Chapter 248 Not Acting but Standing There Dramatically
“Don’t worry, She’s just here to shoot her scenes. When she came to talk to me, I dodged or blocked every question that might’ve been fishing for information. Besides, she won’t le staying much longer.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Freya paused. Thinking about how Sophia kept messing up during filming, she couldn’t help but feel a little helpless. “Well maybe she will be around for a while. But I’ll be careful.”
In high spirits, Sophia headed off to shoot her scene. Violet had just finished her part, and now it was Sophia’s turn. She took a moment to prepare her emotions, stepping in with what looked like full cooperation–only to be stopped a few minutes later by Zane
“What are you smiling at? You’re supposed to be troubled in this scene. I’ve told you several times already–you need to look stunning but detached. Just stand there, and carry the mood of the flashback. That’s all.”
Mr. Zane was clearly holding back his temper. Violet had just delivered a flawless performance in one take, making Sophia–who kept messing up–look even more incompetent by comparison. If it weren’t for the fact that the person who’d pushed Sophia into the production had connections he couldn’t afford to offend, he would’ve lost it long
ago.
“Sorry, Mr. Zane. Just give me a second to get back into character–I’ll be ready in no time.” For once, Sophia was unusually compliant. She took a few deep breaths and composed herself. A few minutes later, she called out, “Mr. Zane, I’m ready.”
But just minutes into the next take, Mr. Zane yelled “Cut!” again.
“Cut! Why are you smiling again? Could you not smile? What the heck are you smiling about?”
“I’m not smiling,” Sophia said, completely baffled.
“Not smiling? Fine. Come here–watch it for yourself. See if you were smiling or not.” Mr. Zane wasn’t in the mood to argue; he just had her review the footage herself.
Sophia truly believed she hadn’t smiled, so she leaned in to take a look. Bi “e footage didn’t lic–she really was smiling, the corners of her mouth clearly turned up. Even she couldn’t explain it. She hadn’t felt anything unusual at all while filming.
Of course, Mr. Zane wasn’t going to listen to any excuses. All she could do was apologize. “I’m
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sorry, Mr. Zane. I didn’t mean to. Maybe I’m just in a good mood today—I honestly didn’t
notice.”
“Get it under control–quickly. We’re running out of time.” Mr. Zane didn’t even waste another word.
They started filming again a few minutes later. Zane didn’t say anything this time, but his brow remained furrowed; he clearly wasn’t satisfied. Sophia didn’t make any blatant mistakes this time, but she still failed to deliver the kind of presence he imagined for the witch character.
“Mr. Zane, how was that take? Did it work?” Sophia asked, pleased with herself since he hadn’t yelled “cut.” As long as I take this seriously, there’s no way I can’t pull it off.
Mr. Zane didn’t scold her or criticize her. Instead, he spoke to her calmly.
“Sophia, you’ve worked hard these past few days. Why don’t you take a break for now? Since we’ve still got the set for a while, let Clara and her team shoot their scene first.”
Sophia thought he was finally acknowledging her performance, and didn’t question it.
“Sure, I’ll leave you to it then, Mr. Zane. I’ll go look over my lines for the next scene.”
She walked away in high spirits. She considered going over to Louis to make herself seen, but figured he probably wasn’t in the mood to deal with her, so she didn’t push it. Instead, she returned to her seat, picked up her script, and actually started reading with more focus than she had in days.
Zane, meanwhile, sat frozen in front of the monitor. A staff member nearby couldn’t take the silence anymore..
“Mr. Zane, should we have Clara’s team get ready?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Let them start getting ready.” Zane blinked like he’d just come out of a trance. “I’m gonna make a phone call–hold tight.”
He stepped away with his phone. After sending Sophia off earlier, he had been seriously debating whether to cut down the witch’s scenes even more. He really didn’t want to–she was such a compelling character–but Sophia was making it impossible not to.
But just as he was stressing over it, Freya happened to walk across the set, probably heading
to talk to Violet.
A breeze caught her as she passed, and in that instant, an image of the witch character flashed
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through Zane’s mind.
If anyone truly understood the witch, it had to be the person who created her. And Freya- Freya was that rare kind of beauty, striking without ever needing heavy makeup. She was practically made for the role.
Zane knew Louis probably wouldn’t be thrilled about Freya stepping in front of the camera, but if it was just a brief appearance, maybe it was worth considering. They could capture this part on film to preserve Freya’s youthful presence.
He decided he’d talk to Sophia’s backers first; worst–case scenario, he could promise them a bigger opportunity on the next project. Once that was handled, he’d figure out how to bring it up to Freya and Louis.
