Rebirth: King to Superstar

The Director continued, "Alright, with that out of the way, let's continue with your acting. I have to say, except for that initial one minute of silence, you did better than I thought."

He really was impressed. The director felt like the newbie would take at least 2 or 3 takes to get used to it and get rolling, but the young man in front of him proved him completely wrong after a mere minute of silence. As he looked through the screen in the video village, he also felt like he was a real shopkeeper and, during the scene inside the room, he nailed the anxious body language as he asked. Overall, it was wonderful acting for a first-timer. 

Joon-won nodded and replied, "Thanks for the praise. I just did my job to the best of my abilities so that I don't drag everyone down. Also, thanks for giving me this opportunity I'll continue to do my best for the next 2 scenes too." He already knew he passed the little test the director gave him and was good enough to continue.

"Hahahaha Director. Didn't I tell you before that you won't regret giving the money to my junior? You lost the bet." Hea-Jung laughed out like a lady boss in movies. Joon-won couldn't help but shake his head a little after hearing her. Why couldn't she just let that stupid bet go? She just had to go ahead and remind the man that he lost to her. 

The director just gave a small nod to her and continued to talk with Joon-won, "Anyway, did they tell you when the next shoot was?" 

Joon-won just shook his head as he had no clue about the rest of the scenes. He just thought they would tell tomorrow morning. 

The director hummed as he nodded while thinking about something. After a while, he said, "Alright then, that's good. You might have to stay here longer than intended. Is that ok for you? I need to talk with the producer about a few scenes and might make changes after seeing your acting earlier. It might take a day or two for the talks and changes to the script." Joon-won was a little taken back at what he heard. He didn't have any problems staying back for another week if it meant he could have a few more scenes. Hea-Jung, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at his statement and commented.

"Coach, you know that's risky business, right? If you change the script now, you'll be the most hated man on set." No actor or crew member liked a sudden change to the script because it might just mean that some of the scenes they shot already should be completely useless.

The director glanced at Hea-Jung and replied, "I know what I am doing. The changes I am talking about were actually supposed to be in the original script before they were taken out because of the original actor's poor performance. Now we can just add them back to make the movie better and those are also very simple scenes. Also, with this, the remuneration this guy is getting would be more justified. So it's all well." But it was actually not that simple and there were actually a few changes that would affect an important scene in the movie.

Joon-won just nodded and said, "I have no problem staying another week. Please try to get me more scenes to act in. I'll do my best." He just wanted to act more and now that is the only thing in his mind.

The director nodded and said while patting Joon-won's shoulder with a smile, "That's good to hear. Leave your mobile number with the assistant director and we'll give you a call directly about it. Take these next two days for rest before you act continuously for a while again. Alright, both of you go and change your clothes, let's go have some late-night dinner." 

Joon-won nodded and just as he was about to reject the dinner proposal by the director as he already ate and wasn't that hungry, Hea-Jung spoke while pulling his shirt tightly, "Wow, director. You are actually giving us a party? Yes, we need to eat our full then, alright, let's go and remove all this makeup little brother." She turned towards him with a strange smile while pulling his shirt at the back as hard as she could. So he just nodded, and they went back to the changing rooms. 

As they reached Hea-Jung turned towards Joon-won and looked at him in the eye with a serious expression. Joon-won stared back with an eyebrow raised, he was also wondering what she was doing by pulling his shirt and accepting the proposal for him. 

After a few seconds of silence, Hea-Jung sighed and said, "Little brother, you can not be like this even after officially coming into the industry. Things like dinners and lunches are common here. You can not reject when the director himself is giving you a party after seeing your acting. This is an opportunity for you and use it to get to know him and form a few connections for your own. Dinner meetings are perfect for that. So try to change a little. Connections are always a useful thing. Got it?" She knew the guy would definitely reject the director's proposal from personal experience. The guy wanted to be alone all the time, and that wasn't going to work. Especially after she saw that the director was actually the one trying to form connections after seeing Joon-won act once. So this was a good opportunity for the guy.

Joon-won thought for a second before he felt what the dumb girl said was actually true. He also knew connections were very important no matter what kind of work a man does, but that was especially true in the entertainment industry, where everyone wants to get an advantage over the other. 

So he nodded and said, "Alright then, thanks for stopping me from rejecting. My skills can only take me so far. With connections, I would be able to take an extra step. Now, where can I clean my face? I want to get this make-up off quickly." And looked around. 

"It's ok, don't need to thank me. I'm just doing my job as your senior by correcting your mistakes. Just think a second before you reject someone like that. Also, there was a makeshift sink in the make-up station earlier. Just use that to wash your face and I'll change out of this costume in the meanwhile." And walked away. Joon-won, on the other hand, just went towards the makeup station to get refreshed. 

The director, on the other hand, was on a call with the producer of the film. Since it was a small shoot and late at night, the producer only sent his assistant and wasn't there in person to watch the shoot. 

"Yeah, it's me. Sorry for the sudden call this late at night. But I need to speak with you and I'm busy tomorrow with shooting again." 

[Sure go ahead director, I'm sure you have a valid reason to call. I think there was shooting now. Did it complete already?] 

"Yes, we are done, and the crew is wrapping up. We were able to complete the shoot in one take. The newbie is better than we actually expected. It seems what Miss. Cheo said is true, this kid has some serious talent. Also, this is the reason I'm calling you."

[Oh! Is that the case? It looks like it's worth the money then. I'll ask my people to wire in the money to his account then. But I'm sure that's not the reason you called me.]

"Yes, if it was the money, I could have just told your assistant. It's actually about some of the scenes we decided to take away because we thought the original actor who was supposed to play the role wouldn't be good enough. I think we can now add them too. They would fit nicely into the movie and give some better clarity about the movie scenes too. What do you think?"

[Yes, I remember we deleted 2 scenes regarding this role in the original script. So you want to add them back now? But wouldn't it increase the burden on the crew a little and also take some extra time? Is it worth it?]

"I think it is. Also, the two scenes are pretty small and simple. So it won't take us that much time either. This actor is also good enough to get it done in one or two rakes at max. I think we should go for it." 

The other side was silent for a minute before he replied.

[Alright then director, since you think that's the case. Let's go with it. But we need some time to talk with the actors about it. After all, one scene makes a vast change in the last scene of the entire movie.] 

"That's alright producer. I already told the actor that we might take 2 days regarding this. Alright then, continue sleeping producer, you have to get to this tomorrow morning." And cut the call.