Chapter 55: Emma Who Leaves a Lasting Impression

"Cut!"

"Great, that's a wrap for this scene!"

The filming continued smoothly.

However, compared to his ease with action scenes, he still struggled with emotional ones. In particular, the scene where the male lead, Bourne, faces the terrified and pleading eyes of the target's daughter, and must show hesitation and inner conflict—he couldn't quite satisfy the director or himself after several takes.

In the end, he had to recall his previous life's experiences as an extra, summoning the feeling of whether to give up or push through, to finally meet the director's expectations.

But this took a toll on his scene partner, Emma Roberts.

Although the props and set didn't need to be rearranged after every take, it still consumed a full hour.

Each time, she had to crouch down, clutching the target's arm, then look up with a terrified, pleading expression. It was really exhausting!

For a moment, her frustration made her forget her aunt's advice before she came, to always be respectful and polite to Wayne. She couldn't help but quietly complain.

"Your acting in this scene is so different from before! Is this your real skill level?"

"Well, maybe I'm just better at action scenes. Sorry about that."

Wayne smiled and patted her on the head, not taking her rudeness to heart. After all, he hadn't done his best.

Emma snorted softly in dissatisfaction but didn't continue to complain. She just casually brushed his hand away and walked to a corner by herself, watching the busy crew while quietly waiting for the next scene to start.

After this incident, she clearly relaxed more around Wayne, and her acting steadily improved.

Wayne also noticed a positive trait in Emma—she genuinely loved acting.

Though learning acting from her aunt at an early age made her performance a bit formulaic, and her talent didn't shine as brightly as other child stars, she was patient, resilient, and had a serious attitude toward her craft.

For example, after nearly ten consecutive takes, if it had been Kristen, who was a year older, she might have already lost patience and thrown a tantrum.

Though Kristen wouldn't have had a meltdown, it would have certainly affected her performance.

But Emma kept going, patiently redoing the scene with a stable performance, only venting her frustration afterward with a lighthearted complaint.

Such dedication is rare, not just in a nine-year-old girl, but even in older children.

"No wonder she eventually stood out among so many child stars and star kids," Wayne thought to himself, his impression of Emma improving greatly.

Many child stars who debut with natural talent peak early and then gradually fade. Dakota Fanning, whom he chose to play the little girl Mary in *Gifted*, was one such example.

After more than 20 years in the industry, her most memorable role remained the one she played at the start of her career as Sam's daughter in *I Am Sam*.

There are few like Emma Roberts, who debuted young but continued to grow and improve.

Of course, while Wayne's impression of her improved, he had no intention of working with her in the future—he already had enough on his plate.

However, before leaving after all her scenes were wrapped up, Emma took the initiative to ask Wayne for his business card, even before her aunt Julia Roberts could say anything.

To avoid hurting the young girl's self-esteem, Wayne handed her his card.

Then, he moved on to filming the scene where his character is shot and falls into the water.

This scene turned out to be more challenging than he anticipated. Falling into the water in a "cool" way wasn't right; it needed to look like an unconscious fall after being shot.

But how could he know what a real unconscious fall after being shot looks like?

After two unsatisfactory takes, the director called in a stuntman to demonstrate. The director was satisfied, but Hart, watching nearby, said it looked fake.

In the end, Hart guided the stuntman through a few more jumps, and Wayne finally mimicked one successfully on the first try.

"Hey, honestly, have you ever shot someone off a boat before?" Wayne asked Hart curiously as they returned to the yacht, Wayne toweling off his wet hair.

"Sure have, more than once," Hart said casually, glancing at him. Whether he was bragging or telling the truth was unclear. "In my 20-plus years on the job, I've rescued rich folks and politicians from pirate hijackings five times, personally taking down over 30 pirates. So if you ever run into that kind of trouble, give me a call."

"..."

Wayne made a face and silently reminded himself to stick to coastal waters for now. He'd only consider a world voyage once he was as strong as Superman.

After that, the director shot the first-person perspective of falling into the water, which took three or four more takes to get right.

Of course, Wayne wasn't the one doing the jumping this time.

If he took on even those jobs, the stuntmen and body doubles on set would be out of work!

In a capitalist society, there's no room for idle hands, especially in film production. Unlike in his past life, where some people in the entertainment industry got by with little effort.

Even for those with connections, basic competence and work ethic were still required.

Besides, if you had real connections, who would want to be a stuntman or body double?

Around 6 PM, the day's shooting wrapped up successfully.

With that, all his scenes for this part of the shoot were completed. The next scenes would need to be filmed in Europe.

However, he wouldn't get much rest because DreamWorks was set to hold a sneak preview of *Happy Death Day* tomorrow, October 23rd.

As the lead actor, he and Jessica had to attend the screening and the afterparty.

Though it wouldn't be as crowded as a premiere, with fewer fans and general audiences, dealing with the press would be enough of a hassle.

But when he thought about the $39.5 million the film had earned him—nearly three million dollars—he suddenly felt like the hassle was worth it.

The next afternoon, when Wayne walked into the screening room with Jessica on one arm and Mia, who had also come to the event, on the other, they immediately drew everyone's attention.

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