Temperment

"Mr. Levi, I want to talk to you."

When Theron's words rang in Levi's ears, Levi and Clark were discussing the further filming of the movie. Her words made both Clark and Levi stand up from the director's chair, and Theron was standing behind the chair they were sitting on and staring at two people.

What Spacey said made Theron pluck up the courage to ask Levi directly: What does he think of herself? Does he see herself as his queen actor, or does he just see herself as a passerby when he makes a movie? What kind of expectations and positioning does he have for herself in his heart? These are questions that only Levi himself can answer.

If it were someone else, maybe at this time, they would further entrust Spacey to help her find out what Levi thinks of her. However, Theron chose to find Levi directly and ask his opinion: She has always been a straightforward person, and since she has recognized her problem clearly, there is no need to beat around the bush.

"You mean you want me to leave?" Clark saw that Theron didn't speak and understood her question.

"I'm sorry to disturb your work." Theron was not polite, nodded immediately, and at the same time, took a step forward, pulling the chair Clark was sitting on. Clark looked back at Levi, who shrugged helplessly, patted Levi, and walked away by himself.

"What do you want to say, and you have to let Clark leave?" Levi looked at Theron and motioned her to sit down, but he was also a little surprised.

"I want to ask you some questions." Theron frowned and hesitated for a while before speaking, "I want to ask you why you chose me as the actor in this movie?"

"I think you have great temperament and great potential, and you can become a good actor." Levi immediately answered.

"However, in the past two days of acting, you always said that my acting skills are too bad." Theron directly expressed his doubts, "You have always said that my temperament can be well expressed. A top drama actor should have a good temperament, but when I perform, you always say that my acting skills are not good enough, am I good enough, or not good enough?"

Since you want to ask, then the most important thing is to ask directly. What Theron is most concerned about now is whether Levi really cares about herself and what his attitude is towards her. Therefore, this question is also her first question.

Levi looked at her and understood a little bit: With Theron's temper, she must have encountered a bottleneck that she couldn't get past, so she came to him for discussion.

That's okay; he really should talk to her more.

"The temperament of an actor must be combined with his acting skills to reflect the excellence of an actor." Levi thought for a while and didn't want to comment directly on Theron's acting skills, which would be too hurtful, "Since we are shooting a European drama, let's talk about European actors. In the world's film industry, apart from the United States, France is the most popular, so let's talk about French actors."

Theron tilted her head; she wanted to hear what Levi would say.

"Let's give an example. Sophie Marceau was called Isabella Adjani's successor as soon as she debuted. Apart from the slightly similar profile, the most important thing is their similar temperament. They both have a very ethereal, dusty temperament that is kind of slightly neurotic glamorous, and charming, which is an extremely rare temperament. However, we all know that their development trajectories are completely different. Adjani was nominated for an Oscar for the best actress at the age of 20 and has been awarded Cannes Berlin Best Actress. After nearly ten years of break, the 39-year-old played an 18-year-old woman with her comeback, and she won the Caesar Award again. But Sophie Marceau... anyone and their grandma thinks she is not as good as Adjani, so I won't say anything."

When it comes to acting, Sophie Marceau is really not strong.

She has a very temperament and personality, but unfortunately, she took too many detours in her early years, and she made a wrong choice in her acting career, and the regrets she left indeed can be seen by the whole world.

"Why is Adjani better than Sophie Marceau? In terms of temperament, the two are close. In terms of fate, they have similar luck. They both became famous when they debuted. Of course, because of love, Sophie Marceau has to shoot Andrzej Żuławski's movie, L'Amour Braque. Adjani has also done similar immoral transactions for love and may not be better than Sophie Marceau. French women have similar tempers and similar circumstances, but why is Adjani better?"

Theron tilted her head. She didn't think about it carefully.

