Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 625

New York.

[Over the Rainbow 2] production meeting room.

“We should be arriving at the airport soon. He said he would contact us as soon as he gets there.”

Nelson nodded at the words of the staff member who was in charge of actor Seo-jun Lee. He also checked the locations of the other actors.

Two actors who played important roles in [Over the Rainbow], Catherine Miller as Rebecca and Paul Oden as George, were expected to arrive in New York tomorrow and had already arrived, respectively.

“Then Jun can adjust to the time difference and start filming right away. Let’s start shooting from August 1st as planned. And make sure the other shooting locations don’t deviate from the schedule.”

From New York to LA.

They had to move to different locations for each shoot, so if one thing went wrong, it would affect the rest of the schedule like dominoes falling.

Of course, they had some leeway in case of unexpected problems during the movie shooting, such as weather or actor’s condition, but they had to be careful since no one knew how things would turn out.

On top of that, they had to finish the movie by November, the release date of [Universe], as instructed by their parent company, Marin.

“Even if we don’t release it in November, we have to finish and release it within this year, the 10th anniversary.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Various reports and instructions went back and forth and the meeting ended.

Nelson left the meeting room and headed straight to the next one.

“Sorry, I’m a little late. Director. Assistant director.”

“No, we came early.”

There, Sara Roth, the director of [Over the Rainbow], and Emily Ees, the assistant director, were sitting. They seemed to be discussing the shooting, as the table was full of storyboards with various notes written on them with pens.

“As I told you before…”

Nelson’s words caught the attention of the director and the assistant director. The meeting of the shooting staff went on all day long, as there were only a few days left until the crank-in.

“Can we release it in November?”

Nelson asked what he was most worried about. Director Sara Roth thought for a moment and answered.

“It will be hard, but… maybe we can make it by the end of November. The CG work takes a long time, but we don’t use much CG in this shoot.”

The sets and shooting locations had been built since last year, when Seo-jun decided to star in the movie, and the directing had been planned since then. The music was also ready.

[Over the Rainbow 2] shooting was in a situation where they could start shooting right away as long as they had the actors.

Nelson sighed in relief at the director’s words.

“I was wondering how it would go…”

Director Sara Roth and Assistant Director Emily Ees laughed. They knew well about Nelson’s story of going to Korea last year.

“I didn’t know it was a military issue.”

“We knew a little bit, but we didn’t know he would go so soon.”

Assistant Director Emily Ees’s words made Director Sara Roth nod.

“But it’s lucky that he went early and got discharged on time.”

If Seo-jun had enlisted a few months later, they wouldn’t have been able to attach the 10th anniversary label. Nelson felt the same way. He didn’t know how lucky he was.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

It was a staff member of Whale Studio.

“Actor Seo-jun Lee has arrived at the airport.”

***

“This is New York…”

Choi Tae Woo, who had never been abroad before, couldn’t stop marveling at the scenery that was different from Korea. Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, and a staff member of Kings Agency, who were sitting in the back seat and the driver’s seat, respectively, smiled softly.

He had been moving briskly until he moved his luggage to the car that came to pick him up and got on, but as he relaxed, he noticed the surroundings.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

He regained his senses at the small laughter and said awkwardly. He was here to work, not to play.

“It’s okay. It happens.”

Even though Seo-jun said that, Choi Tae Woo looked sorry. Ahn Da Ho changed the subject.

“Mr. Tae Woo, please let Whale Studio know when you arrive.”

“Yes. I will!”

As he took out his phone, Ahn Da Ho turned his gaze to Seo-jun and said.

“You can rest today and tomorrow, and meet with the director the day after tomorrow to talk.”

“The day after tomorrow? Tomorrow is fine too…”

“You need to rest a bit. You’re going to shoot all month long in August.”

Of course, Hollywood was strict about keeping the shooting time and rest time, so there would be some rest time, but Ahn Da Ho was worried about Seo-jun.

“It’s been a long time since you shot a movie.”

It was his first shoot in almost two years, since [Fire] in November two years ago.

“You’re so excited that you might use up all your energy.”

To put it more bluntly, he was afraid he might go berserk.

Hmm.

Well, he had been feeling excited since he arrived at the airport, no, even in Korea, as the shooting day got closer. He had read the script several times and simulated it in his head, and sometimes he laughed without knowing it.

Seo-jun looked at himself and smiled weakly.

“Yes. I’ll calm down.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled slightly.

“How about meeting with the actors tomorrow?”

“Paul and Catherine?”

“Those two are fine. And I heard Evan is in New York.”

Oh.

He had been in touch with him a lot, but it had been a long time since he met him. Should he? Seo-jun smiled and said.

“I guess Rachel will be there too.”

“Right.”

She would probably fly over in an instant, saying, ‘Why are you meeting without me?!’

Ahn Da Ho, who laughed along with Seo-jun, continued.

“Or you can meet with Soo Bin. Jason Moore and Professor Benjamin are with her.”

“Isn’t the final in a few days? Wouldn’t it bother their practice?”

“Wouldn’t it be okay for a meal? Or you can meet with Grace.”

He realized that he had a lot of acquaintances in New York.

“Then I’ll have to take turns meeting them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

Ahn Da Ho chuckled at Seo-jun’s joke.

***

They arrived at the hotel where they would stay during the shooting.

He had been waiting for the shooting since last year, and since there wasn’t much time left, he couldn’t help but smile. Seo-jun calmed down his face and picked up his carry-on and headed to his room. His steps were light.

Ahn Da Ho, who quietly watched him, called Choi Tae Woo.

“Mr. Tae Woo. Can we talk for a moment?”

‘! Did I get too excited earlier?’

Choi Tae Woo quickly followed Ahn Da Ho.

