Life emotions

"Cut!" Nora's voice came through, and then she stood up, looking somewhat helpless at Hugo. "Hugo, is there a problem?"

Hugo remained seated and said nothing. Nora walked over. "Wasn't everything fine just now? Your performance was impeccable. Why is it suddenly not working here? The emotions of this entire scene have been built up. You were doing well before, so there's no reason for you to stumble here. Is there a problem?"

Since the start of this crucial scene, Nora had begun to regard Hugo with admiration. Although Hugo had already shown a profound understanding of the character in the previous two auditions, and although his excellent performance could be seen throughout the previous week of shooting, it was during this pivotal moment that Hugo's performance truly impressed Nora.

Delicate, profound, yet subtle, Hugo portrayed Sam's inner heaviness, faint sadness, and the anguish of words unspoken through subtle changes in his expressions and emphases in his dialogue. This made Nora applaud and cheer for him. While it may not have appeared as overt acting on the surface, Nora knew that true emotional depth was necessary to present such nuanced and exquisite performances. That was the success of Hugo's acting skills.

However, in the latter half of this scene, the part that truly moved the audience and the protagonist, Hugo suddenly faltered. He no longer displayed the same ease as before. On the contrary, his performance became disjointed and struggled, often not because Nora called for a pause, but because Hugo himself gave up, just like in the previous take when Hugo directly paused his rendition of the lines, sitting dejectedly in his place, prompting Nora to shout, "Cut." This situation was terrible, but Nora didn't know where the problem lay.

Hugo looked at Nora in front of him, hesitated for a while, then shook his head. "Sorry, Nora, sorry. Can I have a five-minute break?"

"Do you need a cigarette?" Nora asked, thinking that Hugo was too nervous because everyone knew the importance of this scene.

Hugo didn't smoke, but he didn't feel like joking at the moment. He simply shook his head. "No need. I just... need to go outside and get some fresh air." Then Hugo carefully lifted the sleeping Rose from his lap, placed a cushion under her head, making sure he didn't wake her up, and hurriedly left the room, pushing the door open and walking onto the balcony at the back.

The location chosen by the crew for Sam's residence was a houseboat by the Washington Lake, and the balcony at the back floated on the surface of the lake. Hugo stood by the lake, and the chilly cold wind awakened him.

Before shooting this scene, Hugo had done a lot of research on the emotional changes throughout the entire scene. He approached the role of Sam as he did before, not by speculating on acting skills, but by understanding the character. And Hugo knew that Sam's desolation stemmed from the fact that the person he loved the most had departed from this world, and he didn't know if he could ever encounter another like her.

Love requires opportunities, and throughout one's life, they will meet countless people, but only one person can accompany them until the end of life. Many people spend their entire lives unable to encounter the right person. Sam once thought that his wife Maggie was that right person, and he wanted to hold her hand and walk to the pinnacle of life. However, cancer took away his beloved, plunging Sam's life into despair. If it weren't for Jonah, he might have followed Maggie and left. Sam believed that perhaps he had to spend the remainder of his life like this, yearning for Maggie every day, unable to be moved by anyone else.

Every time Hugo analyzed Sam's emotional journey, he couldn't help but think of Uma. Of course, Hugo and Uma's relationship hadn't reached such a profound stage yet. They had only been officially dating for less than three months, as Charlize said, this relationship didn't seem to have reached the point of life and death.

But for Hugo, what he had lost was not the ability to love, but the ability to trust himself. He didn't know what he did wrong in this relationship that made Uma walk away from him. Although Hugo had told himself countless times that Uma made the choice, she chose her career over their relationship, after every thought, Hugo couldn't help but wonder if he didn't do enough, if he didn't provide enough attachment for Uma in this relationship.

Choosing between love and career, most men would choose their career, and most women would choose love, although other possibilities cannot be ruled out. Uma was not like "most women", and Hugo always wondered, what was the reason? There were countless possibilities, and each one was a sharp blade piercing Hugo's heart, causing him to question this relationship and his own trust.

This feeling had many similarities to Sam's. Every time Hugo got into character, his negative emotions couldn't be contained because of "Sam". But Hugo started to hesitate, he was afraid that his inner wounds would be exposed, he was afraid of showing his true emotions in front of the camera. The taste of that pain made Hugo hesitant, and the feeling of naked shame made him afraid.

