Tan Wen was now in her sixties. She had a kind expression and wore a pair of silver-rimmed reading glasses.
The moment she entered, she looked at everyone with her eyes beaming. She said, "Aiyo, the young people these days really are as beautiful as flowers and as lovely as jade. I feel younger just looking at all of you!"
Everyone laughed.
She let everyone introduce themselves.
"There are eleven of you in total. I have divided the class into two groups. I saw that seven of you are planning to debut as actors, and four of you are going to debut as singers?"
Everyone nodded. She addressed the four hopeful singers and said, "Don't think that just because the four of you are going to sing that you won't need my acting lessons."
"Of course not, Teacher Tan."
"That's good to know." She turned to look at the others. "I hope the seven of you don't blame me for being strict," she said.
"No, Teacher Tan."
When they were divided into groups, there were six people on one side and five people on the other. Li Yan and Xiwan happened to be opposite groups.
"From now on, you will perform in groups to learn," Tan Wen said with a smile.
Li Yan lifted her chin and looked at Xiwan. "Looks like it's a competition."
"I've seen your information. Other than those who plan to debut as singers, and Jiang Xiwan, all of you are from the performance department, right?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Then, Tan Wen looked at Jiang Xiwan. "What a beautiful girl. You should first perform a drunken performance."
This performance was not easy, but it was not particularly difficult. Tan Wen wanted Xiwan to perform "drunk" to see Xiwan's level of talent. After all, most of the people who walked the path of an actor were trained in a professional class. Many of them didn't need to be taught anymore. However, if someone's foundation was zero, they would have to make other plans.
Xiwan nodded.
Looking around at everyone else, Xiwan felt a flash schadenfreude, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Xiwan knew that these people must have been unconvinced. It seemed unfair that a person that had so clearly received professional training be the number one priority in their acting class. They were all good looking people, but in the entertainment industry true popularity was reserved for those with acting skills!
Since Xiwan intended to re-enter the entertainment industry and wanted to reach the top as soon as possible, and she didn't want to waste her time on three months of practice, she wasn't going to hide her talent!
To be honest, even if it was just three months, the practice would be useless for her. The fact was, however, that this was the company's rule. It was a set process. Since she didn't have any outstanding works and wasn't from a professional school, she could only passively accept this career practice.
Unless...
Unless she could prove that she was very good at acting.
Would it be possible to shorten that time?
Xiwan decided to perform a silly scene where a girl was drunk because she wanted to forget about her lover, who she missed terribly. She rubbed at her face until her eyes were misty and her cheeks were red, and she made sure that her smile was intoxicating...
Everyone was shocked because unknowingly, they had been blown away by Xiwan in that scene. They could truly empathize with her character!
And clearly, she had not rehearsed any lines!
Then, Xiwan performed another scene where a lady was drunk in her boudoir.
Her scarlet eyes were filled with monstrous hatred as she smashed the tabletop, making the most of her vast imagination. Then, she looked up at the sky and smiled, her eyes filled with tears...
The crowd, who were still immersed in the previous scene, were so shocked by Xiwan's sudden change of character to the lady in the boudoir. However, when it ended, they were left speechless once more.
After this performance, Xiwan acted out the drunken appearance of an ordinary office worker. After drinking, she felt a little dizzy. She shook her head and patted her face, then laid back on the bed, her head heavy. She narrowed her eyes, slurred a few words, and then fell asleep.
The three performances were of different styles, but they were closely connected and each was fascinating by itself. So much variety in such a short time!
It was not just the trainees who were shocked by Xiwan's performance, even Tan Wen's eyes were full of shock.
"Good!" After a long time, Tan Wen broke the reverent silence.
Tan Wen looked at Xiwan with eyes full of inquiry.
This young woman did not seem to be a beginner who had no deductive experience at all. To be able to give three completely different performances in such a short time, from laughing to crying, from being silly to complaining, even being insensitive, was very impressive. The details of every performance, right down to the subtle expressions on her face, were perfectly handled.
Was she really a beginner with the trainee program?
Xiwan looked at the crowd with a smile.
Those watching from the professional classes became even more incredulous.
'Wasn't she from the broadcasting department? Why was her performance better than mine?' Negative thoughts ran through the minds of many people who'd watched her. Xiwan had blushed, laughed, and cried easily and fluidly. Most importantly, that aura had easily engaged people with the scene she created.
"Did you really not have any acting experience before?" Tan Wen asked.
Xiwan nodded.
"Your talent is really extraordinary. Even she can't compare to you..." Tan Wen sighed.
Xiwan knew who she was talking about. That person was herself. Every time she called Tan Wen for advice in her past life, she would tell her, "Xiwan, you're really the most talented person I've ever seen. Look, you've won so many Best Actress awards so quickly," and, "Amazing. If this goes on, as long as you win the Golden Ball and Golden Age awards, you'll be the youngest Grand Slam Best Actress." It made sense, if she was already more talented than her past self, her acting career in the years before she died would have been in vain!
"I'm filled with excitement for the future you." Tan Wen's silver-rimmed eyes were shining brightly.
Li Yan watched everyone's shock at Xiwan's performance. She couldn't believe that this girl could act so well. However, she still refused to admit defeat.
