Chapter 3. One More Crazy Guy

5 minutes.

The time given to the 10 actors.

The actors each began their assigned performances, struggling to stand out among the 9 competitors.

"Hmm."

Instead of starting his performance, An Si-hyun closed his eyes. He took deep breaths to calm his mind, visualizing images and whispering to himself.

'I am Lee Su-cheol. I am Lee Su-cheol. I am Lee Su-cheol. I am...'

This was An Si-hyun's personal ritual before performing.

When he opened his eyes, An Si-hyun was no longer An Si-hyun.

In the audition room, there was no An Si-hyun.

Instead, there was Lee Su-cheol, a North Korean spy who had infiltrated the South in 1988 and was living as a janitor named Lee Su-cheol.

How would a North Korean spy feel after being abandoned by his country? What would be the difference in appearance before and after being abandoned? How would he react when offered to defect? What would his feelings be when he stabs himself in the chest, letting go of everything?

He analyzed, imagined, and felt it in his body.

Before the regression.

His experience playing a North Korean spy in a drama was a great help. It provided the foundation for him to immerse himself in the role of Lee Su-cheol, even with only three days of preparation.

The script given to the actors preparing for the audition included three scenes for the role of Lee Su-cheol.

"You, you bastards! Don't move! I'll kill you all! I'm Lee Su-cheol! The White Head Mountain Warrior Lee Su-cheol! What the hell are you doing here!"

Among these, An Si-hyun prepared the scene from the latter part of the movie where Lee Su-cheol, exposed as a North Korean spy by the National Intelligence Service, is surrounded by police and takes hostages.

He used a teddy bear instead of a hostage and a toy knife instead of a real one for his performance.

"Grunt..."

"What an interesting guy."

Some of the judges chuckled at An Si-hyun.

Bringing props was commendable.

But that was as far as it went.

A considerable number of actors preparing for the role of Lee Su-cheol had brought props. Some even brought box cutters or kitchen knives to perform.

The cute teddy bear and the crude toy knife were elements that made it hard to get into the performance.

Or, rather, that was normal.

That was the right approach...

"Isn't he doing well?"

"No, this isn't just good, it's incredible."

"Is 172 years old... 21? Really 21? Are you sure you're not lying about your age? With that acting skill at that age and no filmography, does that even make sense?"

Gradually, the smiles on the judges' faces disappeared.

As time passed, the judges became engrossed in An Si-hyun's performance. In fact, they even wondered if it was right to call it a performance.

The judge who laughed first suddenly thought:

If Lee Su-cheol were real, would he look like this?

The teddy bear and toy knife made An Si-hyun's performance stand out. Despite the elements that could break immersion, they captured the attention of all the judges.

"Shut up! Do you want to see your mother die? What the hell are you doing here!"

An Si-hyun, with bloodshot eyes, shouted with venom and anger.

"You dirty South Korean bastards! I am a revolutionary warrior of the Republic! I will not bow to the dogs of capitalism!"

"Proof? Bring me proof!"

Caught between loyalty to his country and the reality of being an abandoned spy, he also experienced moments of confusion.

"Kim Il-sung... Long live!"

In the end, he stabbed himself in the chest with the knife.

An Si-hyun fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

That was the end of his prepared performance. Or, rather, it should have been.

"Long live the Republic..."

One ad-lib.

In the moment of losing consciousness due to blood loss, he muttered his last words with a strained voice.

His weakly raised right hand, slightly upturned lips, streaming tears, cracking voice, and dilated pupils.

He used every means at his disposal to express his final emotion.

In just a few seconds, it felt like he conveyed a sense of resolve.

Swallow.

Some of the judges swallowed dryly.

'Look at this.'

And Director Kwak Sang-pil.

The only judge who didn't laugh at the sight of An Si-hyun's teddy bear and toy knife, he finally smiled after watching the ad-lib.

'There's one more crazy guy, isn't there?'

Director Kwak Sang-pil's unique audition method is a well-known story among the public.

He lines up 10 actors in the order they applied, without looking at their profiles or the actors themselves. He has them perform their assigned scenes while he bows his head and closes his eyes, listening only to their voices.

His philosophy is that an actor should be able to move people's hearts with their voice alone.

Only after raising his head does he accept the actor.

Actors who can't raise their heads are usually not even given the chance to perform freely.

Among the 10 actors.

The one who made Director Kwak Sang-pil raise his head was Song Myung-hyun.

He has steadily built a solid filmography and is a top-notch actor. He is a good actor who can make any role his own.

It is generally expected that he will become a leading actor within a few years if he doesn't cause any trouble.

The casting decision will be made after the auditions, but it was natural to expect that he would be the most prominent among participants 171 to 180.

As expected, Song Myung-hyun gave a good performance.

He effortlessly switched between the janitor Lee Su-cheol and the North Korean spy Lee Su-cheol.

In just a few seconds.

The performance, where the image of the janitor and the spy changed with each turn of his body, proved that Song Myung-hyun was a good actor. He was fully qualified to win the role of Lee Su-cheol.

However, the competition was too strong.

When the 5 minutes were up, all the judges, including Director Kwak Sang-pil, were focused on a new actor, not Song Myung-hyun.

His free and varied emotional expressions and the ad-lib at the end captivated the judges.

'Who is this guy? His emotional expression is insane. I've never seen this face before. Is he from a theater company?'

Song Myung-hyun felt a bit uncertain.

At the start of the performance, the judges' attention was on him, but now it was all on An Si-hyun.

Moreover...

Subjectively, An Si-hyun's performance was good.

Expressing the conflict and despair of a single character for 5 minutes was remarkable. It felt like he wasn't acting but was Lee Su-cheol himself.

