A vase

"Hello."

"Kate, it's Byron."

The familiar voice on the phone made Kate Beckinsale's spirits jump. Byron was her agent, but recently, due to the failure of "Pearl Harbor", he hadn't contacted her for almost half a month, as if he had forgotten about her.

Before she could ask, Byron continued, "You're in Los Angeles now, right?"

"Yes."

"Then hurry over to Hollywood. There's an audition opportunity at Paramount Pictures headquarters at 2 pm."

"What movie is it? What's the role?" Kate asked quickly.

"I don't know the specifics, but it's a new film directed by Lyman Lattes. Tom Cruise has already signed on. Any more questions?"

"What do I need to prepare?"

"Dress formally, be on time, and the rest is up to you. I don't have much information; they've kept it well under wraps."

After that, the call ended.

Byron was a senior agent at ICM, and he had put in a lot of effort to help Kate win the lead role in "Pearl Harbor" amidst tough competition. Unfortunately, after the film's market performance fell short of expectations, his attention to her waned.

Was it cruel? Not at all. It could only be said that her luck was simply bad. Hollywood was notoriously demanding of female actors. Not only were their salaries lower compared to male counterparts at the same level, but they also had fewer opportunities to showcase their talents.

Kate sat on her sofa at home, shaking her head, dismissing the distracting thoughts.

Regardless, her agent had now secured her another audition opportunity, and from the tone of his voice, she could tell that he attached importance to this audition. All she could do was try her best to impress.

She went to the bathroom, took a shower, changed clothes, left home, hailed a cab, and arrived at Paramount Pictures headquarters.

It wasn't until Kate stood in the elevator of the building that she started to feel a little nervous.

In fact, she knew nothing about the audition ahead. She didn't know the genre of the film, who would be auditioning, or what role she would be auditioning for... The lack of information left her feeling a little uncertain, especially given the recent feeling of being neglected, adding to her lack of confidence.

The elevator reached the fifth floor, and as the door opened, Kate took a deep breath, silently encouraging herself.

Stepping out of the elevator, she saw the sign "Audition Room" hanging on an office not far ahead to the right.

Pushing the door open, she glanced inside and found many people already sitting on the waiting seats, including many she had met before.

"Hey, Kate, you're here too," greeted Jason Statham, her British compatriot.

Kate walked over quickly, sat next to him, and also greeted, "Jason."

Then, unable to resist her curiosity, she asked, "Do you know what kind of movie this is?"

Jason rubbed his bald head and sounded a bit frustrated, "I have no idea. My agent just told me to come for an audition and asked me to try my best. But try my best for what? I don't even know what role I'm auditioning for."

He looked around, increasingly helpless, "And there are so many people here; I don't know if I'll be chosen."

Hearing this, Kate didn't say anything. She changed the subject and started talking about their hometown.

The two chatted while waiting for the audition to begin.

...

All the actors participating in the audition, except for those represented by CAA who might have some additional advantages as they knew the nature of the movie and the roles to some extent, were completely in the dark.

Anyway, several important actors had already been confirmed. In the past few days, they had completed their contracts. Heath Ledger's salary had increased to $7M, while Nicolas Cage joined with a condition of $1.2M plus 10% of the North American box office.

Adding the confirmed Morgan Freeman and Eva Green, the total salary space for actors had reached around $30M.

So this audition was mainly for selecting supporting roles, and of course, a suitable female lead. In "Miscreant", there were only two female roles, both with limited screen time. According to the script, it should be a dual female lead, but in reality, their roles were much smaller than those of male supporting characters.

Men's roles always overshadow women's.

As for the criteria for selecting actors, Lyman kept it quite simple: they should fit the image and not demand high salaries. As long as these two conditions were met, they could pass the audition.

Selecting the female roles was even simpler—they just had to be beautiful.

