadn’t done it yet.

He felt like finding out her number and calling her.

Then the phone rang.

An unknown number appeared on the screen.

Aiden frowned and turned the phone over….

He stared at the phone for a few seconds, seemingly bothered.

He picked up the phone again, and it was still ringing.

Aiden answered the phone.

“Hello? Yes, this is Aiden.”

There was silence in the car for a moment.

“Director Raymond Jang…? A casting offer?”

Aiden took his back off the chair.

“Yes, thank you. If you send it to me by email, I’ll check it right away.”

Aiden hung up the phone and quickly opened his inbox with a completely changed face.

An email with a feature-length scenario attached was sent immediately.

“It’s really Raymond Jang’s new work.”

Raymond Jang was a Korean-American director who had begun to sweep international film festivals.

He made films based on the emotions of his real life, where he couldn’t belong anywhere because of his birth.

The scenario he had briefly heard on the phone was also about the life of a Korean-American woman adopted in the United States.

The role requested here was her husband, a supporting but important role.

A faint smile spread across Aiden’s lips as he slowly began to read the scenario.

How much time had passed?

A manager approached Aiden’s car.

Aiden, who had been reading the script to the end without moving, had a strange expression on his face.

‘Maybe I’ve found an alternative to counter the agency’s argument.’

When the manager opened the car door and got in to grab the steering wheel, Aiden thought of something else.

‘Wait, if it’s a Korean-American role… who will be cast?’

This time, I will die as an actress, not a villain.