Beatrice almost tripped when someone deliberately bumped into her while she was walking.
"What are you still doing loitering around here?"
She looked back and found the vice president of the Limelight Collective acting group, Samantha Sinclair, together with her clique.
Beatrice was actually near the main studio that they used for their group activities. She came here after her lesson for the day was over.
It was not that she still wished to keep coming here for their group. She had already made her decision when she spoke with Kathrine and Harmony.
Instead, she was here because she was scouting Echelon Dominion, checking when they might have an audition or what they were doing at this moment. Since their main studio was also around this area.
Beatrice did not say anything and simply left them.
Samantha scoffed, "Someone without talent should really just give up. Or do you not understand what I am saying right now? You are a foreigner, after all."
"Why don't you just go back to your own country? Who knows, you might get a role or two there. Well, since you were from there," another added, gaining laughter from the rest.
Beatrice was about to keep going when she stopped.
'You are more than qualified.'
Beatrice turned to them, her eyes, always cast down since her arrival because she felt like she was showing no improvement, now filled with strength and clarity.
Samantha blinked, not expecting such a change in just a few days.
Beatrice smiled as she walked back.
"Indeed, I was lacking. I am a foreigner. I am not like you, who were born in this country. But our nationality does not define our strength and talent when it comes to acting."
Kathrine and Harmony's words had given her more than enough courage to face these people she had felt inferior to since she started studying here.
But now, she seriously felt like she could do more than they could.
She had watched them perform, after all.
She had heard people compliment them, but she knew she could do more than what they were doing. What they were capable of pulling off in their every act? She could surpass it.
She knew she could because she had been acting since she was a child. Acting in front of all those who criticized her nonstop.
She had tried her best to improve, striving for their approval, but it was all for naught. She was never given even a glance of recognition.
But because of that, she had been able to improve, together with her inborn talent.
Something she had forgotten before graduating from high school due to the problems she had faced.
It was also what she remembered after her talk with Kathrine and Harmony.
Seriously, she couldn't help but laugh when she thought about all of this after that call.
"You keep looking down on me, but are you all perfect?" she smirked.
She looked at the one who told her to go back to her country.
"It's not always, but you… you're saying the lines, but you're not feeling them. The audience will surely not believe your character if you don't."
That person wanted to rebuke, but it was the same critique she had received from one of her teachers. She was still lacking when it came to emotions.
She then looked at another guy.
"Your body language doesn't match your words. When your character is angry, the tension should be in your posture, not just your voice."
"…"
She then looked at another.
"You keep rushing through the scene. You are not letting the emotions settle before moving to the next line."
And another.
"You're acting too much in your head. You are thinking about how you look instead of focusing on what your character is feeling."
"Your voice is strong, but your face is blank. The emotion should show in both, it's not just about speaking clearly."
"The way you act? It feels rehearsed, not real. You are not letting the words flow naturally, you are not living the moment, you are simply reciting it."
Then she turned to Samantha.
"There's no connection between you and the other actor. You are focusing too much on your part when you should be reacting to what the other actors are giving you. You are a good actress, but you should learn how to connect with any actor. Not just those you deem worthy of your presence."
"!!!"
Samantha was left speechless, along with her group.
All of Beatrice's words were the same ones they had heard from their instructors.
"Stop acting like you know everything when you can barely act. Isn't that why you were kicked out of LC?"
Limelight Collective, LC for short.
After a few seconds of embarrassment, Samantha found her voice.
Beatrice chuckled, "I know. I was not myself over the past few months. But I should thank you all for kicking me out. I actually realized that I…"
She smiled confidently.
"…am more than qualified to be in that group."
All stared at her in shock.
"You can enjoy staying in that group all you want. And you can watch from there how I shake this place to its core. Me, who was a foreigner."
After that, she did not wait for any of them to react and left the place with confidence.
"Oh, I did hear that there was someone who showed remarkable acting in the auditions held by most groups in Country X. I watched her, but I, too, felt she was overestimated. But maybe I should reevaluate her again."
A man and a woman stood on the other side, having witnessed everything.
"Indeed, she seems interesting," the man replied to the woman.