Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 316

“Nice to meet you, Garrett.”

The planning team leader of Bearound shook hands with Davis Garrett. 

Then, Davis Garrett, who seemed a bit nervous, greeted Jeffrey, the director, and sat down across from the two with a smile.

The three of them exchanged some small talk and then got into the main topic. 

The planning team leader handed a script to Davis Garrett.

Davis tilted his head.

“I’ve read the script you sent me, but… is there anything changed?”

“Yes, there are some changes.”

Davis nodded at the director’s words and quickly skimmed the script.

It seemed that they had marked it in advance, as there were lines drawn with yellow highlighters here and there. 

Most of them were the lines of the role that Davis himself had taken. 

It was not a coincidence.

Davis smiled and said.

“I guess you’ve heard about me. Well, I suppose Bearound would have told you too.”

Jeffrey Rodex, the director, nodded his head with a slightly tense face.

The planning team leader said to Davis.

“Then please read it slowly.”

“Okay. Please wait a moment.”

Davis Garrett went back to the first page and started reading the script, focusing on the changed parts. 

The sound of flipping pages filled the conference room.

The tension that settled in the conference room made Jeffrey shake his hands and the planning team leader moisten his throat with coffee.

Davis Garrett was one of the most difficult actors to work with.

If Evan Block, the lead actor of Shadowman, analyzed the script and grasped the director’s intention and studied thoroughly to deliver the lines without any error and act in accordance with the script, Davis Garrett, the lead actor of Redbone, delved deeper into the character than the director and studied thoroughly to…

“…rewrite the script.”

The planning team leader sighed inwardly as he saw Davis reading the script with a faint smile on his face. 

It seemed like a good sign, but he couldn’t relax.

Evan Block was so meticulous in his actions that he was nicknamed an analyst, while Davis Garrett showed method acting that completely became the character.

If Evan Block planned every detail of his movements and acted accordingly, Davis Garrett found a similar side within himself and understood the character based on that personality.

For example, the way he felt about his family and strangers would be different.

If he played a kind and diligent character, he would treat other characters as if they were his family, and if he played a cold and wary character, he would treat them as if they were strangers.

It was easier to get out of the character because he exaggerated his own personality rather than immersing himself deeply.

The coffee that the planning team leader was drinking slowly decreased.

Davis Garrett often said different lines than what was in the script when he was shooting. 

He thought that if he was that character, he would say something different than what was written in the script.

“But that’s the right answer, so the directors can’t do anything about it.”

Redbone 1, which made a box office history for Marines, was the result of that.

“He rewrote everything in the script, right?”

He heard that it would be faster to find the lines that survived from the original script.

As a planning team leader of a production company, it was not a pleasant story.

He wondered if the changed lines fit the plot, if the plot changed due to ad-libs and affected the planned schedule and prepared shooting locations, and how much more money would be needed for the extended shooting period.

The planning team leader tried to sigh without realizing it as he recalled the pile of problems that occurred in succession.

“It would be nice if Garrett liked the revised script…”

Redbone 2, which was delayed due to Davis Garrett’s accident.

He heard that only half of Redbone 2’s script was revised. 

It was thanks to understanding Davis Garrett’s interpretation of the character after going through Redbone 1.

“That’s also an advantage of a series.”

He could develop the story without any additional explanation based on the character’s personality set in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

But this movie was a single piece.

The planning team leader looked at his side. 

Jeffrey, who had revised his script hard after hearing that Davis Garrett was interested in it, looked almost pale now.

He remembered Jeffrey’s expression when he said he didn’t know if it was right after agonizing over Davis Garrett’s previous characters.

“I hope you can control him well.”

Davis Garrett’s improvisational acting made even the director who created that work nod at his superior interpretation of the character. 

He said that he had no choice but to use the scenes where Davis Garrett acted as he pleased even if he felt bitter inside.

“But not everything is good.”

Who would want their hard work to be modified?

Maybe it would be easier to accept for movies like hero movies where there is a scenario ‘team’ with multiple people’s opinions, but for directors or writers who cherish every line and sentence, Davis Garrett was not a very welcome type of actor.

That’s why some people said that he ‘stole’ their work.

“I wonder how Jeffrey feels?”

Jeffrey, who was looking at the actor reading the script without breathing, looked like he would just nod and move on at the shooting site.

The planning team leader’s mind was complicated.

The biggest goal of Bearound was box office success.

The company’s situation was not very good, so they didn’t want to lose Davis Garrett, who had a strong ticket power.

But they also didn’t want to lose Jeffrey, who wrote a work that Davis Garrett liked.

“He won’t sell the script…”

That was the first and last time he saw Jeffrey’s strong side.

Whether the script was overturned by Davis Garrett’s thoughts or proceeded according to Jeffrey’s script, the planning team leader hoped that both the actor and the director would finish the shooting without any trouble.

“Nice.”

Davis Garrett closed the script and opened his mouth.

It was a good answer, but the planning team leader and Jeffrey didn’t let their guard down. 

There was a rumor that Davis Garrett also said “nice” when he first saw the script of Redbone 1, which he had ‘rewritten’ entirely.

“Thank you.”

“Shall we look at the contract first?”

The planning team leader and Jeffrey nodded at Davis Garrett’s words.

