Chapter 94: Collapse

In the narrow, claustrophobic passage, a girl wearing a hood seemed like a drowning victim in a vast ocean, struggling desperately forward. With each step, she emitted painful cries, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Exposed arms and legs bore the marks of syringe needles, some still embedded while others had been removed, leaving only the tips. Murphy controlled a camera, gradually zooming in to capture the swollen blood spots near the needles.

Finally breaking free from the sea of syringes, the girl emerged with her arms, legs, and body covered in needle marks, resembling a hedgehog.

"Cut!" Murphy raised his hand. "That's a wrap for this scene."

Carey Mulligan, transitioning to the next scene, breathed a sigh of relief. Her nerves had been on edge throughout, a stark contrast to her experience playing Little Red Riding Hood. Then, it had felt fun and amusing, but now it was utterly draining. Moreover, struggling amid piles of needles was physically exhausting, and she longed to find a place to sit and rest.

But she knew she couldn't afford to rest now. She couldn't disappoint Murphy; she had to deliver her performance promptly and with quality.

"Jack," Murphy called to his makeup artist, "touch up Carey!"

As Jack Watson approached, Carey Mulligan stood motionless, allowing him to work on her face, visible under the hood.

Beside him, Beck Claybert, the prop master, inspected the needles attached to her body.

Of course, these rubber needles weren't actually piercing Carey Mulligan's skin.

Beck Claybert had devised a plan and conducted thorough experiments beforehand. They affixed the tip of the needles to specially made silicone patches, matching Carey Mulligan's skin tone, and then adhered them to her skin. This made it appear as though the needles were penetrating her flesh.

The silicone patches were small and thin, causing slight swelling when the needles were applied—realistic for a skin puncture. Additionally, to simulate bruising around the needle punctures, Beck Claybert used a spray paint pen to meticulously apply red paint.

With everything set, Murphy gestured for Paul Wilson to enter the set and lie down on the floor, representing the "chamber" where the scene would take place.

"Jonah!" Murphy called out. "Bring it over!"

Jonah Hill entered the set carrying a basin filled with what looked like intestines, but were actually real pig intestines, used for filming.

As Carey Mulligan received the prop surgical knife from Beck Claybert, she glanced over and couldn't help feeling a wave of nausea.

While "Hard candy" pushed boundaries, she hadn't encountered scenes like this before. Previously, she had only been sprayed with special tomato sauce, finding it fun and amusing...

She swallowed hard, forcing down the urge to vomit.

With so many people watching, she couldn't afford to show anything less than an actor's professionalism, let alone disappoint Murphy.

The filming began quickly. With the camera circling around, Carey Mulligan approached Paul Wilson step by step. Her once innocent and cute face now displayed a myriad of emotions.

Watching from behind the monitor, Murphy nodded approvingly.

He could see Carey Mulligan's effort, and according to Bill Rossis, she had been studying with seasoned actors like Julian Ferros in her spare time. While it wasn't possible to make a dramatic improvement in her acting skills overnight, her proactive attitude was commendable.

Fear, reluctance, and dread...

Carey Mulligan portrayed all the emotions needed for the scene perfectly. As she frenziedly "dissected" Paul Wilson with the bloody key in hand, her demeanor seemed to collapse. Shaking hands rummaged through the intestines in search of the key, her cries unconscious, tears flooding her face like a torrent...

The camera angle switched to a close-up, and Murphy watched the monitor intently. With one hand clasping his chest and the other rubbing his chin, his brow furrowed slightly. He couldn't quite discern if Carey Mulligan was acting or not.

Her emotions felt too genuine, as if she had truly collapsed.

As seconds passed, Carey Mulligan, trembling, picked up the bloodied key, unlocked the jaw trap on her head, and tossed it aside. Glancing at the pile of intestines below, she couldn't bear it any longer. With a mix of crawling and rolling, she fled the scene.

Even though it was just a film shoot, Murphy felt his heart tug seeing Carey Mulligan's expression.

"Cut! That's a wrap!" Murphy called out to Carey Mulligan. "Excellent job!"

Normally, she would lift her head immediately, revealing her innocent and adorable smile.

But not this time. After distancing herself from the bloody intestines, she collapsed to the ground, hands supporting her, her once beautiful and cute face now crumbling. Tears continued to stream down uncontrollably, in large drops, one after another.

Most actors' emotions were externalized, but Bill Rossis had already walked over, and James Franco stood on the sidelines, fidgeting before stopping.

Murphy could see that the pig intestines from earlier had exceeded Carey Mulligan's psychological tolerance. Coupled with fully immersing herself in the role of Amanda, her emotions seemed to have truly collapsed.

He strode over, ignoring the gazes of others, and crouched in front of Carey Mulligan. He knew now wasn't the time to say anything, just to watch Carey Mulligan with her blackened short hair and tears continually rolling down her babydoll face.

Carey Mulligan kept sobbing, although she had been raised under strict parental control from a young age, leading to an extremely rebellious personality. She had lived a sheltered life, with roles like Haley from "Hard candy" being enjoyable but never having dealt with something as realistic and gruesome as handling pig intestines, especially with her bare hands. That tactile sensation was truly devastating.

The moment she touched the pig intestines, she felt as though she had really grabbed someone's guts, and her whole world collapsed. If it weren't for the belief she had never expressed to anyone supporting her, she wouldn't have been able to endure until the scene was finished.

She trembled all over, until she saw a familiar figure appear in front of her. Unable to hold on any longer, her hands slackened, and she collapsed forward.