Chapter 94: Breakdown

In the narrow, confined passage, a girl with a hood over her head struggled desperately forward, like a drowning person in the vast ocean. With every step she took, she let out a cry of pain, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Her arms and calves, exposed outside her clothes, were pierced by syringes in some places, and only needle tips remained in others. Murphy operated a camera, gradually zooming in to capture the swollen blood spots near the needle tips.

The girl finally emerged from the multitude of syringes, but her arms, legs, and body, covered in needles and syringe tubes, resembled a porcupine.

"Cut!" Murphy raised a hand. "This take is good."

Carey Mulligan, moving on to the next scene, sighed in relief. Her hairs had been standing on end, and filming such a scene was completely different from her previous role as Little Red Riding Hood, which had felt fun and interesting. Now, it was terrifying. Struggling in the heap of syringes was also exhausting, and she longed for a place to sit down and rest.

But Carey Mulligan knew she couldn't rest now. She couldn't let Murphy down and had to complete her scenes quickly and efficiently.

"Jack," Murphy called for his makeup artist, "touch up Carey's makeup!"

Jack Watson walked over, and Carey Mulligan stood still, allowing the makeup artist to work on her exposed face.

In addition, props master Becker Clyburn also came over to check the prop needles on her body.

These rubber needles, of course, couldn't actually pierce Carey Mulligan's skin.

Becker Clyburn had already devised a plan and conducted thorough experiments beforehand. Before filming, the needle tips were fixed on special flesh-colored thin silicone, which was then attached to Carey Mulligan's skin, making the needles or syringe tubes appear to be embedded in her body.

The silicone patches were not large and quite thin, but they did create slight swelling, which was precisely what was needed, as a sharp needle piercing the skin would cause slight swelling around the area.

To create the effect of bruising around the needle entry points, Becker Clyburn meticulously sprayed red paint around the needles with an airbrush.

Once everything was ready, Murphy called Paul Wilson into the set, where he lay on the floor of the "chamber" for filming.

"Jonah!" Murphy waved to the back. "Bring it over!"

"Coming! Coming!" Jonah Hill carried a basin onto the set and placed it beside Paul Wilson. The basin was filled with what looked like bloody intestines.

These were not props but real intestines—pig intestines—used by Murphy for the sake of filming realism.

When Carey Mulligan took the prop scalpel from Becker Clyburn and glanced over at the intestines, she couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea.

"Hard Candy" had some intense scenes, but she had never faced something like this. The most she'd dealt with back then was special tomato sauce sprayed on her face, which had just felt fun and interesting...

She swallowed hard, forcing down the urge to vomit.

With so many people watching her, she couldn't act out of character or let Murphy down.

Filming soon began. As the camera circled around her, Carey Mulligan slowly approached Paul Wilson. Her once innocent, doll-like face now showed a multitude of emotions.

Murphy stood behind the monitor, nodding slightly.

He could see Carey Mulligan's effort. According to Bill Rossis, she had been learning from veteran actors like Julian Fellowes in private. Though her acting couldn't improve drastically in a short time, her attitude was undoubtedly positive.

Fear, reluctance, horror...

Carey Mulligan perfectly conveyed the emotions required for this scene. When she grabbed the scalpel and frantically "cut" into Paul Wilson, grabbing the intestines to find the key, she seemed to completely break down. Her hands trembled as she sifted through the intestines, crying out unconsciously, and tears flowed like a flood...

The camera switched to a close-up. Murphy watched the monitor, arms crossed and chin in hand, frowning slightly. He couldn't tell if Carey Mulligan was still acting or if she had genuinely broken down.

Her emotions were too real, as if she had truly collapsed.

Time ticked by. The girl on screen trembled as she took a bloody key, unlocked the device on her head, and tossed it aside. She glanced at the pile of intestines below, unable to bear it any longer. The pig intestines seemed to repulse her as if they were plagued. She scrambled away, crawling and rolling.

Even knowing this was just a scene, Murphy felt his heart twinge seeing Carey Mulligan like this.

"Cut! That's a wrap!" Murphy shouted towards Carey Mulligan. "Excellent job!"

Usually, when he said this, Carey Mulligan would immediately lift her head and show a cute, innocent smile.

But not this time. After distancing herself from the bloody intestines, she collapsed to one side, kneeling and propping herself up with her hands. Her pretty doll-like face was contorted, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

Most actors wore their emotions on their sleeves. Bill Rossis had already walked over, and James Franco, standing on the periphery, shifted his feet but stopped.

Murphy saw it too. The pig intestines had likely exceeded Carey Mulligan's psychological tolerance, and fully immersing herself in the role of Amanda had probably led to a genuine emotional breakdown.

He strode over, ignoring the other people's gazes, and squatted in front of Carey Mulligan. Knowing it was best not to say anything, he just looked at her tear-streaked doll face and her dyed black hair.

Carey Mulligan kept sobbing. Though strictly controlled by her parents from a young age, leading to a highly rebellious character, she had lived a privileged life, always sheltered. Playing Hailey was fun, but real bloody pig intestines were another matter. Especially having to handle them with her hands, the texture had been truly overwhelming.

Touching the intestines, she felt as if she were actually grabbing human intestines, and her whole world seemed to collapse. If it weren't for a deep, unspoken belief sustaining her, she wouldn't have made it through the scene.

Her entire body trembled. Seeing the familiar figure before her, she couldn't hold on any longer. Her hands gave way, and she fell forward into his arms.