Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 222: Ready

Jennifer looked at Renly's cheerful and bright smile, which bloomed like a flower encountering the first breeze of spring, adding a touch of brightness to the whole world. His bright eyes were now squinting into thin lines because of his relaxed smile, with a hint of light revealing the joy after a prank, the cunning and prideful expression resembling that of a child.

This reminded Jennifer of the last time at Mount Sinai Hospital, when Renly was holding a kite. It was completely different from his usual mature, gentlemanly demeanor. That simple, pure, clean smile, just like a five-year-old child—sunny, beautiful, and innocent.

Renly's teasing made Drake and the others chuckle too. Although they didn't understand what had just happened, the banter and mockery in his words were genuinely amusing.

Jennifer tugged at the corners of her mouth and laughed along with everyone, but her laughter was somewhat dry. She lowered her eyes awkwardly, avoiding that radiant smile. Her heart pounded like a deer leaping lightly, that unfamiliar feeling causing her fingertips to sweat slightly.

Just now, Renly was merely demonstrating a performance, but she felt like an inexperienced high schooler, flustered and at a loss. Wait, she was a high schooler. Thinking of this, a ridiculous yet funny, shy yet speechless laugh bubbled up from deep within her throat. That fleeting throbbing made Jennifer find it more and more amusing as she thought about it, ultimately failing to hold back and chuckling, joining the others' laughter—though she was a beat late.

Finally, when the laughter subsided a bit, Jennifer suddenly said, "A child's smile."

"What?" Drake and the others asked, puzzled.

Jennifer turned her head and looked over, "Just now, Renly asked me why Sam fell for Jacob. I said, a child's smile." Then Jennifer turned back to look at Renly, pausing for a moment before continuing, "And the lingering melancholy between the brows that makes me want to smooth it out, to see that child's smile again."

As she spoke, Jennifer raised her right hand, reaching out to Renly's brow under the surprised gazes of the others, as if she wanted to smooth out every tiny wrinkle with her fingertips.

Renly was quite unaccustomed to this and instinctively leaned back, away from the approaching fingers.

But this small movement, a reflex reaction, caused the air to freeze for a moment. Jennifer then withdrew her fingers and burst into loud laughter, "Hahaha!" Seeing Renly's calm expression made her laugh even harder, clutching her stomach and laughing heartily.

Prank met prank, and Jennifer had gotten her revenge.

When Renly saw Jennifer withdraw her fingers, he realized the absurd humor of the situation and, seeing Jennifer laughing unreservedly, without any pretense or image, he couldn't help but join in the laughter.

This time, Drake sitting beside them didn't join in. He looked helplessly at Renly and Jennifer laughing together. Felicity, however, couldn't help but smile, finding the scene too amusing. Yet, she controlled her laughter a bit, unsure if it would be too impolite.

"Hey, hey, you two," Drake couldn't help waving his hand to stop the two in front of him, "You two! Renly, you should communicate with Felicity and spark some chemistry. She's your lover, your wife."

This was a typical director's perspective, knowing almost nothing about the rapport and adjustment between actors. Directors like William Wyler, who understood how to guide actors, were truly rare.

Hearing this, all four actors chuckled. Jennifer directly muttered, "When's the wedding?"

Drake had used the actors' real names instead of Jacob and Anna's; usually, to distinguish between reality and drama, actors were particular about using their character names from the script, though this wasn't necessary for commercial popcorn films.

Jennifer's joke made the actors laugh even more joyously.

Renly's gaze fell on Felicity. He nodded politely, and Felicity quickly nodded back in return. Then he looked at the puzzled director, "Drake, in the movie, Jacob and Anna go from strangers to acquaintances, from acquaintances to lovers, and from lovers to inseparable. This exploration process requires us to maintain some distance, which is beneficial for the performance."

In other words, they would develop feelings according to the film's shooting process, letting reality and the movie sync. However, this method wasn't universally applicable. If the movie was shot out of chronological order, it wouldn't work.

After speaking, Renly looked back at Felicity, "What we need now isn't sparks, but rapport."

Renly had already found some of Jacob's essence. As Drake said, Jacob liked Anna's eyes. Fortunately, Felicity had a pair of captivating eyes.

This was Renly and Felicity's first formal communication since meeting today, even though it was just an exchange of glances. Felicity immediately grasped the depth in Renly's eyes and nodded in agreement, "I agree with Jennifer, it's the smile."

This seemingly out-of-the-blue statement left Drake clearly behind the pace, and Charlie was a bit confused. But Renly, Jennifer, and Felicity exchanged glances and showed understanding expressions. What Felicity meant was that the highlight of Anna falling for Jacob was his smile.

However, Anna and Sam were evidently different. Sam saw the smile amidst heartbreak, while Anna saw the unreserved radiant smile, carefree, shy, and gentle.

Renly spread his hands, showing a helpless expression, "Looks like I'll have to reduce my smiling in the future, or too many people will follow, and that's trouble too." His self-satisfied look carried a hint of childish mischief, making Jennifer and Felicity laugh again. The two women exchanged a glance and then looked at Renly with disdain, making the atmosphere even more joyous.

Drake and Charlie sat beside them, looking completely bewildered and somewhat despondent.

Renly had gained quite a bit today. Drake's script indeed had shortcomings, lacking Anna's psychological buildup and the subplots of Sam and Simon. In other words, Drake mainly narrated from his own perspective—Jacob's, outlining the whole story through his experiences from a broken marriage and conversations with his ex-wife.

Renly believed Drake must have had heart-to-heart talks with his ex-wife, so the depiction of Anna was quite detailed. However, for Renly, he lacked the puzzle pieces of how Anna and Sam saw him. Now, through dialogue and exchange, these puzzle pieces were filled in, which was crucial for building the character.

"So, what's our next plan?" After the joke, Renly proactively brought the topic back to work, "When do we start shooting?"

"This afternoon," Drake gave a straightforward answer. An independent crew was like this, with no extensive preparatory work or tedious procedures, ready to shoot at any time. "We'll complete part of the shooting in Los Angeles first, then head to London, and finally return to Los Angeles for the climax. Jennifer's scenes will be shot all at once, so you won't need to go to London with us; as for Charlie, it's up to you. Whether you want to stay here, go with us to London, or go home to see your family and wait for us to meet up, it's all fine."

"Why?" Felicity, looking puzzled, asked, "Can't we finish shooting in Los Angeles first, then go to London? Or the other way around?"

"The ending contains the wear and tear brought by the passage of time. If we shoot it all at once here, I'm worried it will be difficult for you to get into the emotions. And as a director, I might not capture these subtle moments carefully enough. Also, after shooting in London, these emotions might affect your performances. The back-and-forth of time travel does have some impact. I'll try to follow the timeline's development as much as possible."

Drake explained carefully, and the actors nodded slightly in understanding. "So, any other questions?"

Drake's gaze fell on the four actors. They had no questions, exchanged glances, and smiled, "Great! Then let's get ready for work now! I've waited too long for this day, finally having Renly on board, I can't wait to start!"

After speaking, Drake stood up, rubbing his hands, ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work.

Charlie was about to stand up too, but seeing the three colleagues beside him sitting firmly, he hesitated and stayed seated. Then he heard Renly's voice with a faint smile, "Drake, aren't you planning to start after lunch? Or is our first scene today going to be about eating?"

Jacob and Anna's first date was in a cafe, which could barely count as a dining scene.

Drake froze for a moment, then reacted, scratching his head and chuckling, "Lunch, of course, lunch first. I'm starving." He quickly sat back down.