The final ad-lib was the icing on the cake.

He perfectly expressed the final moment of giving up everything and the life of Lee Su-cheol in one ad-lib.

If I were to act the same scene? If I were to ad-lib under the same conditions?

Honestly, he lacked confidence.

He didn't think he could match An Si-hyun's emotional performance.

Grinding his teeth.

Song Myung-hyun felt a deep sense of defeat.

From the moment he first read the script, he was captivated by the role of Lee Su-cheol. He had prepared for the audition for months, even giving up his first leading role opportunity.

He felt he had to get the role of Lee Su-cheol. Even if he might regret it later, he wanted to play Lee Su-cheol now.

Even in this moment of deep defeat, he felt the same.

'I don't know where this guy came from, but the role of Lee Su-cheol is mine. I won't let it be taken away.'

There was still a chance.

The free performance.

The second test given to An Si-hyun and Song Myung-hyun.

Song Myung-hyun felt the need to completely revise his plan to compete against the "crazy guy."

* * *

Among the 10 actors from 171 to 180, only two received questions from the judges and the opportunity for a free performance.

172 and 179.

Song Myung-hyun and An Si-hyun.

The two were one step closer to the role of Lee Su-cheol.

The first to be questioned was Song Myung-hyun.

"179, you have been recognized for your excellent acting skills since your debut and have steadily built your filmography. I understand you also had the opportunity to take on your first leading role recently. What was your reason for applying for the role of Lee Su-cheol instead of taking that opportunity?"

"I felt I had to get the role of Lee Su-cheol."

"Couldn't do without it..."

"As soon as I read the script, I was captivated by the role of Lee Su-cheol. I wanted to skillfully portray the dual role of a janitor and a North Korean spy. So, I practiced intensively for months for this day."

"Did you show everything you prepared?"

"In the assigned performance, yes."

"I see. Understood."

And the questions ended in less than a minute.

"172, your profile says you're a student. Are you really a student? You're not lying about your age? And you really have no acting experience?"

"I have a few days left until I become a second-year student at Daehan University's Theater and Film Department. My acting experience is limited to club activities since middle school. Oh, and I did a small role on stage at the theater company Gwangdae during the summer vacation. I had one line: 'Fire!'"

"Gwangdae? The Gwangdae run by actor Choi Jeong-soo?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"I think there was another Gwangdae graduate here. 157, right? Do you know each other?"

"He's my roommate."

"Ha ha ha. You guys even act well together. Well, Gwangdae graduates are all good actors. Did you shave your head for the audition?"

"Yes, I wanted to look as much like Lee Su-cheol as possible for the audition."

"Good preparation. Can you tell me the intention behind bringing the toy knife and the teddy bear?"

"Using inappropriate weapons and hostages would be a minus, but I wanted to show such a good performance that it would outweigh that and earn extra points."

"Did it go according to plan?"

"If it hadn't, I wouldn't have had the chance to be interviewed here."

Director Kwak Sang-pil laughed several times while questioning An Si-hyun. It made one wonder if he was really the iron-faced director known for rarely showing emotion during auditions.

The atmosphere was completely different from when he questioned Song Myung-hyun, which was humiliating for him.

Since his debut, he had been on a winning streak. He received praise for every role he took and was sent scripts from various production companies.

But now, Song Myung-hyun was thoroughly outshone by an actor with no filmography.

'Damn. By just a student...'

Song Myung-hyun tried to hide his wounded feelings.

He knew from years of experience that showing emotion in the audition room was not beneficial.

Instead, he ground his teeth.

He did mind control, vowing to repay him in the free performance after the interview.

A few minutes later.

"Let's move on to the main topic. 172 and 179 are the last to apply for the role of Lee Su-cheol. I plan to cast one of the two actors in front of me from all the participants."

It's the role of a North Korean spy. Moreover, it requires switching between the roles of a janitor and a spy.

It's not a role that can be easily handled, even if it's not a dual role. It's not a major role in the story in terms of importance, but it's a challenging role in terms of acting difficulty, ranking 2nd or 3rd in difficulty but 5th or 6th in importance.

That's why...

No more actors applied for the role of Lee Su-cheol, even though the audition was only halfway through.

And the judges unanimously decided to cast either Song Myung-hyun or An Si-hyun in the role of Lee Su-cheol.

The difference in acting skills between the two and the other actors was so significant that making this decision was not difficult.

The problem was the disagreement among the judges on which of the two to cast.

"However, I will decide which of the two actors to cast based on the free performance. It's difficult to make a decision because the strengths of the two actors are different."

Ultimately, the decision would be made based on the free performance.

Despite the potential for disappointment, An Si-hyun appeared calm.

'Deciding based on just one assigned performance would have been difficult.'

An Si-hyun had already anticipated that the role would not be decided based on the assigned performance alone.

Song Myung-hyun is a good actor with a solid filmography, and An Si-hyun showed a good performance in the assigned scene but had no filmography.

It was natural for the judges to deliberate.

However, An Si-hyun was confident.

If he could perform once more, he believed he could get the role, and the judges would not have to deliberate.

"Can I do the assigned performance again instead of the free performance?"

"The assigned performance?"

"I want to show the assigned performance that 172 just did in my style."

And Song Myung-hyun had the same thought.

Your emotional performance and ad-lib of Lee Su-cheol?

They were excellent, but my style is superior. I will prove my superiority by performing your scene.

It was a clear provocation and a challenge.

In response, An Si-hyun...

"If you allow it, I also want to replace the free performance with the assigned performance that 179 did."

He readily accepted the challenge.

'Thanks to this, I'll win more easily.'

An Si-hyun was confident. He believed he could capture the judges' hearts more easily than with a free performance.