Chapter 45. You Have Potential
What is evaluated during an audition? Acting skills? Appearance? Biography?
The answer is all of the above. But different types of films have different priorities.
For an art film, the main focus is on acting skills. Great performance can compensate for a lack of physical beauty, helping the actor stand out. Take, for example, Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch—none of them have perfect looks, and Cumberbatch is even called unattractive, but their acting conquers directors and audiences.
In China, there are similar examples—Zhang Yi, Sun Honglei, Huang Bo, Ge You. They have all achieved success due to their skills, despite their unremarkable appearance.
However, if it's a commercial film, especially a popcorn blockbuster, acting skills take a back seat. Of course, it doesn't mean that actors don't need to know how to act at all, but basic skills should be there. That's why Eric arranged training for Gal Gadot.
For such commercial films, directors choose actors based on their looks and charisma, so they fit the character's image. In school films, for example, handsome and beautiful actors are required. If unattractive actors played the main roles, no one would watch, even if their acting was excellent.
Examples of this include Megan Fox in "Transformers," Lin Yun in Stephen Chow's "The Mermaid," and the cast of "Twilight." They were all chosen based on this principle.
As for connections, they undoubtedly also matter. For example, ask Gwyneth Paltrow or, say, Zhang Ziyi.
After the press conference, MGM began a global casting call. Within a month, they received over 3,400 resumes. And that's just from actors. If the casting had been open to everyone, the number of applications could have exceeded a million.
Of course, it's impossible to personally review more than three thousand people. Therefore, the first stage was to select based on appearance and connections, and at this stage, 90% of the candidates were eliminated.
Then followed a multi-stage selection, and only after that did the resumes end up on Eric's desk for him to make the final decision on who would be invited to the auditions.
As a result, out of more than three thousand candidates, just over 50 remained. They were sent character descriptions and some scenes from the script to prepare for the auditions.
However, among these 50, most turned out to be acquaintances and friends arranged through connections. These people still needed to be invited to the auditions for formality's sake. After the auditions, they would simply be told they didn't fit, and everyone would be satisfied.
...
In a large room, Tom Hardy sat in the corner, observing the new people entering the room. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
He noticed James Franco, who had recently become popular thanks to his role in "Spider-Man." Franco wasn't yet a top star but had already become a noticeable figure in Hollywood. This increased the pressure on Hardy.
Then Hardy saw Jake Gyllenhaal, who had started his career as a child and had recently been nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for the film "Donnie Darko." The pressure increased even more.
Next entered Heath Ledger, who also started his career as a child and was nominated for his role in the film "A Knight's Tale" at the Teen Choice Award. The pressure became almost unbearable.
Hardy also noticed Ryan Gosling, who had recently made his film debut and already received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award. He wiped sweat from his forehead, and his heart beat faster. This feeling was familiar to him—he had experienced it at auditions for "Band of Brothers" and "Black Hawk Down."
Fortunately, he got small roles in both films, but they didn't help him advance his career. Those roles were too small to get him noticed. In "Black Hawk Down," he was hard to find even under a microscope.
And today he was auditioning for the lead role in "Transformers," and the competition was so terrifying that it scared him.
At that moment, another person entered the room, and Hardy, noticing him, immediately stood up and waved: "James, James, over here!"
James McAvoy, hearing his name, turned and saw Hardy, whom he had met on the set of "Band of Brothers." Both actors were from the UK and had played small roles in that series. Although they weren't close friends, they kept in touch.
"James, glad to see a familiar face here. I'm so nervous," Hardy said quietly.
"I'm nervous too," McAvoy admitted.
"When I got the audition invitation, I was very happy and flew to Los Angeles two days ago. But now..."
"I feel like my chances of getting the role are slim. How can I compete with James Franco?"
"Don't lose heart. James Franco is indeed the most famous among us, but if MGM only cared about fame, there would be no point in the casting, right?"
"True, but I'm still nervous, my heart is pounding like crazy!"
"Relax, remember what they taught you in school, take a deep breath... Oh, someone else has arrived."
"Who?"
"Michael, Michael, over here, I'm here," McAvoy waved.
Seeing so many people waiting for the audition, Michael Fassbender sighed deeply and considered hiding in the corner when he unexpectedly heard his name. Turning around, he noticed James McAvoy and his junior colleague Tom Hardy, with whom he had met on the set of "Band of Brothers."
Feeling like he found his group, Michael quickly headed toward them. Despite all of them being competitors, at this moment, he sincerely hoped to be accepted into their warm company. Even if not quite warm, but at least somewhat shielding from the cold he felt.
Sitting next to James, Fassbender swallowed and quietly said, "What tension here, everyone is silent?"
McAvoy nodded to the side, "Whoever speaks loudly immediately becomes the center of attention, and that's not the best idea right now. Look, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Heath Ledger are also whispering."
"Who's that guy? He's in great shape!"
"Looks like Chris Evans. I saw his film last year."
"Lead role?"
"Yes."
"Don't continue, after your words I'm even more nervous!"
...
In the audition room, Eric sat in the center, flanked by several people. Among them were a man and a woman he had chosen as his assistants.
The woman's name was Patty Jenkins, she was 31 years old, and she held the position of assistant director. Perhaps her name is not well known, but her works are definitely familiar. Her film "Monster" brought Charlize Theron an Oscar for Best Actress. She was also the director of "Wonder Woman," in which Gal Gadot would later star.
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