So, Hugo hesitated. He thought he could immerse himself in the role of Sam without involving his own emotions, but he failed. He succeeded in the first half of this scene, but when it came to the real emotional part, Hugo failed. His inner hesitation, fear, and panic prevented him from fully committing to the filming.

Hugo lowered his head in frustration, standing still and lost.

Heavy footsteps approached, and Hugo looked up like a startled bird, only to see Joseph. This eased him a little, and he turned his head to look at the Washington Lake outlined by a string of lights. However, his emotions remained tightly wound.

Joseph looked at Hugo beside him. He thought Hugo had fully recovered. After Hugo and Uma broke up, they completely cut off contact. Joseph once thought there would be further struggles and pain, but Hugo was interrupted by a sudden illness, and when he recovered, he never mentioned Uma again. Instead, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to preparing for the band. But it was only today that Joseph realized that Hugo hadn't recovered; he had hastily bandaged his wounds and ignored them, and when a triggering point appeared, the pain erupted and knocked Hugo down instantly.

Joseph wanted to advise Hugo about relationships, but he didn't know how to do it. It's easy for men to talk about women's topics in normal conversations, but matters of the heart can't be resolved in a few words.

Joseph looked at the frustrated and struggling Hugo and spoke, "I believe you can do it."

Hugo looked up at Joseph in a panic, unable to see clearly in the dim light, but he could see Joseph's confident gaze. This made it impossible for Hugo to meet his eyes, and he awkwardly avoided his gaze.

But Joseph was not discouraged, and he continued, "Aren't you curious about the reason?" Joseph looked at the back of Hugo's head, unfazed. "Because you always turn the impossible into possible. I remember when you had scenes with Al, those difficult scenes that you persevered through, even earning the respect of the entire cast. I also remember when you worked with Jack, that scene stunned all the crew members, including Rob and Jack. You have enough talent for acting, and you have a strong inner spirit. So, even though I don't know how to act, I believe you can find the right path."

Hugo turned to look at Joseph, but Joseph uncomfortably looked away, clearly feeling awkward about speaking those encouraging words. This slightly eased Hugo's tense emotions.

When Joseph mentioned Jack Nicholson, Hugo remembered a conversation he had with Jack about his acting approach. Hugo had always been curious about Jack's style of performance, so he asked Jack about the secret to his acting. Jack laughed heartily, "Hugo, everyone has their own acting style and method. It's unique to each individual. Because everyone has different life experiences, their understanding of characters is different. The way it is presented naturally differs. The key is how to combine each character with your own unique qualities, making it your own. That's what we call acting."

At the time, Hugo didn't fully understand because one person's life is limited, and it's impossible to have experienced the life of every character. For example, the character Sam that Hugo is currently portraying, he has never been married nor become a father, so he naturally couldn't integrate his own experiences and characteristics.

But now Hugo suddenly understood that what Jack meant was not actual life experiences, but rather his own experiences and past understandings of each character. For example, in the case of the character Sam, although Hugo had never experienced the death of a spouse, he had gone through the pain of a breakup, and he knew the sadness and struggle that comes after the end of a relationship. If he could use these experiences to understand the essence of the character, he could infuse Sam with his own unique qualities because that relationship experience was unique to him.

In fact, no matter what character it is, ultimately it is a human being, or a being with human emotions. In any case, emotions are derived from human thoughts. Therefore, transforming the joys, angers, sorrows, and delights of one's life experiences into emotional changes for the character is the unique acting method of each actor. Because each actor's life experiences are irreplicable, the roles they have played and their acting experiences are also different, resulting in different portrayals of characters.

Emotions, that is the fundamental essence of each character. Actors don't show their own emotions and lives to the audience, but rather their understanding of emotions in life.

Thinking this through, Hugo gradually relaxed his emotions because he realized that portraying the character Sam wasn't about digging into his own memories of Uma. On the contrary, it was his emotional pain and suffering that helped him understand the character of Sam. So, what he needed to do was not tightly hold onto the wound in his heart and refuse to let go, but rather savor his past experiences and then, with this conflict, pain, and silence, step into the character of Sam and express these authentic and delicate emotions in Sam's way.