Their purpose was to be eye-catching, and they didn't have much room to shine. The role of Kaiden Ian's wife, chosen by Eva Green, was a bit challenging, as Tom Cruise's character was the most helpless one, caught between two powerful forces, being cautious. His wife was the sunshine that shone in his dark world, and her death led to a collapse of his beliefs, making it a crucial turning point in the movie.

"Let's go, René. Are you free? Come with me to audition the actors."

"I'm not free. Why don't you ask Thomas to go?"

"Thomas..."

"I still need to sort out the camera equipment, and I just received the Sony cameras yesterday. I haven't finished inspecting them yet, so..."

"Alright, you guys are all busy. I'll go alone."

After saying that, Lyman took a car to Paramount Pictures headquarters in Hollywood.

...

Almost every director had their own group of preferred actors. For example, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro or Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and David Fincher with Brad Pitt.

Because in the director's line of work, they value the relationships between individuals and like to form their own core team of collaborators.

Even frequently working teams are rarely changed.

The main reason for this phenomenon is that during filming, a team that knows each other well can strengthen the director's overall control and ensure a smooth production.

In other words, humans are emotional beings and subconsciously choose to be with people they are familiar with.

When Lyman led Heath into the audition room, Jason subconsciously thought of these things.

For some reason, a deep sense of envy surged in his heart.

As Heath gradually rose to fame, his acting career was more frequently reported in the media.

Jason knew that this lucky guy was in a similar position as him two years ago—acting as supporting roles, always playing supporting roles, and even trying out for supporting roles.

More often than not, he received disappointing answers, and he wasn't even guaranteed a supporting role.

It was only when he seized the opportunity and headed to Cannes, France to participate in a new director's film, "Buried", which was gossiped about by tabloids, that Heath's acting career suddenly took off. He appeared in "Fury", was nominated for "Top 20 Most Popular Teen Actors" for his role as Norman, and now this new film where he could continue working with Lyman Lattes, even alongside Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage.

When would he also gain the recognition of a director?

Jason scratched his bald head, feeling uncertain.

He couldn't compete in terms of age or experience.

He wasn't young anymore, and he felt like the type of actor who would be abandoned.

Perhaps when he got a bit older, he wouldn't even be able to get supporting roles.

It was truly frustrating. When would he have his moment of fame, like Heath?

Lyman's films really had a way of boosting an actor's career. He didn't know if he would be selected.

Many actors like Jason had the same thoughts. Sitting beside him, Kate was also thinking about how to secure a role that would truly add to her filmography with a blockbuster movie.

As her agent had solemnly put it, the failure of "Pearl Harbor" had brought her to a critical juncture, where a misstep could send her to the bottom and make it difficult to rise again.

Would she get the role? Kate looked around and saw Naomi Watts, Jessica Alba, Eva Mendes, and Gwyneth Paltrow...

All were beautiful actresses who relied on their looks for their careers.

Oh, right, she was also that type of actress.

She didn't have any advantages.

She was secretly alarmed.

"How are you, Heath Ledger? You don't look too good," Lyman said as he and Heath walked into the inner room of the audition space. Paramount staff members were setting up a camera, preparing to record the upcoming audition.

"It's nothing. I didn't sleep well last night," Heath replied as he sat down on Lyman's right side.

"Are you studying the role again? I shouldn't have given you the script in the first place," Lyman said, taking a seat and continuing, "You need to change this habit. Staying up late regularly isn't good for your health."

"I know, it's just that I couldn't fall asleep last night." He had planned to take a nap in the afternoon, but then Lyman called him, asking him to audition for a role. Without hesitation, he got into his agent's car and rushed over.

Now, he felt a bit hazy.

"Ready," a staff member said as they approached.

"Mr. Kalman, what do you think?" Lyman turned to ask. He was a representative from SAG, who was there to oversee the audition process.

However, he was usually just a figurehead, fulfilling job requirements, and he had no say or decision-making power.

"I have no problem, Mr. Lyman," he replied very politely.

"Alright, let's begin."