The Best Director

Chapter 270: If I Don’t Play the Role, Who Will?

“Kaylee is a girl with a kind, simple heart, and whenever the atmosphere gets tense or not so good, she tries to mediate, but she usually cracks cold jokes, making the atmosphere even more awkward, and then she complains, ‘I can’t stand you guys!’…”

This character is not so difficult to understand, she doesn’t have a complex, conflicted mindset, but rather exhibits the normal behaviors of a girl with a budding affection and a slightly weird, funny side, so the difficulty of portraying her isn’t that high. But that’s just the basic expectation; for a character without too many highlights in her setup, a big-hearted and naïve young mechanic girl, how do you make her vibrant and colorful? This depends on the energy the actor brings to the role.

It’s undeniable that an actor with insufficient spiritual energy who works very, very hard might only make Kaylee cute and lively, like other similar characters; an actor full of talent who works very, very hard has a greater chance and greater explosive power to elevate Kaylee to a new height, making the Serenity a more interesting ship.

At this moment, in the bright audition room, the Caucasian girl standing in front of the audition table of Wang Yang, Joss Whedon, and others, is a budding actor with explosive talent. She’s about 152CM tall, petite with a youthful face, her deep brown hair cascading over her shoulders, partly obscured by the long bangs over her right forehead; her well-defined face is not stunningly beautiful but she has an air of the girl-next-door, fresh and endearing.

“You know Kaylee is an orphan, never had much education, even misreads words, Captain Mal discovered her talent for repairs, and thus ‘exploited’ her for hard labor. But Kaylee knows the captain is tough-talking but soft-hearted, her feelings for Captain Mal are not just of captain and subordinate, more like a brother or a father, more the former! OK, give it some thought on your own.”

After explaining some of Kaylee’s character, Wang Yang watched the girl with a stubborn aura in front of him pondering deeply, and was quite satisfied as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Next to him, Joss Whedon was also sizing up the girl, who was very different from the initial image of Kaylee Frye in his mind—she was younger, not as sweet, not that innocent and goofy allure but with a touch of independent pride. However, Wang Yang had already made many changes to Kaylee’s character setup, such as her being someone’s first love.

“How do you feel about her look?” Wang Yang glanced at Whedon and asked softly. Joss Whedon voiced his concerns, “Isn’t she a bit too young? Not even 17, she looks 15, 16.” Wang Yang shrugged slightly, jokingly said, “Maybe it’s related to my name, I have a preference for young actors.” Whedon smiled, and Wang Yang added seriously, “Around 17 is just right, an interesting little girl. I’m starting to miss my own 17 years old…”

Joss Whedon chuckled and patted Wang Yang on the shoulder; nearby, one of the producer’s assistants, Joshua, was eyeing the girl up and down, and for some reason, he felt a familiar sensation—although she was quite short, there was a unique flavor in her eyes… you just knew she was the kind of girl in school who was not to be trifled with.

“Let’s start the audition, Ellen, turn around and let’s have a look.” After a while, Wang Yang got up and went to the camera, watching Ellen Page on the machine’s screen as she stood up, starting this audition.

The Caucasian girl auditioning was Ellen Page, born on February 21, 1987, in Halifax, Canada, who has loved performing since she was a child, participating in many school performances at the age of four, landing on Canadian screens with the CBS TV movie “Pit-Pony” at the age of 10 in 1997, continued to play the role of “Maggie MacLean” in the TV adaptation of “Pit-Pony” in 1999, and then appeared in TV series like “Trailer Park Boys,” “Ottawa,” and “Wet Season.”

Last year, she debuted on the big screen with “Lost and Delirious,” and in the past two years, she also filmed TV movies such as “The Stone Angel,” “Ghost Cat,” “Touch & Go,” “The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and “Mouth to Mouth.” Having been nominated for the “Young Artist Award” for her maiden work at the age of 10, although Ellen Page was not very well-known in America and Hollywood, she was a famous child star in Canada, with acting skills beyond her age and astonishing talent that earned her countless praises. Her acting career was bright.

According to future information, in the year 2005, she defeated 300 contestants in the auditions for the film “Hard Candy” and seized the lead role. The success of “Hard Candy” catapulted her to fame, turning insubstantial praise into tangible achievements and allowing her to smoothly transition to the big screen. Subsequently, she was active on the sets of independent films, finally becoming famous with the 2007 version of “Juno.”

