"Are you sure you want to do that scene?" Wei An asked with a trace of doubt.
"Yes," Tanging nodded in certainty.
"As you wish!" After speaking, Wei An gestured for his assistant to hand him the script. After familiarizing himself with the scene, he prompted to Tangning, "Let's get started..."
In reality, he did not truly care about fulfilling her request. He was simply challenging her to show him what she could offer.
So, he sat down in his chair, placed one foot on a dummy and pointed his fake gun at another one...
Tangning squatted about 2 meters from him. Her head was initially down, but, as she lifted it, her eyes were red with a complex mix of anger, panic and disappointment. She instantly shocked the judges!
In this moment, she was no longer Tangning - she had become the female fighter!
"You've been missing for 12 years, so I searched for you for 12 years. Everyone said I was crazy. One time, I saw someone wearing similar clothes to you drown. I hugged their dead body and cried for an entire day thinking it was you!"
Tangning lowered her voice as it became raspy and heavy. The slight tremble in her questioning tone made the judges surprised once again.
Wei An's mind went blank for a moment, not knowing how to respond. He had never imagined that Tangning would get into character so quickly and bring the female fighter to life so vividly.
"Wait, let's start again," Wei An requested.
Tangning immediately drew back her expression and converted back to her usual calm self; it only took her a second to do so. Although she still had the same makeup on, it was clear to see that Tangning was Tangning and the female fighter was the female fighter.
Wei An was once again shocked. This time, he decided to take her seriously. After all, he had previously studied her acting and understood he shouldn't underestimate this model-turned-actress.
A moment later, they were prepared for a second try. Once again, Tangning had her head lowered. To everyone's surprise, she picked up exactly where she left off and did not need to start again.
"Our child stood beside me and told me the body in my arms was not his father; that I had made a mistake. In the end, I laughed and cried as the real family members dragged the body away. You b*stard!" Tangning's voice sped up and became louder as an extra layer of suffering and hatred could be heard.
"You are a police officer and I am a criminal, it's impossible for us to walk the same path," Wei An finally caught on as he opened his eyes wide and sneered at Tanging.
"We will definitely walk the same path. We can walk the same path to death!" After speaking, Tangning suddenly pounced towards Wei An...
Wei An responded by shooting her. Tangning held onto her waist in pain as she lay on top of him, biting his arm.
Wei An had always been strict towards himself: whilst having high expectations for others, he naturally had high expectations for himself. As a result, he was actually well-trained in martial arts. But, as he entered into a fight with Tangning, he actually found it a challenge to win against her.
Because at this moment, the female fighter had completely disregarded the possibility of death. As she fought with him, her every punch was powerful and firm...
As for the thing that made Wei An the most amazed: Tangning's skill and posture was comparable to Gu Heng's! Especially the look in her eyes...The look that she was fighting with all she had!
Although, in the end, she was still restrained by him, Wei An could not forget the look in her eyes. The hopeful look that if she persisted she would be free, made him once again stunned.
The person in front of him...
...was like a person that had jumped right out of his script. She was so realistic and relatable.
But, Tangning's performance had come to an end because of time constraints...
The judges were speechless for quite some time afterwards. They could not believe that someone was capable of acting so realistically that it made them break out in a cold sweat...
Wei An also froze in place. It took him quite some time before he finally recovered from his daze. He had never seen an actor with such convincing power.
For the sake of the role, she allowed it to fuse with her life.
Others acted; they acted as someone else. But, Tangning became the character and was merely performing as herself!
Wei An was extremely regretful. How could he have assumed that Tangning couldn't do action? Wei An hated using stunt doubles because he felt it ruined the dynamics of his films, so he wondered...
"Do you use stunt doubles?" Wei An asked straightforwardly.
"I did not use one in 'Stupid' nor 'W.H.'" Tanging replied. "Regardless, I'm willing to learn even the hardest moves myself."
"Great," Wei An nodded his head firmly. He then pointed to Tangning and said with certainty, "I don't want anyone but you for 'The Lost Relative'!"
Hearing this, the other people in the room were shocked again. They had never heard Wei An say such words to an actor during their audition.
Not only this, he immediately turned to his assistant and said, "The female lead has been decided. Following on...we will audition for the supporting roles."
"Thank you, Director Wei," Tangning bowed thankfully.
"I have one last question before you leave. I was sure I told someone to notify you the auditions were at 3pm, how come you arrived early?" Wei An asked straightforwardly. Since Tangning had arrived, it meant she was an intelligent person. He did not need to talk to an intelligent person in a roundabout way.
"I arrived at 9am," Tangning also replied straightforwardly, "Regardless of the time, I was determined to get the role."
What Tangning meant was - for the sake of the role - she had made a lot of preparations. She even arrived early and waited patiently without revealing the dirty methods that had been used on her. She did this to save Wei An some pride.
And Wei An responded, "I deliberately made things difficult for you."
"But, it's obvious to see that you were born for this industry!" After speaking, he returned to his seat, "You may leave. We can discuss your contact tomorrow."
"OK," Tangning nodded with a smile. She then exited the audition room as the judges sipped frantically at their glasses of water.
"She's quite frightening...I've never seen anyone capable of getting in and out of character so easily. I can't believe she's only been acting for less than half a year."
"But, the act of studying other people is something she's done for the last decade," Wei An responded. "What I'm most surprised with, is the fact that her fighting moves are quite impressive. It seems she has done a lot to prepare for this role."
"I guess you have no way of rejecting an actress like this?" the other judges laughed. "I wonder how she managed to make me break out in a cold sweat from watching her."
"This must be a gift from God."
Even if God had given her the talent, without hard work, how would she have amazed everyone?
Wei An was well aware of this. Especially since he noticed the bruises on the back of her hands. It seemed, she had high expectations for herself.
Elder Mo was still seated in the hidden corner as he nodded his head in approval. His granddaughter-in-law had quite a personality. It was definitely worth his time to continue analyzing her.