Although Eva Green, with her professional acting background, is considered an excellent actress among her peers, having played prominent roles in *The Dreamers* and *Casino Royale*, it was her portrayal of villainous characters that truly skyrocketed her fame and established her as a top Hollywood actress.
"Hello, Miss Green, may I have the honor of buying you a drink? Your performance today was even better than many Hollywood actresses who have been in the industry for years."
Wayne didn't hide his interest and approached Eva Green directly, expressing his admiration for her.
The French beauty was initially a little surprised. She glanced at Mia and Jessica, who were not far away and clearly had a close relationship with Wayne, and seeing their calm expressions, she agreed without hesitation.
Being a French beauty and a Hollywood actress spoke volumes.
That night, amidst the lights and wine, Wayne and Eva Green had a deep conversation, fully experiencing the charm of this French rose.
Meanwhile, over at the *Gifted* set, the audition process began as scheduled.
"Hey, Annie! You're early!"
"Hey, Naomi! Didn't you arrive just as early?"
Naomi Watts, who had arrived at the company at 8:30 a.m., smiled as she greeted Annie. After all, just a few days ago, at Wayne's request, the two had shared a rather intimate exchange, so they were now quite familiar with each other.
"I had no choice. Susan scheduled my audition second, right after Susan Sarandon. So I had to come early." Naomi shrugged, speaking helplessly.
She was telling the truth. After all, she was the lead actress. If it weren't for the huge gap in fame and status between her and Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon, Naomi should have been the first to audition.
Many times, even the order of auditions signifies a lot.
Of course, since they had already signed contracts in advance, the auditions were more of a formality, a chance for the director, writer, and Susan, the producer, to see the results of the acting training they had undergone over the past few days.
If the director was satisfied, great. If not, even though they couldn't change the actors, they could still make them continue their acting lessons, perhaps even intensify the training.
So, this audition was quite important to them.
However, Naomi's words sounded a bit harsh to Annie, as Annie felt that Naomi's lead role should have been hers.
Annie thought she was younger and more beautiful than Naomi (in her own opinion) and had known Wayne longer. Yet, Naomi had snatched the lead role from her.
Although Naomi's acting skills were indeed stronger, how many years had she been acting compared to Naomi? Annie believed that if she were Naomi's age and had acted as long, she would be a much better actress than Naomi.
Unfortunately, no one can predict the future, and for now, her acting was simply not as good as Naomi Watts'.
"Have you seen the girl playing Mary—or, rather, Betty now?"
Naomi seemed to sense that Annie's mood was off and guessed what she was thinking, so she subtly changed the topic.
"Yeah, I saw her." Not wanting to let this affect her audition state, Annie cooperated and subtly pointed with her chin towards Dakota Fanning, who was sitting with her mother and agent nearby.
"Wow! She's adorable!" Naomi exclaimed softly after looking Dakota up and down.
"Isn't she the one Wayne specifically picked?"
"Yes," Annie nodded. "They say she's a child star. Even though she's only six, she's already been in several commercials and had speaking roles in three TV shows."
At this, Annie didn't show much emotion, but Naomi felt a bit envious.
Though Naomi looked young, she was actually already 32. Compared to six-year-old Dakota Fanning, who had already landed the lead role in a multi-million-dollar independent film, Naomi felt the gap was significant.
Fortunately, she had been riding a wave of success lately.
There was her role in *Mulholland Drive* by David Lynch—a director who, despite not having won an Oscar, had a reputation and status on par with Oscar-winning directors. Landing the role of the second female lead in his award-bait film had felt like winning the lottery.
And now, there was *Gifted*, a multi-million-dollar production featuring an Oscar-winning actress, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, and Gus Van Sant, who narrowly missed out on beating James Cameron. The combination was almost a guaranteed success.
But what made Naomi happiest was getting close to Wayne and securing his favor. Through her persistent efforts, she felt that Wayne's attitude toward her was finally starting to change.
From what she had gathered from others and her own experiences with Wayne, she could tell that he was a principled and loyal person.
Though these traits didn't fit well in the dark and dirty world of Hollywood, for a small-time actress like her, this was the biggest stroke of luck.
"By the way, those two over there are also here for the audition, and Wayne specifically recommended them," Annie said, perhaps noticing Naomi's thoughts, pointing to Liu Yifei and Megan Fox, who were sitting together chatting quietly.
Since both were represented by Mike and were of similar age, and since there was no competition between them, both having gotten the audition through Wayne's connections, they naturally gravitated toward each other.
Maybe it was a matter of taste.
To Megan, Liu Yifei's looks were nothing special, and certainly no match for her own. And as for body shape, there was no contest. So, in Megan's eyes, Liu Yifei posed no threat at all.
On the other hand, Liu Yifei felt the same way.
In terms of beauty, she believed herself far superior to Megan. Though she didn't have Megan's voluptuous figure, she was slender and graceful, with an elegance honed through years of dancing. So she didn't see Megan as a threat either.
Ironically, the two got along quite well.
"Is it just an audition?" Naomi muttered softly, then asked curiously, "Do you know what roles they're auditioning for?"
**(End of Chapter)**