If she hadn’t been just 12 years old four years ago, Wang Yang would have cast her as Juno when he was preparing to shoot the story with that theme. Of course, Natalie Portman’s portrayal later on was outstanding and mature, creating a Juno whose charm was second to none. Acting geniuses like Natalie Portman, Heath Ledger, and Ellen Page, regardless of the roles given to them, would always find and bring out the highlights within, with extraordinary comprehension. They could be said to be the people that directors love most on set.

“Alright, here we go.” Ellen Page responded, standing up and very adeptly and confidently cooperating with the requirements of the screen test, facing front, side, back, tying her hair into a ponytail… these were all basic procedures, but this was Wang Yang’s audition, and it felt really good.

She didn’t have many idols, Patti Smith (rock singer) was one, and Magic Yang was another, one of her favorite directors whom she had been looking forward to working with. It was impossible for her not to have heard of Magic Yang. She had learned of him at age 11 when a guy made a movie with just ten thousand US dollars that grossed over three hundred million, and then, he was also quite handsome. After that, his movies had always accompanied her as she grew up, even though he was only seven years older than her.

This guy was getting crazier and crazier, and she especially liked his fun and witty remarks, as well as his street snaps, of which she had followed a few.

A few days ago, out of the blue, her agent received an audition invitation for “Firefly.” Magic Yang? “Firefly?”

Even though she was not very famous, if it were another director or an invitation from big productions like “Spider-Man” or “X-Men,” she would have refused without even asking her parents, as she did not want to travel all the way from Canada to Hollywood to play some messy role. She just wanted to make a few decent movies. But now it was Young-Wang, and so she flew from Canada to Los Angeles at once.

“Ellen, if Kaylee had a crush on a young, handsome, and capable doctor, she would be very enthusiastic but without confessing, just constantly hinting,” Wang Yang looked up at Page, who was across from him. This was naturally a test of her comprehension and the direction she would take in shaping the character. He asked, “Do you think Kaylee has any elements of inferiority?”

Under the gaze of several people, Page thought calmly. Kaylee, a simple-minded, forthright girl experiencing the dawn of her first romance, should represent all that was beautiful; inferiority was a dark and negative emotion, not present. It would only be the beautiful mindset of a first love! Page slightly frowned, then confidently answered, “No, I don’t think she has inferiority. Kaylee is waiting for the doctor to confess because she likes the boy to be proactive and a bit more romantic. That’s her ideal love story beginning, which is why she is so enthusiastic and hinting.”

She was an audition expert, truly understanding how to show her confidence, and laughed, “If I were timid, I guess Kaylee would’ve already shrunk onto a couch at the side.”

“Ha! Kaylee wouldn’t do that.” Wang Yang laughed and indirectly gave her a “YES” in response, the following questions further proved Ellen Page’s understanding. She was well aware of not just Kaylee, but also the character’s script positioning within the play. Some responses that differed from the “standard answers” were also very convincing, putting one’s mind at ease to entrust the character to her for shaping. Joss Whedon nodded in satisfaction from time to time, completely devoid of the earlier doubts; Joshua watched her self-possessed and intelligent demeanor, feeling an increasing sense of familiarity…

Indeed, seeing is believing, and even more impressive than her reputation! Wang Yang nodded in admiration. Compared to comprehension, it was Page’s confidence and bravery that truly impressed him. This little rascal was not yet seventeen, and “High School Musical” and “Juno” had led him to audition too many girls around the ages of 17 and 18. Apart from Natalie Portman, hardly anyone could match Page’s performance; she was so confident it was almost “excessive.”

“I know precisely what I am saying and thinking, and Kaylee is just that kind of person. Of course, if you disagree or are unsatisfied, you can tell me why, and I will think it over carefully.” Page’s attitude was just like that: arrogantly confident, yet with a hint of humility.

But without doubt, he liked it, any director would like it. Wentworth Miller’s constant audition failures over the years were due to a lack of confidence and persuasiveness, whereas Page, at her young age, had performed in more than ten film and TV projects. Half the reason was relying on that unique confidence as if to say, “I’m not ordinary.”