The room next to Seo-jun’s, Ahn Da Ho’s room.

“I’ll check it myself, but…”

Ahn Da Ho, who opened his mouth, looked more serious than usual. Choi Tae Woo felt nervous.

“Please keep an eye on Seo-jun while he’s filming, Mr. Tae-woo.”

“…What?”

Choi Tae-woo blinked his eyes at Ahn Da-ho’s unexpected and incomprehensible words.

Ahn Da-ho smiled wryly and said,

“You’ve seen Seo-jun acting, right?”

“Yes. A few times at the company…”

“How was it?”

For some reason, Choi Tae-woo answered Ahn Da-ho’s question honestly.

“He was really good. He was wearing casual clothes and the background was just a practice room that could be anywhere, but when Seo-jun acted, it felt like everything around him changed. He was so immersed that he seemed to become the character itself. Like method acting, you know.”

Yeah.

Ahn Da-ho’s brow furrowed slightly.

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

“What do you mean…?”

Choi Tae-woo recalled what he had said.

“Method acting?”

“Yes.”

Ahn Da-ho nodded. Choi Tae-woo asked with a puzzled expression.

“Hasn’t Seo-jun always acted like that?”

Then why is it a problem now?

“Well, that’s true, but… this time, the preparation period was much longer than usual. Normally, Seo-jun’s pre-shooting preparation period is only a few months and doesn’t exceed a year, but this time, it was over a year because of the military service.”

Choi Tae-woo listened carefully to Ahn Da-ho’s words.

“Of course, he had his military life too, so he wouldn’t have focused only on character analysis or immersion. But… from Gray Vine’s perspective, you can’t ignore the time he spent composing three songs and immersing himself in acting every time he got a vacation.”

If it was Seo-jun, he would have thought of ‘Gray Vine’ ever since he decided to star in the movie and received the script. And whenever he had time, he would have immersed himself 100% in the role.

Ahn Da-ho smiled wryly and continued.

“Besides, this movie is a fake documentary. It captures Gray Vine’s daily life. It’s a genre that’s perfect for confusing reality and film.”

Ahn Da-ho sighed and said.

“Lastly, I would normally trust Seo-jun’s ability, but… I can’t help but think that there’s a possibility of him going overboard since it’s been almost two years since he last filmed.”

The long character analysis time, the fake documentary genre that captures reality, and the immense passion of the actor who hasn’t filmed in a long time.

“It’s the perfect condition for trouble.”

“Trouble?”

“Confusing the character and himself.”

Choi Tae-woo’s eyes widened. He involuntarily thought of the stories of actors who had immersed themselves in their characters through method acting and suffered unfortunate consequences. Ahn Da-ho, who had the same thoughts, smiled wryly and said.

“Of course, it’s a relief that Gray Vine is not a serial killer or a psychopath, but that’s why I wonder if he might be more confused.”

He might be more easily immersed if he had some similarities with the character.

“Uh… then wouldn’t it be better not to film the movie?”

“The problem is that I started to worry about this recently.”

Until a while ago, he thought it was just a normal shooting, but ever since he saw Seo-jun being excited from his last vacation until today, Ahn Da-ho suddenly had this concern.

That’s why he deliberately told him to meet his friends who were ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

“Seo-jun will tell me not to worry. He’ll do well, just like he said.”

Ahn Da-ho knew that too.

Seo-jun would do well in this shooting as well, as he always did.

But…

“But being a manager means thinking about even the worst-case scenarios. So I’ll check on him too, but I’d appreciate it if you could watch him closely, Mr. Tae-woo.”

At Ahn Da-ho’s words, Choi Tae-woo, who had been nodding his head, paused for a moment.

“But how do you know if there’s a problem?”

“Seo-jun wakes up from his immersion as soon as the shooting is over. You just have to see if he returns to being Seo-jun when they call cut or…”

Ahn Da-ho swallowed his worry and sigh and spoke slowly.

“Or if he stays as Gray Vine. And… it would be good to check the time too.”

He didn’t have to say that the longer it took him to wake up from his immersion, the bigger the problem was.

“Yes. I understand.”

Choi Tae-woo answered with a determined face.

***

If Seo-jun had known Ahn Da-ho’s concern, he would have said, ‘No, why are you worried about that?’ and wondered, ‘…Was I that excited?’ After finishing packing his luggage, he was talking on the phone with Evan Block.

“So tomorrow, I’m going to meet Grace for lunch, and have dinner with Su-bin, Jason, and Professor Benjamin. Do you want to come, Evan?”

-No, I’m good.

Evan Block laughed at the names of the people who would attend the dinner.

-I can tell they’re going to talk about nothing but violin, and I don’t know anything about violin.

“Well, that’s true.”

Seo-jun thought that the dinner table would be noisy with stories about violin.

-What about visiting the set?

“The set? My set?”

Seo-jun opened his eyes wide.

-Yeah. Wouldn’t it be okay to stop by for a bit? You know Sara, the director.

Seo-jun thought for a moment.

He would have to get permission, of course, but he wasn’t an ordinary actor, he was the lead actor of a series movie from Marine, the parent company.

“I think it would be okay.”

-Right? Then I’ll contact them.

“Okay.”

-I can’t wait to see you filming, Jun. Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since you filmed, right?

“Yes. It’s been almost two years. I wish I could film soon. I want to see how I look with Paul, who plays Catherine, and how I look on camera. I’m so excited. You have no idea how much I wanted to film when I watched movies in the army. Oh, Da-ho hyung said earlier that I looked very excited. He said I might use up all my energy when I start filming.”

-You sound like it. I can feel your excitement from here.

Evan Block laughed at Seo-jun’s excitement that he could feel through the phone.