A little while ago.

Davis Garrett, who had a big fight with a director who loved his script over script changes (it almost went to court), had been writing ‘ad-libs and script changes’ in his contracts ever since.

Davis Garrett, the planning team leader, and Jeffrey worked together to write the contract.

It was Bearound’s standardized contract with Davis Garrett’s and Jeffrey’s requests added.

Jeffrey’s request was normal.

He would make a body that suited the role by the shooting day. 

Davis Garrett rubbed his chin and smiled at the detailed numbers.

“It’ll be hard.”

But it was a familiar clause for Hollywood actors who changed before and after payment.

Now this contract would be finalized after being checked and revised by Davis Garrett’s agency and Bearound.

The tense meeting finally came to an end.

The planning team leader relaxed his stiff neck muscles and Jeffrey, the director, leaned back on his chair. 

Davis Garrett, who had been looking over the characters and the beginning of the script, spoke to Jeffrey, who seemed a bit more relaxed.

“Director, have you decided on the actor for this role?”

Jeffrey tensed up again and answered stiffly. 

The planning team leader, who had been checking the contract again, looked up.

“No, not yet.”

“We’re planning to hold an audition for that role.”

Davis Garrett smiled and asked.

“Can I recommend an actor?”

“…Yes?”

“You’ll like him, director.”

Bearound’s planning team leader and Jeffrey blinked.

He thought of a child actor who he had always wanted to work with, who was young but had an acting skill that overwhelmed adult actors. 

Davis Garrett grinned.

***

“An independent film…”

The actor’s request to shoot an independent film came to Lee Seo-jun’s dedicated team at Cocoa Entertainment. 

They had to act on it as they were his dedicated team.

The second team moved right away.

They looked for events like screenings at film-related departments, announcements for independent film production, and paid attention to independent film festivals.

As the end of the year approached, independent film festivals were held in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, and so on, and the number of people who made independent films increased. 

That also increased the places that wanted actors.

“It’s not too bad since we used to look for plays only.”

They had to find not only good works but also satisfy the ‘genre’.

The staff members made a strange expression at that.

“But that wasn’t what we found, it was Seo-jun who found a book and adapted it for the stage.”

“It was an unimaginable idea.”

It was the first time they felt so sure about the saying that if you don’t have it, you make it.

“I wonder if he’ll do that again…”

They couldn’t say there was no possibility, so they all kept silent.

“Well, anyway, we have to do what we can. We can’t expand our scope to books or other genres of works.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s look hard!”

“Yes!”

They tried to find a good independent film work that suited the actor. A few hours later, Ahn Da-ho contacted them.

***

“I brought everything without genre distinction today. I’ll bring independent film scripts from tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun sat down and took out a synopsis from the box that Ahn Da-ho brought. 

Ahn Da-ho sat across from him and turned on his laptop.

The first synopsis was a drama.

Seo-jun read the plot and the character introduction. 

He read the director’s and writer’s history written by the second team and recalled the dramas he had seen.

First, the writer.

The writer’s latest work was unfortunately a cliffhanger. 

And it collapsed from the early stages. 

Of course, there must have been some circumstances for the writer, but looking at this synopsis, the character setting seemed weak compared to the plot, so it didn’t seem like the writer was very skilled.

And the director.

The director’s previous dramas were not bad in terms of directing, but they didn’t seem to suit this work. 

The main content was the conflict between characters, but the director’s directing so far failed to capture those subtle details.

‘Of course, he might have improved his skills in the meantime…’

But even Seo-jun couldn’t figure that out.

He put aside the first synopsis and took out the next one. 

Meanwhile, Ahn Da-ho was looking for information about independent films on his laptop.

There was almost no information about the personality or shooting style or attitude toward actors of independent film directors, so it was much harder than finding out about commercial film directors.

‘I hope they don’t treat Seo-jun badly…’

No one knew what they would say behind his back. 

There were not always good people around, so the second team had to support him more thoroughly.

Time passed by.

“Hmm…”

Seo-jun’s voice made Ahn Da-ho look up from his laptop screen.

He saw Seo-jun holding a script and looking back and forth between himself and the script with a wary look. 

Ahn Da-ho blinked at Seo-jun’s unfamiliar appearance.

“What’s wrong, Seo-jun?”

“Um… Well… Da-ho hyung…”

It wasn’t like Seo-jun to say what he wanted or liked without hesitation. 

He rolled his eyes awkwardly and smiled sheepishly.

“…I think we can postpone looking for an independent film.”

“Huh?”

He changed his mind just a day after asking for an independent film. 

Seo-jun looked embarrassed too as he avoided Ahn Da-ho’s bewildered gaze and looked down at the script he was holding.

A script written in English.

He wouldn’t have seen it if he had been a day late, as it would have been buried under the independent film scripts.

And the production company was major, so the shooting would have proceeded even without Seo-jun, and he might have regretted it later when he saw the script.

‘Well, there might be more works that I couldn’t do…’

There might have been better works among the independent films that the second team would find, but

Life is all about timing.

Seo-jun already liked this script.

Seo-jun hugged the script that could have disappeared if he had been a day late and looked at Ahn Da-ho with a desperate look.

“I… I want to do this.”