"I'll do it too!"
Tan Wen looked at Li Yan. She knew that she was the young mistress of the company, so she smiled at her. "Alright, then you can perform an emotional, crying scene."
"Why can't I perform drunk too?" Li Yan blinked. If she didn't act drunk, how could she compete with her!
The crowd looked from Li Yan to Tan Wen.
Tan Wen cleared her thought. "I assign the tasks. It's time to test your acting skills."
Li Yan thought about it and agreed. She began to act out the crying scene.
The first scene depicted a young girl and her lover parting. She wanted to say something but was unable to, and in the end could only say, "Goodbye," turning around with tears streaming down her face. The second scene was of a girl betrayed by her lover. Her eyes were red and she didn't want to let her tears fall. She gave a fierce slap and yelled, "B*tch!" The third scene showed her crying from joy after a false alarm. She was stunned at first, and her eyes were empty and lifeless. Her legs went limp and she fell to the ground. Finally, she picked up a phone call and her expression changed, suddenly filled with surprise. After she jumped up, her legs went limp and she staggered forward, her face filled with tears. "This is great, this is great," someone whispered in the crowd.
She performed all three acts together in one go.
After the performance was over, Li Yan wiped the tears from her face and resumed her role as the arrogant and condescending Miss Li. "Hmph," she sighed. "How was it?"
Xiwan always got the impression that Li Yan was particularly haughty. Her mouth was a little vicious, but her heart was still kind. She had her own taste for wickedness that Xiwan did not completely understand. For example, after Li Yan met her at the restaurant, even after finding out that Xiwan's family background "wasn't good" (or so she assumed), Li Yan kept ordering from the menu. She purposely ordered a big table just to make her afraid of her money. Li Yan had made such a fool of herself in front of her idol, Jiang Yi, when she had planned to pay the bill all along...
Xiwan hadn't thought for one second that Li Yan's acting ability was so strong!
If she was being honest, Li Yan was even stronger than she was when she had just debuted in her previous life. If Li Yan was given more than ten years of experience, her achievements might not be lower than hers!
Tan Wen clapped her hands. "Good!"
Everyone smiled, and a few people murmured, "Good," under their breath, but they cursed her in their hearts.
One girl cleared her throat, and angrily said, "F*ck! Why did you let these two in the class? Were these two trying to crush the entertainment industry? They were already perfectly molded beautiful vases! They don't need to be able to act, so why are they so skilled? Not fair!"
The boy next to her whispered back, "Thank God I'm a boy. The future of the entertainment industry will be made through a battle between these two goddesses!"
Li Yan saw that many people were shocked by her performance, so she looked at teacher Tan Wen. She pointed at Xiwan and said, "Teacher, who's stronger? Me or her?"
Tan Wen was stunned. "Your performances are different." Li Yan definitely had great confidence, but she couldn't say such things out loud. What if ate away the confidence of Xiwan?
Li Yan protested, "There must be a difference in performance!"
Seeing that she was not going to stop until she got an answer, Tan Wen said, "You are both very good. You will be among the few people in the industry who are extremely talented." Tan Wen paused to consider what she wanted to say next. "Xiwan's performance was very natural, a little more deliberate and a little less lacking. But your performance was still very worthy, Li Yan. You are still you, and the characters remain outside of you. You are not that character, you're not acting from the state of mind of your characters, you are merely performing the actions that you think that person will do, and not the actions your character will naturally do." Tan Wen paused to let her words be understood. "This is the difference between you and Xiwan, but even so, you gave a very top-notch performance. Accumulate more experience, and you'll be able to grasp the mind of your characters in the future."
Li Yan gritted her teeth. Despite her pride, she agreed with this answer in her heart.
Teacher Tan's evaluation of her was the same as what her mother had said.
Her mother was the legendary Zheng Yinyin, the record holder of the Grand Slam Best Actress. Even at the peak of her career in her previous life, Jiang Xiwan, who was widely watched and loved by the outside world, was unable to break the record set by Li Yan's mother.
Every time she rehearsed in front of her mother, she would say, "You're still in the development stage. When you understand the true essence of performance, you can debut for me."
When she asked why, her mother said, "You lack an aura. Your performance can scare the laymen, but the experts can see through it at a glance. You add too many things into your performance that don't need to be there. It makes it very difficult to resonate with others."
Jiang Xiwan's performance just now had the kind of aura that her mother was talking about. It could make people feel uncomfortable and happy at once...
But she wasn't convinced!
Jiang Xiwan clearly didn't have any experience, right?
Tan Wen looked at Li Yan, who had fallen silent. She wondered if she had been too harsh, so she quickly said, "Actually, your performance is already very good for your age. You will definitely become a great actress with time."
"I know," Li Yan said. She looked at Xiwan. "I will be stronger than you! Hmph!"
Xiwan smiled.
What truly made Xiwan stronger than Li Yan was her grasp of the details. Without talent and a few years of experience, she definitely wouldn't have known this. Some people will go their whole lives without understanding this difference. This was also the reason why the same performance, which had been performed by actors for many years, remained good or bad. And Li Yan's talent wasn't bad either. All that she lacked was the wisdom time can bring a person!