She also knows Adjani—how can anyone say they don't know her? She is a famous French actor. But she never thought about Adjani's acting skills, let alone the difference in acting skills between Adjani and Sophie Marceau. What she cared more about was the love history between Adjani and Daniel Day-Lewis, and the love between the two great actors attracted her even more. She is also concerned about Sophie Marceau's love for Zowalski. It is also a legend that a youth idol fell in love with a pornographic film director who is more than 20 years older than herself. She knows all this gossip, but why are Adjani's acting skills better than Sophie Marceau's? Theron didn't know.

Is this her own gap?

"I can't say the difference... However, it is said in the circle that Sophie is notoriously good-tempered but that many directors regard Miss Adjani as crazy."

"That's the problem." Levi nodded, "Their aura is a bit like a goddess. To put it bluntly, it's a kind of fairy aura that's not like human beings. This kind of fairy aura makes them ethereal and elegant, unattainable. However, Adjani made up for this by relying on her acting skills. Her explosive power is extremely strong. When acting, she is extremely aggressive and can transform her fairy energy into anger in an instant outburst. This kind of aggressiveness made her full of vitality, and her anger made her look like a person, turning the fairy in the clouds into a mortal. Sophie Marceau has been out for ten years, but she is still ethereal and weak. She can't stand even a little change; she's still out of the mundane world. With her acting skills, Adjani has activated her beauty, making herself dazzling and uninhibited. Of course, the bad thing is that she has too strong a personality and a lot of people said behind her back that she was crazy."

It turned out to be like this.

It seems to be a very simple explanation, just a simple difference in explosive power, and Levi explained the difference between the two people.

When Theron nodded and said yes, she thought more about her own shortcomings.

Many people have this common sense: a movie directed by a good director is of great significance to actors. She has never understood: very few directors can act themselves, and many big-name directors are from a background that has nothing to do with the show business. She always wondered how they could improve actors when directed by these people as they can't act themselves.

But now, during the conversation with Levi, she understood that a good director does not need to be able to act, but they know how a good actor should act. What are the advantages and disadvantages of an actor, what are the differences between different actors, and how to use actors to bring out the advantages of the actor and hide the disadvantages - good directors are very clear about these, and if they are willing to chat with the actors, then the actors will quickly realize their own shortcomings and development direction, which is of great significance to the actors.

Sometimes, not knowing how to improve themselves is a big problem for actors. If the positioning of an actor is not accurate, it is very likely that an actor will not make any progress in his life or even go too far on the wrong path and fall directly to his demise. Cooperating with a good director, being able to understand one's own strengths, and turn to do the work that suits you best; this is extremely important for actors.

However, is Levi's knowledge of herself defined by her own temperament and characteristics? Theron immediately had a new question, and before she could ask, Levi had already answered.

"Charlize, your temperament has a rather haughty and aloof temperament. This kind of temperament can make you appear in a movie with a dazzling appearance that ordinary people can't match. However, this kind of charm will also make you stereotyped because of this temperament, and you will lose the changes in the movie. The best way to break that dusty temperament is to explode; for your haughty disposition, grief is the best way to break it. It is impossible for a person to act well in the clouds all the time. What you need to learn is how to get down from the clouds."

"It's easier said than done." Theron said quietly.

"That's why I have always had extremely strict requirements on you. Otherwise, why do you think I have to force you to rehearse a scene repeatedly?"

It turned out that it wasn't that he didn't care about herself at all. What he didn't care about were just her little temper and her little thoughts. He had already thought about her career.

That's right. She has been blaming him all the time, only caring about the movie and not caring about her acting future - but, as a good director, how could he not consider the actors?

It's just that, as a man, he doesn't care much about those little things but cares more about her career. This is precisely what he expects of her: If he doesn't care about her own life, why should he train herself seriously?

It wasn't until this time that Theron felt relieved, and the burden that had accumulated in her heart was relieved. A smile gradually formed on the corner of her mouth, and then she spoke again with a smile, "So, what should I do to make myself act better?"

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons Cherif Doghri, Abdishakur Hasan, Adam LV, Danny York, haze2343, and Scott DePaepe.

You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.