“OK, we move on to the performance segment. You’ve seen your script, now that assistant is Captain Mal; the first section.” Wang Yang gave a thumbs up to Page over there, glanced at Joshua, and then focused on Ellen Page’s upcoming performance, believing it would not disappoint. Joss Whedon, who was not familiar with Page, was full of anticipation, having seen a tremendous spiritual energy within her from the Q&A.

Looking as if under no psychological pressure, Page gazed in the direction of the camera, adjusting her breathing to reach her best state, the pages of the script already deeply engrained in her memory.

“Kaylee, what are you up to!” Standing beside the camera, Joshua looked at the script in his hands; he now knew who Ellen Page reminded him of—Natalie Portman, that same “genius” vibe. He put emotion into his words, shouting, “Kaylee, our primary buffer panel just fell off!”

“Everything is fine, Captain. Primary buffer panel… no big deal!” Page flipped her bangs on the right side of her forehead, smiled with pursed lips as if to soothe, “Trust me!” Her eyes quickly rolled as if to say, “Who could be blamed for that?” Joshua read his lines, “No big deal? We’re about to crash! You told me the entry coupler would hold another week!”

Page interrupted him calmly, “I told you that six months ago.” She complained, “And again a month ago, you said there was no money, but I know you bought…” Joshua cut her off, “My ship isn’t going to crash!”

The exquisite and natural micro-expressions, the almost integrated tone and emotion of the character… indeed, she was one of the most beautiful butterflies. After seeing these few changes in expression, Wang Yang was already certain that Ellen Page could portray Kaylee excellently, and it would be interesting. Just like the recent audition for “Heath” Ledger, he looked over at Joss Whedon with a smile creeping at the corners of his mouth, silently asking, “How about that?”

“Oh.” Joss Whedon scratched his bare forehead and felt even more shocked this time around. At 24 years old, “Heath” Ledger was already a known entity; who was 16 years old and nine months old Ellen Page? Now he knew, another prodigiously talented genius. He arched his eyebrow, “An actor who can make you modify the character setting.” The acting Page showed was so mature and genuine, filled with an exciting explosiveness…

“Joss, this little girl has the ability to bring super surprises.” Wang Yang whispered to Whedon. Watching Page’s performance, Joss Whedon nodded in agreement, “I can see that now, she’s not an ordinary girl.”

The performance concluded segment by segment, and Ellen Page was astounding throughout, of course, relative to the requirements of the audition stage. But “Kaylee” seemed to be a piece of cake for her.

“Cut! Haha, very, very good!” Wang Yang turned off the camera and walked smiling toward Page in the center, saying, “Ellen, that was an incredible performance, perfectly meeting our expectations for ‘Kaylee.'” Joss Whedon said “Yes” a few times, and Joshua scratched his head, “Another genius?” Meanwhile, Page had a smile on her face as she walked toward Wang Yang. He smiled and said, “We sincerely invite you to play this role. Do you want to be Kaylee?”

“Um…” Ellen Page revealed a toothy smile, a decision made on the spot in the audition room? It seemed a bit like a play, but cool! She nodded her head, “Yes, I want to be Kaylee.” She was pleased with “BE” rather than “Act.” That’s the attitude one should have towards making movies. As she shook hands with Wang Yang, she looked up and laughed, “To be honest, there’s a big difference between Kaylee and me, but to try out this kind of girl, especially in your film, I’m very willing.”

“That’s the joy of acting, isn’t it? You can become another person,” Wang Yang let go of her hand, looking at her youthful smiling face, he laughed, “Welcome to ‘Firefly.'” Page nodded, “Thank you.”

Once Ellen Page left the audition office and the door had just closed, Joss Whedon let out a whoop of delight, excitedly asking Wang Yang, “Where did you find this kid? She’s truly born to act.” Wang Yang spread his hands and laughed, “Canada.”

Seeing Ellen Page walk out calmly, her agent and her graphic designer father Dennis Page immediately surrounded her, their expressions full of inquiry, “How did it go?” Ellen Page shrugged as she walked past them, “If not me, then who?”

“Canadian actress Ellen Page joins ‘Firefly,’ to play the role of Serenity’s repair crew member ‘Kaylee’.” (