Chapter 3：The Presurred Actor (1/2)
A woman with long hair was staring at a man who was standing not far from her. The woman's gaze was filled with admiration yet filled with sadness.
”NG!”
”NG!”
”NG!”
”NG! Stop! Can you even act? Who recommended this useless rubbish?!” shouted someone behind the monitor screen while pointing at the woman who made a mistake.
”I am sorry. I am sorry.” The woman kept bowing while apologizing. Even if it was her first drama, her debut drama, the woman could act well. It was just that her partner actor seemed to have another aura when he was acting, and it made her felt intimidated and overwhelmed.
”Sunbaenim*, I am sorry,” after bowing her head multiple times to the man behind the monitor screen. The woman stared at the red-haired man who was her partner.
(*Senior)
”Ah, it's okay.” Said the man
”Let's have a 15 minutes break. If you still make a mistake after that, I don't care about the people who back you up. I will kick you out of here,” said the man behind the screen.
Hearing those words, the scolded woman could only duck her head down. This was her first debut drama. Whatever it is, she has to debut soon.
”Thank you, Noona*” said the red-haired man who was called Ethan. He took the drink given by the long-haired woman.
(* a term used by man to call an older woman)
”You shouldn't have a lousy partner like that right now,” snorted the long-haired woman.
”Never mind, Noona, this role is pretty cool anyway,” replied Ethan, who was now sitting in one of the chairs provided and flipping through his script.
”Are you sure you don't want to just follow their orders? To meet Ara?” asked the woman with long hair.
”Mi Sun Noona! I told you I don't want to follow that path! I will show it with my own abilities!” said Ethan.
”Then let's just resign! You can ask uncle for help to pay the compensation,” replied Mi Sun. But Ethan stayed silent and kept flipping through his script.
Seeing that, Mi Sun could only take a deep breath. She didn't really understand why Ethan would stick with an agency that no longer respected him.
”Ah, writer Hong, you are here?” asked the man who was busy staring at the monitor screen.
”Yes, I brought the script for the next episode. By the way, who is the actor who plays Sung Woo's character?” asked writer Hong.
”Ah, him, his name is Nam Ethan, why? He doesn't match your expectations anymore? I told you. You don't need to come to the set; we can send someone to pick up the script like before, ”said the man back.
The woman shook her head, ”No. It's the opposite. He played Sung Woo's character perfectly, is he a rookie?” asked writer Hong.
”He…if I'm not mistaken starred in two dramas before this, and in his last drama, he won the Best New Actor award,”
”Then why is he taking Sung Woo role, who is the younger brother of the female lead that rarely gets screen time?” asked writer Hong. As the writer of the drama ”My Wife's Men”, writer Hong knew each character's ins and outs very well and thought that the man playing Sung Woo can at least be the male lead or the second male lead, instead of a supporting role.
My Wife's Men tells a story about a woman who married a well-established doctor from an arranged marriage between her recently deceased father and the doctor's father. At first, she refused the arranged marriage but remembering that she lived alone with her brother, Sung Woo, and their finance dropped after their father passed away. She finally married the doctor.
Everyone around her said that she is lucky to marry that doctor, but that is not true. Her husband was too busy and cold, making her feel neglected. However, that changes when the woman attends a school reunion and meets her ex, who still has feelings for her.
”Why do you think an actor with such good acting, winning the Best New Actor award, and having a good personality, would play Sung Woo's character after getting the award?” the man asked, glancing at Ethan, who now seemed to be helping the new artist who is his partner before..
Writer Hong followed the man's gaze and could only sigh.
”Either the executives in his agency are blind, or…”
”He offended someone who shouldn't be offended; the entertainment world is always like this, writer Hong. You've been here a few years and still don't know the unspoken rules?” asked the man. Yet, writer Hong could only stay silent. The unspoken rules. Who knows how many people have fallen as a result of not obeying this rule.
Writer Hong regretted Ethan's talent. This is his 8th year in the entertainment world. There have been 5 drama scripts written by him before he finally decided to take a hiatus for 3 years.
He rarely found a suitable actor or actress to play the character written by him during that time. In fact, in his last drama, he had an argument with the director because he felt that the actor and actress did not match his characters. However, his voice wasn't really needed in the actors and actresses' selection process as a writer. That is why he is reluctant to come to the set since he feared that the actors and actresses who play his character couldn't play them well.
But after seeing Ethan act as Sung Woo, he felt like the man was really the Sung Woo that he thought when he wrote the character.
Sung Woo is not a complicated character to portray. Still, it will be completely wrong if the actor portrays him wrongly. He is the character of a rich boy from a rich school who lives his life peacefully, and he never breaks any rules. But after his father passed away and his friends left him because of his family's bankruptcy, he turned into a rebellious boy at school. That becomes worse when his sister accepted to marry a doctor that her sister doesn't love. He hates his sister, who ”sells” herself to a man for money.
The scene writer Hong saw earlier was the scene where Sung Woo chose to cruelly dump his girlfriend first before she could leave him like his friends did.
The scene might seem cliché, but Ethan succeeded in showing the expressions of fear within the cruelty of Sung Woo.
”By the way, our drama will air tonight, right?” asked writer Hong. The man nodded
”The scene earlier will be aired in episode 4, huh?” the man nodded once again.
”Why is this writer suddenly asking so many questions?” He thought.
”Okay then, it looks like there are some scripts that need to be changed. I'll go first,” said writer Hong, who suddenly got the idea of changing some parts of Sung Woo's character.
”Okay. The break is over, everyone goes back to your positions, and you, if you still fail, the exit door is over there,” said the man behind the monitor.
The woman could only smile bitterly. However it is, she had to succeed this time
”ACTION!”
***
Mi Sun could only sigh deeply. After Ethan get the Best New Actor award, her career as his manager should have accelerated rapidly, but who would have thought that the man would be trapped in a situation like this.
This situation started when Ethan won the Best New Actor award.
The day after he received the award, Ethan was called into the office to face Ha Joon, the Art Director.
”Good morning, director. Did you call for me?” greeted Ethan when he entered Ha Joon's room.
Inside the room, Ha Joon was talking with a girl. She looked like she was around 18 years old.
”Why are you so formal? You can call me Hyung*, oh right, have a seat,” replied Ha Joon
(* a term used by man to call an older man)
”It's okay, director, we are in the office too,” refused Ethan, then took his seat next to the girl.